Under Construction
The Zuckerhut, or in French ‘Pain de Sucre’ is a 807 meter high hill near the village of Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, or ‘Markirch’ as the Germans called it. It was used by the Germans to bring up supplies to the front lines, using cable cars and mules. On the top and West and South sides they built a strong defence line, which looked out to La Cude.
On our visit in 2016 we only had time to visit the top of the hill.
At the southern end of the Zuckerhut there is a strong point called Vorwerk Falkenhausen. Behind it lies the shelter for a permanent guard.
A tablet was made by the Landsturm Infanterie Bataillon Passau 1. They spend time in this sector from October 1914 until January 1916. They also left a beautiful mosaic on the other site of the valley, at the ‘Haïcot’.
The tablet was destroyed some years ago by vandals, but has been replaced with a new one. It reads:
Waffe und Werkzeug
Kämpften den Kampf
Schuten den Schutzwall
Der Heimat zum Hüter
Hielten den Bachwacht
Dem Welschen zur Wehr
28 Oktober 1914- Januar 1916
Landsturm Inf. Bataillon Passau 1
There seems to be a mistake in the text on the new plate. On an original photo (which cannot be posted here due to copyrights) it does not say ‘Hielten die Bachwacht’ but ‘Hielten die Hochwacht’.
