Fulda Gap

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The Fulda Gap (German: Fulda-Lücke), an area between the Hesse-Thuringian border, the former Inner German border, and Frankfurt am Main, contains two corridors of lowlands through which tanks might have driven in a surprise attack by the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies to gain crossings of the Rhine River. Named for the town of Fulda, the Fulda Gap became seen as strategically important during the Cold War of 1947–1991. The Fulda Gap roughly corresponds to the route along which Napoleon chose to withdraw his armies after defeat (16–19 October 1813) at the Battle of Leipzig. Napoleon succeeded in defeating a Bavarian-Austrian army under Wrede in the Battle of Hanau (30–31 October 1813) not far from Frankfurt. From there he escaped back to France. From 1815, the area appeared of minimal strategic importance, as it lay deep within the borders of the German Confederation and from 1871 of the German Empire. German military planning presumed any war would be effectively lost, long before...

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