What was the German codename for the Battle of the Bulge?

The German codename for the Battle of the Bulge was Wacht am Rhein, meaning “Watch on the Rhine.”

The offensive began on 16 December 1944 in the densely forested Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg. Adolf Hitler hoped to split the Allied armies, seize Antwerp, and force the Western Allies into negotiations. The attack achieved surprise partly because bad weather limited Allied reconnaissance and German troop movements were concealed.

The codename came from Die Wacht am Rhein, a German patriotic song. It was also deliberately misleading: the name suggested a defensive operation protecting Germany’s western frontier, while the actual plan was a major westward assault. The formal German name is often written Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, or “Operation Watch on the Rhine.”

English-speaking countries usually call the campaign the Battle of the Bulge because wartime maps showed the German advance creating a large bulge in the Allied front line. The offensive ultimately failed and ended in late January 1945.