Hohlgangsanlage tunnels, Jersey

Hohlgangsanlagen
German Tunnels
Part of Atlantic Wall
Jersey
The northernmost entrance to Ho2 in St. Peter
Flag of the German occupying forces
Site information
OwnerOwner of land above tunnel
Controlled byStates & private ownership
Open to
the public
One open to the public, others can be visited with land owners permission.
ConditionOne fully restored, others maintained, most abandoned
Site history
Built1941–1945
Built byFestungsbaubataillone, 4/Gesteinsbohr-Kompanie Btl. 77, Reichsarbeitsdienst, Organisation Todt, various contractors German and local
MaterialsConcrete, steel, and timber
DemolishedSome (by both Germans and British)
EventsGerman occupation of the Channel Islands
Plan of Ho2, a ration store. Tunnels were built to similar designs depending on their intended use
The entrance to Ho19
This rail tunnel formed the entrance to Ho5
The main entrance of Ho8
Central section of Ho2
A tunnel in Ho8
One of the entrances to Ho1, a privately owned tunnel

Hohlgangsanlage are a number of tunnels constructed in Jersey by occupying German forces during the occupation of Jersey. The Germans intended these bunkers to protect troops and equipment from aerial bombing and to act as fortifications in their own right.

The word Hohlgangsanlage can be translated as "cave passage installations".[1][2] The Channel Island tunnels are the only ones on the Atlantic wall to be referred to as Hohlgangsanlagen.

All the tunnels except for Ho5 are incomplete, and some never progressed beyond planning. The partly complete tunnels are, nonetheless, substantial in size. Completed sections were used for various purposes such as storage.[2]

In 1944, when construction stopped, 244,000 m3 of rock had been extracted for tunnel digging collectively from Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney (the majority from Jersey). At the same point in 1944, the entire Atlantic Wall from Norway to the Franco-Spanish border, excluding the Channel Islands, had extracted some 225,000 m3.[2]

  1. ^ Stephenson, Charles (28 February 2006). The Channel Islands 1941–45: Hitler's Impregnable Fortress. ISBN 9781841769219. Retrieved 1 October 2012.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c Jersey's German Tunnels by Michael Ginns MBE, CIOS Jersey