B-Werke Westwall

[baraczek]

Hello
I am looking for the locations of the remains of B-Werke in the Westwall other than the one in Besseringen, which is not destroyed. It can be one wall, a half of a wall, does not matter. Could someone supply me with a map or (most preferably) GPS coordinates?
Regards
baraczek

[20P7]

Hello Baraczek,

please find attached the map with the so-called "B-Werk Riegel" of Oberotterbach. I have encirceld all the B-Werke with red rings. Please note, that nearly nothing is left of all those constructions.

Beside this area B-Werke were once build along the valley of the river Nims, in the Saar region and at where the rivers Mosel and Saar come togehter.

The B-Werk Katzenkopf at the river Nims is a museum today:

https://www.westwallmuseum-irrel.de/de/

Regards

Daniel

[TUS]

Nice post Daniel. Always did wonder a bit about the locations of the majority of the B-Werke. Was it 32 that was build?

Brgds Tønnes

[20P7]

Well, according to Dieter Bettinger and Martin Büren in total 32 B-Werke were build. In volume 2 of their "Westwall bible" there is a chapter from page 63 - 84 with a very detailed description about the function of all the different weapons and even a note about the history of those works regarding reinforcement and preparing battle readiness in 1939. Of course this description is based on studies prior 1990 (date of edition), but it is more or less "state of the art" even if there exists more modern detailed knowledge from the recent years.
Beside this there is an article published by Pierre Rhode in an early 1983 edition of Dokufest magazine. As this magazine is no longer available and not beeing sold by anybody as far as I know I will post it here.

Regards Daniel

[AvB]

Thanks for the copies. I recently read in documents about water problems in the one of the B-Werke at Konz. In 1939 the whole thing was unusable because of the damp environment en water getting in via the sides and roof. The building company was ordered to build an extra water resistant shell around it.
All in all, the whole B-Werke project seems to me like too little too late, with great costs and no significant tactical advantage.

[20P7]

Well Arthur,

you come more or less to the same conclusion as Martin Büren.

[AvB]

I was influenced by Büren I must admit.

[20P7]

Who is not?

[baraczek]

Thank you very much for the materials provided! However I have already visited the Westwall, but I am looking forward to make use of them during my next trip

[b00nfire]

To put it in a nutshell:
From a total of 32 B-Werke around the Westwall, only the one in Besseringen has survived undamaged.

Two in the village of Irrel are heavily destroyed on the upper floor, while some parts of the lower floor are only slightly damaged.
Those two had one 20P7 conntected through underground tunnels, these are mainly undamaged.

There where two in the village of Igel, one which is buried and it's state is unknown except the fact, that it was blown up after the war.
The other one had one 20P7 conntected through an ground level tunnel and is heavily damaged. The upper floor is completely gone and the lower floor is a mess. Parts of the tunnel are in a good shape. It is closed.

There where two in the village of Konz. One in the forehang, which had a Dreischartenturm, is gone. The other one, between river and railway, couldn't be blown up as they used to because of the surrounding houses. It's possible, that the at least the lower floor may be still there. As AvB said, they had lot's of problems with water in there so it's likely that it is flooded.

There where two in the village of Saarburg. Both had been blown up after the war, one was filled with duds. The upper floor of both of them is in a very poor condition, the roof is missing. The lower floors are heavily damaged with one in a slightly better condition than the other one. Both are complety covered with ground with no access.

The one at Beckingen was blown up after the war. The upper floor was mostly gone, the lower floor where damaged but accessible until around 1980. The B-Werk was then filled up with fly ash, which is hard as concrete, and was buried afterwards. Only little parts of the Dreischartenturm border can been seen overground.

There were six around Zweibrücken/Contwig. Two are in unknown condition but were described as blown up and cleared up for the Autobahn in 1976, as local westwall expert Helmut Lauer said. Their remains are buried. Another one is heavily damaged and buried, only small parts of the ground level tunnel, connecting a 20P7, can be seen. The next one is in unknown condition, maybe the lower floor is still there. Another one is blown up. The ruin of the upper floor was partly filled with ground but can be seen in the open air, very overgrown. The next one was also cleared up for the Autobahn in 1976.

There were two around Pirmasens. Both have been blown up. Both are buried. It's likley that there are remains, but it don't know anything specific about them.

There were fourteen in the Otterbachabschnitt. At least six of them where open air ruins in the late 1970s and where measured up by Martin Büren, Pierre Rhode and Helmut Lauer back then, but they were all cleared up in February 1981 and later. Most of them should have at least some remains of the lower floor but as they are all buried, no one knows.

[AvB]

Very nice overview!! Future archeologists have work to do.