Army coastal battery Hirtshals West
The high ridge around Hirtshals Lighthouse is the site of the well-preserved remains of a German coastal battery.
The battery was armed with four French 10.5 cm field guns (1913 model) and reported ready for action in its original field positions on 26 June 1941. The guns were initially positioned on the flat land just below Hirtshals Lighthouse, and concrete foundations with turntables for the guns were gradually established over the course of the summer.
By the autumn of 1941, however, it had become clear that the position at the bottom of the slope was unsuitable, because the guns could not fire on all points along the horizon from that location. When work on the permanent bunkers was started in June 1942, it was therefore decided to move the guns and the rest of the battery up to the top of the hill. The first permanent bunkers at the site were completed with 2 metre-thick walls and roofs in September 1942. A total of 29 permanent bunkers were built in this position, the last of which was completed in July 1944.
Bunkers with gun embrasures were constructed in the period March–April 1944, resulting in the guns being moved once more – this time to a permanent position inside the bunkers halfway down the slope.
The installation around the lighthouse contained more than just a coastal battery; a number of other functions were also brought in behind the protective barbed-wire fences and minefields on the elevated site with its unobstructed view of the surrounding area. These included an air observation post, a radar station and the harbour captain’s command post.
The majority of the battery position on Fyrbakken hill has not been affected by subsequent development, and an open air museum has been created where most of the bunkers have been excavated and made accessible to visitors. There are guided tours of the area in the summer months.
Adress
Fyret 2, 9850 Hirtshals
