Der Höckerlinien-Weg

The Höckerlinie in Orscholz was part of the Westwall as a concreted tank obstacle. This was built between 1938 and 1940 with bunkers, trenches and barriers to defend the western border of the German Reich and as a counterpart to the French Maginot Line. In Orscholz, a particularly well-preserved section over a kilometer long has been uncovered and made accessible with a trail. The themed circular trail completes the offer.

The German government had the West Wall built between 1938 and 1940 to protect the western border of the Reich. It was intended to be a counterpart to the Maginot Line on the French side. However, it was not nearly as well developed as its French counterpart. The main rampart stretched along the right bank of the Saar from Saarbrücken via Konz near Trier along the Sauer to the north

In the area at the border triangle, this line of fortifications branched off for twelve kilometers. It was intended to prevent penetration into the Saar-Moselle triangle at a distance of four to six kilometers from the French border. This section between Orscholz and Perl-Nennig later became known as the "Orscholz-Riegel". The Siegfried Line consisted of anti-tank ditches, concreted anti-tank obstacles, Spanish horsemen, barbed wire barriers, minefields, trenches and bunkers. There were 29 concrete shelters in Orscholz alone, including an unfinished B-Werk.

When war broke out, the "Höckerlinie" had already been completed, but there were delays with the bunker facilities. After the French campaign, this partly unfinished defense system was only maintained but not further expanded and not sufficiently equipped with weapons. This became painfully apparent when the Wehrmacht marched back from France in 1944, when a new defensive position was built here. A first American attack on the fortress line near Orscholz on November 21, 1944 was repulsed shortly before the tank trap on Tünsdorfer Straße. The next enemy operation took place in this section. On January 20, 1945, in wintry temperatures and heavy snow, American infantry units coming from the opposite forest crossed the anti-tank ditch on the road to Oberleuken in the early morning hours and moved along this road to the outskirts of Orscholz. Other units ran into a minefield at the Höckerlinie at the brickworks (Weieranlage) and were repelled by machine gun fire and artillery. The troop that had advanced to the edge of the village was wiped out and became a German prisoner of war. Orscholz was taken by the Americans from the north on February 20, 1945.

Source: Saarschleifenland Tourismus GmbH