''Festung'' is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

word for

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

. Although it is not in common usage in English, it is used in contexts related to Central European, especially German, history. The term is used: * In the names of

es in German speaking Europe * For fortified areas in Switzerland's

National Redoubt A national redoubt or national fortress is an area to which the (remnant) military forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost or even earlier if defeat is considered inevitable. Typically, a region is chosen with a geogra ...

* In German World War Two propaganda for: ** Festung Europa — The defensive buildup of Western Europe against the Allies *** Vital locations along the

Atlantic wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

, including the entirety of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

** For key strategic locations which were to be held at all costs, especially towards the end of the war *** Festung Stalingrad following the city's encirclement in

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus () was a Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad: the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romani ...

*** Festung Warschau — used in different contexts in 1939 and 1944 *** Festung Posen *** Festung Kolberg *** Festung Breslau *** Festung Budapest *** Festung Königsberg *** Alpenfestung — the planned national redoubt ** For proposed post war German exclaves in key places such as Brest and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

References

{{SIA German words and phrases

See also

References