On the same trip I mentioned in the WW2 Sites in Eastern France thread, after many years of 'nearly' and 'maybe', I finally fulfilled an ambition and made it to Pfetterhouse, where the Western Front petered out on the French/Swiss border. The famous colour photo of the border post, with a 'now' shot from last week are below. It was quite something to stand there and think of the sand at Nieuport, at the other end of the front, some 450 miles away. Not something I will forget in a hurry.
Nice Then and Now Paul.....I'm getting quite into these since I get the ATB bug It would be great to have a seperate thread dedicated to just these
Nice to know that there was still some part of the old front line you hadn't been to. I bet it did stir up some thoughts thinking of those events that happened north of there. Can you give us the GoogleEarth co-ords please Paul?
That is quite a photgraph. When you see photos like this we look back - I wonder what the "other folks" would think if they had the ability to look forward in time. Really apart from some minor changes on the house time has been very kind. Cheers Paul.
When you see photos like this we look back - I wonder what the "other folks" would think if they had the ability to look forward in time. I always wonder where they are now or what happened to the people in the 'then' pictures.
Paul, A good example of the before and after photos. Like time travel I suspect. Thanks for sharing. Regards Tom
A few pics from then. Le Haut-Rhin en juin 1917 : image 09= Frontière Suisse. Militaires français et suisses séparés par les grillages de la frontière. Pfetterhouse. (Photo Paul Castelnau) Courtoisie Archives photographiques - Centre des monuments nationaux et BnF - Gallica Frontière Suisse. Militaires suisses derrière le grillage marquant la frontière. Pfetterhouse. (Photo Paul Castelnau) Courtoisie Archives photographiques - Centre des monuments nationaux et BnF - Gallica Frontière Suisse. Militaires français devant le grillage marquant la frontière franco-suisse. Pfettershouse. (Photo Paul Castelnau) Courtoisie Archives photographiques - Centre des monuments nationaux et BnF - Gallica Frontière Suisse. Guérite bleue, blanc, rouge marquée R.F. avec sentinelle française. Pfetterhouse. (Photo Paul Castelnau) Courtoisie Archives photographiques - Centre des monuments nationaux et BnF - Gallica
How far away were the nearest Germans? Did they have a similar set up on their border with Switzerland? Planning on going to Luzern next summer so might try & call in here too on the way down. Then I too can say I've been to both ends of the Western Front. EDIT Found some info here. >> WW 1914-18
Found this on a few websites, a German trench up to the Swiss border. http://www.firstworldwar.com/photos/graphics/gws_gertrenchswiss_01.jpg
When you see colour photos of 14-18 some how they seem "odd" , we become conditioned to seeing black and white and expecting images to be presented in that format. These peaceful images make it almost seem as if the war had taken a day off.
Paul, Regards crossing the Border at this point today. Is it a fully manned Border post with guards ?
Paul, Regards crossing the Border at this point today. Is it a fully manned Border post with guards ? No, there wasn't a soul around while we were there.
