When we think about European battles of World War II, we typically imagine Germans or Italians fighting against the British, Americans, or Russians, and we might also extend that to the French, Dutch, Balkans, or Scandinavians. But what never crosses our minds is the Wehrmacht fighting against soldiers from Luxembourg. And yet, clashes did occur in that country, perhaps the most famous being the one at Vianden Castle.

Vianden is a town that today barely exceeds two thousand inhabitants. It is located in the Our Valley, in the northeastern region, very close to the German border. It originated from a Gallo-Roman castellum and during the Middle Ages became a center of artisans in various specialties (locksmithing, coopering, textiles…), combined with vineyards and pig farming, the latter also generating a considerable tanning activity. During this period, between the 11th and 14th centuries, the Counts of Vianden built their castle there. An earthquake followed by a fire left it so damaged that the owners moved to the Netherlands — they were the ancestors of the Orange-Nassau family — and the building was abandoned.

It was purchased in 1820 by a local merchant who not only sold off all its contents — doors, paneling, furniture… — but also its stones, leaving only pathetic ruins. A partial restoration was undertaken three decades later, although not completed. The chapel was the part that received the most attention, although the rest of the structure underwent enough of a renovation to allow for habitation of a portion, as evidenced by the fact that in 1871, the writer Victor Hugo stayed there. In 1890, Adolphe of Nassau-Weilbourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, commissioned a more extensive reconstruction that lasted until the outbreak of World War I. By then, it was almost finished, but the work was left incomplete, and could not be resumed because in 1939, the next global conflict arrived.

Poster announcing the death sentence for the Luxemburgers prosecuted for the 1942 general strike.
Poster announcing the death sentence for the Luxemburgers prosecuted for the 1942 general strike. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The country was occupied and annexed in 1940. Half of the army fled to join the Belgian, British, or Foreign Legion forces, and civilians also fled in an exodus. There were collaborationist entities, such as the pro-Nazi Volksdeutsche Bewegung (German Ethnic Movement), and a year later, the Luxembourg Resistance emerged, forming clandestine groups like Letzerburger Ro’de Lé’w (Red Lion of Luxembourg), PL-Men (Operating Underground), Lëtzeburger Patriote Liga (Patriotic League of Luxembourg), and several others. They focused mainly on hiding young men to prevent their recruitment by the Germans, but they also distributed anti-Nazi propaganda, helped political refugees cross into Allied territory, organized a general strike, and, when they had the equipment (which was rare), carried out acts of sabotage. However, they did not pose a significant problem for the Germans due to a lack of coordination, as the groups responded to different ideologies, with communist, liberal, and Catholic factions.

By the fall of 1944, the situation had changed: the Allies were advancing steadily across the continent, and the Wehrmacht was retreating toward Germany. As a result, most of Luxembourg was liberated by the U.S. Army, with only a few towns in the northeastern region remaining under enemy control. This, coupled with the fear of a possible counterattack — which indeed occurred a month later — prompted the members of the Resistance to abandon their guerrilla and irregular nature and form a national militia with compulsory military service. The Allies provided them with uniforms, weapons, and ammunition. Their main mission was to monitor the German border and warn of possible enemy troop concentrations, for which Vianden was an ideal location, especially its castle, which, in addition to being a fortress, was situated on a hill between 394 and 560 meters high, offering views into German territory.

But on November 15th, they did more than just observe. Upon discovering a small German patrol between the villages of Wiessen and Bettel, they attacked it, killing five. Although it was a minor skirmish—there were only eleven German soldiers and the Luxembourgers suffered no casualties—the German command understood that this castle was revealing their movements, so they decided to reclaim it by sending a unit of the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the Nazi Party, made up of soldiers from Germany as well as from occupied territories and others, provided they met Aryan racial standards. Operating in the area was the 7th Army under General Erich Brandenberger, who assigned a small contingent of 250 men to the operation.

Uniforms improvised by the Luxembourg Resistance for militiamen between 1944 and 1945.
Uniforms improvised by the Luxembourg Resistance for militiamen between 1944 and 1945. Credit: Brigade Piron / Wikimedia Commons

Facing them, the Luxembourgers had only about thirty militiamen. The situation was difficult because the Americans had left them equipment to hold their position but no reinforcements (though five Americans and a Belgian interpreter who had gotten lost joined them), so they evacuated the civilian population and took refuge in the castle, led by Victor Abens, a member of the LSAP (Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party, of social democratic tendency) and the Lëtzeburger Volleks Legio’n. On the morning of Sunday, November 19th, the time came for action. The Waffen-SS entered Vianden and attacked the castle, trying to breach the walls with their grenade launchers. Despite their numerical superiority, it took them quite a while to succeed because the defenders, shooting from cover, kept them at a distance.

They finally managed to blow up part of the wall, allowing six soldiers to enter and open the gate for the rest. However, inside the compound were many architectural structures and houses from which the militiamen continued their defense, forcing the attackers to take the area house by house. During the battle, they lost thirty-seven men compared to one on the opposing side (along with three seriously wounded, three lightly wounded, and a civilian who died in his home from a grenade explosion). Perhaps this discouraged the German officer in charge—whose identity is unknown—or he simply received orders to withdraw to join the bulk of the forces preparing a counteroffensive, as we will see; the fact is, the Luxembourgers victoriously held the position.

However, a month later, on December 16th, the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe jointly launched Operation Wacht am Rhein (Operation Watch on the Rhine, the title of a patriotic hymn), the feared counterattack we mentioned earlier, which caught the Allies by surprise. Although it was primarily carried out through the Belgian forests of the Ardennes, hence its name the Battle of the Ardennes (though in English is better known as the Battle of the Bulge and in German it is known as the Ardennenoffensive or Rundstedt-Offensive), the southern part was fought in Luxembourg. The Allies had to respond desperately, sending reinforcements and equipment to face the bitter winter, but in the end, they managed to contain the attack.

The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge. Credit: Wacht am Rhein map / Wikimedia Commons

The Battle of the Ardennes was declared over on January 25, 1945, and technically ended in a stalemate, but for the German army, it was a disaster: they lost tens of thousands of men and thousands of tons of material (tanks, cannons…), and the fear of another attempt led the Allies to request help from the USSR, which responded by launching the Vistula–Oder Offensive, bringing the Red Army within seventy kilometers of Berlin by early February. The Luxembourgish militiamen, incidentally, contributed their small part, firing from the castle on the paratroopers of the 4th Fallschirmpionier Company of the 5th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Hans Pridge. However, due to the size of the German attack, they eventually had to flee and join the Americans.

After the conflict, the highly decorated Victor Abens was named a national deputy and mayor of Vianden. In 1964, he was also elected a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and in 1979, a Member of the European Parliament. He retired in 1987 and passed away six years later in Liège. In memory of his feat, Vianden’s town square was renamed after him.

As for the castle, it proved to have some military value even for modern warfare, but its use has since been geared toward tourism. In 1962, the armory was restored, and starting in 1977, after the castle was transferred to the state, a rehabilitation was undertaken, which was completed thirteen years later. Today, it is open to the public, and ironically, many of its visitors are German.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 4, 2019: Cuando 36 luxemburgueses defendieron el castillo de Vianden ante 250 Waffen-SS

SOURCES

Anthony Beevor, Ardenas 1944. La última apuesta de Hitler

Peter Schrijvers, The unknown dead. Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge

Aloyse Raths, Unheilvolle Jahre für Luxemburg: années néfastes pour le Grand-Duché

John Toland, Battle. The story of the Bulge

Patricia Sheehan, Luxembourg

Wikipedia, Battle of Vianden

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