Barbed wire and watchtower in East Prussia. Hitler's Headquarters Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze, Wolfschanze)

Wolf's lair, Wolfschanze (German Wolfsschanze) - the main headquarters of the Fuhrer and the command complex of the High Command armed forces Germany. Hitler spent over 800 days here. It was from here that he led the attack on Soviet Union and fighting on the Eastern Front. On July 20, 1944, an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler was made here (which was later filmed in the film "Operation Valkyrie" with Tom Cruise). Hitler's headquarters - Wolfsschanze (Russian Wolf's lair). located in the Gerlozh forest, 8 km from Kętrzyn. Construction began in the spring of 1940. On all maps and plans, the object was displayed as Chemische Werke Askania (Askania Chemical Plant). Construction was carried out by the organization Todt. Approximately 2-3 thousand workers were building. There were three main periods in construction: 1940-41, 1942-43, and the last - spring, winter and early autumn 1944 The work schedule was designed to strengthen the Fuhrerbunker and other powerful bunkers. Wolfsschanze was Hitler's largest headquarters, and practically represented real city. More than eighty bunkers and fortified structures were built in the middle of a dense forest, located on a protected area of ​​​​250 hectares and surrounded by several rings of barbed wire, minefields, observation towers, machine gun and anti-aircraft positions. The width of the minefields was 50-350 m. Almost until 1956, the demining operation lasted. Approximately 54,000 mines and approximately 200,000 ammunition were found. To protect against detection from the air, mock trees and a camouflage net were used. It was changed 4 times a year, in accordance with the environment, therefore, there was no difference between the objects and the environment. The walls of many bunkers were lined with algae and then painted green or grey colour. The entire area was photographed from the air in order to test the camouflage. The entrance to the territory was possible only through three security posts. In 1944, about 2000 people served the Wolf's Lair - 300 field marshals, generals and adjutants; 1200 soldiers of Hitler's escort battalion; 150 intelligence service and SS guards; 300 administration workers, drivers, electricians, mechanics, stenographers and secretaries, waiters, hairdressers, etc. Hitler first came here on June 24, 1941 after the attack on the Soviet Union. The evacuation of the German command from Wolfsschanze came suddenly, when the Red Army had already come too close. On January 24, 1945, just before the arrival of the Soviet troops (January 27, 1945), Field Marshal Keitel ordered the destruction of the Wolfsschanze so that no one else could use it. There was not a single deliberate attempt to destroy the Wolf's Lair, although its existence and exact location were known to American intelligence as early as October 1942.

Plan of the entire territory of the Wolf's lair. We are located in the central part:

Plan of the central part:

The only fully preserved object. It was used by the SS escort. Now there is a restaurant and a hotel. Here we spent the night and had breakfast before going to see everything that will be discussed further:

Former SS barracks and intelligence services:

Summer bunker of light type. Conferences and meetings were mainly held here. On July 20, 1944 Colonel Staufenberg arrived here. In a suitcase, he brought a bomb activated by chemical explosives. The bomb went off as planned, but instead of Hitler, four other people were killed:

Stauffenberg had direct access to Hitler's headquarters, thanks to his promotion to the rank of colonel and appointment as commander-in-chief of the reserve army headquarters. On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg, using tongs, broke an ampoule containing acid to set a timer on a bomb and hid it in his briefcase. He did not have time to activate the second bomb, as he was interrupted by the announcement of the beginning of the meeting with Hitler. Only one of the two prepared explosives was activated, the second remained in the assistant Heften's briefcase. Staufenberg walked 300 meters to the barracks, where meetings were always held, put his briefcase next to Hitler, on the right near the table leg and left under the pretext of a telephone conversation. Between 12:45 and 12:55 the bomb exploded. Four people were mortally wounded, others were injured. Hitler himself was slightly wounded. Staufenberg and his assistant managed to leave the Wolf's Lair in a staff car. At night, the plot was revealed. Staufenberg, as well as the deputy commander of the reserve army, General Olbricht and Colonel Merz von Kvirnheim, were shot. Hitler immediately convened a special committee, known as the Sonderkommando, to clarify the circumstances and all those involved in the assassination. As a result, about 5,000 people were arrested, many were subjected to cruel torture, then shot or hanged with extreme cruelty, the rest died in concentration camps, or committed suicide.

I did not write in detail about the assassination attempt, those who are interested can watch the film "Operation Valkyrie"

The memorial plaque was erected 48 years after the assassination attempt. The three sons of Stauffenberg attended the opening ceremony.
It is written here:
This was the site of the barracks where Claus Schenk Earl von Staufenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler on July 20th, 1944. He and many others who fought against Hitler's dictatorship gave their lives for this attempt:

Monument to the sappers who died during mine clearing of the territory:

Huge guest bunker. Its length is 45 meters, width is 27 meters; the roof is 6.5 m. In all this pile of concrete there were only two rooms, with an area of ​​85 square meters. meters, the rest - walls, roofs and corridors:

Nothing from the interior was left, the Bunker was blown up from the inside. Pay attention to the thickness of the ceiling:

Most of the bunkers had double ceilings and walls.

Anti-aircraft artillery towers were installed on each heavy-type bunker. Throughout the territory on the trees, birdhouses for bats:

To the right is the former guest dining room:

Former mail:

Stenographers' office - almost 45 meters long:

This huge bunker is used as a guard for a sauna, an underground food storage and other nearby premises:

It’s dark inside and after 5 meters everything is littered:

Leftovers from Bunker Keitel - Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. Caring visitors do not let the multi-ton wall fall and substitute sticks:

Dining room Keitel:

Hitler's bunker is visible ahead:

Hitler's bunker is the largest facility in the area. Its outer surface area is 2480 sq. m. In 1944 it was rebuilt and fortified. There were six entrances to the bunker, all on one side:

The dining room was attached next to the main bunker:

Everything inside is destroyed by the explosion. Roof thickness - 8.5 m.

Bid Adolf Hitler, Hitler's main headquarters in East Prussia, the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze, Wolfsschanze, Führerhauptquartier) is located in the forest of Gorlitz (Gorlitz), 8 km from Rastenburg (Rastenburg), now Kentschin.

In 1911, a Kurhaus with a hotel and a restaurant was built in Görlitz (it burned down in 1945). And the surrounding forest was used as a recreation park. Although this place was famous, Hitler chose it for his purposes. There were several reasons.

• Firstly, it was the territory of East Prussia, which belonged to Germany, which facilitated all enterprises related to the preparation for construction, the construction itself and subsequent actions in the very headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze).
• Secondly, the dense, mixed forest perfectly hid the buildings built in it, and the existing railway ensured the delivery of building materials and the transportation of people.
• Thirdly, the surrounding lakes and swamps greatly hampered the attacks of enemy troops. And fourthly, there were three military airfields nearby (Elk, Kisaino, Sempopol) which defended the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) from enemy air attacks.

Construction Rates Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) began in the early spring of 1940. All work on the construction of the headquarters of Adolf Hitler's Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) was entrusted to the Organization Todt (Todt). Its founder and first leader was the Minister of Armaments and Ammunition Fritz Todt.
To confuse the surrounding residents, even before the start of construction, the Germans spread rumors that a chemical plant would soon be built in a suburban forest. To confirm this, soon a large inscription appeared above the road near the entrance to the forest from Kentshin - "Chemical Plant Askania"(Chemische Werke Askania).

The construction of the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) was carried out from the spring of 1940 until November 20, 1944. The builders, 2-3 thousand workers, lived in Kętrzyn, they were taken to headquarters every day. Contrary to rumors, no one shot them after the construction was completed.

For four years in Headquarters Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) more than 200 buildings for various purposes were built. The complex included residential buildings, offices, hotels, a cinema, a casino, a sauna, tea houses, warehouses and many others, but above all powerful reinforced concrete bunkers, including 7 huge, several medium and dozens of small bunkers.

The bunkers served mainly to protect against air raids and were truly enormous. It is 50 meters long, 30 meters wide, 20 meters high, the thickness of the walls is 4-6 meters (ceilings 6-8 meters), and in Hitler's bunker the thickness reached 10-12 meters.

Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) - the most big bet Adolf Hitler, and almost looked like a real city. The rate included two airfields, power stations, air treatment facilities, heating and an extensive communications center, water supply, narrow gauge railway. The headquarters occupies an area of ​​2.5 square meters. km plus 8 sq. km of forest, 2000 people lived in it. But there were no families.

All the territory of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) was surrounded by minefields, which stretched for almost 10 km. The minefields were 50-350 meters wide. Until 1956, the demining operation lasted, during which about 54,000 mines and 200,000 ammunition were found.

During the construction of Hitler's headquarters, the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) especially great attention was drawn to his disguise. Camouflage plaster was applied to the walls (concrete, grass, green paint and wood shavings) which made it look like moss. Bunker roofs Wolf Lair (Wolfschanze) were flat with raised banks, like a large bowl half a meter deep. The earth was filled into this recess, grass, bushes and even trees were sown. The entire space adjacent to the buildings was covered with a camouflage net, which was changed four times a year; each season had its own camouflage net. Occasionally, above the rate of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) control flights took place to assess the camouflage of the rate from the air. Pictures were taken, and the discovered flaws in the disguise were immediately eliminated.

For the first time, Adolf Hitler and the entire German elite with headquarters and governing bodies arrived at the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) on June 24, 1941, after the attack on the Soviet Union. It was from here that the Fuhrer led his troops on both the Western and Eastern fronts for three and a half years. Only occasionally did Hitler travel to Berlin, near Leningrad, to Poltava, Borisov, Smolensk and Vinnitsa. Hitler himself spent 800 days in the territory of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze). It was at the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze), on July 20, 1944, during a meeting, an assassination attempt was made on Adolf Hitler.

In 1944, an opposition group of senior military officials, dissatisfied with Hitler's actions, operated in Berlin. To seize power, they decide to kill Hitler. The attempt is led by Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg), chief of the reserve ground forces in Berlin. On July 20, 1944, a regular meeting on the state of affairs on the fronts was scheduled at Hitler's headquarters in the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze). Colonel Stauffenberg was invited to this meeting, on duty. The Colonel puts a briefcase with a bomb under the table near Hitler and under the pretext phone call removed from the meeting room. Leaving the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze), he heard an explosion and was sure of the death of Hitler. But fateful circumstances save Hitler from death. Colonel von Stauffenberg, upon arrival in Berlin, is shot.

Fearing the advancing Red Army, on November 20, 1944, Hitler, along with his headquarters leaves the headquarters of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze).

Shortly after the evacuation, General Field Marshal Keitel orders that all buildings be blown up so that the Red Army cannot use them. And on January 24, 1945, at the start of Operation Inselsprung, undermining the bunkers of the Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze).

So far, one has not been solved the secret of Hitler's headquarters The Wolf's Lair. historical fact- neither the Soviet, nor the American, nor the British command during the war years were able to establish the exact location of Hitler's main headquarters. This could be explained by the failures of the Allied intelligence services or, conversely, by the successes of the German security service.
The Wolf's lair (Wolfschanze) was never able to detect even aviation reconnaissance, not a single air strike was carried out on it. Moreover, the location of the headquarters was not deciphered even when the front came close to the borders of East Prussia and aviation methodically processed all potentially dangerous objects.
According to one version, the location of the Wolf's Lair was not chosen by chance. Here is a section of the so-called transformed space. That is, buildings certain type here, as it were, they merge with the terrain and are not visible from the outside. And the contours of the "den" bunkers exactly resemble the structures of Tibetan monasteries, which have the same properties.

retro car collection	German fighting unit
layout of Hitler's bunker	layout of Hitler's headquarters Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze, Poland)
	site of Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler
bunker for guests of the Wolf's Lair	food warehouse
	in Bormann's bunker
in Bormann's bunker	Bormann's bunker in the Wolf's Lair
ahead of Hitler's bunker

Hitler's bunker	Hitler's bunker	Hitler's bunker

Hitler's bunker in the Wolf Lair (Poland)	Hitler's bunker in the Wolf Lair (Poland)
Hitler's bunker in the Wolf Lair (Poland)	Hitler's bunker in the Wolf Lair (Poland)
Keitel's bunker	Hitler's adjutant bunker
	Goering's bunker in the Wolf's Lair
Goering's bunker in the Wolf's Lair	Goering's bunker in the Wolf's Lair
place of anti-aircraft gun	Göring's apartment
Headquarters of the Wehrmacht Command	Officer Casino
	communications bunker in the Wolf's Lair
communications bunker in the Wolf's Lair	communications bunker in the Wolf's Lair
stairs leading to the roof of the bunker	Hitler's Headquarters Wolf's Lair
	Hitler's Headquarters Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze, Poland)

Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair) - Hitler's central headquarters

Almost 70 years ago, the last shots of the Second World War died down and the Soviet flag hoisted over the captured Reichstag. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then: Germany has again become a strong power, forgetting about the plans for world domination, Europe has become accustomed to peaceful life. Only the concentration camps and the Fuhrer's headquarters, turned into sights of Poland, remind of the terrible pages military history. One of the most famous monuments of the past - Hitler's main headquarters "Wolfschanze" - is located in the Gerloz forest, which is 8 km from the Polish city of Kentszyn, formerly known as Rastenburg. The place where attacks on the USSR were planned, strategies for fighting on the Eastern Front were created and the bloody outcome of the legendary Operation Valkyrie took place, today has become a museum open to the public all year round.

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History of the Wolfschanze.

In the summer of 1940, in the forests near Rastenburg, it deployed vigorous activity: in a closed area, the construction of a command post to control the operation "Barbarossa" began. The grandiose construction project, which involved the creation of a whole military city of 80 structures, was disguised as the construction of a chemical plant: fortunately, a secluded place was chosen, and purchases were made through specially created fictitious companies. More than 20 thousand workers were involved in the construction, the Görtlitz railway station was expanded, reinforced structures were created that protected the buildings from bombs and fragmentation shells. Thanks to skillful camouflage, the impregnable bastion, surrounded by a minefield without the possibility of "easy clearance" and equipped with three security zones, looked more like a sanatorium for high officials. After three stages of construction, the Wolf's Lair was ready for use: more than 2,000 people lived and worked here.

Hitler spent over eight hundred days in the Wolfschanz from June 24, 1941: a good place near the Soviet borders made it possible to draw up plans for expansion directly "on the ground." On July 20, 1944, at 12:42 p.m., a strong explosion was heard in the premises of the zone of the highest secrecy, where an operational meeting of the Nazi command was held. Despite the casualties among the headquarters command, Operation Valkyrie, planned by the Wehrmacht military, failed: by the will of fate, Hitler, who received many shrapnel wounds and shell shock, survived. Having fallen into depression and arranged a "witch hunt", the Fuhrer remained in the Wolfschanz until mid-November, and upon departure he ordered to mine the bunker. January 23, 1945 "Wolf's Lair" was blown up. When the troops of the Third Belorussian Front arrived here a few days later, only fragments scattered through the forest and thousands of mines dug into the ground reminded of Hitler's important headquarters. In 1958, when the perimeter, numbering 55 thousand shells, was nevertheless neutralized, the ruins of the Wolfschanze received the status of a Polish landmark open to the public.

Wolfschanze - landmark of Poland during the Second World War

What to look for in Wolfschanz.

The entrance to the territory of the Wolf's Lair Museum, located in the "First Zone", is located not far from the railway platform of the Görlitz station, which provided the delivery of high-ranking officials to the Fuhrer's bunker. The only fully preserved headquarters building that was not damaged by the explosion of 1945 is the accommodation for Wehrmacht officers, today used as a restaurant and hotel. Other objects of the complex are in a much worse, but quite recognizable condition.

Four bunkers of the colossi of Nazi Germany were located on the territory of the main headquarters: the concrete blocks that served as shelters for Goering, Bormann, Keitel and the Fuhrer were maximally reinforced. Like leaves of cabbage, the levels of protection of government premises followed one after another: behind the outer multi-meter layer of concrete there was a layer of gravel, after it - again five meters of concrete. In a huge-looking structure, only a small interior was hidden, and special wooden houses attached to the blocks were adapted for work. Six entrances led to the largest bunker that belonged to Hitler: its area around the outer perimeter was about 2500 sq.m.

The ruins of two guest bunkers serve a prime example competent camouflage: on the partially preserved roof, recesses are still visible, where bushes and grass were planted, and air defense systems were located at the corners of the structure. Little has been preserved of the office premises of the post office, the dining room and the office of stenographers - all internal structures were destroyed during the explosion. At the place where the fatal "Valkyrie" took place, a memorial stone was installed, as well as an information board with photographs. The remains of Nazi garages are also very interesting: somewhere under them, behind closed doors, underground rooms are hidden. It is not customary to talk about them: according to official data, there were only ground structures in the Wolf's Lair. But that's what makes the mysteries of wartime interesting: who knows, perhaps secret archives were located here or diabolical plans were made.

What to see in the Wolfschanze district.

Not far from the Wolfschanze headquarters, there are other important sights of Poland: the headquarters of the ground forces, hiding under the name "object" Mauerwald "(Kentszyn), Himmler's headquarters, known as the object" Hochwald "(Pozezdra), the headquarters of the Air Force, code-named" object " Robinson "(Goldap), bunkers in Rosengarten and the castle of Heinrich von Lendorf (Steinort), a conspirator against the Nazis.

How to get to Wolfschanze.

Provincial roads pass through Kętrzyn: No. 591 from Mrągowo to Michalkowo, No. 592 from Bartoszyce to Giżycko, and No. 594 from Bishtynek to Kętrzyn. From Bartoszyce, Olsztyn and Gizhitsko to the railway station Kętrzyna, state and commercial trains leave every 1.5 hours. You can get directly to the Wolfschanze rate at public transport(stop Gerlozh) or during excursion program organized by the tourist offices of Kętrzyn. You can find out about the prices for the services of the Wolf's Lair museum on the website

In July 1940, the development of the Barbarossa plan began in Germany, which provided for the invasion of the USSR in the Eastern European theater of operations of World War II. For the operational management of the operation, in parallel with the development of its plan, on the outskirts of the godforsaken village of Görlitz, 8 km from the city of Rastenburg, in dense East Prussian forests surrounded by Masurian lakes and swamps, the construction of the OKW command complex, the Wehrmacht Supreme High Command, and the Fuhrer's Main Headquarters ( Fuhrerhauptquartier) in its composition. Hitler, as you know, was a furious wolf-eater, therefore the complex received the appropriate name - "Wolfschanze", "Wolf's Lair".

The construction work was carried out by the "Organization Todt" and was disguised as the construction of the chemical plant "Askania Nord". At the first stage, by the summer of 1941, a number of buildings of a temporary nature were built, counting on the planned 5-month period of the operation. In the future, when the epic fail of "Barbarossa" became more and more obvious, "Wolfschanze" consistently expanded, and this process went on permanently until the capture of Headquarters Soviet troops in the winter of 1945. In total, on the territory of the complex, which occupied 250 hectares of selected Teutonic forest, about 200 structures of various nature were built, both military (bunkers, barracks, etc.) and civil (blackjack casino, sauna with whores, greenhouse with vegetables for Adik ) destination.

About the place where the Fuhrer German people held in 1941-44. more than eight hundred not the most better days of his life, and where it nearly ended, in this episode.

To begin with, a thesis about Rastenburg, which was renamed Kentshin in 1946. This is a very typical Prussian town (near the border with the Kaliningrad region), where there are all its necessary attributes: a) a Teutonic castle, 2) a Gothic church, 3) a "German" building, and you can easily spend an hour and a half of your life. 28 thousand people live here permanently.

The Schloss Rastenburg was built by the Teutons in the 1360s and 70s. For modern appearance we must thank the restless Polish restorers who rebuilt the castle in 1962-67.

The second main attraction of Kętrzyn is the Collegiate Basilica of St. George. Once inside, please note that the axis of the building is curved - medieval builders and architects also sometimes messed up.

Kętrzyńska Street, on the left you can see the spire of the Church of St. Catherine, successful stylization under the Gothic of 1895.

In the building on the left is the Polish-German cultural center.

To be honest, I have no idea how to get to the "Wolf's Lair" without your own car or an organized tour by bus. This is not Ukraine, there seems to be no minibuses here, but of course you can always take a taxi, the distance allows.

A ticket to the Stavka territory costs 12 zlotys (3 zlotys is roughly equal to $1), you will have to pay a little more for parking a car. Additionally, you can use the services of a guide, they sell themselves there to the fig, incl. of course and Russian-speaking. They cost about 50 zloty for a tour. In addition, almost in the only surviving building of the complex, which previously housed the Nazi guards, a restaurant and a hotel are now open. Night in the Fuhrer's lair, probably an interesting feeling.

"Wolfschanze" was one (albeit the main one) in the extensive network of Hitler's headquarters, many of which, however, were not fully completed and Hitler was not seen. Not all of them are marked on this map - there is, for example, the mysterious "Olga" headquarters near Orsha.

If the global web of the Fuhrer's residences is shown above, then the "Wolf's Lair" itself was also the center of its own local network: naturally, the Main Headquarters quickly overgrown with lower rates, and for a lover of military history and fortification, this region of Mazury is just Klondike. Some of the complexes marked on the map: for example, "Mauerwald" in Mamerki (No. 3) or "Hochwald" near Vigorzhevo (No. 5) are much better preserved than "Wolfschanze", which in January 1945 was methodically cut out using tens of tons of explosives according to the principle " So don't get you to anyone." They are better preserved, but at the same time they are not at all suitable for visiting tourists, so you should go there at your own peril and risk, suitably equipped.

Finally, the plan of the Wolf's Lair itself. The complex was divided into three security zones and surrounded by a barbed wire fence with observation towers and a mined strip up to 150 meters wide and up to 10 km long along the outer perimeter. 55 thousand mines were taken from there after the war for 10 years, until 1955. And it’s not a fact that everyone else got it, so mushroom pickers need to be more careful.

The wolf lover himself lived naturally in the First Zone ( Sperrkreis I) (it is outlined in black on the plan), all the most interesting things are located there: a headquarters complex with bunkers and cottages Nazi bosses, public buildings and premises for servants and security. Wehrmacht headquarters and secondary bunkers were located in sector II. Zone III was mainly equipped with dense forest, trenches, submachine gunners with dogs, and an air defense system.

The process of overcoming all three zones is clearly shown in the North American feature film "Valkyrie", where Colonel Claus von Staufenberg performed People's Artist The United States of Tom Thomasovich Cruz for several minutes picturesquely rides from the airfield of the Headquarters "Wilhelmdorf" near Rastenburg to blow up the Fuhrer. In the same movie, you can get some idea of appearance and interiors of the "Wolfschanze" before its destruction.

Paths of Hitler. Alas, the main drawback of this place as a tourist site is its almost complete unsuitability for photography, which stems from probably one of the main advantages of this place as Headquarters - increased greenery that facilitates camouflage. In addition, in the afternoon, the bright sun breaking through the trees in almost all cases is located behind the subjects of shooting with all the ensuing circumstances. It is better to take pictures here in the morning in winter, but in winter it is probably not so atmospheric here.

Building of the Security Service.

Throughout the complex (and at all facilities) there are signs warning that it is dangerous everywhere and it is better to move along the marked paths.

In one of the surviving barracks of the Security Service, a mock-up of the Headquarters is now located.

In the foreground is Görlitz station, Hitler's special trains arrived here.

Number 13 is Hitler's bunker. The walls of the buildings were covered with special camouflage plaster, trees and bushes were planted on the roof. The streets between the buildings were covered with stretched camouflage nets. Control flights were periodically made over Headquarters and aerial photography was carried out to identify deficiencies in camouflage.

This is all that remains of the conference building, where on July 20, 1944, the famous assassination attempt on Colonel Stauffenberg took place.

Memorial plaque.

The first bunker on the road is Guest.

Entrance. Naturally prohibited, but no one controls anything and everyone climbs inside. Since 1959, tourists have been taken to Wolfschanz, everyone seems to be alive, although some designs look very unreliable.

Inside the bunker.

I drove here with great doubt that the reinforced concrete ruins would be interesting, but I left with the understanding that it might all be interesting, because it was ruined. When you see the multi-meter thickness of walls and ceilings and the ligature of crippled Krupp fittings, you involuntarily feel respect for the building power of the Teutonic genius.

And you are also amazed at how powerful the explosions should have been in January 1945, when the 31st Army of General Shafranov was already 15 km from Headquarters, so that multi-ton concrete slabs lay at such sometimes fantastic angles.

Bunker general purpose. From this angle, it looks quite preserved.

One of the two-meter-thick walls was simply torn off from the main body of the building, turned around and tilted.

Access to some structures is specially limited.

Stenographer's building.

The ceiling is already covered with stalactites. It is a very humid area, one of the main domestic problems which were hordes of selected mosquitoes, which happily multiplied in the surrounding swamps and then ate the Nazi blood.

This descent, if I'm not mistaken, was marked on the map as a sauna. The stenographer's office is in the background.

Fire pond.

Finally, the actual object number 13, Hitler's personal bunker, where he spent more than 800 days (this is almost 2.5 full years) in 1941-44. He arrived here on June 21, 1941 and stayed until November 20, 1944. Absences were short-lived, with the exception of two cases: July-November 1942, he stayed in the "Werwolf" near Vinnitsa, and February-July 1944 in the Alpine residence "Berghof".

So, this bunker looks like on a model in the museum of the complex.

And so in the 3-D model.

From here.

Only the northern part of the bunker is well preserved. There are only giant cracks here.

The southern half of the building is actually collapsed.

The walls bear traces of formwork.

Excursion group in the center of Hitler's bunker.

By general impression, "Wolfschanze" is now one of the most promoted tourist sites in Northern Poland. Crowds and crowds of tourists roam here, the origin of most of which is quite accurately illustrated by the photograph below.

Here, however, it is very atmospheric, even if the photos do not convey this. On occasion, be sure to stop by here, the feeling of the place where the fate of millions of people was decided for years is extremely curious.

"Wolfschanze" (German Wolfsschanze, Russian "Wolf's Lair") was the main bunker and headquarters of Hitler, here was the main headquarters of the Fuhrer and the command complex of the High Command of the German Armed Forces. The German leader spent over 800 days here. From this place the leadership of military operations on the Eastern Front was carried out.

The Wolf's Lair bunker was located in the Gorlitz forest, eight kilometers from the city of Rastenburg, East Prussia (now the Polish city of Kentszyn). Its construction was carried out by the "Organization Todt" from the spring of 1940 to the winter of 1944 by 2-3 thousand workers.

The "Wolf's Lair" was not a local bunker, but a whole system of hidden objects, in size more reminiscent of small town area of ​​250 hectares. The secret territory had several levels of access, it was surrounded by towers with barbed wire, minefields, machine gun and anti-aircraft positions. In order to get to the "Wolf's Lair", it was necessary to go through three guard posts.

Demining the "Wolf's Lair" by the Polish Army People's Republic lasted almost until 1956, in total, sappers discovered about 54 thousand mines and 200 thousand ammunition.

To create the effect of inconspicuousness of the object from the air, the Germans used special grids and tree models, which were periodically updated in accordance with seasonal changes in the landscape. To control the camouflage, the sensitive object was photographed from the air.

"Wolf's Lair" in 1944 served 2,000 people, from field marshals to stenographers and mechanics. In "The Fall of Berlin" British writer Anthony Beevor claims that the Fuhrer left this bunker on November 10, 1944. Hitler went to Berlin for a throat operation, and on December 10 he moved to Adlerhorst (Eagle's Nest), another secret headquarters. In July of the same year, an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on Hitler in the Eagle's Nest.

The evacuation of the German command from the "Wolf's Lair" was carried out at the last moment, three days before the arrival of the Red Army. On January 24, 1945, Wilhelm Keitel ordered the headquarters to be destroyed. However, easier said than done. The ruins of the bunker can be seen to this day.

Interestingly, although the location of the Wolf's Lair was known to American intelligence as early as October 1942, not a single attempt was made to attack Hitler's headquarters from the air.