Baden-Württemberg: Kaiser-Fort: The club also hopes for more visitors from Germany

The former "Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Baden-Württemberg: Kaiser-Fort: The club also hopes for more visitors from Germany

The former "Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II." in Alsace has so far belonged to the French military. Only a small part is open to the public. Now there should be important changes.

Mutzig (dpa/lsw) - The operating association of the military facility "Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II." in Alsace would like more visitors from Germany. In the course of the corona pandemic and the associated restrictions, there was a significant decline. The chairman of the Fort de Mutzig association, Bernard Bour, told the German Press Agency in Mutzig.

Fort de Mutzig is the French name for the fortress built from 1893 a good 20 kilometers south-west of Strasbourg.

Before Corona, almost a third of the around 25,000 visitors a year came from Germany, as Bour reported. He underscored the historical significance of the complex, which was built during the then German Empire: "Before the First World War, there was no larger fortification than here in Mutzig."

The local community association Molsheim-Mutzig wants to buy the part of the fortress that is open to visitors from the French army by the end of the year. According to the association's general director, Dominique Bernhart, the system should become independent in terms of water and electricity. In the longer term, a new reception building for visitors is planned.