The Westwall, also known as the Siegfried Line, was a German defence line built during the late 1930s along Germany's western border. Stretching over 630 kilometers from the Netherlands to Switzerland, it was intended to protect Germany from invasion, particularly by France. It consisted of over 18,000 structures, including bunkers and tank traps.

Remarkably, a small part of the Westwall lies on French territory. After the French declaration of war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the French army retreated behind the Maginot Line. A plateau near the French town of Spicheren, close to the German border, was left undefended. The German army took up positions on "Spicherer Höhen". In December 1939, the first temporary shelters were built here. On 24 December 1939, Adolf Hitler visited the positions. The Spichern-Stellung was extended with bunkers and trenches from January to June 1940 and the line was integrated into the Westwall. The French artillery shelled the positions and the German soldiers killed by the shelling were buried in a small cemetery near the plateau.

After the war, most of the bunkers of the Westwall were destroyed. The bunkers of the Spicheren-Stellung were spared this fate. Today, the remaining bunkers and trenches provide a good insight into the structure of the former Westwall defence line.