Furkels: A Swiss Second World War Artillery Fortress
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Switzerland
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Swiss
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page13 sections
History
Furkels is a Swiss underground artillery fortress on St. Margrethenberg in Pfäfers, near Bad Ragaz. Construction began in November 1939, and the installation formed part of the Sargans Fortress, one of the major complexes in Switzerland’s Second World War Reduit, the defensive strategy of concentrating resistance in a fortified Alpine core.
Construction and wartime expansion
Furkels was ready for firing in 1940 with two 10.5 cm Model 1939 L52 guns mounted in armored turrets, rotating protected gun mountings. These weapons became operational by July 1940. Two further 10.5 cm armored turret guns were installed in 1941 and entered service in May 1942.
A third construction phase began in January 1945. It added four 15 cm bunker guns, firing from hardened chambers known as casemates. Their casemates were ready for firing between 1946 and 1947. With this armament, Furkels became one of the largest artillery works built in Switzerland.
Military organization and role
During the partial mobilization of 1943, Fortress Artillery Company 34 operated Furkels under Fortress Artillery Battalion 11. The battalion’s other companies handled communications, the Castels and Passati fortresses, Magletsch Fortress, and Haselboden. Battalion 11 belonged to Fortress Regiment 20, which also included Fortress Artillery Battalions 12 and 13, Motorized Cannon Battalion 32, Heavy Motorized Cannon Battalion 24, and Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battalion 33.
The work’s main task was to support troops in its defensive sector with artillery fire. Its operation also required guards, supply personnel, medical staff, and infantry. The resulting complement was 420 men, the largest garrison among the works in the Sargans region. Magletsch and Castels each had 400 men, although neither equaled Furkels in firepower.
Adaptation and declassification
The installation was repeatedly adapted to changing threats until the 1990s. Improvements included blast-resistant pressure doors, gas locks intended to protect against chemical weapons, and upgrades to existing equipment.
Furkels was decommissioned and declassified in 1998 during Army Reform 95. The Swiss Army sold the installation, and it was released from secrecy on 31 October 2002. The fortress opened as a museum with restaurant facilities in 2010 and remained accessible to the public from autumn 2010 until autumn 2018. Since January 2019, it has been owned by Erich Breitenmoser of Widnau.
Remains
Underground layout
Furkels is an underground artillery installation entered through a relatively narrow tunnel. Its main entrance, identified as A 6355, could admit trucks weighing up to 7.5 tonnes. The tunnel leads into a large protected handling room, where cargo was transferred away from the outside. A floor-mounted turntable allowed trucks to turn without the need to excavate a larger maneuvering cavern.
The fortress has approximately 7.6 kilometres of tunnels, together with troop accommodation and diesel generators. Its two underground levels are separated by about 20 metres of rock. An inclined tunnel connects them, while a transport lift and a parallel staircase provide vertical access. Other entrances and exits include Entrance 2, the Sappeur Bridge exit, the Concrete Bridge exit, and the West exit.
Handling room and access systems
The protected handling room and its turntable form part of the installation’s logistical system. The arrangement enabled vehicles to enter, transfer their loads, and change direction within the confined underground entrance area. A staircase leads to an armored turret equipped with a paternoster-type ammunition lift, a continuously circulating lifting system for moving ammunition.
Artillery positions
Armored turret guns
Four armored turret positions housed the 10.5 cm guns. They are identified as Armored Turret 1, Armored Turret 2, Armored Turret 3, and Armored Turret 4. The surviving installation includes views of an armored turret’s interior as well as the staircase and ammunition-lift arrangement serving one of the positions.
15 cm bunker guns
Four additional positions were built for 15 cm bunker guns, identified as Bunker Gun 1, Bunker Gun 2, Bunker Gun 3, and Bunker Gun 4. Their protected firing chambers include the embrasures, openings through which the guns fired. One internally visible 15 cm bunker gun has been dismantled, with its embrasure still forming part of the structure.
Observation and associated defenses
The installation included several internal or associated positions, including Stand Bild, Stand Tobel North, Stand Tobel South, Stand Tobel Centre, Stand Pilz, and the Prättigau observation post. An air-intake installation also formed part of the fortress infrastructure. An observation post directed or corrected artillery fire, linking the protected gun positions with the surrounding defensive system.
Observation posts and shelter caverns
The outer observation system included the Chimmispitz artillery observation post A 6352, which had a shelter for 50 men. The Pizalun artillery observation work and command post A 6353 coordinated military operations, while shelter cavern A 6354 provided protected space within the associated system.
External bunkers and communications
Additional defensive structures included East Bunker A 6356, North Bunker A 6357, and isolated positions A 6358, A 6359, A 6360, and A 6361. Anti-aircraft shelter caverns carried the designations A 6362 through A 6366. The communications facility F 13139 formed part of the external infrastructure.
The wider defensive arrangement also contained a partially covered section of the fortress, a side entrance, an armored turret, Stand Pilz, and machine-gun bunkers at North Bunker A 6357 and East Bunker A 6356. Together, these protected positions extended the fortress beyond its principal underground artillery chambers.
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