Le Vieil Armand (Hartmannswillerkopf) WWI memorial
WWI mountain battlefield and national monument on the Route des Crêtes above Cernay. A long, steady road climb from Wattwiller — moving, panoramic, and quiet on weekdays.
History
The French press renamed it Vieil Armand. As a battlefield, it was known as the man-eating mountain.
Hartmannswillerkopf is a rocky spur in the Vosges whose summit stands at 956 m, with the Alsatian plain below it. Both armies judged it a vital strategic position. The French press renamed it "Vieil Armand" during the war; as a battlefield, it was known as the man-eating mountain.
Sources: memorial-hwk.eu › en, memorial-hwk.eu › hartmannswillerkopf-story · checked 12 October 2026
The fighting here cost seven thousand French and German soldiers their lives.
The fighting took place between December 1914 and January 1916, and claimed the lives of 7,000 French and German soldiers. The battlefield was fortified throughout the war; many of the shelters and trenches can still be visited and remain in remarkably good condition.
Source: memorial-hwk.eu · checked 12 October 2026
The 1932 monument is French. Nearby stands a Franco-German museum.
The "Hartmannswillerkopf 14-18" National Monument is one of four French national monuments to the Great War, with Douaumont, Dormans and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. It was designed by the architect Robert Danis and the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and inaugurated in October 1932 by President Albert Lebrun. A Franco-German Historial opened nearby in August 2017; alongside the battle, it tells of the rivalry and then friendship between France and Germany.
Source: memorial-hwk.eu · checked 12 October 2026
From the route
Leaves the route between Guebwiller and Cernay on day 5; 11.2 km one-way with 640 m of climbing on paved road.