How 30 Luxembourgers from the resistance stopped an attack by a numerically far superior German SS force
Although Luxembourg was liberated by the U.S. Army as early as September 1944 during World War II, German troops were not far away – they had withdrawn across the border and taken up defensive positions along several rivers (Moselle, Sauer, and Our). In Luxembourg itself, immediately after liberation, the resistance movement was armed (mostly with American weapons) in case the Germans launched another offensive.
But before we turn to this important battle, let us place Luxembourg in its historical context. At the start of World War II, Luxembourg had about 300,000 inhabitants (today it has around 600,000). German forces initially invaded Luxembourg on 10 May 1940; the country was first occupied and then annexed into Germany in 1942. During this time, an intensive “Germanization” policy was carried out on the local population, along with forced recruitment into the Wehrmacht. Resistance existed even under occupation and culminated in a general strike in 1942 against conscription into the German army. Of course, as in many places across Europe, Luxembourg also had Nazi collaborators (the political group Volksdeutsche Bewegung). The ruler of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess Charlotte, fled together with the government, forming a government-in-exile that operated from London throughout the war. Luxembourgish soldiers fought on the Allied side from the very beginning until the country’s liberation.
So, it is late autumn 1944. Luxembourg had been liberated by the American army several months earlier, but the danger remained that the Germans might attempt a counterattack. Strategically, the best view of German positions across the border was from the ancient hilltop castle of Vianden. From there, Luxembourgish forces could observe German positions and report their movements to Allied forces.
Naturally, the Germans were aware of this and were far from pleased that they were being watched from the high castle. Matters escalated on 15 November when Luxembourgish forces spotted a German patrol approaching. They decided to attack – five of the eleven Germans were killed, while the Luxembourgers suffered no casualties. Following this incident, German command decided that Vianden Castle had to be captured. They believed this would be easy, given that American troops were no longer present.
The battle for the castle began. The leader of the Luxembourgish resistance, Victor Abens, ordered the evacuation of civilians from the town of Vianden (at the top of which stands the castle of the same name), but instead of abandoning the entire area to the German offensive, he decided to keep a total of 30 fighters inside the castle itself.
It was Sunday morning, 19 November 1944, when German forces attacked the small town of Vianden with around 250 members of the notorious Waffen-SS units. They quickly passed through the already-evacuated town (Vianden today has only about 1,800 inhabitants; back then it had even fewer) and advanced on the castle. First they shelled it with mortars, but the ancient walls served their purpose and prevented the enemy from entering easily.
Only a few Germans managed to break into the castle itself, where house-to-house fighting ensued. As the hours passed, however, German casualties mounted while their objective remained unachieved. In the end, the Germans concluded that they would rather abandon the castle than pile up more bodies in front of it – by the end of the day they withdrew. A total of 18 German soldiers were killed, while the Luxembourgish forces lost only one man.
It was a great and symbolically important victory for the Luxembourg resistance, which had successfully repelled German attackers who outnumbered them eight to one. Of course, the celebration could not last long, because already in late 1944 – in December – the last major German offensive on the Western Front began: the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s final attempt to reverse the course of the war (or at least secure more favorable peace terms with the Allies). During that push westward, the German army, with around 250,000 soldiers, among other places recaptured Vianden and the castle itself, but by the end of January 1945 Hitler’s last western offensive had failed.
A few words about the castle itself: Located in northern Luxembourg, Vianden Castle is one of the largest fortified castles west of the Rhine. It was first built in the 10th century (initially in Romanesque style, later with Gothic elements added). From the 17th century it was abandoned (the Counts of Vianden received a new title and thus a new castle), and by the 19th century it was largely in ruins. Today, however, it has been fully restored and is open to visitors (the story of the battle certainly attracts history enthusiasts).
Although Vianden is a small town, the famous 19th-century French writer Victor Hugo lived and worked there for a time. He was fascinated by Vianden and mentions it several times in his poetry collection L’Année terrible.
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