Siegfried Line Museum, Irrel, Germany

The Siegfried Line Museum (Westwallmuseum Irrel) lies near the German-Luxembourg border in the Eifel mountains. It is housed in a bunker that was part of the former Siegfried Line (Westwall), the Katzenkopf Strongpoint (Panzerwerk Katzenkopf), which was built from 1937 to 1939. Together with other bunkers the Panzerwerk Katzenkopf was built to guard the main road from Cologne to the city of Luxembourg. It is the northernmost strongpoint in the Siegfried Line.

These strongpoints differed from the other roughly 15,000 fortifications of the Siegfried Line in having an armoured cupola and wall thicknesses of at least 1.0 metre. 32 examples of such structures were built to construction thickness 'B' with exterior walls of reinforced concrete up to 2 metres thick. Another of these so called B-Werke ('B Works') that has been open to the public since 2006 is B-Werk Besseringen in the Saarland.

The above-ground section of the bunder was blown up in 1947 and its remains were bulldozed into a heap. In July 1976 the excavation of the bunker began the majority of the work being carried out by the Volunteer Fire Service of Irrel. The Siegfried Line Museum has been established on 3 accessible levels of the strongpoint since 1979. There are pictures and weapons of the Second World War period. The museum is only open to casual visitors on Sundays and public holidays (during the summer).

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

John Baas (8 months ago)
open on Sunday was worth seeing don't expect too much from this bunker. Costs €4 to view.

Daniel Avram (9 months ago)
Very interesting location, one of the very few works of Siegfried line which are preserved and can be visited. Nice organized and very interesting displays (posters, photos and drawings) . A lot of info on the construction of the line. It's smaller than the big forts of Maginot line, however it's worth the visit. Kudos to the people who maintain it!

Jack Mentzer (10 months ago)
An interesting part of history. 4€ per adult entrance fee. A must stop for any WWII enthusiast. The community has done an outstanding job renovating the facility. Most of the rooms of the facility are labelled as to the function they served. I was surprised how big and deep the complex was.

Red Sky (11 months ago)
Interesting military bunker It's for free Normal ppening time is only at sunday or holidays. If you wish a extra tour, you can contact the local firestation.

Liana Cabule (_Lii_) (2 years ago)
Unfortunately, but 16:20 was closed. Opening hours until 17:00.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Mark1792

Historic Site of the week

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.

The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.

Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.

Siegfried Line Museum

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historical Gems of Costa Verde

Historic Site of the week

Rosenborg Castle