The Meier's German Adventure

Located 35 miles (50 km) north of Strasbourg and 25 miles (40 km) west of Karlsruhe, the "Abri" (shelter) is an underground barracks. Built in 1930, the "ouvrage" offered all the facilities needed to feed and accommodates a company of soldiers during war-time: dorms, toilets and showers, a well, a boiler room, an engine room, protection against poison gas, close defence.French troops occupied the "Abri" from 1936 to 1940.The "Abri" is a subterranean fort, built into the slope and invisible from the surface. The two thick armored doors piercing its massive blank 60 meter-long exposed face were covered by four machine gun positions. The diamond ditch, or moat, designed to collect the blocks of concrete splintering off the facade in case of a bombing attack, created an additional obstacle. Other standard features include two half-caponnieres (machine gun positions at moat level) equipped with crenels supplying close defensive fires and tubes for ejecting grenades into the ditch. Two GFM (Lookout and Machine Gun) "cloches" (cupolas) located on top of the structure served as observation and defensive positions. The fort was equipped with an antenna for radio transmissions.