Douaumont

Douaumont
Cemetery
Douaumont
Location within Lorraine region  Douaumont
Administration
Country	France
Region	Lorraine
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Verdun
Canton	Étain
Statistics
Elevation	240–395 m (790–1,296 ft) (avg. 380 m/1,250 ft)
Land area1	6.14 km2 (2.37 sq mi)
Population2	6  (1999)
- Density	1 /km2 (2.6 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	55164/ 55100
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 49°13′15″N 5°25′56″E / 49.2208333333°N 5.43222222222°E / 49.2208333333; 5.43222222222

Douaumont is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.

The village was destroyed during World War I. Today the Douaumont ossuary, which contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown soldiers of both French and German nationalities found on the battlefield, stands high above the landscape.

Douaumont Fort

Main article: Fort Douaumont

Douaumont Fort - General view

The construction work for Fort de Douaumont started in 1885 and the fort was continually reinforced until 1913. The fort is situated on some of the highest ground in the area. At the very beginning of the Battle of Verdun (February 1916) and due to French unpreparedness, the fort was easily captured by a small German raiding party. Douaumont was later recaptured by the French army in October 1916, after major casualties on both sides.

See also

• Douaumont ossuary
• Zone rouge (First World War)
• French villages destroyed in the First World War
• Communes of the Meuse department

References

"Douaumont.Verite et Legende", Alain Denizot,1998,Librairie Academique Perrin,ISBN 2-262-01388-8.

• "Fort Douaumont" (Revised edition),Christina Holstein, 2010, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 978-1-84884-345-5 .

External links

• Les fort Séré de Rivières le fort de Douaumont
• Douaumont ossuary
• GPS-Teamprojekt "Verdun - Somme - 1916"
• Photos of exterior and interior of Fort Douaumont