Siegfried Line The original Siegfried Line ( ) was a line of defensive forts and tank defenses built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916 – 1917 in northern France during World War I . In English , " Siegfried line " more commonly refers to the similar World War II defensive line , built during the 1930s , opposite the French Maginot Line , which served a corresponding purpose . The Germans themselves called this the Westwall , but the Allies renamed it after the World War I line . This article deals with this second Siegfried line . The Siegfried Line was a defence system stretching more than with more than 18 , 000 bunker s , tunnels and tank traps . It went from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands , along the western border of the old German Empire as far as the town of Weil am Rhein on the border to Switzerland . More with Nazi propaganda in mind than for any strategic reason , Adolf Hitler planned the line from 1936 and had it built between 1938 and 1940 . Origin of the name " Westwall " . The origin of the name is unknown , but is likely from popular use from the end of 1938 . Nazi propaganda did not initially use the term , but the name was well - known from the middle of 1939 , as Hitler sent an " Order of the Day to the soldiers and the workers at the Westwall " on 20 May 1939 . The official name for the line until then had changed several times depending on the phase of construction : These programmes were all pushed forward with the highest priority , using every resource available . Typical basic construction types . At the start of each construction programme , basic construction prototypes were laid out on the drawing board and then built , sometimes by the thousands . This standardisation of the bunkers ( popularly known as " Pillboxes " ) and tank traps was necessary because of the lack of raw materials , transport and workers . Pioneering programme . Small bunkers were set up with three embrasure s towards the front . The walls were thick . Soldiers stationed there did not have their own beds but had to make do with hammocks . In exposed positions , similar small bunkers were erected with small round armored " lookout " sections on the roofs . The programme was carried out by the Border Watch ( " Grenzwacht " ) , a small military troop activated in the Rhineland immediately after it was remilitarized . Limes programme . The Limes Programme began as a result of an order by Hitler to strengthen fortifications on the western German border . Bunkers built in this phase , starting in 1938 , were more strongly constructed than the earlier border fortifications . The bunkers had a ceiling and walls thick . A total of 3 , 471 Type 10 bunkers were built along the entire length of the Siegfried Line . The bunkers had a central room or shelter for 10 - 12 men with a stepped embrasure s facing backwards and a combat section higher . This section had embrasures at the front and sides for machine guns . More embrasures were provided for carbine s and the entire structure was constructed so as to be safe against poison gas . The bunker was heated with a safety oven , and the chimney was covered with a thick grating . Every soldier was given a sleeping - place and a stool ; the commanding officer had a chair . There was very little space : each soldier had about of space , which meant that the rooms were packed full . Inside the bunkers of this type still remaining today are signs hung up to prepare the men for their task : " Walls have ears " or " Lights out when embrasures are open ! " Aachen - Saar programme . The bunkers built under this programme were similar to those of the Limes programme : Type 107 double MG casemate s with concrete walls up to thick . One difference was that there were no embrasures at the front , only at the sides of the bunkers . Embrasures were only built at the front in special cases and were then protected with heavy metal doors . The programme included the towns of Aachen and Saarbrücken which were initially west of the Limes Programme defence line . Western Air Defence Zone . The Western Air Defence Zone ( " Luftverteidigungszone West " or " LVZ West " ) continued parallel to the two other lines toward the east , and consisted mainly of concrete " FlaK " foundations . Scattered MG42s and MG34s were also placed for additional defence , against both air and land targets . Flak turrets were designed to force enemy planes to fly higher , thus decreasing the accuracy of their bombing . These towers were protected at close range by bunkers from the Limes and Aachen - Saar programmes . Geldern Emplacement . The Geldern Emplacement lengthened the Siegfried Line northwards as far as Kleve on the Rhine , and was built after the start of World War II . The Siegfried Line originally ended in the north near Brüggen in the Viersen district . The primary constructions were unarmed dugouts which were extremely strongly built out of concrete . For camouflage they were often built near farms . Tank traps . Tank traps were also built for miles along the Siegfried Line and were known as " dragon ' s teeth " or " pimples " ( in German " Höcker " , " humps " ) because of their shape . These blocks of reinforced concrete stand in several rows on a single foundation . There are two typical sorts of barrier : Type 1938 with four teeth getting higher toward the back , and Type 1939 with five such teeth . Many other irregular lines of teeth were also built . Another design of tank obstacle , known as the Czech hedgehog , was made by welding together several bars of steel in such a way that any tank rolling over it would get stuck . If the lie of the land allowed it , water - filled ditches were dug instead of tank traps . An example of this kind of defence are those north of Aachen near Geilenkirchen . Working conditions during construction . The early fortifications were mostly built by private firms , but the private sector was not able to provide the number of workers needed for the programmes that followed . This gap was filled by the Todt Organisation . With this organisation ' s help , huge numbers of workers — up to 500 , 000 at a time — were found to work on the Siegfried Line . Transport of materials and workers from all across Germany was managed by the " Deutsche Reichsbahn " railway company , which took advantage of the well - developed strategic railway lines built on Germany ' s western border in World War I . Working conditions were highly dangerous ; for example , the most primitive means had to be used to handle and assemble extremely heavy armour plating weighing up to . Life on the building site and after work was monotonous and many people gave up and left . Most workers received a medal depicting a bunker for their service . Armour plates and arms . German industry could not deliver as many steel armour plates as were needed for the mounting of weapons in the bunkers . The armour - plated sections were designed to include the embrasures and their shutters as well as armoured cupolas for 360° defence . Germany depended on other countries to provide the alloys required in producing armoured plates ( mostly nickel and molybdenum ) , so either the armour plates were left out or they were produced with low - quality replacement materials . The bunkers were still fitted with guns , which proved inadequate in the first war years and were therefore dismantled , but the large - calibre weapons necessary for efficient defence could not be built into the bunkers . The role of the Siegfried Line at the beginning of the war . The Siegfried Line at the start of the war had serious weaknesses . German General Alfred Jodl said after the war that it was " little better than a building site in 1939 " , and when Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt inspected the line its weak construction and insufficient weapons caused him to laugh . Fortunately for Germany , despite France ' s declaration of war on Germany at the beginning of the Second World War , there was no major combat at the Siegfried Line at the start of the campaign in the west . Instead , both sides remained stuck in the so - called Phoney War , where neither side attacked the other and both stayed in their safe positions . The " Reich " Ministry of Information and Propaganda drew foreign attention to the unfinished Westwall , in several instances showcasing incomplete or test positions to portray the project finished and ready for action . During the Battle of France , French forces made minor attacks against some parts of the line but the majority was left untested . When the campaign finished , transportable weapons were removed from the Siegfried Line and used in other places . The concrete sections were left in place in the countryside and soon became completely unfit for defence . The bunkers were instead used for storage . Reactivation of the Siegfried Line , 1944 . With the D - Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944 , war in the west broke out once more . On 24 August 1944 , Hitler gave a directive for renewed construction on the Siegfried Line . 20 , 000 forced labourers and members of the " Reichsarbeitsdienst " ( " Reich " Labour Service ) , most of whom were 14 - 16 - year - old boys , attempted to reequip the line for defence purposes . Local people were also called in to carry out this kind of work , mostly building anti - tank ditches . During construction , it was already clear that the bunkers could not withstand the newly developed armour - piercing weapons . At the same time as the Siegfried Line was reactivated , small concrete " Tobruk " bunkers were built along the border to the occupied area . These bunkers were mostly dugouts for single soldiers . Clashes on the Siegfried Line . In August 1944 , the first clashes took place on the Siegfried Line ; the section of the line where most fighting took place was the Hürtgenwald area in the Eifel , southeast of Aachen . An estimated 120 , 000 troops — plus reinforcements — were committed to Hürtgen . The battle in this confusing , heavily forested area claimed the lives of 24 , 000 troops plus 9 , 000 non - battle casualties . The German death toll is not documented . After the Battle of Hürtgenwald , the Battle of the Bulge began , starting at the area south of the Hürtgenwald , between Monschau and the Luxembourgish town of Echternach . This offensive was a last - ditch attempt by the Germans to reverse the course of the war . It cost the lives of many without producing any lasting success . There were serious clashes at other parts of the Siegfried Line and soldiers in many bunkers refused to surrender , often fighting to the death . By early 1945 the last Siegfried Line bunkers had fallen at the Saar and Hunsrück . The Siegfried Line as a propaganda tool . The Siegfried Line was much more valuable as a propaganda tool than as a military defence . German propaganda , both at home and abroad , repeatedly portrayed the line during its construction as an unbreachable bulwark . For the Germans , the building of the line represented the regime ' s defensive intentions , whereas for neighbouring countries it appeared threatening and reassuring at the same time . This strategy proved very successful from the Nazi point of view both at the start and at the end of World War II . At the start of the war , the opposing troops remained behind their own defence lines , allowing the Germans to attack Poland , and at the end of the war , the invading forces spent more time than necessary at the half - finished , now - gutted Siegfried Line , thus allowing military manoeuvres in the east . The Siegfried Line was the subject of a popular British song of 1939 which fitted the mood of the time for the troops marching off to France : We ' re going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line . Have you any dirty washing , mother dear ? We ' re gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line ' Cause the washing day is here . Whether the weather may be wet or fine We ' ll just rub along without a care . We ' re going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line If the Siegfried Line ' s still there . . . General George S . Patton — when asked about the Siegfried Line — reportedly said " Fixed fortifications are monuments to man ' s stupidity . " Post - war period . During the post - war period , many sections of the Siegfried Line were removed using explosives . " The unpleasant as a memorial " . In North Rhine Westphalia , about 30 bunkers still remain ; most of the rest were either destroyed with explosives or covered with earth . Tank traps still exist in many areas ; in the Eifel , for example , they run over several kilometres . Since 1997 , with the motto " The value of the unpleasant as a memorial " ( " Der Denkmalswert des Unerfreulichen " ) , an effort has been made to preserve the remains of the Siegfried Line as a historical monument . This was intended to stop radical fascist groups making propaganda out of the Siegfried Line . At the same time , state funding was still being provided to destroy the remains of the Siegfried Line . For this reason , emergency archaeological digs took place whenever any part of the line was removed , for example for road building . Archaeological activity was not able to stop the destruction of these sections but furthered scientific knowledge and revealed details of the line ' s construction . Nature conservation at the Siegfried Line . Nature conservationists consider the remains of the Siegfried Line valuable as a chain of biotope s where , thanks to its size , rare animals and plants can take refuge and reproduce . This effect is magnified because the concrete ruins can not be used for farming or forestry purposes .