Hartmannswillerkopf National Monument, War memorial on Hartmannswillerkopf mountain, Wattwiller, France.

This national monument sits at 956 meters above sea level on a rocky ridge of the Vosges mountains, overlooking the Rhine valley and the Alsatian plain below. The complex features preserved trenches, bunkers, a cemetery with graves, and a museum that offers visitors an overview of the events that unfolded here.

The monument commemorates over 7,000 French and German soldiers who died during fierce fighting for this strategic mountain position between December 1914 and January 1916. The memorial structure itself was completed in 1932 through the collaboration of architect Robert Danis and sculptor Antoine Bourdelle.

The crypt holds an ossuary with the remains of about 12,000 unknown soldiers, alongside weapons and equipment gathered from the battlefield. Three chapels serve the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths, and the Catholic chapel keeps a Virgin with offering by Antoine Bourdelle. Above the crypt, an altar of the Fatherland reproduces the altar raised on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris on 14 July 1790.

The memorial and the Silberloch national cemetery stand on the open summit of the Col du Silberloch, reached by a straight paved path that climbs between two steep grassy embankments, with stepped stone stairways on either side. The battlefield with its trenches and vestiges lies apart from the monument, so allow time to move between the two. At this altitude the weather shifts quickly; wear warm clothing and sturdy shoes.

The crypt holds an ossuary with the remains of about 12,000 unknown soldiers, alongside weapons and equipment recovered from the battlefield. Three chapels serve the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths, and the Catholic one keeps a Virgin with offering by Bourdelle. Above the crypt, an altar of the Fatherland reproduces the altar raised on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris for the Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790.