The original Siegfried Line (German:Siegfriedstellung) was a First World War line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany in northern France during 1916–17 as a section of the Hindenburg Line. In English the term "Siegfried Line" commonly refers to the "Westwall", the German term for a similar Second World War-era defensive line built further east during the 1930s opposite the French Maginot Line.