1945: The “Alpine Fortress”

The term Alpine Fortress or Alpine Redoubt (Alpenfestung) refers to a fictional retreat position for the German Wehrmacht in the Alpine region in the territory of western Austria and Bavaria. The starting point for the construction of the system of positions, which was faked by the Nazis, was a report intercepted by the SS of an American agent in Switzerland warning the US State Department of the existence of a massive defensive position in the Alpine region. With hopes of being able to mislead the Allies into a misjudgement of the situation and into wrong military actions, the idea of the “Alpine Fortress” was then taken up by the Nazis and it was suggested by propaganda that the Alpine area had been converted into an impregnable fortress with underground factories, barracks and V-weapon systems. Feigned construction work also started, which was detected by Allied aerial reconnaissance and agents, thereby reinforcing the seemingly real image of threat. In fact, however, the construction of a strong retreat position in the Alpine region was never seriously considered by the Nazi leadership, not least because there were not enough materials or labour power available for the project. This figment of fantasy successfully built up by German propaganda only dissipated in April 1945, as Allied troops started to advance on the area and found it undefended.