Hitler's teeth (Hitlertennene)

Some of the remains are what is locally called "Hitlertennene"; the teeth of Hitler. They are big blocks of stone and were part of a chain of coastal forts to avoid allied invasions.

If you drive past Brusand at Jæren, you may notice the many stone and concrete blocks that lie along the road. Maybe you also wonder how they ended up here, and why?

"Teeth" as a measure against an allied invasion

The fear of an allied invasion was great among the Germans during World War II. Therefore, the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall) was built - a continuous chain of coastal forts, from the border between Spain and France in the south and north along the entire Norwegian coast. About 20% of the approximately 1,500 batteries that were built as part of the Atlantic embankment were in Norway. In other words, the Norwegian part of the embankment, "Festung Norwegen", was an important part of Hitler Germany's containment against a possible allied invasion. The large stone and concrete blocks at Brusand, or "Hitler's teeth" as they are also called, were one of the pieces in this project. They were made to prevent docking in this area at Jæren where the Germans feared that the allies could get ashore easily since it was so shallow here. Minefields were laid on the beach, and further up, large blocks of concrete or natural stone were laid in rows to stop any tanks and amphibious vehicles that came by sea.

Required many men at work

However, the construction of the "Hitler's teeth" at Brusand was not done overnight and required many men to work. From Dalane and southern Jæren, men were forcibly sent to work. Many did their part to sabotage the Germans' plans. One of them was Egil Renjo, who participated in setting up the concrete blocks at Brusand in the summer of 1943:

"Of course, we Norwegians were trying to "hurry slowly", here as elsewhere when it came to German work. But it was still necessary to keep a certain pace if one wanted to avoid being caught sabotaging, and perhaps being sent to Grini or worse places".

(Quote from Minne frå krigsåra i Hå 1940-1945 (Memories from the war years at Hå 1940-1945) (in Norwegian), published by Hå municipality.)

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