Soviet Airbases in the GDR – Second Chapter

May 14, 2017December 3, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

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As pointed out in other posts on the topic – here and here -, the territory belonging to the German Democratic Republic (‘GDR’, or ‘DDR’ in German) was densely populated with military bases of all kinds, including tank bases, logistic bases and airbases. This was the result of two powerful Armies coexisting within the borders of the communist DDR – the local East-German Army and the Soviet ‘Red Army’.

Looking at a map of the Country, the density of airbases is particularly striking. Due to the strategic significance suggested by its very position in central Europe, right on the border with ‘the West’, the DDR was attributed a privileged status by the Soviet government in terms of military equipment. The number of Soviet troops stationed here was in the order of the hundreds of thousands, meaning that on most bases also housing and services for Soviet soldiers and their families had to be built in large numbers.

After the German reunification, the end of the Soviet Union and the retirement of Russian – ex-Soviet – troops by the mid-Nineties, all the bases – mostly stripped of any transportable stuff, which was withdrawn to Russia – were returned to Federal Germany. This resulted in a surplus of military hardware for the German government, which soon started a lengthy plan to convert, refurbish or demolish most of the newly acquired facilities.

Consequently, some of the former bases are now commercial airports, whereas most of them had the airside areas converted into solar powerplants. In most cases, only part of the former installations have been converted to non-military use, and huge ghost hangars, depots and housing can still be found in the premises of these airbases. What remains is sometimes of great interest for war historians and urban explorers as well – especially those bases where communist memorials with writing in cyrillic alphabet can be found, and stand out as vivid memories of a recent past, when everything was very different from now in central Europe.

Similarly to other ones on this website, this post covers with photographs and some info two Soviet airbases – Rangsdorf and Brand – visited in April 2017, and what remains of three more – Brandis, Nohra and Köthen – visited in 2023. Where in the premises of the first two much hardware could be checked out (at least as of 2017), the latter (as of 2023) have been almost completely wiped out, or left to the elements and to the spoilers to the point that only few or very damaged relics remain.

To provide some sort of ‘then and now’ comparison, I included a few pics from the wonderful book Rote Plätze – Russische Militärflugplatze Deutschland 1945-1994 by Lutz Freundt and Stefan Buttner, for which I don’t own the copyright. I recently grabbed a copy of this wonderful, out-of-print book, published in 2007 by a now defunct publisher in Berlin (AeroLit), and distributed only locally. This book is now very difficult to find, and basically a collectible item. Consequently, the price was indecent, but the maps, photos and info therein are really worth the financial effort!

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

Rangsdorf
Brand
Köthen
Nohra
Brandis/Waldpolenz

Rangsdorf

Getting there and moving around

The former airbase in Rangsdorf can be found on the outskirts of Berlin, actually less than 8 miles south of Schönefeld Airport. It can be reached very quickly from the highway N.10, taking through the village of Rangsdorf and reaching its the south-western corner, where a small lake with sport activities and a group of new ‘American style’ houses is being built and partially completed – the land were the new houses are standing was once part of the base.

To be honest, I had some difficulties finding a parking place, because the area is densely populated and much looked after, and most parking lots are privately owned. I finally elected to park ahead of a small kindergarten, which at the time of my visit was already closed.

What remains of the base is totally abandoned, and you will likely find sheep in the former areas of operations. When preparing your exploration, just have a look a the Google map of the site to plan your moves ahead. There are a few remaining huge hangars and service buildings to explore, and they are all in the northern part of the former airfield. The original fence with lines of barbed wire and concrete posts is still standing, but there are many spots where it is cut and broken, so getting in is not difficult at all.

Notwithstanding that you can easily access the base, the populated area around is a potential threat, for entering the buildings is formally forbidden – there is also a firefighters station close to the northern section of the fence, and you could be easily spotted from outside when you are in. So I suggest being careful in your movements.

Sights

The military airbase in Rangsdorf dates back from the years of WWII and the Nazi regime, when it was a major base for transportation of high-ranking military staff traveling by plane. It was from here that Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the key-character in the failed attempt to murder Adolf Hitler in July 1944, took off to reach the Wolf’s Lair in what is now eastern Poland.

When the airport fell into Soviet hands, it was soon converted into a helicopter base, due to the inappropriate size of the airfield for the standards of the jet age, and the constraints put on its development by the surrounding villages. It used to be a very active helicopter transport base until the collapse of the Wall. In the years preceding the withdrawal of the Soviet/Russian troops the place became famous as ‘The Dump’ – the Soviet helicopter fleet was rationalised, and many rotorcrafts met the scrapman here.

Approaching from the west of the complex the fenced perimeter is very irregular, and when coming in I passed at least four lines of barbed wire while walking along a straight line! Many original lamps along the fences are still in place.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

What seems to be a large air raid shelter, or possibly a reinforced communication bunker can be found before reaching the hangars. It is really big and isolated, with traces of wiring on one side.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

Among the traces from the Soviet ‘Dump’ there are some aircraft-style seats, possibly from a big helicopter, several winches and some electric motors.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

The two-winged building facing the grass-invaded former apron includes the control tower in the middle, and two lateral hangars. The assembly is a nice example of Nazi military design. The wooden doors and roof confirm the old age of the construction. Nonetheless, these hangars have been used also by the Soviets, as witnessed by the more modern ventilation system and traces of technical schemes and gear inside.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

From the top floor of the old control tower it is possible to appreciate the original size of the airfield. As you can see from older pictures, only the northernmost part of the field was converted for helicopter operations. The helicopter platforms can be easily spotted, albeit half-covered by grass in the area ahead of the tower.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

To the west of this main hangar there is a mysterious buildings with almost no windows and two pinnacles, which seem to be large twin funnels. I did not explore this thoroughly inside, as the building appeared to be in an especially bad and dangerous condition.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

The next large hangar to the east is much bigger than the one with the tower. The construction is again pretty old, I guess again from the Thirties. Inside it is possible to find traces of mottos in big characters in cyrillic alphabet all along the wall. In older times, a famous panel with an ‘artistic’ hammer and sickle was hanging from one of the walls. This is unfortunately gone, only a barely visible trace remaining in place.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

On one side of this big hangar a smaller service building can be found. Again, the intended function of this part of the complex is not immediately clear. I found traces of a huge table of chemical elements in Russian, like can be found in schools… but I don’t think they had a school right besides a hangar!

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

Even more to the east, close to the outer wall of the base and to a still active railway, there are two more hangars. The smaller one with wooden doors is very damaged inside, whereas the one to the north is apparently more recent in construction, but it is closed. My exploration accelerated a bit from here, as I noticed activity in the houses nearby outside the fence of the base, a watchdog started barking, and I feared to be spotted! Luckily this happened almost at the end of the exploration program…

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

Close to some communist-style housing, refurbished and still in use to the north of the airfield, I found a piece of wall, probably belonging to the original outer wall of the base, with celebrative writings in cyrillic – possibly names of sport teams from Soviet times.

Flugplatz Rangsdorf – Abandoned Soviet Base

All in all, I would say this base has the relevant advantage it was not converted to a power plant or something else, so it is poorly guarded and not totally off-limits – at least the open air grounds. It is also close to Berlin, easy to reach in a short time, and compact in size, so you won’t need to walk much, and visiting may take less time than with other former bases – about 2 hours for me, taking all the pictures. On the other hand, the populated neighborhood of Rangsdorf makes interception by the locals more likely. While not particularly rich of communist remains, the buildings in the base are still mostly in place, so visiting can be satisfactory also for photographers interested in architecture.

Brand

Getting there and moving around

The area of the former big airbase of Brand is associated to a fairly well-known attraction of our days – Tropical Island. This amusement park, which is officially indicated as an attraction even on highway N.13, connecting Berlin to Cottbus and the border with Poland, was built inside a colossal, modern hangar, designed for airships around the year 2000. This can be spotted from quite afar.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

A large area of the former airbase is – from a viewpoint of urban exploration – compromised. The former runway has been turned into a huge parking area, whereas a luxury tropical-themed resort with bungalows and camping lots for mobile homes has been built in the western part of the airport. Most taxiways have been either recycled as alleys in the park, or literally removed. Some of the many aircraft shelters of this once prominent attack base have been converted to host other forms of business, ranging from restaurants to hay storages.

All the part connected with leisure business, which corresponds to everything north of Tropical-Islands-Allee – also named road L711 and going east from highway N.13 to the near village of Krausnick, where a small memorial to the Soviet actions in WWII can be found – is actively guarded by private guards, with their own small modern barracks close to the gate of the complex, and moving around by car.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

In striking contrast with this, shrouded in the vegetation to the south of the same road, roughly cross the street with respect to the entrance to the Tropical Island complex, it is possible to find a conspicuous amount of Soviet relics, basically unguarded. All accesses to the roads going south is physically interdicted to cars, so parking may be not obvious in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the park. I suggest going past the gate along L711 and driving towards Krausnick to find an unofficial but safe parking spot between the roadside and the limit of the forest, away from suspicious eyes.

Another part of great interest for war historians include the storage for nuclear warheads, typical to Brand and other few bases in the GDR. This is rather distant – about 1.8 miles southeast – from the airport area and Soviet housing. The original connection road – not accessible by car – is straight and very long, with little to offer in terms of relics. For exploring that part of the site I suggest driving to Krausnick from Tropical Island, and taking the L71 pointing southwest towards the village of Schönwalde. The road runs deep in the trees, and at some point it comes about .6 mile to the site of interest. You may park on the roadside, on one of the many service roads used by woodcutters and reach the place with a quick walk following one of those trails.

Take your time studying the area in advance on Google Maps, and choose what option best suits your needs.

You may also have a look at aerial pictures of the base, taken during a special flight over the area, described in this report.

Sights

Before being turned into a civil airport and then into an amusement park, Brand was one of the largest Soviet bases in the GDR, with flocks of MiG-21, 23, 27 stationing here, as well as Sukhoi Su-15 and even Su-27 in the final years of operation. Most notably, the base was selected already in the 1960s for storing air-launched nuclear warheads – together with Finsterwalde and Rechlin/Lärz (see this post). This led to the construction of a purpose-built reinforced storage bunker, which can still be seen. As pointed out before, there are two main focus areas in a visit to this installation.

The first is the ghost town for the troops once stationed here, and for their families. This is incredibly close to Tropical Island, but the contrast between the aura of these two places couldn’t be more striking!

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

There are residential buildings from various Soviet models, mostly three-four storeys buildings possibly from the Fifties-Sixties, but also some more imposing pre-fabricated buildings possibly dating from as recently as the Eighties.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Walking alone in this once lively village, with traces of playgrounds, mailboxes, lamps along walkways now invaded by vegetation, and even a swimming pool with some dead water in it, was for me one of the weirdest and creepiest experiences ever!

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Unfortunately, from the pics you can’t feel the unreal silence where the place was immersed – the only sounds were those of the wind blowing in the trees and of some door slamming somewhere within the buildings… you would expect a zombie, some ghost troopers or a mutant monster coming out to meet you at every time!

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Most of the buildings are in relatively good overall condition, but almost nothing survives of the interior of the apartments – which may collapse at every time and should not be accessed. By looking closely at some tires in a playground you can spot cyrillic characters on them – maybe they come from a consumed nose wheel of a MiG? The lamps are of the usual model commonly found in Soviet bases.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

To the west of the residential area there is a similarly extensive zone with a great number of possibly former barracks or technical buildings. Almost all of them have been half-demolished by destroying the roof – I think this was made in purpose, for literally all buildings in this part have encountered the same fate. The style of these buildings suggests they are older than most of the housing. This is confirmed by comparing historical photographs of the base from above.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Among the most prominent buildings in the area, it is possible to find a former school, with an imposing façade of classical inspiration.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

To the back of the school building a small gym can be found. The roof has collapsed – or it was demolished – long ago, so that some trees are growing inside – no more basketball here!

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

A highlight of the exploration in this area is a huge mosaic wall with the head of Lenin. This item is a bit of a mystery, cause it’s hard to imagine it was originally placed where it is standing today – there is no architectural ‘frame’ supporting the monument nor a backstage completing it – it looks like a decorated floor, but placed in a vertical position!

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Anyway, the sight is of course very uncommon, and I would say unique in the panorama of communist-themed art in the former GDR.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Close by the ghost town, three aircraft shelters remain to the south of the road marking the ideal border with the ‘Tropical Island domain’. These can be accessed and explored. Among other particular features, it is possible to spot the rusty engine for opening the gates of one of them. These shelters could host aircraft up to the size of a MiG-23/27.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

The second part of interest in Brand is the bunker for nuclear warheads. As stated above, this was built really far to the southeast from the housing and from the airport, differently from the other two bases in the GDR where similar bunkers were built (see this post). A straight connection road links the two portions of the base.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

Traces of the further line of inner fence built around this area can be found today. The good quality tarmac of the roads have survived to this day.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

The bunker is not accessible, the main gate blocked with a pile of land. Nonetheless, it is still visible and fairly well-preserved – even the camouflage above the front door – as you can see from a comparison with a photo from when the bunker was being used.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

On the crane-supporting structures ahead of the entrance you can find traces of cyrillic writings.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

There is a truck-loading dock nearby and several larger and smaller service buildings and garages. On some of the walls you can find ‘unofficial’ writing in cyrillic alphabet.

Flugplatz Brand – Abandoned Soviet Base

In both parts of the base I didn’t meet a single person during my exploration, which lasted about 3.5-4 hours in total, including the time for transfer from a trailhead to the other. When I visited, Tropical Island was closed for the season, with many people going in and out for maintenance. There were also tourists with mobile-homes and caravans, and guards with their cars. Anyway, during the exploration of the Soviet housing, which is really close to Tropical Island, I didn’t see a person, and as pointed out the place was unnaturally silent! The part of the nuclear warhead bunker is also very remote, and more obviously I didn’t come across anybody.

All in all, even though a substantial part of Brand has been converted into something else, what remains here is a great fun to visit, with tons of photo opportunities, a very intense ‘Soviet-ghost aura’ and much to see also for curious war historians. The countryside is pleasant and even though some walking is required, the place is nice to walk and very enjoyable. And if you feel tired, you can always decide to switch off your camera and enter Tropical Island for a relaxing rest-of-the-day!

Köthen

Getting there and moving around

The base was located immediately south of the homonym village, itself 10 miles southwest of the larger and famous town of Dessau. The entire premises of the former large Soviet base of Köthen have been converted for housing or into industrial facilities, currently run by several companies. The former airside of the base with the runway has been covered by a huge field of solar cells. As a result, visiting as tourists is strictly speaking not possible.

Possibly the only exception – in theory – is the southernmost hangar, which bears traces of the original camouflage, and the prominent portraits of Lenin, Marx and Engels on its side. The hangar is in the hands of a private energy-related company. The area around is fenced. I simply drove in as a visitor, from the road through the open gate, on the company premises all the way to the building. Access is from road K2074, roughly .4 miles south of the crossing with road 185, to the right when going south.

I asked for permission to a worker, and he cordially allowed me to move around a bit and take pictures outside of the building. Then I met another individual, possibly the village idiot having some time in the open air – surely not a worker, he was in shorts and accompanied by a little girl, very weird in a place like that! – who intimated me to leave, with some impolite and intimidating gesture also on the menu. Preferring not to start a litigation and attract attention from the workers, I left, with the pictures I had taken up to that moment. With a better luck, exploring this part of the former base should be easy and more rewarding. However, since moving around at will is clearly not possible on private grounds, the visit may be of just a few minutes in any case, making for an ideal quick detour for those passing by.

Sights

The Soviet base of Köthen was once a prominent part of the arsenal, hosting for long decades during the Cold War Soviet flying groups almost every type of MiG fighter, from MiG-15 down to MiG-29. The base was complemented with modern reinforced aircraft shelters since the 1960s, and a multi-purpose Granit-type bunker was erected later, for employment as a storage for munitions.

The only part of the former premises of this once large base which is today partly preserved and (theoretically, see directions above) visible is one of the main hangars. The construction, flanked by two low-rise towers, shows the actual origin of the facility, which dates to the years of the Third Reich. Actually, the area was busy with flying activities since even earlier (1920s).

The hangar is relatively low in height, with sliding doors closing it to the front, and painted in a brown-greenish camo coat. Inside, today a huge pile of manure can be found, arguably employed for some chemical process (the company holding the building runs an energy-related business).

The most interesting sight is represented by two medallions, with pretty unusual portraits of Lenin, Marx and Engels, in black over a white background. Besides the portrait of Lenin, to the left of the front door of the hangar, an inscription in Russian quoting a thought of Lenin on the army can be found as well.

Flugplatz Köthen – Converted Soviet base in the GDR

The medallions, inscriptions and camouflage appear rather well kept. Even a small plaque with a German translation of the inscription can be found.

Flugplatz Köthen – Converted Soviet base in the GDR

This witnesses an interesting example of a welcome and uncommon preservation effort, making a short visit to this facility interesting at least for the more committed Cold War historian.

Nohra

Getting there and moving around

The former Soviet helicopter base of Nohra used to take a sizable area both to the north and south of road 7, connecting Weimar to Erfurt. However, the base was accurately eradicated, and virtually no trace of it (except what remains of a half demolished helicopter hangar) can be seen to the north of the road. The territory has been returned to agriculture or taken over by industrial facilities, therefore even the original general appearance of the base is impossible to retrace.

Similarly, the area to the south of road 7 has been cleared of almost every trace from its aeronautical past. The only relics, described in the paragraph below, can be found along Pappelallee, which runs parallel to road 7, and can be accessed from its western end from road 85.

Along Pappelallee the old entrance to the pre-existent Third Reich base, in the typical style of the 1930s, can be clearly spotted. Today, a bed & breakfast operates this gate building, which was employed also by the Soviets. Going through would give direct access to the perspective leading to the second highlight of the place, a preserved statue of Lenin. However, going through is not possible. The statue can be reached walking along the road parting to the south of Pappelallee, from a little west from the bed & breakfast. You can leave your car close to the gate buildings, away from the road, and walk along this trail. The statue is in the focus of a perspective, and hard to miss.

Going there is not unlawful, there are no prohibition sign and no fence, plus the statue is clearly preserved.

The area around the statue has been completely reforested, so no dangerous building are to be found in the area. Since some walk is involved, a visit to this site may take about 30 minutes.

Sights

The base of Nohra was established back in WWI, and was potentiated by the Third Reich Luftwaffe from 1936 onwards. By the end of WWII, it was captured by US forces, who had to hand it over to the Soviets in July, following post-war agreements.

It was then potentiated into one of the largest helicopter bases of the Soviets in the GDR, with virtually every type of Mil helicopter being flown from here over the years, including the mighty Mil-24 over the last two decades of the Cold War.

Today, as noted in the previous paragraph, the former airbase has been completely and accurately wiped out, so that its very existence could not be suspected by unaware subjects driving along the busy roads between Erfurt and Weimar.

Curiously, two small preserved portions indeed exist, making for an interesting detour when visiting the area.

The original gate buildings of the old Luftwaffe military installation can be clearly spotted along the road. The style shows the typical features and elegance of German architecture from pre-WWII period – totally incompatible with the generally shabby appearance of Soviet architectures from the post-war period.

The original gate facility is today privately owned. However, when open, the gate between the two wings of the facility allow to spot a statue of Lenin, placed to the far end of an alley departing from the gate.

Flugplatz Nohra – Former Soviet base in the GDR

Luckily, access to the statue is possible with a short walk (see paragraph with directions above). The statue today is basically in a small forest of trees, and its location appears quite inexplicable. However, getting closer to it and moving around, traces of painted signs on a small network of asphalt roads witness the existence of a populated area once around its location. Clearly, with all buildings demolished and tall trees in their place, the scenery is not any more typical for a statue of Lenin…

Flugplatz Nohra – Former Soviet base in the GDR

Interestingly, the statue has been actively preserved – an unusual sight in the GDR panorama. The communist leader is portrayed in its typical appearance, moving forward in a proactive attitude. To the back of the statue, a curtain wall painted in crimson is likely part of the original installation.

Flugplatz Nohra – Former Soviet base in the GDR

The quality of the statue appears pretty good, when zooming on it.

Flugplatz Nohra – Former Soviet base in the GDR

All in all, despite the complete disappearance of Nohra, this preserved fragment represents an important trace of a significant chapter in the history of this area, otherwise irreversibly released into oblivion.

Brandis/Waldpolenz

Getting there and moving around

Brandis is located about 10 miles west of Leipzig city center, immediately west of the homonym village.

Differently from most former Soviet bases in the GDR, what remains of Brandis – i.e. what was not taken over by solar cells and private companies – has been left free to explore for the general public. Therefore, access to the few buildings still standing on site – which include some big old hangars, as well as technical buildings, housing and more – is possible in many ways and from many directions.

This was not my own choice, but in hindsight, the most convenient way to access the premises is getting as close as possible to the buildings in the northern part of the base and park your car, then moving around by foot. A choice for parking is where Am Alten Flugplatz changes name into Falkenallee. Car access to the latter is impeded, but you can park by the obstacles put in place, and move by foot from there.

All accessible buildings are located to the north and northwest of the base. Its original premises, including the runway area and taxiways, are now mostly taken over by solar cells. For the rest they are crossed by public roads, making the perception of the original limits of the base and its original design not so evident.

The very poor condition of most buildings will not appeal much to war historians, possibly more to urban explorers. However, since the base is sizable, the time for a thorough exploration is at least 2 hours after having parked.

Sights

The base of Brandis has a complex history, as usual dating back to the Third Reich era. It was selected for the deployment of the rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet, and from 1944, thanks to the direct railway connection, an ambitious program for the final assembly and operation of this interceptor was started. The war ended with the defeat of Germany before the conversion was completed. Buildings from the Luftwaffe era include at least three big hangars with a wooden door, a control tower, some official buildings, and apparently a number of smaller technical buildings.

The Soviets employed the place mostly for early jets and later (from the 1960s) for transport and attack helicopters. However, from the 1970s the base was potentiated significantly (including the addition of housing and service buildings for the families of the Soviet troops), and became active with Su-25, which were stationed here until the then-Russian military left the facility in 1992. Apparently – and unusually – no reinforced aircraft shelters were ever built by the Soviets in Brandis, preferring laterally-reinforced open-air parking bays and a large open apron (the latter similar to Sperenberg, see here).

As noted above (paragraph on directions), most of the base is gone today, with a huge solar plant having covered most of the former airside, including the runway and the huge area south of it, formerly employed for helicopter operations. Furthermore, some private companies now occupy part of the area between the hangars and the tower.

Therefore, the focus of a visit is in the hangars and tower (immediately north of the former runway), the technical buildings to the west, and the housing and service buildings along the northern perimeter.

The old hangars are three. The one to the northwest of the former airside is home to a big inscription in Russian, mentioning the 28th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Also some other inscriptions can be seen on the southern wall, barely emerging from the graffiti layer.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Apparently, in this hangar early jet drones were stationed by the Soviets in the late 1980s.

The central hangar is bigger. Its original wooden front door is pretty well preserved. Inside, the main hall is sided by technical rooms along the solid walls. Some of them are easier to access from outside through the broken windows!

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Close to this hangar, a few yards to the west, is the old control tower. Despite heavily stricken by writers and spoilers, this building is an interesting example of architecture from the Third Reich era.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Behind this main hangar and close to the tower, it is possible to retrace original internal roads of the base, thanks to the lights and the now overgrown hedges once framing them. Not far north from this area, major housing from the 1970s can be found.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

In the same area, a mystery building with a curved ceiling – a technical building of some sort – offers some relics like Soviet boots and damaged clothes.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Again close to the hangar, some pipelines and some exhausted tires can be found. The labels of the latter clearly bear Russian markings.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

A last big hangar can be found somewhat further east. The wooden door, left partly open, has been penetrated by the vegetation, creating an unusual scenery.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

An interesting sight in this hangar is an original ‘No smoking’ writing in German. This is apparently in a Third Reich era font, and may be a fascinating witness of the original tenancy of the airbase. Needless to say, the inscription now barely emerges from a thick coat of meaningless ‘works of art’…

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

The housing and service buildings along the northern perimeter of the base clearly date from different ages. The gigantic facade of some of the houses clearly betray a post-1970 building approach.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Unfortunately, all these buildings are in very poor conditions, just the walls and stairs remain, and they are literally covered in graffiti. Thanks to the severe spoiling action carried out by the writers, the ghost aura of former Soviet bases is hard to feel here – everything looks more like a rotting poor neighborhood of a big town.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

To the west of the base, possibly an old railway or truck-loading facility can be found, maybe from the Third Reich era.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Close by, an array of smaller technical buildings, apparently garages, reveal some interesting writing in old-German characters. Also these buildings are possibly from the Luftwaffe tenancy of the airbase.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Finally, a highlight of the visit is what appears to be an old school building. Here an incredible mural of a Soviet soldier honoring the Red Banner, the flag of the USSR, can be found in the hall on top of the stairs.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

A little bit of respect has been shown by the usual writers, who massively attacked all the rest of this building similar to all others. Thus this fragment of the original Soviet decoration of the airbase is still surviving. Besides the soldier are other troops, with interesting facial appearances, resembling some different ethnicity from within the USSR. Also some writing in Russian is visible in the background.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Other naive paintings can be found around this building, including 18th century characters, a few trees, and other cartoon characters, today not recognizable. Most of these innocent paintings however have been targeted by spoilers.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Along the external perimeter of the base, now not obvious to retrace, some rusty parts of the original high-security fence can still be found.

Flugplatz Brandis/Waldpolenz – Abandoned Soviet base in the GDR

Wünsdorf – Nazi/Soviet Supreme Military Command

April 30, 2017April 5, 2022 CarloR2 Comments

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For war historians and urban explorers Wünsdorf does not need any further presentation – a central place in the military history of the 20th century, famous for the many abandoned military buildings, from stately headquarters to interred bunkers. The name of this small town appears even in the very modern and interesting Military Museum of Dresden, where it is easy to find an original sign – in double alphabet – from the time when Wünsdorf hosted the Soviet military headquarters in the communist German Democratic Republic.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Sign

This report is based on photographs I took in spring 2017 in Zossen and Wünsdorf during a customized visit to the place I arranged with a local guide. For visiting information scroll down to the bottom of the page.

History – in brief

The small town of Wünsdorf, about 15 miles south of Berlin, has a serious military tradition, dating back at least to the beginning of the 20th century. At that time a large military complex with many barracks was set up by the order of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II – a central player in WWI – in the neighbor town of Zossen.

To this ‘Belle Époque’ era belongs part of the housing still in place today, as well as some of the largest and most aesthetically pleasant buildings in town. Among them, a former training camp for athletes of the army, and some big command buildings.

Following the dawn of the Nazi era, the place gained further relevance, with the institution of the German Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, also known as ‘Oberkommando der Wehrmacht’, or ‘OKW’ in brief. This was presided by general Wilhelm Keitel for all the duration of WWII, and represented the ‘top of the pyramid’ in terms of military decisions, as general Keitel reported directly to Hitler.

The staff of the OKW could be accommodated in purpose-built bunkers here, designed to withstand severe air bombing action, as well as to be disguised as normal country houses from above. These were known as the ‘Maybach bunkers’.

Besides bunkers for housing military personnel, a large communication bunker, known as ‘Zeppelin bunker’, was built to the purpose of connecting the brain of all military operations with the various divisions scattered over Europe and fighting on more war fronts.

When WWII finally came to an end, the Soviets captured the region, and that was the onset of a full new chapter in the history of the town. The reference name ‘Zossen’ was dropped in favor of ‘Wünsdorf’. The area of the two villages was totally cut-off by a 17 km wall, guarded with a top security level. Inside, housing for around 40,000 staff was prepared in subsequent stages, adding many purely Soviet-style residential buildings to what was still in place from before and during the Nazi era.

The supreme command of all Soviet forces in the occupied territory of Germany – to become the German Democratic Republic, or ‘GDR’, in 1949 – was installed here. All four branches of the Soviet armed forces had their respective headquarters in a corresponding sector of the ‘prohibited citadel’, with inner walls dividing the four areas. These headquarters controlled more than 200,000 troops stationed in the GDR until the early Nineties.

The Soviets tried to blow up the Maybach bunkers, with some success, and also the Zeppelin bunker, with no success. They developed it into an nuclear-proof installation, and added two further bunkers, for controlling military operations – including all air patrolling ones – in real time over the territory of the GDR, and along the crucial border with the Federal Republic and the Western world. Similarly to WWII, once again Wünsdorf was the main stage of crucial decisions for the full span of the Cold War.

The year 1989 marked the beginning of the end for this military town, with the reunification of the GDR with the Federal Republic and the end of the Cold War. All Soviet forces stationed in Germany – about 500,000 people, including troops and their families -, soon to become Russian forces in 1993 with the collapse of the communist regime in the USSR, began a well-coordinated retreat back to their mother Country, leaving Wünsdorf in September 1994.

Since then, the huge housing is largely uninhabited – the current population having dropped to about 4,000 – and the stately buildings built by the order of the Kaiser are deserted. Nonetheless, differently from other former military bases left to nature or converted into something else, the regional government of Brandenburg has formally taken over the property, which is not totally abandoned, nor in an irreversible state of disrepair, with the aim of selling it or transforming it into a museum.

Up to now, the place is still in the hands of the regional government, and specialized tours can be arranged with a local society of enthusiasts.

Sights

This site is really huge, with countless remains and interesting places to see. My visit took just about 5.5 hours, I think you would really need 1 day – and possibly more – to cover all features with enough time to both learn about the history and take good pictures of everything interesting! Here I will present a mainly pictorial description of the part of the complex I had the chance to visit this time. I think another day I will need to go back and complete the visit!

You may get an impression of the town from above, from this report based on aerial pictures taken during a dedicated flight over the region.

Officers’ House

This is probably the most famous non-bunker building in the complex. It dates back to the early 20th century – the place was the headquarter of a sports training ground established by the Kaiser’s army before WWI. In the Thirties, German athletes were trained here for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. During WWII this became a command building for the OKW, while in Soviet times it was actually transformed into a house for higher ranking staff of the supreme Soviet command, with living rooms and entertainment facilities.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The main building faces an almost square park, where a huge statue of Lenin was installed and is still standing.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

Inside the main building it is possible to find clear traces of the original ‘Belle Époque’ architecture.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The inside of the building was spoiled of all furniture – the Russians reportedly tried to sell everything to the German government when they left, but the offer gained little interest. Only little part of the furniture, clearly from the age of the Kaiser, can be still spotted. Among the highlights of the bottom floor, there are two murals, in a typically Soviet naïve style, and a sculptured wall. Somebody is trying to put together Soviet memorabilia in a small museum, but all presented stuff is not original from here.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

On the first floor, a very interesting industry-themed mural and a 20-ft long curved view of Moscow can be found in a corridor. In a completely dark room on the same floor, where once a small memorial museum about the Great Patriotic War – WWII for the Russians – was standing, the retreating Russian forces left one of the few remaining written messages, concerned with the atrocities of the Nazi regime – for the guide this was possibly a subliminal memento for the German People… In the same totally dark room it is possible to find a big, finely sculptured wall.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

To the back of the main building it is possible to find a modern addition by the Soviets, a cylindrical building once hosting a diorama of the battle of Berlin. The diorama was transferred in the village of Zhukovo, halfway between Kaluga and Moscow, in the westernmost part of Russia, when the Russians left.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

The two wings to the back of the Officers’ House host two highlights of the show. In the southern wing it is possible to find an empty swimming pool, dating from the days when the place was a sports training ground, with little changes, which include the showers and the diving board, built by the Soviets. The construction technique was very good, and the pool was operated until 1993-94 reportedly with little updates.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

In the northern wing it is possible to find a theatre. This is a bit creepy, for it is totally dark – electric power was cut off years ago – but everything, including the curtain over the stage, is in place like a performance was about to begin! The Soviet past of the place is clear here thanks to the decoration of the medallion over the stage, resembling the monument of the Soviet Soldier in Treptower Park, Berlin. In the roomy foyer it is possible to see the numbered hangers still in place!

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The White House

Across the road from the Officers’ House it is possible to see another early 20th century building, used as a command building by the Soviets during the Cold War, and affectionately called ‘The White House’, both for its primary role in imparting orders and for the colonnade gracing the front façade. The building is inaccessible, and still property of the regional government.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Nearby, a former house for officers dating from before WWII is now operated as a local city hall.

Today, some of the many immigrants coming from Africa to Europe are being hosted in a building close to the White House by the German Government.

Soviet Railway Station, Bread Factory and Soviet Housing

Due to its great strategic relevance in the Cold War era, the prohibited town of Wünsdorf was daily connected two-ways with Moscow. The last train to Moscow left in September 1994. The railway station of Wünsdorf-Waldstadt today operates on a local railway, with trains mainly to and from downtown Berlin. The old Soviet terminal and some warehouses nearby have been abandoned and are in a state of total disrepair.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Railway Station

Close by the station, it is possible to find an abandoned and unattractive small factory with a tall chimney. This is where literally tons of bread were produced every single day since the Nazi era and up to 1994 – reaching 25 tons per day when the place was most crowded in Soviet times. The building was considered a strategic asset by the Nazi, who built it with a 60 cm reinforced concrete roof able to withstand air bombing.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen Bread Factory

Whilst not very crowded, today some houses from the early days in the village of Zossen have been nicely restored to their original conditions. Unfortunately, they still share the roadside with some abandoned or not refurbished Soviet buildings, keeping the typical ‘Soviet ghost’ aura alive in the town.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Housing

Wünsdorf/Zossen Air Force Headquarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen Housing

Maybach Bunkers

Two complexes of peculiar bunkers were built in the Thirties – Maybach I and II – for housing staff of the OKW. From the distance and from above, these half-interred bunkers had the appearance of large farm houses. In reality, they were designed to be bomb-proof, and when they were blown-up by the Soviets after WWII they did not collapse completely.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Maybach German Bunker

One of the two Maybach complexes is very close to the fenced area where the Soviets had their three interred bunkers.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Bunker

Zeppelin Bunker

This communication bunker was built under the Nazi more than 60 feet deep into the terrain. It was made of layers of land and concrete, making it extremely durable and difficult to destroy. As a matter of fact, the Soviets tried to blow it up after the Potsdam conference in summer 1945, but they didn’t succeed at all. They decided to re-use it, sealing part of it to withstand a nuclear attack – including airlocks, reinforced doors, showers for decontamination, and sleeping quarters for troops trapped in by radioactive fallout. When leaving in the Nineties, Russian troops took home all technical rigs, stripping the bunker almost completely of any technical hardware.

Among the highlights in the Zeppelin bunker there are the sealed main entrance built by the Soviets and the decontamination facilities.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

Going down it is possible to appreciate the size of the German design, with tens of rooms, long and roomy corridors and staircases. A small exhibition is dedicated to communication hardware from the Nazi and Soviet times. Copies of the Nazi schemes of the communication network from here to the Eastern front allow to understand the proportions of the system.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

One of two long tunnels – the longest is about 600 ft! – was turned into a sleeping quarter for troops isolated in case of nuclear attack, and original berths are still visible today. Another corridor was so long it was used as a rifle range!

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

The bunker was powered by diesel engines – originally submarine engines under German ownership. These are gone today, but the smell of diesel fuel is still very marked in their room. It’s hard to imagine how noisy this place had to be! Some of the Soviet fuel tanks and air conditioning piping are still there, with original technical schemes.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

A lift was added by the Soviets – it’s not working any more. On the bottom level there are water pumps and other supply systems. Normally this area cannot be toured, also due to water flooding problems.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

In a small wing of the bunker it is possible to see the effect of the Soviet attempt to blow-up the bunker. The dynamics of the attempt are not clear – what explosive was used and where it was positioned. A pierce in the steel/concrete armored ceiling and a cracked reinforced concrete pillar are the only visible results. The size of the crater in the ceiling suggests much explosive was used, but the damage around is fairly limited and very localized. A feature of many military buildings occupied by the Soviets, signatures and graffitis in cyrillic alphabet can be found on some concrete walls of the bunker.

Soviet Half-Interred Bunkers

Really close to the entrance of the Zeppelin bunker, it is possible to find the way into two other less visible facilities.

One of them is a small communication bunker of simple construction. This is basically straight, with a round shaped cross-section. The corridor leading to the main part of the building is rather narrow and pointing down to the underground. The main part is much roomier, with curved steel frames making the walls and ceiling. This was used also as a training facility. This bunker was totally stripped by the retreating Russian troops.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

The second bunker is much more articulated. It was codenamed ‘Nickel’, and the Soviet construction type is UK-20. This was a communication and control bunker for military operations, in particular for air operations. Even though this bunker was stripped similarly to the other two, some technical rigs and tons of paperwork can be spotted in the semi-dark environment of this installation.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Technical plants include the original water pumping system and several high voltage cabinets.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

The room where the air control center was is lighted. It is very big, and copies of the original schemes help to understand how the setup was. Everything there was taken back to Russia by retreating Russian army.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Other interesting items include propaganda posters from Soviet times – they always look very exotic!

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Garrison Museum & Red Army Museum

In the old pre-WWI stables two really unmissable small museums have been prepared. I would recommend visiting them after the site itself, to better understand the relevance and usefulness of the exhibition.

The first is centered on the history of the garrison in Zossen from the years when the barracks were built, and it documents the history of the Officers’ House and all other pre-Soviet buildings around. A focus is given also to the Nazi period, with many photographs and memorabilia. All panels are unfortunately in German only, but the pictures speak for themselves.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

The second collection is dedicated to the Soviet period. Here you can find memorabilia from all stages of the Cold War era, including both museum items already preserved by the Soviets in a museum previously existing in Berlin-Karlshorst, but also everyday items and stuff from Wünsdorf.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

Among the many panels, a small insight dedicated to the huge nuclear base in Vogelsang, covered in this other post of mine.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

Headquarters of the Soviet Air Force

Besides the building of the society running the guided tours of the place, it is possible to find the abandoned headquarters of the Soviet Air Force. A modern statue of a pilot is standing ahead of an Asian restaurant, whereas the main building is inaccessible. A statue of Lenin – not easily visible from the street – can be found in the vegetation, ahead of the main façade. To the side of the building it is possible to find a typical Soviet memorial.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Air Force Headquarters

Much More…!

Among the other uncommon things you can find around in Wünsdorf, there are some Winkel-type air raid shelters, 19 of which were built in the Nazi period for military staff. Most of them were blown by the Soviets, and some of the 7 (?) remaining ones are preserved today.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Winkel Shelter

Visiting

As reported, this ensemble is huge and well looked after. Technically speaking, it is not abandoned – at least the most interesting parts of it. Parts – like the Officers’ House – are awaiting for somebody to own them, parts are destined to remain tourist attractions – like the bunkers and museums. For these reasons, to make your visit practical and enjoyable, and for making the best of your time, I strongly suggest contacting a guide.

Actually the local society also in charge of the nice and interesting book selling activity, for which ‘Bücherstadt Wünsdorf’ – ‘Wünsdorf the Town of Books’ – is famous, runs guided tours on a regular schedule. Full information also in English from their website here. Besides the pre-scheduled tours, some longer special-themed tours can be booked in advance. If you are visiting – like me – from abroad, then I suggest taking contact with the guide before going there.

When I visited, I arranged with the guide a ‘double-tour’ in English just for me, asking to merge two of the tours offered with pre-booking. This was not a cheap alternative – I had to pay alone the price intended for two group tours, but all in all that was worth the financial effort! – but above all I must say I regret not having had more time!

The guide is nice and extremely knowledgeable, he speaks a perfect English and Russian as well. He knows anything from the history of the place, including interesting anecdotes and technical notions. He will take you to all places of interest with a minivan, and of course he will give you all the time for taking pictures, including some with a tripod in especially dark conditions – he has two portable lights for helping in the task! So the guided tour will not be boring at all.

After that, you may like to go back to have a look to the exterior of some buildings you had not the time to check out during the guided visit.

The towns of Wünsdorf and Zossen are basically a single entity, but possibly not on your nav. In case you get confused when driving to the building where you should meet the guide, just follow the signs for the book selling activities – the building is the same.

I mentioned there is a railway station, and of course you may choose to come in by train and move by bicycle – walking would be too time consuming in my view, due to the distance between points of interests. Coming by car is also very practical if you are not moving by train on your trip, and there is room for parking almost everywhere.

Places with a Soviet Flavor in Saint Petersburg

February 19, 2017December 24, 2018 CarloRLeave a comment

Saint Petersburg is one of the two ‘big cities’ in Russia which you’ll likely be touching during your visit to this great Country, and probably among the most tourist-friendly in this part of the world. There are tons of sights to see for anyone with an interest in art, architecture, history, fashion, shopping, dining, nightlife, etc. The city is very large, with a population of about 5 millions, and touring just the most famous places – like the Winter Palace, St. Isaac and the central area along the Nevsky Prospekt, as well as the Peter and Paul Fortress – will take already at least a few days.

What people from abroad – unlike Russians – are sometimes less aware of is that the Revolution in 1917 started and evolved in Saint Petersburg, which at that time was still the capital city of the Russian Empire, where the Tzar and the government resided. Here Lenin and the Bolsheviks worked in the tumultuous moments preceding and after the abdication of Nicholas II, the last of the Tzars, and here the communist-led organization of the ‘Soviet’ imposed its rule, before the governmental body moved its headquarters to Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia, soon in 1918. The prominent role the city had in the Revolution was acknowledged changing its name to Leningrad, the ‘City of Lenin’, which would stay until 1991.

So, besides the countless sites of great historical and artistic value connected with the city’s founder Peter the Great and the Tzars who succeeded to him, there are in Saint Petersburg countless places recalling the Communist Revolution and the Soviet period.

Furthermore, as this city used to be a frontline destination for people traveling for cultural interest from both within the USSR and abroad much before the end of Communism, many interesting museums were established here. Some of them still retain a typical Soviet flavor, in the choice of artifacts, exhibition style and in the management policies – you will be left unscrupulously in a queue in a freezing -20°C winter evening outside of a museum, waiting just for more hangers to be available in the cloakroom, if the rules say so!

This post is about some places in todays Saint Petersburg connected with the Revolution and the Communist era, and some museums still retaining their Soviet style. All photographs, both the good and the bad, are from mine and were taken in early 2017.

Sights

Here is a map of the sites described below. The city is huge, and the coverage of the subway system is by far less developed than that of Moscow, with stops quite afar from each other – so expect to walk really much in Saint Petersburg! You may also elect to take a taxi when needed, for you pay the distance, not the time, and it is much less expensive than in other big cities in Europe.

All attractions in this post – except perhaps the House of Soviets – are fairly central, so even when you need to walk for reaching them, you will never need to be in an unpleasant or dangerous area of the town.

Kirov’s Apartment Museum

This museum, located ten minutes north of the Peter and Paul fortress, is rather deceptive – it is located on the two top floors of a formerly luxurious apartments building from the late 19th or early 20th century, where all other apartments are privately owned today. You will need to go through the foyer of the building, where the stately and elegant appearance of the façade is soon lost to the incredibly shabby, purely Soviet style of the inside, with a small and poorly looking elevator to ease you climbing to the top of the building.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Apartment House of Kirov

Before the Revolution these apartments, exceptionally large and modern for the time, were property of wealthy businessmen and professionals. Soon after the Revolution, when property was abolished and housing was reassigned, the second floor from the top was given to Sergey Kirov, a top ranking communist leader successfully enforcing Soviet power in Azerbaijan, a great supporter and a close friend of Stalin during his struggle for power after the death of Lenin in 1924, and later to become the leader of the Communist Party in Leningrad and supervisor of industrial production – a prominent figure in his times. Stalin ended up ordering him killed in the early Thirties – although not officially – coincidentally marking the beginning of the harshest period of communist dictatorship in Russia.

The apartment of Kirov has been preserved very well to this day. You can see a studio and living room, with hunting trophies including a polar bear, bookcases and photographs of Stalin and Lenin. The aura of the early years of Stalin has been integrally preserved, and the apartment looks like comrade Kirov had just gone out for a Party meeting! Stalin himself reportedly visited Kirov here more than once.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Apartment House of Kirov

Other rooms in the living quarters include a dining room, a small living room, a library and a nice bedroom for children. A kitchen – with a General Electric refrigerator! -, a junk room and bathroom complete the main part of the private apartment. Two very large rooms include Kirov’s study and a sort of waiting room today turned into an exhibit of soviet-themed paintings and sculptures, mainly about Kirov. You can easily imagine Kirov receiving delegates from the factories around the smoky Leningrad of the late Twenties in this room, with the portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin always carefully listening to the talk!

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Apartment House of Kirov

On the top floor, the museum offers a two-rooms reconstruction of a school, a meeting room of a youth organization, a shared apartment and a children bedroom from the years of Kirov, from the late Twenties to the early Thirties. Many interesting everyday items, as well as communist-themed flags, banners, memorabilia, some paintings and sculptures and much more can be found here.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Apartment House of Kirov

All in all, this is one of the most evocative exhibitions on communist personalities I’ve ever seen! Visiting in a freezing winter evening also helped to relive the old Soviet atmosphere. Visit is recommended for everybody with an interest in Soviet history, and for those with a thing for living architecture, for this is a good occasion to get an insight on the standard of life of the wealthy class immediately before and after the Revolution in this region. You can take a self-guided tour, and you are given a detailed booklet in English to help yourself along the visit. Visiting may take from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on your level of interest.

Arctic and Antarctic Museum

This nice little museum is interesting both for the pretty unusual subject – polar explorations carried out by Russian and then Soviet expeditions – and for the setting and style of the exhibition. It is hosted in a former church building in a neoclassical style from the 19th century.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Arctic Antarctic Polar Museum

The exhibition maybe pretty outdated for modern standards, but it may appeal to you if you are interested in the topic more than in cheesy presentations, and if you want to experience how a Soviet-style museum looks like! The small setting is cluttered with dioramas with stuffed animals, including a polar bear, dim lighted showcases with artifacts and memorabilia from expeditions, plus ship models and some larger artifacts, like tents, polar shelters and instruments for taking measurements.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Arctic Antarctic Polar Museum

There are also very interesting frescoes and large paintings, both on the walls and ceiling, all about moments in the history of Soviet polar expeditions. Models, photographs and much more complete the exhibition.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Arctic Antarctic Polar Museum

The ground floor is about arctic exploration, which was started in the early history of Russia thanks to the proximity of the Country with the arctic region. The top floor is on antarctic missions, and here the accent is more on international collaboration and permanent missions. Some very nice paintings, rather rare to find elsewhere, can be found here.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Arctic Antarctic Polar Museum

All in all, an unusual museum with much to tell on a very specific and not often well-covered chapter of explorations. The place is very popular among Russians, and the exhibition is totally in Russian. There are audio-guides, but I wasn’t offered one during my visit, so maybe there is no chance to get explanations in English – but I’m not sure about this. Of course, you may decide to go with a local guide on a private tour, able to translate the explanations for you. Visiting alone if you are interested in the topic and you have a basic knowledge of the matter may take about 1 hour – even without a guide and with no knowledge of Russian… this is the time needed for looking at the many photographs, paintings and artifacts!

Krassin Icebreaker

This ship, preserved in perfect conditions on the river Neva, has an incredible story. The hull was manufactured under Nicholas II in Britain, but the ship took service under the communist rule. She used to be a steam power ship at that time. She was involved in explorations and arctic missions, including the rescue of the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile, who went down with his airship over the Arctic after reaching the North Pole by air in the late Twenties. Krassin was deployed after the most famous polar explorer from Norway, Roald Amundsen, was lost while on an ill-fated rescue mission by plane.

Later on, the ship was sent to the US during WWII, where she was modified to receive structural reinforcements and defensive weapons in Bremerton, WA. She worked as an escort ship traveling back to Europe via Panama during the Battle of the Atlantic against Nazi Germany, and spent the rest of the war patrolling the northern shores of the USSR, reportedly grounding some German aircraft.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Krassin Icebreaker

After the war, being part of the arctic fleet and having had a history so glorious, it was refurbished and upgraded with more modern equipment and propulsion system in Germany. It was then constantly improved while in service as a scientific platform, until a few years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, when it was permanently moored where you find her today.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Krassin Icebreaker

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Krasin Icebraker

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Krassin Icebreaker

The restoration work was carried out very well, and the vessel looks like it could sail away at any time! You can visit on guided tours in small groups. The visit includes the living quarters of the captain and crew and of the scientific staff – rather much above the military standard! – a room with technical stuff and the commanding deck. You are offered also a quick intro video in Russian.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Krassin Icebreaker

I don’t know whether they’re offering tours except in Russian, but there are some explanations in English along the visit. Visiting in winter may add to your photos from the outside if the Neva is covered with ice, but the tour is shorter – about 40 min -, for you can’t see the power plant, as heating is probably absent in that part of the ship.

Absolutely recommended for everybody with an interest in ships, polar explorations, engineering and scientific expeditions! This is good for the kids as well. Be warned, the distance from the closest metro station is about 1 mile, but you may choose to walk along the bank of the river, with a nice view of the Winter Palace and the central district, with many photo opportunities. Rather close to the Krassin there is also the WWII submarine C-189, which I had not the time to visit. This is another entity from the icebreaker, with a separate ticket.

Museum of Artillery

This huge State-owned museum hosts a world-class collection of Russian and Soviet weapons from the middle ages to our days. The building is that of a former large artillery depot from the mid-19th century, in the immediate vicinity of the Peter and Paul Fortress, from which it can be reached in a few minutes. The museum is really a temple of Russian nationalism, and it’s very popular among Russians, whose military battles and victories are celebrated also with banners, uniforms, paintings, and several memorabilia.

There are two main branches inside the U-shaped building, placed in the two wings. In the first there is a collection of ancient swords and armors from the middle ages to roughly the early 18th century and Peter the Great. Next come many cannons and rifles from the 19th century, and more modern weapons, including what appear to be naval cannons from the years of WWI. The collection is really immense, and I had not purchased a photo permit – I had not enough cash! – so unfortunately the quality of the pictures is not very good.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

The second branch covers from WWII to the Cold War. In this section there are cannons, howitzers, armored vehicles, and, much incredibly, full-scale tactical and early strategic missiles – which seem really big in the small rooms of a museum! There are also pieces of communication equipment and engineering tools, for the museum is namely also dedicated to the Engineering and Signal Corps.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

Two small but interesting separate rooms are dedicated to the guard of Peter the Great and to Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man behind the world-famous attack rifle, who really existed and passed away in 2013 aged 94. Some technical drawings and some exemplars of the rifle – including some special designs – are showcased in this room, together with portraits of the man in various ages, in Soviet and later Russian colors. Unique and extremely interesting.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

A good third of the museum’s collections are on the outside, in the front courtyard and to both sides of the building. Most of the items preserved on the outside are too big for being stored inside the building, meaning they are really big! You can find cannons, armored vehicles, SAMs, strategic missiles and their transportation and launch vehicles, special vehicles for snow removal, and much more – all stuff you might spot in the historic video recordings of the countless parades on the Red Square, deep in the years of the Cold War!

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

To the northern side of the building a battery of older cannons, possibly from the war against Napoleon, is preserved, whereas on the southern side a strategic missile of incomparable size is sitting in his canister on the launching vehicle.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum of Artillery Soviet

Especially for war historians and military technology enthusiast this museum alone is a good reason for coming to Saint Petersburg! As I wrote, the atmosphere is nostalgic, so go prepared to a very old-style, traditional Soviet exhibition. There is not a word in the whole museum except in Russian. Payment is not possible except cash. I was asked about American citizenship at the cloakroom – not unexpected in the hostile Russia of the closing days of the Obama administration – but did not undergo any special treatment. Great for the kids, visiting the outside may be tough in winter, but surely worth the effort. A visit may easily take 1.5 to 2 hours for an interested person or an expert of the matter.

Museum of the Political History of Russia

Again in the vicinity of the Peter and Paul Fortress, this modern museum is mainly dedicated to a detailed description of the causes and to the timeline of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917, and to the history of the Soviet system.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum History Politics Russia

The main exhibition about the characteristics of the soviet system soon after its inception is rather short in size, but with many details and artifacts, as well as explanatory panels and reconstructions of rooms from various ages of the Soviet era – including shared houses.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum History Politics Russia

Besides the main exhibition there is a constellation of some smaller exhibitions. It is not always easy to put things in the right chronological order, but surely among the most interesting there is one about the timeline of the Revolution of 1917 – extremely complicated – and the ensuing civil war.

The building, once belonging to a famous dancer who fled the country following the early-1917 turmoil, is most notably where Lenin resided from the abdication of the Tzar to the summer of 1917, before the fateful Red October and the Bolsheviks conquering power. The study where Lenin worked and the very balcony from where he addressed the crowds of the Bolsheviks are preserved, and you can see them both for real and in a painting from Soviet times – really impressive!

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum History Politics Russia

Another part of the exhibition is about Stalin’s purges and the use he made of the gulag’s system for ‘re-education’. The museum is not nostalgic with respect to soviet times, but rather objective and duly critical concerning Soviet dictatorship. It is well designed to western standards, with many explanations in English, but more popular among Russians. Due to the historical significance of the building in the 1917 revolution, visiting is surely recommended for people with an interest in that part of Russian history. Visiting may take about 1.5-2 hours for an average interested person.

Museum of Cosmonautics and Rocket Technology

The museum is located right inside the Peter and Paul Fortress, but due to its peripheral position it is often overlooked by mainstream visitors. The location, apparently clashing with the historical significance of the surroundings, is instead appropriate, for the State institute responsible for studying and experimenting with rocketry was placed in the very part of the fortress where the museum is in the years preceding WWII.

The museum is rather small. In an introductory part, scientists from all over the world and from all ages contributing to the history of rocketry are mentioned. In a second part the early designs from the institute are presented, including some real items from the time, like rocket models and engines.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum Cosmonautics Rocketry

In a final part, more modern big rocket engines from the Vostok and Soyuz missions and a reentry capsule are presented, together with some other artifacts. These include some space-themed Christmas decorations – note the sunny smile of the small Soviet astronauts in the pictures…

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Museum Cosmonautics Rocketry

Visiting won’t take much time, about 0.5 hours, and is surely recommended especially for the kids if you are already in the fortress.

Cruiser Aurora and Finlandia Station

The very famous Aurora cruiser, marginally involved in the initial phase of the 1917 revolution, is preserved on the bank of the Neva, not far north from the Peter and Paul Fortress. I missed the last entry, so I could see it only from the outside. The ship is very well preserved and constitutes a very good photographic subject.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Cruiser Aurora

About 15 minutes walking to the north of the ship you can find the Finlandia railway station, where Lenin arrived in town ready to put his efforts in the 1917 revolution. The station is still in business, and the building has been modernized since the Twenties. The square ahead of it is where one of the surviving statues of Lenin can be found in Saint Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Finlandia Station Lenin Statue

On the southern side of the square there is a branch of the Academy of the Russian Army.

Smolny Institute

This area to the east of the city center has its focus in the majestic building of the Smolny Cathedral. What is possibly less known is that the building to the south of the cathedral, hosting the Smolny educational institute until 1917, was chosen for the headquarters of the Bolsheviks soon before the October Revolution. From here Lenin directed the moves against the other revolutionary factions, and the government of the First Soviet was established in this palace in the closing months of 1917 and early 1918, marking the beginning of the Soviet era, before leaving for Moscow.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Smolny Institute Soviet Government

Today the building still retains an institutional role and cannot be approached freely. In a small building to the opposite of the perspective leading to the façade of the palace you can find plaques and friezes with quotes from Lenin. The British Consulate is located nearby.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad Smolny Institute Soviet Government

A huge area moving from Smolny to the west and the city center is occupied by enormous palaces built mainly in a Soviet brutalist style, now largely unused – up for sale or rent. I don’t know much details about their former function, but this was probably connected with Soviet government or administrative functions. The area features a rather grim aura, with few people around and oversized spaces.

House of Soviets

The area along Moskovsky Prospekt was developed under Stalin’s rule in a style which is more typical to Moscow than Saint Petersburg. Among the highlights, the huge Moscow Square is where the stately building of the House of Soviets was built in the late Thirties. Due to the Nazi attack in 1941 and the siege of Leningrad, the building was converted to a military headquarters of the Red Army. After the war it was handed over to scientific institutions, and now it is a multi-functional executive building.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad House of Soviets Moskovskaya Lenin’s Statue

The frieze with the triumphs of Socialism culminating in the gigantic hammer and sickle emblem on top really recall the Soviet times. Right at the center of the square, very popular among the locals as a gathering place and a hub for public transport services, a very big statue of Lenin still dominates the scene.

Saint Petersburg Leningrad House of Soviets Moskovskaya Lenin’s Statue

The place is very convenient to reach, thanks to a metro station in Moscow Square. The monument commemorating the heroes of the siege is located about 5 minutes south of the square.

War Museums in Moscow

November 27, 2016May 9, 2020 CarloRLeave a comment

People visiting Moscow from abroad usually spend much of the time in the Kremlin and the nearby districts, where they can find many cultural attractions, as well as fashion stores, great hotels and restaurants. Among the features of Russia’s capital city less known to the average tourist are the many monuments and museums dedicated to war history, which in some cases host extremely interesting exhibitions and artifacts from various ages, which would tell the visitor as much as the most prominent attractions in town.

Three I could visit in person are cited in this post, all of them easily reachable with the usual metro rail in a few minutes from the downtown.

The following photographs were taken during a visit to Moscow in September 2015.

Central Museum of the Armed Forces

This is a purely Soviet installation Cold War buffs will definitely like very much… Despite the old-fashioned website – which after all contributes to the picture of a Soviet-state-owned company… – the building was built following WWII, better known in Russia as the Great Patriotic war of 1941-1945. On the outside, besides the entrance there are a missile and a tank. Once inside you immediately find yourself in a large two-levels hall, dominated by a sculpture of Lenin and a huge mosaic wall, plus paintings of battles and other war-themed scenes all around.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

From soon after your arrival, you get to grips with the only real ‘problem’ of this installation, where – just like many others touristic sights in Russia – everything – including the escape plan in the event of fire… – is written in Russian only. So, from the viewpoint of history, you’d better go prepared if you want to get the most from this exhibition, for you won’t find any understandable written information, unless obviously you understand some Russian.

There are several halls in the museum, related to historical moments from WWI up to the present day. A first notable room presents a lively reconstruction of a WWI trench fight, with lights and sounds.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

The path through the museum follows the course of history, including the revolution, which put an end to WWI for Russia. Then follows WWII. I have to say I never found a collection of Nazi artifacts so rich as the one preserved here in any other place I visited. Literally hundreds of items, from propaganda posters to flags and banners, weapons, medals, papers,… Also present in due quantity are flags and banners of the Soviet Union, as well as Soviet uniforms, weapons and medals from the age of WWII.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

Probably the most notable items from the time are the red banner raised on the Reichstag in Berlin – the corresponding b/w photograph is today one of the symbols of the end of WWII – and an original metal eagle with a swastika, probably taken from the Reichstag or the Reichkanzlei. The flag and the eagle are put together in a kind of monumental installation in a large central hall, celebrating the victory of the Soviet Union in the Patriotic War.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

An old coat and a hat belonging to Stalin are also part of the exhibition.

Moving on to the Cold War period, a first focus is on the early history of the Soviet atomic program, leading to the detonation of the first nuclear asset in 1949, and to the testing by the Soviets of the largest thermonuclear device ever. Many models and some documentation are available – I could not understand the details, in that occasion I really regretted having no knowledge of Russian! The development of strategic missiles is covered next, including the much connected race to space.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

The highlight of this part of the exhibition – at least for western visitors – may be the wreck of Francis Gary Powers’ aircraft, downed in 1959 by a SAM, basically a Soviet invention, during an illegal flight over the territory of the USSR ordered by the CIA. A large part of the fuselage and of the wings can be seen, with technical labels in English. Also part of the ejectable seat and other parts of this Lockheed U-2 are packed together somewhat inelegantly. Some original papers and maps the pilot had with him at the time of the accident are exhibited, together with many photographs. Extremely interesting.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army Gary Powers U2

Approaching the last stage of the Soviet Union, scale models, mockups and parts of larger nuclear missiles are presented. Also the war in Afghanistan is mentioned and the more contemporary war actions in Chechnya and other theaters following the collapse of the USSR are outlined and artifacts and photographs showcased. A window from the relic of the ill-fated Kursk submarine remembers this more recent tragedy – together with a monument on the outside to the right of the entrance.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

Finally, the backyard is full of interesting items like missiles, gantries, heavy vehicles, tanks and so on. Unfortunately, it started raining heavily at the time of my visit, so photographs were not possible.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

All in all, I would say one of the best museums in Europe on the topic of 20th century war history, and probably the best on Russian/Soviet operations in the 20th century. The presentation may be perceived as antiquated for todays standards, nonetheless this may be appreciated by people who are not totally new to this piece of history and who are more interested in seeing valuable and unusual ‘hardware’. I would recommend at least a full hour for the interested visitor, extendable to 1.5 hours rather easily including a detailed visit to the outside exhibition.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is not far north from downtown Moscow, less than .2 miles from Dostoyevskaya metro stop (line 10). The building can be approached walking along ul. Sovetskoy Armii, on the side of the park. The neighborhood is decent and safe, I had no bad feelings visiting alone.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War

Moscow is scattered with monuments remembering the Soviet effort and the victorious outcome of WWII, but the focal point of the celebration is the park at Poklonnaya Hill with the museum of the Great Patriotic War. The park is an extensive area, built around a perspective leading to the top of the hill, where the museum can be found (website here). This is hosted in the curved building behind the very tall spine which can be seen from the distance.

Approaching from the east, from the famous Kutuzovski Prospekt where many important political players of the USSR used to live, including Brezhnev, it is possible to spot first a huge arch, just in the middle of the road, and departing from it the perspective leading to the hill, just to the left of the Prospekt. To the left of the hill as well as beyond the spine there is a park with several smaller installations remembering war actions involving the USSR and more recently Russia, and following WWII. It is also possible to find there an exhibition with cannons, armored vehicles and other warcrafts.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

The museum, accessible from the front of the circular building, is intended basically to celebrate the heroism of the Red Army in the war against Germany. It acts as a place of remembrance for the many who never came back, and during my visit there I coincidentally could assist to a ceremony with high ranking military staff celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

Inside the most notable items are huge and very vivid dioramas – I must say, very well made, especially for the age – reconstructing some scenes from some especially dramatic battles of the war against Nazi Germany.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

In the crypt it is possible to find the very interesting ‘Hall of sorrow’, a more modern monument to the fallen soldiers, with many crystal drops hanging from the ceiling, representing the tears of Mother Russia. These should be really many, with a proportion to the number of soldiers actually lost in the conflict.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

The exhibition of artifacts includes a selection of items from various moments and fronts of the war. I could not tour this part freely because of the above mentioned ceremony, but what I could see was interesting. Unfortunately, I could not see the Hall of fame.

Above all, the plan of the whole installation and the Soviet style adopted, not so bombastic in this case, are extremely interesting. Touring the museum may take less than 45 minutes. If you are interested in moving in the park, you may need more. Distances here follow monumental proportions, so monuments are not really close to each other as they might seem on a map.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

Getting there and moving around

The area can be reached easily from Park Pobedy metro stop on line 3. The perspective leading to the museum starting from the arch (and from the metro station) is about .6 miles long.

Museum-Panorama ‘The battle of Borodino’

You can find this museum very close to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War described above. The theme of the exhibition is here the battle of Borodino during the war against Napoleon and the French Army.

Borodino is located about 80 miles west of Moscow. There the advancing French Army faced the full power of the Russian Army. Napoleon himself was present and led war operations, while Kutuzov and Bagration, the top-ranking generals of the Tsar, were among the strategists on the Russian side. The battle was a prototypical battle of the time, with wild fire from cannons, infantry and cavalry, all in the arena. It turned out very cruel, taking a huge death toll on both parts. As a matter of fact, the Russian Army, which had constantly retreated avoiding the contact with the French until that great battle, continued back towards Moscow, which was finally abandoned and set on fire as Napoleon’s Army was reaching it. On one side, the Russians failed to stop the French at Borodino, on the other they set for the French a deadly trap – the French did not quit chasing the Russians until the winter of 1812 finally struck when they were infinitely far from home with no active supply lines, nor food nor resupply storages at hand. The season killed basically 9 out of 10 on the French side, triggering the end of Napoleon’s dreams of power.

The museum was recently refurbished in a modern key, with a detailed description of some moments of the battle on wide screens and interactive panels – again, unfortunately all in Russian. Uniforms, weapons and artifacts add to the visit, but the highlight here is the beautiful panorama painting. This is similar to the cyclorama in Gettysburg, PA, and it is a more than 300 ft long circular painting vividly depicting some important moments in the battle of Borodino. As you can learn from the website, the painting was made in 1912 (before the Soviets) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the battle. The building was renovated in 1962.

Museum-Panorama The Battle of Borodino Napoleon War Moscow

The visit may not take much, especially if you are not interested in the war against Napoleon, but I would suggest going there even only for the uniqueness of the installation as well as for its artistic significance. In any case, the visit may not take more than 45 minutes, especially if you don’t understand Russian.

Right behind the museum it is possible to see the wooden hut where Kutuzov and his staff discussed and decided for the destruction of Moscow in order to jeopardize the plans of the French to find a shelter there for the approaching winter season.

Museum-Panorama The Battle of Borodino Napoleon War Moscow

Getting there and moving around

The museum can be reached easily from Park Pobedy metro stop on line 3, like the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. From the metro stop you can walk west on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, and you will soon find the museum on the left (northern) side of the road, about .2 miles from the station.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers

October 23, 2016October 19, 2019 CarloRLeave a comment

A distinctive feature of Moscow and some other European capital cities, Stalin’s skyscrapers were designed in the Forties and built from the early Fifties to the early Sixties. For this reason they stand as an symbol of the early Cold War period, when the Soviet Union and the Western Powers were starting to openly competing on almost everything, from the blast intensity of thermonuclear devices to the new frontier of flight – space.

Stalin died in 1953, so he couldn’t see in person the completion of the buildings bearing his name, but it is reported that he was involved personally in the master plan – approved before 1947 -, choice of architects and design of the towers in Moscow, which were to symbolize the might of the Soviet Union, a key player and a winning power of WWII, and to showcase a tangible realization of the Socialist social model. This was also to create a counterpart to the American skyscrapers, a prominent feature of many cities of the US since the mid Twenties.

Today all Stalin’s skyscrapers are still in place, and especially in the very fashionable and modern Moscow, they remain among the most evocative remains of the Communist era. Besides the gothic-renaissance style they are built in, with imposing volumes and tall pinnacles and spines, resulting in a “Gotham City” appearance in contrast with today’s mostly widespread minimal style, these buildings are covered with symbols and sculptures totally bound to the old ‘Communist code’ – tens of hammers, sickles, waving flags and stars, plus portraits of farmers, workers, socialist virtues and happy families – a true relic of a bygone era.

Visiting is generally limited to coming close and walking around, for these buildings are all still used today for various functions, including housing and governmental.

This little report is unfortunately not complete, as I will present only photographs I’ve taken myself of those buildings I had the chance to come close to in Moscow (but not all that you can see there), Warsaw and Riga. Yet I hope to give an impression of what these buildings look like, and… to be able to complete the report with the missing ones in the future!

Navigate this post – Click on link to scroll

Moscow – Moscow State University (Lemonsovo University)
Moscow – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Moscow – Kudrinskaya Square Building
Moscow – Kotelnicheskaya Enbankment Building
Moscow – Leningradskaya Hotel & Red Gates Administrative Building
Riga, Latvia – Latvian Academy of Sciences
Warsaw, Poland – Palace of Culture and Science

Moscow, Russia

Moscow State University (Lemonsovo University)

This building is the largest of Stalin’s skyscrapers, and the tallest educational building in the world – taking pictures of the facade is a real challenge even with a wide lens! The perception of the volume of the building is reduced – to some extent… – due to the isolated position on top of a hill dominating central Moscow from the west.

The campus of the University can be accessed freely (there are gates and fences, but I guess they are normally open at least in daylight), and I suggest going for a walk from the metro stop ‘Vorobyovy gory’ (line 1) to the top of the hill, where you will get a breathtaking panorama of downtown Moscow, as well as a perspective view of the university building. You may then walk closer to the building and eventually move around it, reaching the metro stop ‘Universitet’ (line 1) for your train back to Moscow. The area is huge, so consider more than 1 hour for a complete relaxed tour of the area, even if you are just taking pictures of the outside.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

The decoration of the building is probably the most elaborate of all Stalin’s skyscrapers, and include huge communist coats of arms, metal banners with engravings, a Lenin memorial sculpture, a big clock, various allegorical sculptures, and a gigantic USSR emblem with a star on top of the 787 ft tall central spine.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

The panoramic view you get from the easternmost part of the perspective allows you to spot from the distance all other Stalin’s skyscrapers in town, including Hotel Ukraine (today Radisson Royal), which is partly covered by the modern skyscrapers of ‘New Moscow’.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Located on the western end of the very popular Arbat boulevard next to the ‘Smolenskaya’ interchange station on metro lines 3, 4 and 5, this imposing building is still today occupied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

The decoration is sober, and the tiles covering the exterior are made from a dark brownish material, giving a solemn, serious and possibly grim appearance to the complex. Slabs with hammer and sickle engravings can be found on the western gate on Smolensky Blvd.

Kudrinskaya Square Building

This imposing apartment building, built for high-ranking members of the Soviet cultural panorama, can be reached from ‘Barricadnaya’ on metro line 7 or equivalently from ‘Krasnoprechenskaya’ on the circle line 5. It is very close to the American embassy, and not excessively far from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

The neighborhood is composed mainly of smaller residential buildings, but nonetheless this skyscraper is proportionately designed, rather ‘mimetic’ and not excessively imposing. The typical pale tiles covering most of the façade and the lack of bombastic decoration add to the nice overall perception you may get of this skyscraper.

Kotelnicheskaya Enbankment Building

This is probably the most prominent and impressive of Stalin’s skyscrapers, due to the incredible location on the Moskva river. It can be admired from the distance from the southeastern corner of the Kremlin, and especially from the bridge immediately south of the Red Square and St. Basil. The very light color of the façade gives this large building an airy appearance. A huge spine with a star and a hammer and sickle emblem complete the profile.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

It is still today an apartment building. Needless to say, from the building you will get an almost unobstructed view of the Kremlin. It can be reached with a walk from the Kremlin or a more quiet walk from the interchange station ‘Taganskaya’ on line 5, 7 and 8, ideal if you are also visiting Bunker-42.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

Walking closer to the building will give you a mixed feeling of grandeur and poor quality at the same time, due to size of the skyscraper on one hand, and to the many small commercial activities on the ground floor, and a certain disorder around the main entrance on the other – due to an overcrowded small parking, and a small, unnecessary fenced park.

Leningradskaya Hotel & Red Gates Administrative Building

I only had the chance for a quick pass by these buildings. The Leningradskaya Hotel (today Hilton) is the most modestly sized of Stalin’s Skyscrapers in Moscow, and is located on the western side of the highly trafficked Komsomolskaya Square, with three railway stations offering connections to everywhere in Russia and to international destinations as well, and a terminal for the world-famous Transsiberian line. The corresponding metro station is ‘Komsomolskaya’ on line 1 and 5.

Stalin’s Skyscrapers Moscow

From the square you can see the tower of the Red Gates Administrative Building, which can be reached with a quick walk from there or with the metro line 1 (‘Krasnye Vorota’ stop). Together with Leningradskaya Hotel, these are probably the least imposing of all Stalin’s skyscrapers, even though some mastery was reportedly necessary in the construction process of this building, due to a complicated reaction of the soil to its weight.

Riga, Latvia

Latvian Academy of Sciences

The latest of Stalin’s skyscrapers to reach completion – opened in 1961 – this distinctive building can be spotted from quite afar in the skyline of Riga, the capital city of the Latvian Republic. In the era of the USSR, this was not a ‘satellite state’, instead it was annexed to be one of the Socialist Soviet Republics, together with its neighbors Estonia and Lithuania. The building can be spotted to the south of the historical district and can be reached with a short walk from there.

Stalin’s Skyscraper Riga

This building retains only the style of Moscow’s Stalinist skyscrapers. The construction method is here based on reinforced concrete, where all buildings in Moscow are based on steel frames and masonry. The covering tiles are rather dark, giving a grim appearance to this otherwise well proportioned tower. The building can be accessed and you can reach the top to enjoy the panorama to a small fee.

Warsaw, Poland

Palace of Culture and Science

This service building is on Marsalkowska, next to the metro station ‘Swietokrzyska’, about .6 miles from the totally central University of Warsaw on Krakowskie boulevard.

Stalin’s Skyscraper Warsaw

The building is somehow isolated from the surroundings, being in the center of a large square. It is very imposing and comparable in size to those in Moscow – it is still today one of the tallest buildings in Poland, and can be easily spotted from several places around Warsaw.

You can climb to the top for a fee.

Stalin’s Skyscraper Warsaw

STASI Prisons and Headquarters in Berlin and the GDR

October 1, 2016December 2, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

	Heading to Berlin or the former GDR? Looking for traces of the Cold War open for a visit?
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Among the most unequivocal signs of the oppressive communist dictatorship in the former German Democratic Republic – ‘GDR’ or ‘DDR’ in German – are probably the many buildings once operated by the STASI, the German cousin of the well-known Soviet KGB.

Being a state security service by its very name – STASI stands for ‘STAat SIcherheit’, or state security -, this organization was responsible for the capillary control over the behavior of the citizens of the GDR, to the aim of counteracting any threat to the communist rule. It was mainly composed of a para-military staff and of an extensive network of informers – so extensive that actually about 1 out of 180 in Eastern Germany worked for the STASI, while by comparison in the USSR 1 out of 595 worked for the KGB. The main goal of this agency was keeping the statu quo, hence any suspect behavior of East-German citizens, deemed subversive with respect to the communist rule, was reported, investigated and usually suppressed.

People found guilty of acts against the State – i.e. against the communist government – were often sentenced to years of imprisonment. This meant that prisons and camps flourished in the GDR, as people got arrested and at least kept for interrogation just for having received western newspapers or having colored their rooms with posters of American pop singers. How the STASI came to know of similar ‘violations’ was by means of informers, who triggered secret investigations carried out with ‘James Bond gear’, like cameras and microphones hidden in coat buttons and bags. Microphones and cameras were also usually installed in the walls, chandeliers and doors of the houses of suspected subjects.

This huge institution was among the most feared and hated – as well as expensive to run – in the GDR, and soon after the reopening of the border and the demolition of the wall in Berlin in 1989 many of its buildings were occupied by the population. To deny responsibility in the unfair trial, imprisonment and confinement of many citizens, the staff of the STASI began ‘burning’ its archives immediately, but they were so extensive that this rapidly turned out to be impossible. The STASI was disbanded among the first governmental agencies of the GDR in the early months of 1990, even before the two halves of Germany were merged. Finally the archives were made publicly available during the process of the German reunification. Many people came to know they had been carefully observed and spied in every movement during their everyday life.

Today, some of the most prominent buildings once operated by the STASI are open to the public and represent an interesting and worrying memento of this chapter of the history of Germany. The following photographs are from some such sites I visited over the years from 2013 to 2023.

STASI Headquarters, Berlin-Lichtenberg

The headquarters of the STASI occupied an extensive citadel composed of many big, multi-storey buildings. Like the KGB, the tasks of the STASI weren’t limited to internal state security, but also to border protection – a very serious business in Eastern Germany, as you can see from another page of this site dedicated to the German inner border – and espionage activities abroad. The various directorates occupied their respective buildings in the citadel. The place is in a semi-peripheral district of former East Berlin named Lichtenberg.

Berlin Lichtenberg Normannenstrasse Stasi Headquarters

The main building hosts a museum of central relevance on the topic, where you can find much data about the history and the impressive size of this agency, as well as spy gear – for instance mimetic microphones for listening to conversations in private houses. The stories of some of the victims of the communist surveillance machine are also reported. Envelope-opening devices and rags for preserving the odor of those arrested for watchdogs are displayed in showcases.

Berlin Lichtenberg Normannenstrasse Stasi Headquarters

Probably the highlight of the museum is the apartment and office of Erich Mielke, the director of the STASI from 1957 – well before the wall was erected in Berlin – up to the dissolution of the GDR. Many original directional offices have been preserved and nowadays can be visited.

Berlin Lichtenberg Normannenstrasse Stasi Headquarters

The place is very evocative and retains much of the disturbing ‘GDR atmosphere’, typical to this and other similar installations. The number of visitors is much lower than close to Checkpoint Charlie and the DDR museum near the Berliner Dom, which are mostly cheesy tourist attractions with comparatively little content. On the contrary, in this museum you can still easily perceive the commitment of the GDR goverment towards its own survival, and the proportion of the oppressive apparatus that was created to this aim – here you clearly understand the STASI was a serious business and changed the life of many people.

Berlin Lichtenberg Normannenstrasse Stasi Headquarters

After visiting the museum in the central building you may have a look around to the exterior of other buildings in the citadel, today mostly unused, abandoned or partially occupied by private businesses – I guess the place still retains for many people a very negative aura.

Getting there and moving around

Today the citadel can be reached very conveniently by car or with the U5 (between the stops Magdalenen Strasse and Frankfurter Allee). The museum is fairly modern and well presented, but as of 2015 when I visited the ticket could be paid only cash and some explanations were in German only. Inside the museum there is no air conditioning, and it can be very hot and uncomfortable in summer. Parking is not a problem in front of the main entrance or nearby. Website here.

STASI Prison and Restricted Area, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen

The second largest quarters of the STASI are located in yet another outer district of former East Berlin. Old photographs of the area clearly show that this part of the town was interdicted to visitors not connected with the business of the STASI – there used to be fences and gates all around, cutting some of the roads entering the district. Besides some directorates and administrative buildings, this citadel hosted a prison and a labor camp. The former was the main STASI prison in East Berlin, and those who were arrested on account of suspect activities against the State were usually carried here, where they had to withstand interrogations.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

This place is really grim and appalling. It looks like the staff of the prison had just left. Everything from what you see to the smell of the cells, offices and interrogation rooms is totally evocative of the original GDR atmosphere.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

The STASI became the owner of the place in 1951, after the Soviets, who had managed the occupied territory directly after the German capitulation in 1945, left control of many administrative functions following the creation of the GDR. Under the Soviet rule, in the years of Stalin between 1945 and 1951, a labor camp was set up here and the main building of the prison – a former canteen for Nazi staff – opened for business. More than 20’000 people passed through this installation between 1945 and 1951, many of them on their way to deportation to the USSR.

Under the control of the STASI, the camp was dedicated to non-political prisoners, where the prison, enlarged in more instances as the STASI citadel was growing up, was for the ‘enemies of the State’. More than 20’000 people were imprisoned here between 1951 and 1990.

The place can be visited only on guided tours, offered on a regular basis also in English. Following the tour you can see various imprisonment cells. The worst – and really inhumane – from the times of the Soviets are in the basement of the main building, with no windows and no ventilation, where many people were crushed together waiting for interrogation or deportation.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

The majority of the cells date from the era of the GDR, and are more modern. As the main business of the prison was that of extorting confessions, the prisoners were progressively brought in a state of psychological prostration. Preventing any form of communication was part of the treatment, so most cells for newly arrested people were for one person only. To isolate those arrested even more, when moving from the cell to the interrogation rooms and back the wardens observed special red and green lights, telling when there was somebody else in the corridors. This way the inmate would not see anybody except for the warden and the officer who interrogated him during all his or her stay in the prison.

Padded cells with straitjackets like in asylums were used in the process of extorting confessions, when the inmates were treated with drugs causing hallucinations and loss of physical control. These can be seen in the basement of one of the buildings.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

Also visible are some cells with open top for spending half a hour per day in open air.

An interesting item presented in the exhibition is a minivan that was used for taking people quietly to the prison. The appearance and markings are those of a normal cargo van for transporting goods, whereas the interior is structured with micro-cells for arrested people.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

Interrogation rooms are aligned on a corridor, and are extremely essential, featuring a shabby furniture. Greasy traces on the wallpaper and the smell of old fake leather heated by the sun is make the original atmosphere come alive.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

A further wing is where a clinic for inmates was located. The clinic was of good level, with much technical instrumentation to manage several regular or emergency situations. The office of the director of this wing is another example of pure East German design. Most notably, the once omnipotent Erich Mielke appears to have been interned here following his arrest after 1989.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

A one-of-a-kind exhibit is a railway truck for inmates. Besides the rather uncomfortable compartment design, with small chairs in a very little space, this transport was made really inhumane through the lack of air conditioning, the windows with bars and even a white glass, which deliberately created disorientation. These trains were artificially put on the lowest priority, so as to make traveling a painstaking experience for inmates.

Berlin Hohenschönhausen Stasi Remand Prison

The memorial is not central, so only those really interested in the history of the GDR, and of East Berlin and the STASI usually come here. Nonetheless, it is managed like a good level international museum, with guided tours, facilities for groups and a serious bookshop. Before taking the tour you are offered a movie telling the history of the prison in brief and showing the testimonies of former inmates. All in all a very interesting – and instructive – experience, surely worth a detour from the more touristic districts.

After visiting the prison, you may have a look around to the other buildings in this citadel. You can find a map in a cheap but interesting booklet they sell in the bookshop (‘The prohibited district’, by Erler and Knabe).

Getting there and moving around

The correct address of the prison building is Genslerstraße 66, Berlin. You can reach it easily by car. The neighborhood is primarily residential and not central, so parking won’t be a problem. If you have not a car, you can arrive conveniently with the tram line M5 from the most central districts. The correct stop is Werneuchener Strasse, and from there it’s about 0.4 miles to the gate of the prison. Website here.

STASI Prison Lindenstrasse, Potsdam

Behind an elegant façade like many others you can find in central Potsdam there is a prison comparable in size to the ‘main’ prison in Berlin Hohenschönhausen described above, and mostly unknown to the general public crowding this small and beautiful historical town.

This building was used as a prison by the Kaiser, the Nazis, the Soviets and finally the GDR. It was renovated and modified in many stages during its long history, and during WWII under the Nazi rule, some sections of the courthouse in central Berlin were transferred here, when the original buildings of the Nazi courthouse got damaged as a result of Allied air raids.

Potsdam Lindenstrasse Stasi Prison Courthouse

Differently from Hohenschönhausen, the prison in Potsdam is not part of a ‘citadel’, even though the KGB headquarters in the GDR were not far – actually they can be found close to Schloss Cecilienhof, Potsdam, now partly converted to luxury apartments and villas.

Another difference with respect to Hohenschönhausen is the style of the building, which dates back to older times. This is reflected in the plan and in many details of the construction, which at least from the exterior is very elegant.

Potsdam Lindenstrasse Stasi Prison Courthouse

Inside you can find Soviet cells in the basement – also here the most inhumane – and other cells packed along narrow corridors on several floors. In the inner courtyard there is a central block of open top cells for ‘recreation’, and traces of the original cameras and surveillance systems.

Potsdam Lindenstrasse Stasi Prison Courthouse

Something you may appreciate is the fact that you can visit the place on your own. Paneling with data or telling the stories of former inmates are totally in German, but you are given a leaflet with explanations and a map of the place at the entrance. Also a few original interrogation rooms have been preserved and can be seen.

Potsdam Lindenstrasse Stasi Prison Courthouse

The entry price is very reduced, so visiting is of course a must for the committed tourist, and interesting also for the general public. The place is ‘mimetic’ and not much advertised, so you won’t find the usual flocks of visitors, unlike the royal estates in Potsdam… Much recommended.

Getting there and moving around

The precise address is Lindenstrasse 54, Potsdam. It is in central Potsdam, so you may park at your convenience for visiting the district and have a stop there if you like. Similarly, if you are coming with the public transport system just go to the central district and walk to the place. Website here.

STASI Pre-Trial Prison, Rostock

Similarly to the prison in Potsdam, the anonymity of the façade of this building in central Rostock, placed to the back of a section of the courthouse still working today, is really deceiving. A prison capable of hosting more than 100 inmates can be reached today via a small door leading mainly to the offices of the faculty of the local university. Once inside the building you will notice a worrying fence on the side of the stairs going to the first floor, where you can get access to the prison.

Rostock Stasi Remand Prison

Besides the many cells, it is possible to find a very interesting exhibition on the history of the GDR and of the STASI, with much data and stories from the time. Also many artifacts can be found, like spy gear, rags for preserving the odor of inmates for watchdogs to make capture easier, state bonds used to pay informers, and more.

Rostock Stasi Remand Prison

The main function of the prison was that of keeping those arrested for interrogation until they were sentenced. More than 4000 people spent some time in this prison, mainly for ideological crimes, in the years of the GDR.

Rostock Stasi Remand Prison

The place can be visited for free with an audio guide also in English. Some parts, including the open-top cells outside and the rigor cells in the basement can be visited only in a guided tour – as far as I understood, these are offered in German only.

Rostock Stasi Remand Prison

On the top floor you can see an interesting exhibition on people who escaped or tried to flee the GDR by sea.

Getting there and moving around

Centrally located in Rostock – a lively city on the coast of the Baltic Sea – at a walking distance from Rosengarten. If you are moving by car, you can park on Hermannstrasse, and reach the door to the back of the courthouse block (opposite a small market). The door is heavy, so press it hard, it may be open even if it looks closed. Website here.

STASI Maximum Security Prison ‘Bautzen II’, Bautzen

Originally designed as a pre-trial and short-term court jail by the local government, the prison of Bautzen II was erected under the Kaiser to the back of the courthouse in the homonym town in the southeastern corner of Saxony, today very close to the border with both Poland and the Czech Republic. A larger penitentiary, named Bautzen I and originally conceived as a juvenile jail, was built around the same time in town.

With the advent of the Nazi dictatorship, both facilities began to be exploited for the prosecution of political dissidents, or to isolate elements of ‘inferior races’. Violence, intimidation and extorted confessions began to be the rule. Both branches of the prison of Bautzen fell under Stalin’s control at the end of WWII, and this corresponded to an exceptional increase in the number of inmates, which included a substantial share of former Nazi staff and opponents of the Soviet regime.

After the creation of the GDR, the facilities in Bautzen went on working as primary centers for the confinement of political prisoners, together making for possibly the largest detention center in the country. The smaller jail of Bautzen II, with slightly more than 200 single cells, was turned into a maximum security prison intended for the most dangerous ‘subversive elements’ of the whole state. While Bautzen I is still an active state prison of todays Federal Germany, Bautzen II has been opened to the public as a memorial.

The dreary access from outside is through three gates, and this adds to the perception of the place as really ‘no hope’.

Bautzen II Maximum Security GDR Prison

Similarly to the prison in Potsdam (see above), Bautzen II can be toured on a self-guided basis, without a group. Most parts of the prison are opened, and several cells can be accessed.

Bautzen II Maximum Security GDR Prison

Some of the cells retain the original furniture, even shabbier than the usual communist standard. The metal staircase in the middle of the prison building allows to better appreciate the size.

Bautzen II Maximum Security GDR Prison

Besides rigor cells with additional bars and an incredibly small walkable area, some groups of cells are separated from others, with armored doors splitting the corridors in contiguous isolated sections. This was possibly a special feature of this maximum security prison. You can experience an unreal silence when sitting in a cell closing both the doors of the corridor and of the cell.

Bautzen II Maximum Security GDR Prison

There are also some ‘common areas’ for inmates to work and stay, and an external courtyard divided in sectors, to allow inmates to spend some time open air, but without the chance to meet or see each other.

Bautzen II Maximum Security GDR Prison

Getting there and moving around

The prison of Bautzen II is open as a national monument, a website with full information about visiting is here. I noticed that there are descriptions in German only throughout the prison, so you would better go prepared at least on the history of the place – starting for instance from the website – to get the most from your visit. The location is Waigangstrasse 8a, which is behind the courthouse of Bautzen, 0.8 miles to the east of the historical town center, conveniently reachable walking from the railway station and also by car. The area around the courthouse is mainly residential and parking can be found easily. Bautzen I is still today an active regular detention facility and cannot be visited.

A vital center of the Sorbs, an etnic group of Saxony and Brandenburg recognized by the German Federal Government, the town of Bautzen is nice to visit and rich of historical content. It is about 45 miles east of Dresden, and bolsters a picturesque, perfectly refurbished town center with medieval to baroque architectural elements.

STASI Headquarters, Dresden

The STASI headquarters and prison in Dresden have been developed starting 1945, originally as a prison for the Soviet NKVD (later KGB), on the premises of a former factory not far from the river Elbe and the historical district of the town – which would lay destroyed for decades following air raids in WWII. Similar to the prison in Lindenstrasse, Potsdam (see above), the underground floor of the former factory building was turned into a prison, with provision for a number of very basic cells typical to Stalin’s era, aligned on a narrow corridor.

Until the facility was handed over to the newly-formed GDR in 1952, the Soviets interned here mostly German citizens accused of cooperation with the defunct Nazi regime, as well as subversive elements, unfriendly with the Soviet controlling forces. As usual within a dictatorship, indictment was largely arbitrary and sentences extremely harsh – following arrest, most people were deported to forced labor camps of the Gulag system in the USSR, some were brought to Moscow to be hanged, and many were sent to provisional camps established in the ‘Soviet occupation zone’, later to become the territory of the GDR.

In this part of the exhibition it is possible to step in most of the cells, very small and essential.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

A room is dedicated to the Gulag system, whereas another is a memorial for those taken to the Dresden prison and who reportedly did not survive the ordeal of the Soviet detention system, or where sentenced to death on the base of political reasons.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Also visible are some service rooms, like the bathrooms and rooms for the guards.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Along the corridor an emergency cable could be pressed by the guards at any time when in distress, triggering an alarm. From this part of the prison it was possible to access a inner courtyard.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Concurrently with the handing-over to the STASI, the facility was expanded, with offices and a modern multi-storey prison building.

Access for those arrested was via an inconspicuous wooden gate. An apparently innocent cargo van was employed for arrests. It can be checked out and it reveals provision for several segregated micro-cells inside. Once disembarked from the van, some prisoners may have had to wait for the prison check-in process inside mini-cells. Temperature in this area used to be – and still is – terribly hot in the summer.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Once inside, prisoners had to undress and undergo an accurate inspection in the check-in room. They were photographed for records in a special room, where they sat on a chair which was moved by the camera operator to obtain portraits at specific angles. Then prisoners were assigned dresses and slippers for their stay.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

This prison acted as a remand (i.e. pre-trial) prison, with 44 cells on 4 levels.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Cells were for one, two or three people. Single cells were not customary from the 1970s on, except for rigor cells.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

An example of the latter can be seen, with a small chair bolted to the ground and no windows. A special cell was that for writing letters, something that was possible only at prescribed intervals (e.g. once per week) and in this special room – obviously, all communications were checked and censored by the STASI. This cell features a small table, a chair, and a lavatory.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

An uncommonly ‘comfortable’ cell was employed for foreign prisoners, who included those who had tried to help GDR citizens in their escape attempt, and who for some reason had got caught by the STASI. These cells had a window allowing a view of the sky – not possible through the special windows of regular cells – and a larger iron bed, instead of a narrow wooden berth.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Separated boxes in a walled courtyard outside were employed for letting the prisoners spend some minutes per day in the open air.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Walking the prison building you may notice that most of it is still original, including the purely-GDR linoleum floor, and the alarm system. The heavy curtains make the building dark and oppressing. The temperature in the summer is also very hot. The building is very silent, much resembling the original asylum-like feeling.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

A routine operation in a remand prison was interrogation of the prisoners. Prisoners were insistently interrogated by STASI staff before formalizing an indictment. For the purpose, they were taken to the top floor of the building, along a few flights of stairs, up to the the interrogation rooms. Interestingly, the door giving access to this ‘bureaucratic’ part of the facility still bear seals (now reopened), put in the days of the revolution following the demolition of the wall in Berlin in 1989. The offices of the STASI, with material and archives, were sealed for criminal investigation.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Today, in this area a few original relics from the STASI operations can be found, like photographic film, nominal folders, stamps, keys, etc.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

One interrogation room is still visible, whereas many others have been converted and are today employed for thematic workshops by the organization running the memorial.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

As of 2023, the memorial is undergoing restoration, with the reopening of a larger part of the offices planned soon. Momentarily, it is possible to see the original grand auditorium of the STASI, a full-scale theater, with a typical GDR decor and even an original audiovisual apparatus. It is hard to imagine what kind of people could attend some symposium in an elegant room like this, just 50 ft away from prisoners confined in cells, non-criminals confined mostly only because suspected of having some arbitrarily-defined ‘subversive ideas’.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

The quarters of the old NKVD prison are linked to the more modern prison building by a long underground corridor.

Memorial Bautzner Strasse, Dresden – KGB/STASI prison and headquarters, Dresden, GDR

Getting there and moving around

The former STASI headquarter in Dresden is run as a memorial by a very active society, supported by various preservation bodies and associations. A professional website with much information, including a leaflet with a description of your visit in English, can be found here. A visit may easily take 1.5-2 hours for an interested subject. Many parts of the facility are accurately preserved and make for a very evocative memento. Furthermore, permanent and temporary exhibitions add to the experience and documentary value.

Visiting is possible on a self-guided basis, with explanatory booklets in many languages including English lent for the duration of your visit.

The memorial is located northeast of the historical district of Dresden, right on the northern bank of the river Elbe. The exact address is Bautzner Straße 112a, 01099 Dresden. However, access by car to the inside parking is possible only at these coordinates, (51.06688926262786, 13.782718227181237). Since access is from a major road where a U-turn is impossible, and the entrance to the parking is somewhat ahead of the official address, it is worth employing these coordinates for your nav, otherwise you might be missing the entrance to the parking, being forced to a pretty long tour of ‘one ways’ and ‘no turns’ before you get back to your intended destination.

Memorial ‘In der Runden Ecke’ – STASI Headquarters, Leipzig

Similar to its cousin in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the former headquarters of the STASI in Leipzig has been opened as a memorial. In this case, the building was not made on purpose, but converted from a pre-existing one. A decorated, elegant palace in the city center was chosen for the local brain of the repressive apparatus. The building features an angled facade, since the name ‘on the round corner’ – ‘in der Runden Ecke’ in German.

The entrance hall to the former headquarters has retained much of its original appearance.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

The main part of the exhibition is immediately reached through the original reception office, which has been left willingly untouched since the pre-1989 era – including now dead CC-cameras, and two elaborated majolica murals with emblems of the STASI and some decorations.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

The exhibition takes the ground floor of a wing of the building, i.e. only a small part of the original site. The office of a clerk has been mothballed preserving at most its original, shabby appearance, with a portrait of Honecker.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

In an adjacent room, many rigs for covert mail and communication interception and inspection activities are displayed. These range from steam-pumping envelope openers, to fake postal stamps from Federal Germany, or even from abroad (to send false communications), and even fancier machines for reproducing signatures, looking inside parcels, etc. – every design betraying a really paranoid attention to details, and a true waste of exceptional engineering abilities.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

A complete cell and photo studio – for mugshots – from the now demolished STASI prison in Leipzig has been spared for this exhibition, not much dissimilar from others on this web page (see above).

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

More artifacts on display include audio and image gathering stuff, ranging from micro cameras and recorders, to exceptionally compact, high-precision zoom lenses. Archived rags with the smell of repression victims in case of escape – for dogs – are another specimen from the STASI crazy inventory.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

A room is devoted to the STASI huge paper archive, and to the silly, titanic effort to destroy the evidence of years of illegal spying activity as quick as possible, following the re-opening of the border. The solidified slime obtained from paper fragments is on display. Some very evocative pictures show the immense Leipzig archive and its conspicuous remains after the destruction attempt.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

Two more rooms tell about the immediate post-WWII history in Leipzig, with pictures from 1945 with Nazi officials who committed suicide, as well as from the first stage of Allied occupation and Soviet administration – before the GDR was founded.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

An interesting collection of artifacts concerning the Soviet-GDR friendship and alliance is really evocative of a luckily bygone era.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

Finally, the corridor is full of interesting pictures, telling about the disinformation role of the STASI, border patrolling, and many other businesses this overpowered criminal organization was in charge of.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

The building is today also seat for an agency managing the old STASI archive for historical purposes. Furthermore, the first floor and the elegant stairs leading to the top can be toured, with some display cases showing attractive Soviet-era artifacts.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

The first floor in particular must have been an official meeting/reception area, or a director’s office. Part of the original furniture is still there, including a mural with the head of Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet Ceka back in Lenin’s time, and an inspirational figure for all fanatics of ‘state security’ in the communist world – an activity which was a synonym for violent prosecution of free will.

Memorial ‘in der Runden Ecke’ – Former STASI Headquarters, Leipzig, GDR

Getting there and moving around

The memorial is on the border of the pedestrian area in Leipzig city center. It is modestly publicized, but thanks to its accessibility, it might be easily included in a standard visit to historical Leipzig, and it is significantly populated by tourists. Entrance is free of charge, and its professional website is here. Despite the small size, for an interested subject visiting might take 2 hours or more. Free pictures are allowed, and an audio guide in English allows to get much from the visit even for people not speaking German.

STASI Bunker, Machern

The bunker in Machern is an underground facility built for the STASI in 1968-72 as an emergency headquarter, for keeping the chain of command and coordinate operations in case of a potential crisis. It represents a specimen of the level of commitment of the GDR government with respect to the preservation of control, and a witness of the huge budget made available to this particular ministry, inextricably linked to the government itself and pivotal in the survival of the oppressive GDR communist regime over its entire life span.

The crisis in Prague in 1968 possibly triggered the build up of a similar underground network by the STASI, which customarily operated in secrecy. The very existence of the bunker, located some 30 minutes driving from central Leipzig, was unknown to most. The inconspicuous visible part of the facility was deceived in one of the lots in a district of free-time homes for employees of a public company. It was discovered only following the 1989 revolution and the abolition of the STASI.

Compared to underground military installations, either of the NVA or the Red Army, the bunker is rather compact. However, it had provisions for about 100 staff in case of crisis, with a moderate ability to resist military-level attacks, including facing a nuclear war scenario.

The visit starts by accessing the grounds, where an unassuming little country villa of the GDR can be found, which acts as a check-in point, and as a ticket office.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

Soon you may notice the presence of unusual gear on the premises. These include houses and training gear for dogs, cables for allowing leashed watchdogs along a pre-assigned watch pattern, a concrete sentry box, fire extinguishing gear, piles of fuel barrels, a deck for repairing vehicles, and a rather big grey hangar.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

The latter hides the blast-proof double entrance to the underground bunker. Before stepping in however, it is possible to check out an impressive amount of spare parts aligned on shelves, with literally tons of interesting military-grade material – most of them clearly marked as Soviet manufacture. Many mystery boxes with writing in Russian can be seen. Rolls of barbed wire, metal nets, camo blankets, and other material for sealing and deception can be seen together with more technical material, including technical instrumentation.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

A small collection of memorabilia from the STASI years is shown on site, as well as a permanent exhibition with technical schemes and organization details.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

Access to the underground bunker is via a horizontal armored door and through a long flight of stairs. An airlock with two tight doors was installed for making the place blast-proof and seal it in case of nuclear attack.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

Dosimeters and showers for decontamination can be found close to the entrances – there are two of them, both inside the same hangar.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

The bunker was mainly intended as an intelligence center for crisis management. The flow information was guaranteed by a number of communication systems and facilities. Manned stations can still be seen in a number.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

Beside communication facilities, the bunker features sleeping quarters for the STASI staff, a kitchen/canteen area, and a few offices and private quarters for the decision-makers – senior STASI officers. These offices offer a reasonable level of comfort, typical to the the bunkers from the era (see for instance Kossa and the Polish headquarters near Wolin, but a similar level of comfort could be encountered also on the western side of the Iron Curtain, like here in Britain).

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

The bunker is built mainly around a square corridor, with an array of long and narrow rooms, each dedicated to a specific function.

STASI Bunker Machern – Nuclear-proof intelligence headquarters near Leipzig, GDR

Soviet material can be found everywhere, including air filters and heaters.

Different from the previous sites bound to the grim and disturbing history of the STASI and of the communist-led repression in the GDR, this bunker offers an interesting perspective into the para-military domestic activity of this former backbone of the single-party government of that country.

Getting there and moving around

The STASI bunker-museum in Machern is a branch of the STASI memorial in Leipzig (see above). An updated web page on this bunker can be found in the German version of the website of the Leipzig memorial (here), with updated information on the planned dates for a visit. The bunker is regularly open only on a few dates over the year, which are published in advance.

The visit allows to access the grounds, where explanatory panels are available in German, as well as the storage hangar and bunker. In the hangar, visitors are offered a short introductory video (in German). Afterwards, it is possible to visit the hangar and the bunker on a self-guided basis. Reservation is not required, but access is regulated on site by gathering visitors to form small groups, who are admitted to the bunker one by one to avoid overcrowding. Time in the bunker is more than enough to check-out the items on display, taking all the pictures. In all, a visit to this installation may take about 1 hour once on site.

Please note that they accept only cash for the ticket.

The location is in the countryside, about 10 miles northeast of Leipzig along the road B6. It is easy to reach only with a car or similar. There is a large parking there (51.376119908957726, 12.633996194227596), also serving the nature recreation area around. The entrance to the bunker can be reached from the parking with a .5 miles walk along a local road here (51.37857212168658, 12.644452664748663). No parking is possible on that road. Please note that the position corresponding to the bunker marked on Google Maps is largely inaccurate.

The bunker is located very close to the former Soviet base of Brandis/Waldpolenz (see here).

KGB Prison and Headquarters, Potsdam

This memorial is strictly speaking an outlier in this chapter, since it was never a STASI facility. Since their arrival in late April 1945, the Soviets installed a major intelligence and counter-intelligence center in Potsdam. An entire district was severed from the rest of this fashionable imperial town – which had fallen in the hands of the Soviets and later in the GDR. Its perimeter was fenced, the area provided with a guarded gate, and interdicted to everybody except authorized Soviet staff.

In it there were residential buildings, as well as central offices of the secret intelligence and security services of the Soviet Union in the heart of the GDR, and immediately on the border with West Berlin.

Today this exclusive residential area has been returned to its original function, except for a memorial, which has been prepared in the former prison originally built by the Soviets in a pre-existing, relatively little and unassuming building.

The Soviet secret services employed the prison from 1945 to the early 1950s as a remand prison for former Nazi collaborators, but also for German citizens considered dangerous or unreliable for the Soviet system. They were typically sentenced to years of forced labors and deported to the Gulag systems. When the STASI was created and took over the surveillance of GDR citizens, this prison was employed primarily for Soviet citizens considered as dissidents, including military staff. It is estimated that the Soviet population in the GDR totalled half million people in the late 1980s, therefore surveillance was not an easy task for the Soviets, requiring a dedicate apparatus with its own facilities.

The citadel and the prison in it went on operating until 1994, among the latest facilities to be relinquished by the then-Russian government.

The largely arbitrary indictment and sentencing of German citizens interned in this prison by the inhumane bureaucratic Soviet government of the years of Stalin indeed made many victims. Therefore, this place is primarily a memorial.

The shabbiness of the entire construction, typical to Soviet KGB prisons (see for instance here) is really striking. The visits starts on the first floor, where a number of cells can be seen. A rigor cell can be recognized by the lack of any light or ventilation. The ground was typically flooded with cold water, and the walls are covered in rough plaster, so that the prisoner could not sit on the ground nor lean against the wall.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

On the top floor, former interrogation rooms today host a very interesting exhibition, with rich and detailed information in multiple languages including Russian and English. They cover the activity of Soviet secret services in the ‘Soviet occupation zone’, and later in the GDR and the Soviet enclaves in it. The brutal treatment reserved to many Germans, typically in the immediate post-WWII years under Stalin’s rule, is witnessed through striking documents, accounts and photographs. Among those sentenced to death were even schoolboys who did not want to learn Russian.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

A focus is put on the structure of the law system of the communist dictatorship in the USSR, as well as on the mechanism of interrogations – including accounts of Soviet defectors.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

Original memorabilia from the place include coats, special armbands for the staff authorized to enter the citadel, as well as original documents from the various ages of operation of the place.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

In the basement are group cells intended for many people on their way to deportation. Graffiti from inmates can still be seen in the plaster.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

A rigor cell which did not allow standing is also part of the exhibition.

A memorial to the victims of Soviet hardship has been installed on a side wall, whereas a modern visitor center completes the exhibition.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

A thematic walk in the former Soviet citadel highlights through explanatory panels the original function of some of these buildings. Now returned to their original imperial splendor, they carry unsuspected grim memories of the communist era. Among the most notable features is the relic of a former small monument. Looking carefully, some of the houses still bear numbers on the facade according to the Soviet-style numbering of town blocks.

KGB Prison and Headquarter, Potsdam – Memorial Leistikowstraße

Getting there and moving around

The memorial is called Gedenk‑ und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße Potsdam, and its professionally-run website is here. The address is Leistikowstraße 1 – 14469 Potsdam. Many parking opportunities on site. Reaching is easy also with public transport from Berlin. The prison is very close to the Cecilienhof palace.

The visit is on a self-guided basis, with much information available through the website, including options for smartphone-guided tour to the prison and to the former citadel. The permanent exhibition (in many languages) is rich and interesting, a detailed visit to the prison and exhibition may take up to 1 hour 15 minutes. A walk in the former Soviet citadel, today very enjoyable, may add 30-40 minutes for the more committed visitor.

Vogelsang – Soviet Nuclear Base in the GDR

September 2, 2016July 30, 2022 CarloRLeave a comment

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‘The lost city of Vogelsang’ – this is the complete name often attributed to this former Soviet installation built under Stalin’s rule in 1952, located about 35 miles north of Berlin in the former territory of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR, or DDR in German). Actually, the base was among the first three of the kind in size, housing about 15.000 Soviet troops of tank and artillery divisions, service staff and their families – much more residents than the majority of ‘normal’ cities in the region.

In the case of Vogelsang, two facts add to the usual grim aura of a deserted Soviet base.

Firstly, it was never much publicized among the locals, being large enough to contain all services needed by the troops and their families – it was basically a ‘secret base’. The trees now invading all free areas between the skeletons of the remaining buildings were not there until the early Nineties, when Russian troops left the former territory of the GDR – during 1994. Yet even when it was active, the place was hidden from the eyes of those passing by, thanks to the very rich vegetation. Its very location, pretty far away from everything, surely helped in shrouding it into secrecy.

Secondarily, at least in one instance in recent history, in the years of Khrushchev, of the latest Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, this place was used for the deployment of an arsenal of strategic missiles pointing to European targets, reportedly in core Europe and Britain. Much confusion exists about dates and many details are missing – the deployment was so secret that even the government of the GDR didn’t know about it, so the existence of the base and its role are a somewhat ‘inconvenient reminder’ of the recent past for Germany. Today this base is still really hard to spot.

Anyway, I visited the site several times between 2016 and 2020, and I took the following photographs. While from the sequence of my visits it is apparent that the installation is quickly decaying, thanks to the combined action of the government and of ignorant writers, both showing a bothering null respect for history, there is still something left to see. I give also some basic info for getting to this site on your own.

Getting there and moving around

The village of Vogelsang can be reached by car from downtown Berlin in about 1 h 30 min – the road distance is about 40 miles, but a substantial part of the itinerary follows local roads, resulting in a pretty long time needed. Be careful when pointing your nav, for there are several towns named ‘Vogelsang’ in Germany. This one is in Brandenburg, located north of Berlin, along the road 109. The closest major town is Zehdenick, a few miles to the south of Vogelsang on the same road 109.

As usual with military bases, there is a railway track reaching Vogelsang, and getting there by train is of course possible. During my stay I heard the whistle of various trains passing there – even though I noticed only a very small station and nobody around, so possibly there’s no ticketing service. I noticed the scheduled time for arriving by train from Berlin is identical to that needed moving with a car. If you don’t want to be forced to stick to timetables, I suggest going by car.

Once there, I parked my car on the grass close to the only crossroad in town – where the 109 is crossed by Burgwaller Strasse. I parked behind the info table – there is obviously no info on the base, just about ‘regular’ nature trails in the area. Nobody complained about me parking there, and I found my car intact about six hours later…

Burgwaller Strasse crosses the railway and heads straight into the ‘zone’. Please note that soon after crossing the railway a) the road is not paved any more, b) there are prohibition signs about vehicle traffic, so you can’t go further with a car.

For moving around you will need an electronic map and possibly a GPS, cause the site is huge, and the area is covered with trees and vegetation, and many former roads are not visible any more, so getting lost is pretty easy. Moreover, from Google maps you can’t spot much from above, because of the trees. This makes a GPS + map of the site very important for the particular case of this site, differently from other bases.

I used my iPhone and it worked perfectly. Just install the free Ulmon (aka CityMaps2Go) app (app website here) and download the offline Brandenburg map – this provides an incredible detail. Furthermore, there is a strong Internet signal over most of the base – strangely enough, the area is well covered.

Anyway, if you don’t want to depend on the Internet once there, you can pinpoint the places you are more interested in on the offline Ulmon map before going – I did also this as a backup, cause I didn’t know whether Internet would be working.

I suggest not to overlook this point. Thinking back, I would have hardly made it without a cell phone with a GPS + map. You have to walk in the trees quite a bit before reaching any buildings. The trees hide everything and you can easily get disoriented – wasting much time moving around. Everything is solved with a GPS and a good map.

Over five visits, I spent almost 20 hours touring the place. During my first visit (lasting about 6 hours), I just concentrated on the southernmost part of it, which is of course the richest in remains, electing not to reach the launch pads closer to the village of Beutel (see this chapter). On that first visit, I walked approximately 11 miles standing to my iPhone, so be ready to walk. Even though there are no great physical barriers for moving around, the place is really abandoned and vegetation is wild. Probably you will need to walk in nettles and brambles at some point, so choose your clothes and shoes carefully.

On the plus side, you will see much wildlife!

Many interesting sights are outdoor, some are indoor. As usual, all abandoned buildings, except perhaps the nuclear storage bunkers that are very sturdy, must be considered dangerous. You should observe through the windows or enter at your own risk.

Sights

Missile Launch Pad

This is the southernmost, isolated launch pad on the site. You can see a concrete platform at the level of the ground about 20 feet long, with metal holding points. It was used to anchor missile-carrying trucks before tilting the missile canister vertical and preparing for launch. It is highly probable that the missile system intended to be installed here was the R5 ‘Pobeda’, NATO codename SS-3 ‘Shyster’. The relatively small range of this missile is in support of a deployment in a region so close to the border with european NATO Countries (see this chapter also for a general map of the missile installations in this area).

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The road leading to the missile pad and from there to the main complex of the base today is barely visible. Traces of a barbed wire fence, delimiting the external perimeter of the base, can be found here, together with a network of trenches and dips once needed for the missile launch system (which included technical trailers with generators, control system panels, …).

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The territory of the base is scattered with tokens from their former owners, from mugs to batteries, to military material of all sorts.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Southeastern Inner Access Post

Walking along the barbed wire fence from the missile launch pads to the core of the base, you will come across a long concrete wall. Soviet bases are often divided into sealed sectors. Access to the ‘service part’ of the base, with living quarters, schools, … was past this wall. The gate has disappeared, but you can find traces of it where the wall is interrupted and a concrete-paved road points into it. A cage for watchdogs can be found close to this checkpoint.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

In a first building for the guards, with window railings, look for Russian writings even on the ground.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Buildings by the entrance post include a garage with writings in Cyrillic, with an apron for maneuvering trucks or cars. On the cranes inside the garage, you can find inscriptions by the Soviet troops occupying the base. Leaving this type of ‘autograph’ was typical for Soviet troops (see for instance the traces left in the theater of bases in Poland, here).

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Nearby the entrance, a clubhouse, visitor center, or something alike can be found, with a pleasant architecture – large windows and a bar.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Entertainment Quarters

Two main buildings here, a movie theater and a clubhouse.

The theater is still in good shape. Some of the original lights and traces of the performance program board can be seen outside.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The road leading to the front entrance is still visible, but the façade is not imposing any more, for trees are now hiding it.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Signs and propaganda posters in Cyrillic alphabet and with photos can be spotted here and all around the base.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The café, with an original banner in Cyrillic, can be spotted to the left of the theater, close by a small warehouse with a loading platform.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Some kitchen furniture and gear can be still spotted around.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Between the theater and café buildings, you can find an incredible Soviet sculpture. The most striking feature you can see in the pics is a portrait of Lenin!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The Lenin panel was moved in 2017 to a Soviet-themed museum in Wünsdorf (see this dedicated chapter about this incredible place and its museum). The rest of the mural was there as of 2019, still reasonably resisting to the weather and spoilers.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Mural monuments are among the most interesting features of Vogelsang. Not far from this base, you can find another example of these Soviet creations described in this chapter.

Children School

This is rather creepy – even the curtains are still in place on some windows…! On the ground floor you can access a small gym.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Much of the heating system – made in Germany – is still in place.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

On the first floor some very interesting murals can be easily spotted, together with traces of a small theater and special classrooms for language teaching and other purposes.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Soldiers Sports Ground

This has been turned into a corn field. Something of the original tribunes still stay, with original decoration made from parts of machinery I guess.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Water/Heating Plant

A small water pumping/heating plant occupies a building nearby the gym (see next section). Traces of the original hardware can be found, with writing in Russian.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Also a small living room, likely belonging to a technician looking after plant, is part of this small construction. Traces of the original curtains are still there! Unofficial writing in Cyrillic can be found on the concrete wall making for a small backyard to the plant.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Soldiers Gym

Very creepy! Gym apparel, subscription forms, record boards and gym gear still around…

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

To the back you can spot a former Turkish bath with no roof and trees in it.

Soldiers Barracks

There are pretty many buildings of the same kind aligned along a still visible concrete paved road between the school and the training center. Many of these buildings look like being close to collapsing. Some interesting halls and various items can be found in some of them.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Soldiers Canteens & Training Center

There are various canteens and entertainment centers scattered over the territory of the base.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Some nice murals in pure Russian naïve style can be found in some of the buildings. Some of the halls are very very large.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Among the most notable features in Vogelsang, a peculiar tank simulator and a small but very deep pool, for training purposes, can still be found in a dedicated training building.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Unfortunately the door appears to be blocked by a collapsed roof or something, but you can reach or at least see the features of interest through broken windows.

Base Headquarter

The headquarter of the soviet base in Vogelsang sit in a two-levels building with an imposing facade. Today you can see the remnants of a porter’s office, giving access to the main staircase.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Climbing to the upper floor, you reach a hall with a wooden canopy. Two corridors leading to the offices of the military staff depart from there.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

From a 2020 visit, this building has taken a particularly rotting appearance, and maybe it is not going to last for long.

Mural of Soviet Triumphs & Soviet Soldier, plus Buildings Nearby

This is an incredible mural, about 60 feet long, with various symbolic scenes – army power, technology and agriculture, family and helpful society and housing for everybody.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

A collection of Soviet emblems follows. This mural contributes greatly to the uniqueness of Vogelsang in the panorama of Soviet bases!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Turning your head 90 degrees to the right from this mural, you will see an artistically pleasant giant head of soldier, embossed on the side of a building. Differently from the mural nearby, this is of some artistic value. The head was still there during my next visits, even though writers have attacked the base of the wall where it is standing, and the plaster is starting to fail. Who knows how long this old guardian will stand, recalling the past splendor of Soviet Vogelsang with his sad expression?

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Close by, it is possible to find scant remains of other propaganda gears, like a three-steps stand for speaking, a bigger one in the shape of a Red Banner flag made in concrete and bricks, and an adjoining painted mural with planes, ships and soldiers. Unique!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

In this area you can find also some service buildings in a relatively good shape. Among other things, there is a (likely) central laundry, with (possibly) ironing machines still in place.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Still in the area, some buildings appear to host small apartments. As usual in Soviet bases, Pravda and other news adorn the walls – they were used to hang wallpaper, but this has largely gone today, and old news have faced again. Just reading the publication dates and titles, or looking at the pics, can be really intriguing.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Some of the buildings hosted nearby the mural hosted technical services, like boilers for centralized hot water supply, or similar. You may spend some time exploring this area, finding some curious rooms – and even a well preserved sauna!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Underground Cellar with Mural

An interesting sight for braver – maybe crazier – explorers can be found in the underground cellar, in the basement of a canteen building, among the service buildings just described.

There a big plaster (?) mural can be found, painted in bright colors, with missiles, soldiers, the Kremlin in Moscow and a huge red banner with hammer and sickle! The state of conservation is exceptionally good.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Also very interesting are the inscriptions left by troops stationed at Vogelsang, apparently coming from districts like Kishinev (now Chisinau, Moldova), Chelyabinsk (Russia), Krim (Crimea), Yakkabag (Uzbekistan), Donbass (Ukraine) – all around the USSR! The years reported range between 1989 and 1990. The mural might date from just little earlier, hence it may be relatively new, justifying its still good condition.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

It is not a long walk from the surface, you just need to descend a short flight of stairs. The only thing is that the cellar is flooded, so you will need to explore it moving around in a kind of pool of clean but cold water, reaching up to your crotch! A good torchlight is mandatory. Other adjoining rooms display further inscriptions in Cyrillic.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Mirage Mural & Most Peripheral Buildings

A painted portrait of a Mirage 2000 was made on the back of a fence wall not far north from the mural of the Soviet triumphs, close to a watchtower. A data sheet in cyrillic alphabet is painted besides, and another aircraft is visible on another part of the wall.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Pretty curious about the choice of the Mirage, among all ‘enemy aircraft’ of Western powers. May be this was just the beginning of a gallery of portraits? As of 2019, I could not find this any more, maybe it is now gone.

As a matter of fact, this corner of the base is now close to an area to the north end of the base, where demolition works have stricken hard, flattening huge lots once occupied by many more buildings.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

On the border of the surviving group of buildings, you can find some interesting items, including a garage, and another 3D monument, on the side of a secluded flat area now invaded by vegetation, which might have been a square or a small outdoor sporting facility.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Northeastern Gate Area and Defense Bunker

On the northeastern corner of this major remaining part of the base, just north of the school and theater you can find traces of a kind of park, with a network of walkways sided with hedges. Today, the plants used for hedging are overgrown, but you can still clearly recognize the original patterns. Furthermore, there are street lamps still standing an showing the way!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

On the northern end of this once pleasant area, you can find a half-interred bunker. The entrances are bricked up, so you can’t get in. Considering the position, close to service buildings for everyone in the base, like canteens, gym, school, etc., this bunker might have been a defense bunker for the people of the base, in case of an attack.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

A lonely gate and fragments of the wall surrounding this sector of the base can be found not far from here, a rather evoking sight.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Bunkers for Nuclear Warheads

These are located to the south-west of the base, pretty far from the living quarters and training centers, and closer to the limit fence of the and to the road and railway. A long concrete-paved road connects these two sections of the base.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Two bunkers can still be seen. They are very large and covered with land and vegetation. They have security gates at both ends. On one end, there are cranes probably for moving the nuclear warheads between trucks and the bunker. On the other end there is a small service building, attached to the side of the bunker.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The ventilation system is huge, with large openings, valves and extensive piping.

At the time of my first visit one of the two bunkers could be entered with no difficulty by the back gate. The thickness of the gate is impressive. Inside there are multiple interconnected cellars running along the main axis of the bunker, separated by walls and gates. Approaching the other end, where the entry gate to the crane area is blocked closed, there are rooms and ventilation control gears.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

The inside of the bunker is very dark, but surprisingly it is far less wet than expected. Probably at least the construction layers for climate control are still working properly.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Since 2017, both bunkers are closed, but as you can see from the pics below, the exterior is still basically intact. Writings in Russian can be found on the gates of the bunkers.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Scattered around the bunkers are some guard turrets overseeing the area, walls enclosing it in a perimeter, as well as protected entrances to some subterranean passages. In front of the blocked entrance of the bunker you can walk in, there is a mystery wall of ceramic brick, whose function I can’t guess.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Warning: in the area between the two bunkers I almost stepped on much dangerous debris, like pieces of rusty barbed wire and similar items. Carefully watch your step.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

North of the bunkers a large garage for trucks can be found. The bunkers just described were for warheads only. The missiles used to be stored in dedicated bunkers, once located besides the trucks depot (trucks were used to take the trailers carrying the missiles to the launch pad).

These missile storage buildings have been partly demolished, leaving some concrete slabs once making for a pavement. Some further bunkers have been interred (filled with land). I took some pics from the top of these old halls, by letting the camera down a loophole on the rooftop.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Cutting from the bunkers directly south to the road going back to the village, you cross the former perimeter of the base. From the inside you cross a wall, two lines of poles with traces of barbed wire, and a ditch. Thinking back, mines might have been buried between the two lines of barbed wire…

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Southeastern Corner and Carved Graffiti

An incredible testimony of the people once occupying the base came as a surprise during a short detour in the trees from one of the major roads crossing the base, approaching the southeastern corner of its large premises. A group of graffiti carved in the trees by the presumably young Soviet soldiers stationed there, totally in Cyrillic with names and year, left a vivid trace of archaeological value in this region of Germany. Some inscriptions date back to the 1960s!

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Approaching the railway track an unusual parking can be spotted, where only the lights are still in place. Totally disproportioned to the size of the town, it was probably connected with the military base, and is now deserted. A now dead railway crossing can be found too.

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base Germany

Vogelsang Nuclear Missile Soviet Base

Final Comments

You can’t see anything unusual at a glance when passing by the very small village of Vogelsang. To say it all, you can hardly spot todays village itself – a handful of small houses along the main road.

This would be good for urban explorers and war historians, as it should protect what remains from writers and other spoilers. Paradoxically, it is not protecting the site from disappearing at a quick pace, as the German government is reportedly promoting reforestation in the area, and buildings are being demolished little by little.

It is a pity, for this former base is rich of examples of Soviet ‘art’ and of other very rare artifacts, which after all are now part of history, and perhaps should deserve more consideration.

Since my first visit some years ago, some buildings to the north have been demolished, and the bunkers closed forever. Ignorant writers and spoilers are taking their toll, too. In 2020 there were huge construction trucks and teams with heavy machinery working in the northwestern part of the base. Recent updates from fellow explorers reported that not much remains of the northwestern part of the base. Remarkably, the mural with the Soviet soldier has been demolished, and so the painted underground cellar, between 2020 and 2022.

This was partly expected, but as of 2022 it looks like we are getting close to the point when the present chapter will be a memento of what used to be in Vogelsang. There is still something left to check out there, but possibly not even such to justify a specific tour and the inconvenience of reaching this wild destination.

Soviet Airbases in the GDR – First Chapter

June 24, 2016September 23, 2023 CarloR2 Comments

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	Soviet Ghosts in Germany
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Like other satellite countries in the Soviet empire, the German Democratic Republic – also known as ‘Eastern Germany’ before the Nineties, ‘GDR’, or ‘DDR’ in German – hosted two armies, which not necessarily occupied the same installations, nor had access to the same resources.

Speaking of air forces, up to the dissolution of the GDR after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, there were two distinct bodies operating from airbases all over the country, namely the Air Forces of the National People’s Army (‘Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee’ in German), which was the national air force, and the Soviet Air Force (‘Voyenno-vozdushnye sily SSSR’ as they would pronounce it in Russia).

While East German military forces were composed of local personnel, Soviet forces were mainly composed of troops coming from the various republics of the Soviet Union. Operations of the two military powers were of course coordinated, but the two organizations were split, and both had their airbases.

Most airbases in the GDR actually developed on the area of former airfields from before WWII, but some peculiarities in the way they were refurbished and equipped after the conflict reflected the needs of the new respective owners.

Signs of this difference can be spotted exploring some of the surviving relics of these now inactive sites – for Soviet bases, writings in Cyrillic alphabet, Lenin’s sculptures like you can find in Moscow, and typically more barracks with more amenities for Soviet soldiers, made to let them have what they needed without passing the gate of the base.

The following photos were taken during visits to four former Soviet airbases, Merseburg, close to Halle, visited August 2015, and other three between Berlin and the Baltic, Wittstock/Dosse, Rechlin/Laerz and Ribnitz/Damgarten, visited April 2016. More airbases are covered in other pages on this website (see this post, and also this). Ribnitz/Damgarten in particular is partly abandoned, while an interesting museum has taken the northwestern part of its premises – the museum is covered in another post.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

Wittstock/Dosse
Rechlin/Lärz
Ribnitz/Damgarten
Merseburg

Wittstock/Dosse

Getting there and moving around

This site is located halfway between Berlin and Hamburg, just a few miles to the East of highway N.24, close to the junction with N.19 going North to Rostock.

The site can be easily reached by car. You can spot it very well on Google Maps and plan your trip – just search for Wittstock/Dosse. There are actually two airstrips concentrated in a rather small area, placed along an east-west line. The easternmost one is a still active, general aviation grass strip (Berlinchen).

The former Soviet airbase is the one to the west. It has been converted into a solar power plant, like most similar sites in former East Germany. Solar panels occupy the area of the former runway and taxiways, but the hangars and former barracks have not been included in the conversion plan – at least that was the picture in April 2016.

The access road you should go through is the one to the west of the airbase, going straight to the former barracks from road L153. You can park your car immediately after turning away from the L153. Actually there is a ‘no passing’ sign for cars, so you’d better go by foot to avoid misunderstandings. As it’s often the case with airports, be prepared to walk a lot, cause distances are not short.

On the pros side, apart from the grim appearance of the Soviet relics, the area is very peaceful and the countryside is relaxing and nice to see. During my stay lasting a couple of hours, I encountered only a few people out for a stroll in the countryside with their dogs, two technicians with a minivan going to the plant and some folks training their rescue dogs.

Sights

The former installation is totally deserted, and some of the residential, i.e. not technical buildings are really just waiting for the right day to collapse. There are danger signs scattered all over the area. Walking around should already give you an interesting and unusual picture of a ghost base from the Soviet era. I know of people who went inside most of the buildings, exploring them thoroughly. Personally I would recommend to think about it more than once before going in, especially the barracks, where concrete walls look really rotting – don’t forget it was made with Soviet quality… Risk connected with collapsing structures is not a remote issue here.

Wittstock Dosse Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

In the photos it is possible to see the hangars – very large – some rather old and small shelters, and the barracks. I don’t know the specific history of this airbase – I’m currently trying to find a book on the matter, but it seems out of print and very difficult to find. Anyway, it is apparent that there are at least two groups of barracks built up in very different architectural styles, suggesting the base was built and later developed further. The two-storey buildings in a typical German style were probably built in the early days of the base, possibly before or during WWII. The cubic-shaped, all-concrete residential buildings are in pure functional Soviet style, and may date from the late Fifties or later.

The hangars – as I wrote these are not shelters – are very large and tall, suggesting they were used as maintenance shops. If this was the real role for this base, meaning it was a reference point for many others on the territory, this might justify the uncommon size of the barracks and living quarters.

A building probably used for movable service equipment and vehicles can be spotted among the hangars. It can be distinguished from the buildings connected with sheltering aircraft by the very (very) low ceiling. Interestingly, traces of a translation of the most typical German road signs to Russian can be still spotted on an inner wall, together with other less clear writings – unfortunately I don’t know Russian. The emblem of the Soviet Army (‘CA’) can be spotted on one of the doors of the same building.

Wittstock Dosse Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Two pinnacles of the exploration can be found very close to each other. The airbase apparently hosted a rather large indoor ‘sporting club’, with basket courts and other sport equipment. Most of the wooden floor in the gym is still there, with also other remains – including a Soviet newspaper from 1989 with stains of wall paint, probably used when repainting the walls. Curiously, the building hosting the gym is aligned at the level of the hangars, nearby the apron, and not among the barracks.

Moving through a courtyard just outside of the gym, it is possible to spot an incredible statue of Lenin, still perfectly preserved except for the missing face and inscription. Looking better at the statue, it is possible to notice it was placed in the middle of a perspective, leading to the statue from the main road crossing the service area of the base. Nowadays the perspective is less visible, due to newly grown trees.

All in all, the place is pervaded by a grim aura, the almost unreal and unnatural quietness of the buildings and maintenance shops making the site really unique and very evocative.

Wittstock Dosse Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Wittstock Dosse Soviet Airbase

Wittstock Dosse Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Wittstock Dosse Soviet Airbase

Wittstock Dosse Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Wittstock Dosse Soviet Airbase

Note

Comparing the satellite photos with those above, it can be clearly seen that almost all trees have been cut and vegetation has been wiped out. The presence of some sorts of roadworks service trailers, even though apparently not recently used, may indicate some work is going on, and maybe there are plans to demolish the remaining buildings soon.

Rechlin/Laerz

Getting there and moving around

This base can be reached driving on road 198, between the villages of Rechlin and Mirow. Rechlin hosts also a museum dedicated to aeronautics which is covered in another chapter. This is indicated with an official sign when you are close to the airport. That museum is not located in the area surrounding the airport. The former airbase can be reached with a pleasant 10 miles drive from Wittstock/Dosse (see previous section).

Rechlin is still operating as an active general aviation airport – with the name Mueritz Airpark – but during my exploration I saw no flying activity. Anyway, no solar cells here.

Compared to other bases, this place is much more populated. To the west of the airfield, accessible from the road running along the western limit of the airfield, it is possible to visit a very small air museum – a different entity from the one in Rechlin. Very few aircraft can be spotted just besides the main building, including a Dassault Atlantique formerly of the GFR (German Federal Republic, or ‘West Germany’) Luftwaffe, a Lufthansa Training Beechcraft King Air and some Soviet or GDR aircraft and helicopters – markings have been removed making identification difficult. There are also some jet engines, and other service material and pods partly of Soviet origin. The visit of this museum may not offer much to the more experienced aircraft enthusiast, but approaching the museum can be done driving on the path of a former taxiway, still retaining its typical Soviet pavement made of concrete slabs.

Luftfahrtmuseum Laerz rlm

From the area of the museum it is possible to take pictures from the distance of a peculiar installation which at the moment occupies a group of relatively modern aircraft shelters on the northern part of the airfield. The function of this place, which is fenced and cannot be accessed freely, and is named ‘Kulturkosmos’, is not very clear. From the distance it looks like a kind of hippie village or stuff like that. Unfortunately, they occupy a part of the former installation encompassing some pieces of military history and taxiways, which would have been otherwise extremely interesting to explore.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Kulturforum

An interesting part of the former military installation in Rechlin is to the south of the runway, and can be approached driving along 198 from Rechlin in the direction of Mirow. After passing the runway – you can clearly spot it to your right, as the road runs along the perimeter of the base in this part – and after passing a crop, it is possible to spot a large unpaved road taking to the right. It is basically the first road to the right after passing the runway, about half a mile from it. There is room for parking at the beginning of the unpaved road. There are no ‘don’t’ signs here, but you might prefer parking here and going by foot as the road is bumpy and there are no other parking places next.

Sights

The road points straight into the base. As usual with airports, expect long walks. After about half a mile, you reach a wreck of a gate, intended to stop larger vehicles, but it can be crossed by foot or bicycle – say a MTB. Already before going through the gate it is possible to see a large and relatively modern aircraft shelter. The size – its height in particular – suggests it was made for larger aircraft – possibly MiG-23/27 – with respect to those of the early jet age, albeit MiG-29 needed yet another size. The gate of the shelter used to be moved with dedicated motors, which are still there but not functioning. Somebody is using this as a hay storage depot.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

A very mysterious building is located next to this isolated Soviet shelter. It appears as a very large concrete building having collapsed, or more likely blown up. The size and appearance are similar to the partially demolished bunkers you can visit in Hitler’s ‘Wolf’s Lair’ in northern Poland, so I guess this was built during the Nazi era. Furthermore, there are various writings in Cyrillic alphabet on the walls, including years from the age of the Soviet occupation. They are most probably ‘souvenirs’ from Soviet troops. I guess the Nazi or Soviets actually blew up this large building, which was never totally wiped out nor reused.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Going further towards the runway – there are no prohibition signs, but I would recommend staying at a respectful distance from the runway, as this is an active GA airport – you come across a small door leading to a subterranean passage. This cannot be explored, as it is full of debris and dirt, but gives you an impression of what was the complexity of this installation. By the way, from, satellite images it is clear it had two crossing runways at some point in its history, so at some point it used to be much larger and prominent than it’s looking today.

Further on, you cross a former taxiway, today covered in dust, where really many couples of rather old Soviet aircraft shelters are still in place. There are herds of grazing cows around, and most shelters are used for storing hay.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

Taking to the left (south-west-wards) along this road, between the first and the second shelter on the left, you find a narrow paved road heading South-East. It is marked by a small electric cabin painted in a camo colorway – Soviet – now disconnected. Following this road for more than half a mile – the road bends right at some point – until its end, you pass besides some deserted service buildings, including some garages possibly for service vehicles, and finally you reach a very interesting item.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

From the side it looks mostly like another aircraft shelter, but there is no taxiway and the entrance is very small, and there is a small and bulky security door instead of the usual shelter door. This is actually a former deposit and shelter for weapons, possibly not conventional ordnance to be mounted on aircraft. In front of the weapon bunker there are more service buildings and a truck loading platform, probably used to move ordnance that was transported by road. Similar bunkers can be found only in Finsterwalde and Brand over the territory of the GDR (see here).

This bunker is probably larger than it looks, as vents can be spotted on the ground pretty far from its perimeter.

Rechlin Larz Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

All in all, this site is less grim than Wittstock/Dosse, and may be less evocative of the Cold War times, but it is not dangerous at all, and still retains some mystery and has very special items to show. By the way, while walking the southern part of the installation I didn’t meet a person, but came across much wildlife, including deers and birds of prey, much surprised to see somebody around! There are also partly signed trails in the trees, just for ‘normal’ trail hiking. The countryside all around is relaxing and enjoyable.

Note

The area of the former airbase is in the focus of an ambitious design, intended to create luxury living estates in most of the shelters which will be directly accessible with private aircraft, mostly like John Travolta’s house in Anthony, FL. It’s unclear how long the completion of the project will take – no housing had been erected as of May 2016. Nonetheless, some lots have been reportedly sold, and the former airbase may not remain accessible for long.

Ribnitz/Damgarten

Getting there and moving around

This former Soviet airbase, reportedly very active in the last days of the Soviet occupation when Soviet Forces were moving back into the inner Russian territory, was only partially explored during this trip (April 2016). It is located less than 20 miles east of Rostock, close to the coast of the the Baltic Sea. It can be easily reached by car, immediately to the west of the village of Damgarten.

About one third of the runway to the East is covered with solar cells, plus part of the area is used as a storage of road materials or by local farmers. There is also a small museum of technology in one of the former hangars (website here). So there are tons of activities in the area of this former military installation.

The most important thing to know – which actually hampered my plans – is that the main gate of the base, which can be reached following the road signs leading to the museum of technology north of the base, is open to the public only when the museum is open. Needless to say, this was not the case when I visited. Due to the fact that there were workers going in and out at every moment, there were CC cameras, and somebody also photographed my plate with his cell phone while I was taking pictures of the external wall, in order to avoid misunderstandings I renounced to step inside. Hence I couldn’t explore the northernmost part of the complex, which I expected to offer something very similar to Wittstock/Dosse in terms of appearance and significance – large maintainance hangars, former barracks and sculptures with some typical Communist pomp. The large and many buildings and the abandoned railway track leading directly into the base – you can spot it to the right of the main gate – suggest that this installation was probably of some strategic relevance.

Ribnitz Damgarten Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

I tried to approach the site from the North, experiencing a public road made of concrete slabs which was too obviously of Soviet manufacture. To the north, the base is surrounded by a concrete wall. There are some unofficial pedestrian accesses I was tempted to use, but there were signs warning about danger of unexploded ordnance. I thought it was not advisable to explore further.

Then I moved to the south of the airbase, which is basically unguarded and unfenced, to the aim of photographing at least the taxiways and the former control tower. The former south entrance of the base can be conveniently reached by car on a paved road starting from Puttnitz (to the South of Damgarten) leading to an aparted residential area. The road reaches a dead-end by the former entrance to the base – differently from the northern one, it is now totally deserted.

Sights

Walking to the north towards the area of the base from the road leading to the southern gate you cross a small forest and reach the former fence of the base, where barbed wire has been removed and only concrete posts are still standing. From here you can rapidly reach a groups of former service buildings which are numbered and placed on a circle. A paved road can still be seen, even though the area is being vehemently reclaimed by nature.

Ribnitz Damgarten Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

These buildings were probably service buildings for vehicles, ordnance or other material. It is unclear why they placed them around a circular track, but I guess this was a typical Soviet construction technique, for I found similar assemblies also in other bases.

From the circle it is already possible to see the taxiways and the area of the runway covered by solar panels. Walking north, it is possible to spot some smaller mystery buildings. Once on the taxiway, you notice the view of the northernmost part of the site is obstructed by a heap of debris, which probably was not there when the base was operative. From this point to the south of the runway, it is possible to spot the former control tower looking north.

Ribnitz Damgarten Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

With a walk to the east along an unpaved trail it is possible to reach a ditch from where you can see some old-fashioned shelters on the northern side of the solar plant.

All in all, this place has much more to offer than what I was allowed to see without disturbing local activities. I kept out of any prohibited area, yet I took care not to be spotted by anybody. I would recommend to try visiting during the opening times of the museum of technology, in order to be allowed in the installation without going undercover. This way you would be granted access to the northernmost part of the complex, which is probably also the most interesting.

Merseburg

Getting there and moving around

This former airbase is still an active airport for general aviation, so access is not totally free, albeit the place is not very active. On the plus side, the formerly interdicted area has been greatly reduced since the conversion to civil airport, and now it is even possible to move with your car on some of the former taxiways once used by aircraft. There are various activities on the field of this airport, including companies offering skydiving experiences and an air museum. There are also various deposits of hay in the former aircraft shelters, and parts of the former free areas of the airport have been reassigned as land for agriculture.

Due to the many activities on the field, arriving with a car is very easy. The airport is located between the small town of Merseburg and less than 3 mi south of the big city of halle, in a very well served area. I arrived from L172, running along the airport to the north, from where you can already spot the shelters. There is a traffic light where L172 turns into a local road, with signs with the name of some companies having their quarters in buildings near the airport, taking to the south of L172.

Soon after turning on this street going south along the eastern border of the airfield (named ‘Fischweg’), it is possible to spot a strange-looking road taking to the right – from the concrete slabs making the pavement, you soon realize it is a former taxiway of a Soviet base. You can drive this road which reaches to the base of skydiving and general aviation activities.

Going back to the ‘Fischweg’ road and going further south, you pass a round about and reach the air museum – which regrettably I couldn’t visit because I was slightly late – with a Tupolev 134 in the colors of the former flagship company of the GDR ‘Interflug’ parked in the courtyard, and visible from the outside.

From nearby the museum it is possible to spot a former taxiway going west. I guess it is not possible to go by car, as it points straight into the base and reaches to the runway. On the other hand, going by foot should not be a problem, but unfortunately there are no old buildings at all to the south of the runway.

In order to get acceptable photos of the more recent shelters, it is advisable to go back to L172, turning south on the 91 crossing the village of Merseburg, and turning west on ‘Geusaer Strasse’, a local paved road going west to some small and aparted residential areas (Geusa and Atzendorf). After about 1.25 miles going west on this ‘Geusaer Strasse’ you reach Geusa and you find a local street called ‘Rohrwisenweg’ taking slightly to the right. After .25 miles you find a narrow paved road to the right going straight north. It is impossible to miss it, as at the beginning there is a large scrap dealer. This road is only for locals and agricultural traffic, there is a conditional ‘no passing’ sign, but I encountered no problems driving all the way to the other end, which is again on the L172 to the north of the airport. You might take the same road directly from the L172 in the opposite direction, but due to the intense local traffic, you have more chance to be noticed ignoring the ‘no passing’ sign taking that road to the south.

This connection road is aligned in a north-south direction and runs along the western border of the airport. From there with an average zoom lens you can take pictures of the more recent aircraft shelters. Getting closer by foot might be possible, but I couldn’t find a good place for parking safely, and you should keep in mind that this is an active airport, so you’d better avoid misunderstandings with the locals.

Sights

As mentioned in the previous instructions, the main attraction is the opportunity to drive on the former Soviet taxiways. I was very worried about having a flat tire, but I noticed there were many cars at the opposite end of the road going to the local GA terminal.

Merseburg Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

In the old-fashioned aircraft shelters located in this area it is still possible to spot some writings in Cyrillic alphabet. There are also unsheltered parking aprons for single aircraft. You may like to photograph your car in a place where once stood a Soviet MiG-17!

I won’t cover the air museum (website here) as I unfortunately couldn’t step inside, having arrived after last admittance time. In one of the pictures you can see the Tu-134 of ‘Interflug’ mentioned above.

The last photographs show the larger shelters as you can see them from the distance, from the connection road to the west of the airfield. Merseburg hosted MiG-29 in the latest stage of the Cold War, so I guess these shelters were large enough for hosting also that type of aircraft.

Merseburg Flugplatz Soviet Airbase

All in all, this former airbase is not very ‘dark’ nor difficult to visit, on the contrary there are many people and activities around. The countryside is not much interesting, as the area is mostly urban, being in the outskirts of Halle. So, it is not a great place for a relaxing walk. Notwithstanding its original size, the site has less to offer than other Soviet airbases – no barracks or service buildings -, but on the plus side you can move around by car getting pictures of what is still in place without spending much time exploring the site by foot.

Monino – Central Museum of the Russian Air Forces

June 24, 2016May 9, 2020 CarloRLeave a comment

Probably the most famous air museum in Russia – and formerly in the whole USSR – the Central Air Force Museum in Monino doesn’t need a presentation for aviation enthusiasts from every part of the world. As a matter of fact, still today this is probably the world’s largest collection of military and experimental aircraft manufactured in the Soviet Union.

Similar to many air museums in western Countries, this aircraft collection has been located on the premises of an active airbase since it opened its doors back in 1958. For this reason, in the years of the Soviet Union and even for some time after its collapse, the collection couldn’t be visited without prior permission. A specially restrictive visiting policy was applied to foreign visitors, due to the technological content of the exhibition. Today things have greatly improved in this respect, and visiting is absolutely free for everybody, both Russians and foreign tourists, like it is the case for most similar sites in the West.

To be sincere, I expected something like what you can find in former peripheral Countries of the Soviet bloc – an array of rotting fuselages, landing gears, rusty jet engines and no information around. It turned out I was totally wrong. What caused my inaccurate prevision was I had failed taking into account the singular passion and nostalgia that Russians show still today for their Soviet past, at least when it comes to military power and technological glory. In this respect, many other more ‘western’ and politically correct neighbor Countries in Europe, like Italy and France, have a much colder attitude towards aviation and their own past aeronautical endeavors.

So, at Monino the conditions of the aircraft both inside and outside are extremely good, especially if you consider the harsh weather that aircraft bodies have to sustain in the terrible Russian winters. From photographs on the web you can rapidly realize most aircraft are covered in snow in winter, so visiting may be also not much rewarding in that season. I visited in September, and except for a Soviet-grey, cloudy day I could enjoy a normal visit.

From the technical viewpoint, the collection is composed of many aircraft and engines up to WWII, hosted indoor, plus a huge outdoor collection of aircraft covering the majority of military models deployed by the Air Force of the Red Army over the years of the Cold War, in their respective roles – strategic bombers, fighters, …

Also some really rare prototype aircraft are part of the exhibition – some of them, like the Tupolev Tu-144 and the Sukhoi Su-100, are unique and very famous. There are also some iconic (gigantic) Mil helicopters, and some liners. There is much information around for less experienced enthusiasts, almost all placards both in Russian and English – a very rare sight in English-unfriendly Russia! If you can speak or understand Russian – unlike me – you can also have guided tours with former Air Force staff, which are reportedly much interesting.

The following photos were taken during a visit in September 2015.

Getting there

One of the reasons for so few interested people actually include Monino in their visit plan is the fame of the place as almost unreachable, inconvenient and expensive. This fame is due to the many companies on the web chattering about permissions, passport requests, tickets in advance, many hours to get to the place and so on. These companies usually ask for many hundreds dollars for taking you on the trip.

These are genuine tourist traps. There is no need for any permission, the place is not any more an active base (since long) and you are not asked any document. Plus, getting there with the local railway system serving the greater Moscow area is very easy – the train has Monino as destination – and the totally inexpensive trip takes about 1h 20min, only due to the countless stops.

First of all, note that I don’t speak russian nor can I read the Cyrillic alphabet. Nonetheless, I managed to get to this place about 20 miles from center Moscow to the East without troubles and traveling solo.

Trains going to Monino depart Moscow Yaroslavskaya in central Moscow rather frequently, about two to four times per hour – accurate timetable available briefly googling for local trains from Moscow to Monino. The terminal is the local railway terminal, placed right behind the main cottage-like building of the railway station (from where you can go as far as Vladivostok…). You can buy a ticket from one of the countless automatic vendors – in Russian, impossible for me – or from one of the countless ticket offices – this was my option. I got a ticket for both ways – you just have to say “To Monino and back”, even though Russians are not friends of English, this request was immediately understood by the officer. The fare is very cheap. The line I considered terminated at Monino, reached after many many stops and about 1h 20 minutes later. Note that the railway ticket is required also for leaving the station on arrival, so you’d better keep it safe.

If all you had seen before in Russia is St. Petersburg and central Moscow, you might be a bit shocked, and feel like you had leaped in the past and well back into the Soviet era – large and cheap concrete buildings, partially paved roads, many elderly people walking around along silent streets and more bicycles than cars around. Sure the village is nothing special and far from monumental, but it’s not dark nor scary or unsafe. Plus you can notice signs of its past vocation, as ghost insignia and abandoned control booths typical to a former military installation can be spotted immediately close to the railway station and around the village, together with a Lenin’s statue still proudly placed in a small square on your path to the museum.

The only problem is that there are no signs for reaching the museum – not any until you are in front of the gate -, which is about .7 miles from the station to the other end of the village (South). You can take a (rare) taxi, or enjoy the walk. The latter was my option. The road is extremely straightforward. Actually it’s basically straight. If you don’t have a digital map, you can simply print the Google map of Monino with a satellite view of the buildings – this again was my option – and this is definitely enough to get to the place. I prepared this small map with the path I’ve followed and some notable sights.

The ticket to the museum is less than 3 dollars, very cheap.

For going back you just reverse the plan. Travel time in total for the trip both ways may be 3h 10min, including train and transfers between the gate and Monino station by foot. Adding about 3 hours for visiting the museum with a relaxed pace, a visit to Monino from central Moscow may take about 6 hours, so you may plan something more than half day for this visit.

Opening times can be obtained from the official website http://www.monino.ru, some Google-translation is needed if you like me don’t know Russian.

Sights

Including descriptions of all aircraft in Monino would be impractical and probably uninteresting. For this reason I will include only photographs and some comments. For an almost-full list of the aircraft in Monino, with something about each of the preserved exemplars, I would recommend the book in English A guide to the Russian Federation Air Force Museum at Monino by Korolkov and Kazashvili, published in the US.

In the blue-roofed building of the ticket office some early aircraft engines and panels about the history of aviation in Russia are presented.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Then you can enter the neighbor hangar, with some unique aircraft from up to WWII. These include an exemplar of the world-famous Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

The rest of the exhibition is hosted on the other side of the road. Immediately past the gate on one side you have probably the world’s largest helicopter, the twin-rotor Mil Mi-12. Facing this monstrosity, some iconic bombers, including the Tu-4, i.e. a licence-built Boeing B-29, and a prototype Tupolev Tu-22M, with ancestral engine fairings later replaced on the production version. Also notable are a Tu-22, Tu-128 – a really massive interceptor – and two very famous Soviet prototypes, the Myasischev M-50 and the Sukhoi Su-100, with its characteristic Concorde-like deflectable nose.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

In a hangar nearby it is possible to find some further experimental aircraft, including rocket-propelled aircraft, high-atmosphere balloon capsules and other curious items.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Placed on an off-limits grassy area nearby the hangar there are some very uncommon aircraft awaiting restoration, and on the other side a good collection of Mil and Kamov helicopters, including the Mil-24A featured in the third chapter of the John Rambo series, a Mil-10 flying crane helicopter and a huge Mil-6 which used to work as a flying command station.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Nearby is the ‘Yakovlev alley’, where most aircraft from this high-tech design bureau are presented.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Approaching the far end of the exhibition grounds you can spot some of the Soviet ‘big ones’, including an Antonov An-22 Anthei, an Ilyushin Il-76, an Il-62 and a very rare Tupolev Tu-114 turboprop with counter-rotating propellers. This was among the fastest-flying propeller-driven aircraft in history.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Recently added to the collection, on one corner of the exhibition are two truly iconic Cold War veterans, a Tupolev Tu-142 and a Tu-22M Backfire, both retired production exemplars.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Other interesting items are a rare Beriev Be-12 huge seaplane, a pretty old Ilyushin Il-18 and a Il-2, and obviously the world-famous prototype Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic liner.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Before taking to the ‘MiG alley’ and ‘Sukhoi alley’ reaching to the exit, three unique prototypes should not go unnoticed, namely the Lavochkin La-250 supersonic interceptor, with a 1956 variable incidence delta wing, the high altitude Myasischev M-17, a twin tailed, ultra-high aspect ratio wing, the Buran flight emulator, created to reproduce the flight dynamics of the ill-fated Buran orbiter in terminal maneuvers, and the Bertini-Beriev VVA-14 ekranoplane. The latter was off-limits when I visited, and could be spotted sitting derelict in the backyard, awaiting restoration.

Central Museum of the Russian Air Force Monino Moscow Soviet Aircraft

Approaching the exit you can notice a full array of MiGs, including some more rare to find in the West, like the MiG-25 ‘anti-Blackbird’ Mach-3 interceptor, and various Sukhoi designs ranging from early prototypes to the more modern exemplars. Among them a Lisunov Li-2, a licensed Douglas C-47, was undergoing active restoration when I visited.