[Leica] Fortified railway tunnels

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

Larry,

There are many tunnel portals on the Rhine (and elsewhere, like in 
Switzerland, Austria, the UK) that were built to look like castles, 
however, these were almost all built in the 19th century, the last ones 
actually in around 1914, and mostly for decorative reasons.

A couple of bridge portals were actually built with defensive purposes 
in mind (for example, Rehmagen), but all long before Adolf came to power 
- most defences on the Rhine were planned and built before WWI to be 
used against the French.

They were however used as defences by the Wehrmacht in WWII.

After the so-called Baedecker-Raids on the UK (named after the most 
prominent guide-book at the time, and begun after the RAF attack on 
L?beck - which in turn may be seen as retaliation for Coventry), the RAF 
saw antiquities and historical cities as legitimate targets in Germany

Cheers
Douglas


On 22.02.2010 03:24, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote:
> Nathan is right. A river boat is the only way to see castles on the Rhine.
> I'll post a few of the pictures I took on a river tour through Europe two
> years ago. An interesting fact. During WW2 bomber pilots were instructed 
> not
> to bomb the castles along the Rhine because they were not considered
> valuable military targets and history would never forgive the US Air Force.
> Hitler took advantage of the Allies concern for history by modifying many 
> of
> the railroad tunnel entrances along the river to look like castles, 
> figuring
> correctly that it would be hard to tell the difference at an altitude of
> 20,000 feet.
>
> All this is written during commercials when watching the Olympics. The USA
> is leading Canada in hockey 3 to 2 in the third period so it was probably
> wise to shut off alcohol sales in Vancouver.
>
> Larry Z
>
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