Hill 400, Bergstein

Hill 400 is the name given by Allied forces during World War II to a 400-meter-high (1312.4 ft) hill located one kilometer east of the village center of Bergstein, Germany (near Brandenberg). Today this hill is predominantly called by its civil name "Burgberg" (English: castle mountain or castle hill). This small mountain provides a view over the entire Hürtgen Forest (German: Hürtgenwald) area and was strategically important as a vantage point and German artillery station during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in 1944.

The Hürtgen Forest occupies a wooded plateau and its deep, heavily forested valleys between treeless rigelines. Hill 400 dominates the area and is at the end of the Brandenberg–Bergstein ridge, next to the Rur valley.

On Thursday, December 7, 1944, the "New York Times" reported that the 2nd Rangers had captured Bergstein, and castle hill. In a follow up report on the December 11 the "Times" reported that “ [e] nemy attempts to regain Hill 400 east of Bergstein have been repulsed.”

Dramatization

* The Battle for Hill 400 was recreated for the singleplayer mode of "Call of Duty 2".
* The battle was featured on the History Channel series Shootout! in the episode "WWII Assault on Germany"

External links

* [http://www.historynet.com/wwii/blkommerscheidt/ Hopes Dashed in the Hürtgen] By Edward G. Miller and David T. Zabecki, August 16, 2005, originally an article in "World War II" magazine
* [http://home.scarlet.be/~cv920172/ScoWeb.htm Hill 400 map]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Lammersdorf&sll=50.694718,6.424255&sspn=0.389722,1.2854&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=50.694718,6.444426&spn=0.024358,0.080338&t=h&om=1 Google maps hybrid view] of Bergstein and Hill 400 directly east of it