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Festung

Festung is a generic German word for a fortress. Although it is not in common usage in English, it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:

  • For historical fortresses in Austria, Germany or Switzerland
  • As part of the excuse given by the German Army ( Heer) for the slow progress of the Siege of Warsaw
  • For German WWII strongholds which were to be held at all costs, especially towards the end of the war:
    • Atlantic wall or '' Festung Europa — a military propaganda term from the Second World War which referred to the areas of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany.
    • Stalingrad (see Battle for Stalingrad)
    • Warsaw ( Festung Warschau) see also the Warsaw Uprising
    • Poznań ( Battle of Posen)
    • Kolobrzeg ( Battle of Kolberg)
    • Piła (Festung Schneidemühl)
    • Wrocław ( Festung Breslau)
    • Budapest ( Battle of Budapest)
    • Kaliningrad ( Festung Königsberg)
  • For entire countries such as Norway which were heavily fortified in World War II. See Festung Norwegen.
  • For proposed post war German enclaves in places such as Brest and Trondheim.
  • For planned national redoubts such as Switzerland's National Redoubt (Schweizer Alpenfestung).