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Blue Line Challenge

Bernard Pommel (CC N°3094) is proposing this challenge.

This Challenge consists of crossing all 41 passes (surfaced and unsurfaced) on the Franco-German border as it was drawn between 1871 and 1918, following the tragic war of 1870.

History of the Franco-German border (1871-1918)

The Franco-German War of 1870-1871 had its origins in national and dynastic rivalries between the France of Napoleon III and Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck sought to unify the German states under Prussian leadership, thereby consolidating German power in Europe. The opportunity came with the candidacy of a Prussian prince to the Spanish throne, perceived by France as a threat to its influence. The Ems dispatch, skilfully modified by Bismarck to appear offensive, exacerbated tensions and prompted Napoleon III to declare war in July 1870.
Ill-prepared and poorly commanded, the French army suffered heavy defeats, notably at Sedan in September 1870, where Napoleon III was captured. The Prussians laid siege to Paris, which capitulated in January 1871 after months of hardship. The conflict ended with the proclamation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, a symbolic act that humiliated France. The Treaty of Frankfurt signed on 10 May 1871 imposed heavy financial reparations on France and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, exacerbating lasting hostility between the two nations. This war marked a geopolitical turning point in Europe, laying the foundations for the tensions that would lead to the First World War (notion of "revanchism", "Always think about it, never talk about it").
On the French side, Aimé Laussedat, a polytechnic engineer, was largely responsible for the precise design of this new boundary. This process, which was sometimes conflictual, required negotiations to adapt the line to geographical realities and local interests.
The new border imposed by the Treaty of Frankfurt, some 500 km long, sharply demarcated France from Germany. Stretching from the Vosges mountains in the north to the Rhine, it crossed a variety of landscapes: plains, forests and mountains. This line, marked by 4056 numbered milestones (some of which still exist) and geographical markers (posts), isolated the annexed territories, including Strasbourg, Metz and Mulhouse, from the German Empire. The border sometimes followed natural features, such as watercourses, to make it easier to identify. From the Donon to the Alsace balloon, it followed the ridge line of the Vosges (the "blue line of the Vosges", Jules Ferry; the expression "blue line of the Vosges" later took on the meaning of "the Franco-German border").
However, it also cut off villages and communities, breaking existing cultural and economic links. This demarcation, perceived as an open wound by France, symbolised a loss not only of territory but also of identity.
This border disappeared "de facto in 1918 with the entry of French troops, and de jure with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. But in reality, the border as such disappeared as early as 1914, in the fighting of the First World War". (Benoit Vaillot)

Bibliography

• Benoit Vaillot, "L'invention d'une frontière. Entre France et Allemagne, 1871-1914", Paris, Éditions du CNRS, 2023.
  Benoit Vaillot has developed a website dedicated to the Franco-German border 1871-1918, an inexhaustible mine of information: https://www.border1871.eu/
• Laurence Turetti, "Quand la France pleurait l'Alsace-Lorraine. Les 'provinces perdues' aux sources du patriotisme républicain 1870-1914", Strasbourg, La Nuée bleue, 2008.
• Kévin GŒURIOT, "Le Semeur de larmes. Roman historique autour de la frontière de 1871", Metz, Paraiges, 2019. (Novelised version of Aimé Laussedat's memoirs)

Route of the Franco-German border from 1871 to 1918, with the 41 passes located on this border

See Google map

Comment on the border line in this Google map: this is a rough line to fix things, except on the Haut-Rhin - Territoire de Belfort border, where we benefit from the extraordinary work carried out by Roland Guillaume to identify the border markers that still exist, enabling us to trace the border very precisely. See this link 

Rules and operation

To register for this Challenge, you need to fill in the registration form, accepting the rules of the Club des Cent Cols.

Registration form

• The passes must be climbed in accordance with the rules of the Cent Cols Club.
• Passes climbed before registering for the Challenge can be counted.
• The passes included in the Challenge are those listed in the catalogue on the date the Challenge was created. If passes are subsequently added in the zone concerned by the various additions, they will not be taken into account for the Challenge.
  
• The "Ligne Bleue" gold challenge is awarded after completing all 41 passes on the list drawn up in December 2024.
• The Silver Challenge is awarded after completing 75% of the list of passes (i.e. 31 passes).
• The bronze challenge is awarded after completing 50% of the list of passes (i.e. 21 passes).

There's no deadline, so if you love the mountains and history, treat yourself.

• A gold, silver or bronze certificate is awarded when the required number of passes has been climbed. Participants have the option of printing out the details of the Challenge themselves, or having them sent to them by the person in charge of the challenge for the sum of six euros to be paid to the Club des Cent Cols (6€ This sum includes the cost of the special paper, printing and postage). The Gold Challenge, and only this one, can be delivered in person at Club des Cent Cols events. Please make a request.
• A Roll of Honour of the holders of each Challenge and of the registered participants (with their degree of progression) will be drawn up. This Roll of Honour will be published on the Mailing List, the Forum, possibly on the website and in the Club Magazine.
• A number will be assigned in the order of registration.
• The annual declaration is made by sending the excel file to the person responsible for the Challenge : Bernard PommelThe person in charge analyses the results and draws up the Roll of Honour.
• Participants are asked not to hesitate to send their photos of passes or border crossings to : Bernard to publish their photos in the "thread" dedicated to the Challenge in the Forum, or to publish their photos themselves in this thread.

List of passes

There are 41 passes as defined by the Club des Cent Cols on the 1871 Franco-German border between Switzerland and Luxembourg. However, 40 of these passes are located on the "blue line of the Vosges*", the name chosen for this Challenge.

*From north to south from FR-54-0250 Col du Rudemont to FR-68-0758 Col du Montori

17 passes are surfaced, 24 are not. For the latter, there are 11 gradings 1 (generally cycleable with a road bike), 8 gradings 2 (not cycleable with a road bike, but where the bike is easy to push), and 5 gradings 3 (narrow, rocky or very steep path, difficult to push).
Contrary to what was announced in Revue n°53, the Charaille and Calvaire passes were not on the border but close by; the author, Bernard Biki Pommel, apologises for these errors. The Challenge now includes only 41 passes

Documentary links to find out more

War of 1870 
Ems dispatch
Sedan in September 1870
Treaty of Frankfurt
Alsace - Lorraine
Revanchism
Always think about it, never talk about it
Aimé Laussedat
Vosges Blue Line