Festung

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Festung is a generic German word for a fortress. Whilst it is not in common usage in English it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:

• For historical fortresses in Austria, Germany or Switzerland
• As part of the excuse given by the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) for the slow progress of the Siege of Warsaw
• For German WWII strongholds which were to be held at all costs, especially towards the end of the war:
• Stalingrad (Festung Stalingrad)
• Warsaw (Fortress Warsaw, or Festung Warschau) see also the Warsaw Uprising
• Poznan (Festung Posen)
• Kolobrzeg (Fortress Kolberg, or Festung Kołobrzeg)
• Wrocław (Festung Breslau)
• Budapest (Festung Budapest)
• For entire countries such as Norway which were heavily fortified in World War II. See Fortress Norway (Festung Norwegen).

Festung Amerika

"Fortress America" (or Festung Amerika) is an analogous derogatory term used by some for American post 9/11 Homeland security efforts.

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Last updated on Monday February 11, 2008 at 12:08:33 PST (GMT -0800)
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