The Western Front Zero Kilometre Circuit : a unique - Sud

Western Front 1914Nieuport-Ostende
Take a flashlight and a good pair of shoes.
D
Alsace
F
Pfetterhouse - Moos
Bonfol
Fraternisation
between Germ
an and Swiss
troops at the
South
Largin post –-1
916
OFFICE DE TOURISME
DU SUNDGAU SUD ALSACE
Bureau d’Information
touristique de Ferrette
3A, Route de Lucelle
F-68480 FERRETTE
T. +33(0)3 89 08 23 88
[email protected]
Jura Tourisme
Grand’Rue 5
CH-2900 Porrentruy
T. +41 (0) 32 420 47 72
[email protected]
LES AMIS DU Km ZERO
Mairie de Pfetterhouse
1, place Saint Géréon
F-68480 Pfetterhouse
T.+33(0)3 89 25 61 01
[email protected]
Parking
Blockhaus
7.5 km trail,
Km 0 circuit
Barbed wire
Mooslargue
Pfetterhouse
Graphics by www.studio-abracadabra.fr - Photo credits : Emmanuel Dubail - Text : André Dubail
CPA : Private collection
CH
BONFOL
COME AND DISCOVER A MAJOR SITE FROM THE 1914 -1918 WAR
The Km 0 path is a 7.5 km trail, over level wooded
terrain, featuring the various remains of the three
fronts : French, Swiss and German.
The Western Front
Zero Kilometre
Circuit : a unique
world site
Here, on the swiss border,
three armies
faced each other.
T
From 1871 to 1914, Pfetterhouse was the village
la
Ve
n
of the Largin
FR ANCE
Rechesy
in 1915.
RECONQUERED
ALSACE
The 3 Powers
border
PFETTERHOUSE
Villa Agathe.
MOOS
T
he first German defensive position on the Front sealed off the
string of bunkers that stretched
over 750 km, from the Swiss frontier
to the North Sea.
In 1915, a sign could be seen affixed
to a shelter in the sector : Endstation
der Untergrundbahn Ostende-Schweiz
(Terminus of the Ostende-Swiss métro)
GERMAN
Km0
ba c h
Gr um
E
NC
FRA SSE
SUI
Niederlarg
la Lar gue
dlin
e
an
t
Fr e n c h Fro n
Northern Post
S t -J e
le D
or
l bac
h
is
Fr e n c h - G e r m
an
bord er
Bo
o t
G er ma n Fr n
of three frontiers.
The border of the three Powers, where the frontiers
of France, Swiss and Germany met, became a tourist
attraction and a place for international conviviality.
In the autumn of 1914, the French fixed the
start of the Front at the Swiss frontier of
the Largin.
The Friends of Kilometre Zero association
works to raise awareness and develop this site
so rich in history and symbols. The work they
have undertaken has enabled the restoration
of several concrete constructions on the front
line which are freely accessible and safe.
he Villa Agathe : the first French concrete construction.
This post housing two machineguns also served as the
entrance to an extensive underground structure. A direct
trench railway was laid from Pfetterhouse station in order
to build.
KM0 marker
From the land of three
frontiers to the land
of three fronts
Frontier marker 111 thus became Kilometre Zero of the Western Front
T
he Swiss army installed guard posts and observation
posts on the frontier of the Largin. The northern post
of the Largin, a blockhouse made of wood and soil was
located opposite the Km 0 marker. The construction was
restored by Swiss army engineers in November 2012.
Villa Agathe
blockhouse Km O
ALSACE
Largin
Beurnevésin
e
utt
ir e
te G o d w
Peu
e
SWITZERL AND
Lugnez
BONFOL
Bois
Ba
r
b
Banal
l e La
ff
l tr i
Liebsdorf
Plan
d’eau
Liebenstein
ta
gn
e
Damphreux
on
Oberlarg
645 m
La
rg
Courtavon
M
Boi
toast in 1910 around the
International friendship
three powers.
border marker of the
Infantry
po
to the bu st attached
nker opp
osite
s
L
la
de
a
ue
L’ E s s e r t
The German machine gun position
by the Friends of Km 0.
at Moos bridge restored
on.
an positi
1st Germ