Der Friesenwall. An unfinished last-ditch coastal defence system

Hans Faber
May 4
5 min read

Updated: Jun 8

On 28 August 1944, a desperate Hitler ordered the construction of a huge defensive wall in the north of Germany, running all the way between the Netherlands and Denmark. A wall in case the Allies would open a fourth front. Following the Atlantikwall, it was named der Friesenwall, a name also referring to the sick national socialist myth of the so-called strong Frisians of pure Aryan race. The wall, approximately 240 kilometers long, was never completed. After four to five months, the construction was abandoned; the Nazi regime was collapsing. Despite the short period of time, it cost many men their lives. Most of the wall has been eradicated. With spade and rain, the grasslands were levelled soon again after the war. Only a few concrete and earthen structures remain; and its name.

The Friesenwall was a military defence system of obstacles and fortifications in several lines in succession. This included an anti-tank ditch of about 5 meters wide and 2.5 meters deep. The anti-tank ditch was built immediately behind the sea dike bordering the Wadden Sea. Furthermore, it consisted of trenches and more than 4,600 ringstände ‘ring positions’, also known as a tobruk or kazemat. These were small bunkers with a 360-degree gun position.

The wall was erected by, among others, the local population (sometimes even schoolchildren were put to work), the Hitlerjugend (‘Hitler Youth’), the Reichs Arbeits Dienst (‘national labour service’, RAD), 16,000 prisoners of war, as well as at least 6,000 Häftlinge (‘prisoners’) from Konzentrationslager (‘concentration camp’, abbr. KZ) Neuengamme. KZ Neuengamme was located near the city of Hamburg and was responsible for supporting the construction of the wall with enough labour. From KZ Neuengamme, prisoners were relocated to five satellite camps in the regions of Emsland, Ostfriesland, and Nordfriesland to help build the Friesenwall. These were (source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme):

KZ Aurich-Engerhafe (region of Ostfriesland), number of prisoners: 2,000; 188 deaths registered;
KZ Husum-Schwesing (region of Nordfriesland), number of prisoners: 2,500; 297 deaths registered;
KZ Ladelund (region of Nordfriesland), number of prisoners: more than 2,000; 300 deaths registered;
KZ Meppen-Dalum (region of Emsland), number of prisoners: 1,000; unknown number of deaths;
KZ Meppen-Versen (region of Emsland), number of prisoners: 1,800-3,000 prisoners; 472 number of deaths registered.

Alle these deaths happened only within a few months’ time. About half of the prisoners came from the Netherlands, while the rest came from all over Europe, mainly Denmark, France, and Poland, but also from Germany, Latvia, and Italy. Most of the men from the Netherlands were arrested during razzias in the month September 1944, in cities and towns like Gorinchem, Putten, Rotterdam, and Staphorst, and subsequently transported to the concentration camp Neuengamme.

The work was exceptionally tiring since clay soil is heavy to lift and move, and the groundwater of these (former) marshlands is just below the surface level. As a consequence, the prisoners stood shovelling with their feet and legs in the water. On top of this, during the autumn of 1944, it rained a lot as well, worsening the already wet working conditions even more. Lastly, the work had to be done with primitive tools, seven days a week, twelve hours a day.

clockwise — KZ Ladelund, Friesenwall near Schobüll-Husum, KZ Aurich-Engerhafe, near KZ Neuengamme, KZ Husum-Schwesing (sanitair barrack), KZ Husum-Schwesing (kitchen barrack), and KZ Meppen-Versen

The whole gigantic construction of the wall along the German Wadden Sea coast was pointless from the outset since it was clear that the Nazi regime was about to collapse when its construction was ordered by Hitler in late August 1944. In the beginning of June Operation D-Day took place on the coast of Normandy. Furthermore, between June and August, the Red Army advanced from the east during Operation Bagration, after which the Nazi army had to fight at a western and eastern front. A third, southern front was opened in mid-August with Operation Dragoon, after the Allies landed on the Mediterranean coast of France. Apparently, with the building of the Friesenwall, Hitler wanted to be prepared for even a fourth front in the north.

Already in December 1944, the construction of the wall was scaled down, and in February/March 1945, the construction was discontinued definitively. In the case of NZ Husum-Schwesing, 300 hundred men died within thirteen weeks between September and December (NDR 2024). The prisoners in the satellite camps were transported back to the main camp Neuengamme, either by foot or by train. During these transports between December 1944 and March 1945, many men died as well. A transport by foot, for example, via the town of Cloppenburg cost fifty men their lives. Once back in NZ Neuengamme, many camp prisoners died due to the harsh and horrible circumstances concerning food, clothing, hygiene, diseases, etc in the concentration camp.

As said, most of the Friesenwall has been eradicated after the war, and ditches and trenches have been levelled. Brought back to the barren flat grass landscape it was before. Only a few remains of this insane work are still visible to the eye in the green desert.

Note 1 — Somehow military defence walls appeal to the imagination. For this go to our blog post Another Brick in the Wall. A love-hate relationship and be amazed how many such walls, bulwarks, and fortifications from yesteryear already have gotten a UNESCO world heritage status.

Note 2 — Our blog post Refuge on a terp 2.0. Waiting to be liberated also concerns the end-game of the Second World War.

Note 3 — The term Friesenwall is also being used for a certain type of property boundary, made of field boulders, its top covered with earth. The more general German term for these walls is Friesenmauer ‘Frisian wall’. Authentic Friesenmauern can be found in the region of Nordfriesland in the north of Germany, especially on the Wadden Sea islands of Amrum and Sylt.