It was built by Germany to the west of the town of Rozérieulles in the early 20th century as part of the third and final group of Metz fortifications.

The fortification program was started after the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War, which resulted in the annexation of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from France to Germany.

The Fort Jeanne d'Arc was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1899 and 1908.

The infantry positions, fortified barracks and artillery batteries were dispersed and concealed in natural and constructed topography.

[1][2] From 1899, the Germans viewed Metz and Thionville as a secure position that could provide an anchor for a pivoting movement into France from the Low Countries.

[4] The fortified barracks were built into a hillside so that their rears are shielded by earth, while the tops and fronts are protected by three or four metres of concrete, and are surmounted by parapets.

The whole was surrounded by deep networks of barbed wire, which were swept by fire from small perimeter blockhouses, also linked via the tunnel system.

[2] The fort's surface extends over 121 hectares (300 acres)[4] The dispersed, un-walled nature of the later Moselstellung was a significant innovation.

Compared to the French Séré de Rivières system forts of the same era, German fortifications were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire.

[5] During the Battle of France the Metz area was bypassed and encircled by German forces, with the Maginot and earlier fortifications seeing little action before the Armistice of 1940.

In mid-November a renewed attack was launched by XII and XX Corps to envelop and eventually bypass Metz.

[8][9] Following the war, Fort Jeanne d'Arc was selected to become a NATO control center for air defense operations, manned by American, Canadian and French personnel.

After France's withdrawal from the NATO integrated command structure in 1967, the center was operated solely by the French, finally abandoned in the late 1990s.