(CNN) — The remains of more than 200 German soldiers who were buried alive in a tunnel in north-eastern France during World War I will not be recovered.
Instead, the German government decided to declare the burial site a war memorial and place it under state protection.
Germany’s war graves commission, the Volksbund, and the French government announced the decision at the Caverne du Dragon museum in northeastern France on Friday followingnoon.
“Rescue efforts to reach the wreckage in 2021 and 2022 were very difficult,” a Volksbund spokeswoman told CNN on Friday, adding that there had been “several attempts” to open the “very deep and very long” tunnel, which it is located in a nature reserve with “sandy soil still contaminated with munitions”.
Although the Franco-German team managed to advance as far as 64 meters (210 feet) through the tunnel, “they did not find any remains,” the spokesman said.
Many World War I battles took place between the French armed forces and German troops positioned on the Chemin des Dames, or “Lady’s Way”, a ridge between two valleys.
On May 4, 1917, during one of the biggest battles of the war, the French Army fired heavy artillery on German soldiers. An artillery shell hit the entrance to the Winterberg tunnel on the Chemin des Dames, according to the Volksbund.
The Volksbund, the German war graves commission, along with their French partners confirmed the location of the Winterberg tunnel in May last year.
Some of the German troops, part of Baden’s 111th Reserve Infantry Regiment, fled further into the tunnel, where stored ammunition had exploded and toxic gases were being released.
The soldiers created a barricade to try to protect themselves from the poison gases until they might be rescued, but heavy shelling prevented help from reaching them.
The tunnel entrance collapsed during the attack and only three soldiers out of an infantry of more than 200 survived. The rest suffocated, died of thirst or shot themselves.
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts, including illegal ones, to find the entrance to the tunnel buried in the Vauclair State Forest, according to the Volksbund.
Last May, more than a century following the event and following years of work, the Volksbund and its French partners used precision drilling to confirm the location of the tunnel, uncovering a large cavity deep underground, with the burial site intact. .
By designating the site as a memorial, the German and French authorities hope to dignify and protect the soldiers’ resting place. “This ensures that the soldiers continue to rest in peace,” a Volksbund spokeswoman said.
“Over the past years and months we have been cooperating with our French partners in a spirit of trust,” said Dirk Backen, CEO of the Volksbund.
“We are very grateful for that, and we are pleased to be able to present a joint solution today,” he added.
Once the legal requirements for a war cemetery site are met, planning will begin for the memorial site, which might open as early as next year, French and German officials said.
