Our second year running, we are ecstatic to be returning to Stronghold this spring! Hundreds of re-enactors descend upon Oregon, IL to bring history to life. The most unique moment of the weekend is the Battle for Castle Itter, a situation in which the German and American armies banded together to defend the historic Castle Itter from the SS. 

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On May 5, 1945, troops of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division of the US XXI Corps led by Captain John C. "Jack" Lee, Jr., a number of Wehrmacht soldiers led by Major Josef Gangl, a Waffen-SS officer who defected, and recently freed French prisoners of war defended Castle Itter against an attacking force from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division until relief from the American 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division of XXI Corps arrived.

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