World War I Memorials and Cemeteries in Alsace
This is a list of World War 1 Memorials and Cemeteries in Alsace. The Western Front ran across the Haute Alsace, across Le Bonhomme, passing Le Ligne, on near Munster, Reichackerkopf and Sondernach. It passed through the Petit Ballon and Grand Ballon before reaching Le Vieil Armand and passing a line through Thann and Cernay. It then ran its course to Altkirch and the Sundgau and the Swiss border.
Background
While Alsace comprises the "départements" of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin the front line just ran through the Haut-Rhin. The fighting in this area in the 1914-1918 war can be divided into- The Battles of Mulhouse and Dornach in August 1914.
- Fighting right along the line to partly define and establish that front line and then to defend or attack it. As part of this process great battles were fought at Linge and Hartmannwillerkopf both involving a heavy loss of life.
The Battles of Mulhouse and Dornach
The course of the front line
We are dealing with a front line that starts to the south of St Die des Vosges and runs right down to the Swiss border. We shall cover the German cemetery south of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe, La Croix aux Mines, the Col du Bonhomme and the town of La Bonhomme as well as the French National cemetery at Duchesne. Next we will identify memorials and cemeteries in the area to the north and south of Orbey and the valley of Orbey. This will cover the Linge area, the memorial of Linge and the battle fought there, as well as covering memorials or cemeteries at Lapoutrie, Labaroche and Hohrod. We shall then deal with Munster and the area south of Munster and then the Hohneck peak and the Petit Hohneck.. We shall then look at the Grand Ballon and the Petit Ballon before proceeding to Guebwiller, Soultz, Moosch and Hartmannswiller finally dealing with Cernay, Thann, Altkirch and the Swiss border town of Pfetterhouse.The French cemetery at Saulcy-sur-Meurthe
| The French cemetery at Saulcy-sur-Meurthe |
| Although actually in Lorraine, this cemetery is included in this listing as many of the soldiers buried here were killed fighting in nearby Alsace. The cemetery was created in 1921 and brought in bodies originally and provisionally buried in graves in the Col du Bonhomme, the Col de la Schlucht, Gérardmer, Mandray, Le Valtin and la Croix-aux-Mines. The cemetery holds the remains of 2,565 French soldiers of whom 1,174 are buried in two ossuaries. It has been claimed that the body of the soldier buried in Paris in the tomb of the unknown soldier came from grave 1405 in the Saulcy-sur-Meurthe cemetery. There is also a German cemetery at Saulcy-sur-Meurthe. |
French War cemetery at Carrefour Duchesne
Monument in the French cemetery at Lapoutrie
| Monument in the French cemetery at Lapoutrie |
| In Lapoutroie's French War cemetery is one of the many monuments to the Chasseurs that we will encounter in Alsace. The inscription reads |
The Valley of Orbey, the Linge ridge and the surrounding district running south to Munster
The Col du Bonhomme
La Tête des Faux
The Battle of Le Linge
The "Croix de Wihr"
The Linge Memorial and the "Cimetière des Chasseurs"
Two memorials by the Linge Museum
The memorial on the Schratzmännele to the 5th Battalion Chasseurs à Pied
Monument to the chasseurs and the 46th, 66th and 129th French Infantry
French War cemetery at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines
Sondernach. French War cemetery at Le Bois de Maettle
| Description of the French War cemetery at Le Bois de Maettle |
| This cemetery in the Fecht valley was started in 1920 with the dead from trench warfare in Haute Alsace, the Vallée de la Fecht, Reichakerkopf and Hilsenfirst. Later further bodies were brought in from the battlefield and provisional burial plots in Sondernach, Wihr-au-Val and Mulbach.. |
Monument to the 66th Chasseurs
The area around Munster
Munster itself and all the villages in the Munster valley were subjected to artillery bombardments. One such was Metzeral and here in 1915 there was some fierce fighting in June 1915. General Pouydraguin of the 47th French Infantry joined with General Serret and his 66th French Infantry in an offensive.On 9 June the population of Metzeral and Sondernach were evacuated and the French attack started on 15 June and on the 20th and 21st Metzeral was attacked with the fighting taking place in the village itself. Metzeral and the Fecht valley were now in ruins but the French offensive had failed. One month later the fighting would start at Linge.
After the end of 1915 fighting in the Vosges was less intense but the various cemeteries scattered around the area bear witness to the great loss of life. One such cemetery is known as the "Chêne Millet" and holds the remains of 2,632 Frenchmen. It is located between Metzeral and Mittach..