European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A visitor books through the sights of a 7.5mm twin machine gun mount in Block 1. The sign Points out that the weapons could fire 1,000 rounds a minute. Ass restored and reopened stories and photos by Bill Walker staff writer fort Casso was completed just As world War ii began. A few months later this Maginot line infantry fortress on the Rohrbach plateau was out of action never captured but surrendered As part of the French armistice. Casso had been envisioned As a major fortress with eight Battle blocks but budget cuts and the impending War left it with Only three armed blocks by the time it was completed in 1938. It bore the name Rohrbach fortress and was later renamed fort Casso in Honor of an officer who served there during the War. During the Cerman breakthrough along the Lorraine front in june 1940, Casso was bombarded by artillery and attacked by infantry. The germans struck first on june 22 and again two Days later. But the fort got artillery support from the guns of the big Simser Hof fortress Only four Miles away and the attackers fell Back. A Day after the last attack the armistice was signed. The most outstanding feature about Casso is not its past but its future As a tourist attraction. It was opened for Public viewing in Spring 1990 after three years of renovation. The fort is on the outskirts of Rohrbach Les Bitch about 25 Miles across the Border from the German City of we Brucken. 7ort Casso was maintained by the French military until 1974, organizers said. Until that time All the equipment worked and the Telephone lines to the Simser Hof still functioned. In the years after 1974, robbers gutted the Interior and rust and water ravaged what was left. 8 stripes Magazine november 22, 1990 Only in 1987, when the town of Rohrbach got authorization to take Over the underground Complex did the situation improve. A band of dedicated volunteers spent three years restoring the place the fort was rewired waterlines reworked hundreds of new lights installed and All machinery put Back in order. Today fort Casso in probably the cleanest of the restored forts in the Maginot line. Even the Simser Hof which is still maintained by the French military does not have a tidier look about it. Visitors begin their tour at Block 2 and descend the stairwell to the gallery nearly 100 feet below ground. There the Crew of 173 men lived much like submariners. Dimmed hallways cramped Barracks Bays with steel frames for sleeping hammocks one Shower for the whole Crew All were part of the subterranean life. The guide Points out a bed in the officers Quarter show to aet there to reach fort Casso take the autobahn via Kaiserslautern and we Brucken. Follow Highway 424 from we Brucken Over the Border to Bitch then the n62 to Rohrbach Les Bitch. Take n62 out of Rohrbach turning right on the d84 in the direction of cuisine. Fort Casso is just across the Railroad tracks a few Hundred meters on the right. The fort is open every saturday and sunday from 3 to 5 . Groups May arrange special visits by calling the Rohrbach City Hall at 0033-87 0970 95. Admission is 12 francs or the equivalent in German Marks. Special group rates Are available