Czech hedgehog

Examples of Czech hedgehogs deployed on the Atlantic Wall in the vicinity of Calais

The Czech hedgehog's name refers to its origin in Czechoslovakia. The hedgehogs were originally used on the Czech–German border by the Czechoslovak border fortifications – a massive but never-completed fortification system that was turned over to Germany in 1938 after the occupation of the Sudetenland as a consequence of the Munich Agreement.

The first hedgehogs were built of reinforced concrete, with a shape similar to later metal versions. However, the concrete hedgehogs proved ineffective during tests as they could be substantially damaged by machine-gun fire. Once they were fragmented, the debris provided more cover for the enemy infantry than did their metal counterparts. Therefore, only the oldest sections of the Czechoslovak defensive line, built in 1935–1936, were equipped with concrete hedgehogs, and usually only in the second line.

Czech Hedgehogs Memorial in Moscow

The Czech hedgehog was widely used during World War II by the Soviet Union in anti-tank defense. They were produced from any sturdy piece of metal and sometimes wood, including railroad ties. Czech hedgehogs were especially effective in urban combat, where a single hedgehog could block an entire street. Czech hedgehogs thus became a symbol of "defense at all costs" in the Soviet Union; hence the memorial to Moscow defenders, built alongside the M-10 highway in 1966, is composed of three giant Czech hedgehogs.

Czech hedgehogs were part of the German defenses of the Atlantic Wall. During the invasion of Normandy, the Allies cut up sizable numbers of intact and wrecked hedgehogs and welded them to the front of their M4 Sherman and M5 Stuart tanks. Known as Rhino tanks, these proved very useful for clearing the hedgerows that made up the bocages across Normandy.

Entry point of the West Berlin S-Bahn into East Berlin near the Berlin Wall in Liesenstrasse/Gartenstrasse, 1980

Postwar tests conducted by the Czechoslovak army proved the low efficiency of the metal hedgehogs against heavy armored vehicles such as the Soviet ISU-152 and T-54 or German Panther. As many as 40% of attempts at breakthrough were successful; therefore, the army developed new anti-tank obstacles for the border fortifications instituted during the Cold War. Nevertheless, the metal hedgehog was still used as a quick road-block against wheeled vehicles.[1]

In early 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hedgehogs were used in conjunction with concrete barriers and other techniques to thwart Russian forces.[2] The Ukrainian Railways repurposed new tracks to make hundreds of hedgehogs at 33 of its own shops and some other sites. The railroad estimated they had enough material for some 1800 hedgehogs.[3][4] The Ukrainian military in Odesa,[5] Kyiv[6][7] and Lviv[8] also made hedgehogs to be distributed to strategic locations. In Kyiv, hedgehogs from WWII were brought out of a museum and used at a roadblock.[9]