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Origin and history

The Lower Larmont Fort, also known as Fort Malher, is a military fort erected between 1845 and 1851 in the Doubs department, in the commune of La Cluse-et-Mijoux, at an altitude of 1,032 metres. It was designed to protect Fort Joux, strengthen the defence of the strategic passage of the Pontarlier Cluse, and support troops stationed on the Larmont summit. Its construction, prior to the Séré de Rivières system, responded to the evolution of artillery range in the 19th century, allowing to bomb Joux Fort if necessary. Originally called new, it was partially destroyed in 1877 by the explosion of 3 tons of explosives seized by customs and rebuilt between 1882 and 1884.

In 1887 War Minister Georges Boulanger renamed him Fort Malher in tribute to General Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher, a military leader of the French Revolution. This name, engraved on the pediment, was officially repealed in the same year by his successor, Théophile Ferron, although he remained visible. The fort played a role during the retreat of the eastern army to Switzerland in February 1871, with local accounts evoking Léandre Merchet, a carpenter who had become a battery guard, who died accidentally in 1875.

The site was listed as a historical monument in 1968, and was classified with its surroundings in 2014. Disused militarily in 1947, he was transferred in 1958 to the Pontarlier Initiative Union. Its infrastructure, dug in the rock on six levels, includes two barracks rebuilt in 1882, a guard corps modified in 1937 to integrate the Maginot line (blockhouse du Chauffaud), and a covered road of 230 steps connecting the works. The ensemble maintains a medieval look, despite its modern functions.

The fort of Larmont, built between 1845 and 1851 and then redesigned, illustrates the adaptation of French fortifications to the technical progress of the 19th century. His architect, engineer Gaudin, designed an irregular polygonal plan, with powder shops and shelters carved from the rock. The cutoff of the Chauffaud, associated with the fort, locked the north-south passage of the cluse, emphasizing its strategic importance in the defence of the territory.

Today owned by a community of communes, the fort of Lower Larmont bears witness to French military history, from the wars of the 19th century to the Second World War, through its ephemeral integration into the Maginot line. Its ranking in 2014 allowed to preserve this defensive set, marked by successive reconstructions and reallocations.

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