Festung

Festung is a generic German word for a fortress. Whilst it is not in common usage in English it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:

• For historical fortresses in Austria, Germany or Switzerland
• As part of the excuse given by the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) for the slow progress of the Siege of Warsaw
• For German WWII strongholds which were to be held at all costs, especially towards the end of the war:
  • Atlantic wall or Festung Europa — a military propaganda term from the Second World War which referred to the areas of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany.
  • Stalingrad (see Battle for Stalingrad)
  • Warsaw (Festung Warschau) see also the Warsaw Uprising
  • Poznan (Battle of Posen)
  • Kolobrzeg (Battle of Kolberg)
  • Piła (Festung Schneidemühl)
  • Wrocław (Festung Breslau)
  • Budapest (Battle of Budapest)
  • Kaliningrad (Festung Königsberg)
• For entire countries such as Norway which were heavily fortified in World War II. See Festung Norwegen.
• For proposed post war German enclaves in places such as Brest and Trondheim.
• For planned national redoubts such as Switzerland's National Redoubt (Schweizer Alpenfestung).

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