Fort Lauvallieres

The Infanterie-Werk Belle-Croix, renamed Fort Lauvallière after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz.

Historical context
During The Annexation, Metz, will oscillate between a German garrison of between 15,000 and 20,000 men at beginning of period and will exceed 25,000 men just before the First World War, gradually becoming the first stronghold of German Reich. Built in the early XX th century, the infantry works and barracks of Lauvallière completed the Second fortified belt of Metz composed of Festen Wagner (1904-1912),  Crown Prince  (1899 - 1905),  Leipzig  (1907–1912),  empress  (1899-1905),  Lorraine  (1899-1905),  Freiherr von der Goltz  (1907–1916),  Haeseler  (1899-1905),  Prince Regent Luitpold (1907-1914) and I-werke Belle-Croix (1908-1914). This fort was part of a wider program of fortifications called "Moselstellung" encompassing fortresses scattered between Thionville and Metz in the valley Moselle. The aim of Germany was to protect against a French attack to take back Alsace-Lorraine from the German Empire.

Overall design
The fortification system was designed to accommodate the growing advances in artillery since the end of XIX th century. Based on new defensive concepts, such as dispersal and concealment, the fortified group was to be, in case of attack, an impassable barrier for French forces. From 1899, the Schlieffen plan of the German General Staff designed the fortifications of the Moselstellung, between Metz and Thionville to be like a lock for blocking any advance of French troops in case of conflict. This concept of a fortified line on the Moselle was a significant innovation compared to système Séré de Rivières developed by the French. It later inspires the engineers of the Maginot Line.

Construction and facilities
Built between 1908 and 1914 in the northeast of Metz in Moselle, the infantry works occupies a plot of 47 ha. It is located on the communal banns of Coincy, Nouilly and Vantoux near the intersection of roads Saarbrücken and of Saarlouis. The fort is named after the hamlet Lauvallières, located two kilometers to the east. A cross carved on the building reads "Belle-Croix 1908-1912".

The fort could hold two hundred men and had  :
 * three infantry observatories with armored fixed turrets and thirteen gatehouse observatories;
 * telephone central command;
 * centralised heating;
 * two hundred meters of underground galleries;
 * four 22-horsepower diesel engines driving four dynamos of 14.5  kW.

Successive assignments
From 1890 the garrison relief is guaranteed by the fort troops Corps XVI stationed at Metz and Thionville. In November 1918, the fort was again occupied by the French army. In early September 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Metz, the German command integrates the fort into the defensive system set up around Metz.

See as well

 * Forts of Metz
 * Fortifications of Metz
 * Battle of Metz