Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hartmannswillerkopf, renamed Old Armand after 1918, is a strategic summit of the Vosges (957 m) played during the First World War. Located 7 km from Thann, it marked the front line between the French and German zones in Alsace. The fighting in 1915, particularly in January, March, April and December, killed nearly 25,000 people, mostly French. The site became a symbol of the "Sacred Mountain of Alsace", with trenches separating enemy lines by only 22 meters.

The national monument, erected at the Silberloch Pass, includes an ossuary crypt decorated with sculptures by Antoine Bourdelle and a necropolis housing 1,640 French remains. The battlefield preserves remains such as the Sommital Cross (20 m) and the 152nd RI monument, nicknamed "red diables". The German trenches, in reinforced concrete, contrast with the more abstract French works, reflecting their defensive and offensive strategies.

Ranked a historic monument in 1921, the site was renovated for the centenary of the Great War. In 2014, François Hollande and Joachim Gauck together commemorated the beginning of Franco-German hostilities, marking a symbolic reconciliation. A Franco-German historic was inaugurated in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The place remains a high place of memory, with 45 km of preserved trenches.

The summit offers an exceptional panorama of the plain of Alsace, Mulhouse, and in clear weather, the Black Forest or the Swiss Alps. His name, a phonetic deformation of Hartmannsweiler by the Poilus, also evokes his nickname "Manger". Artists like François Flameng or François Truffaut (in Jules and Jim) immortalized this tragic place.

The topography of the site, with its crypt, its Silberloch cemetery and its military remains, makes it a unique testimony of the mountain fighting. The architectural differences between the German and French positions illustrate their opposing military doctrines. Today, the memorial attracts for its duty of memory and its landscapes, between history and reconciliation.

External links