Military Collections in Sweden – Second Chapter

April 6, 2025 CarloRLeave a comment

Visiting southern Sweden offers many opportunities to dig into the rich military history of this beautiful Country in Scandinavia. As pointed out in the initial chapter on this topic (see this post), after centuries spent in assuring a stable and strong position in Northern Europe, often times with the help of a powerful military, Sweden managed to keep a neutral role in all major conflicts raging over the continent in the 20th century. While avoiding to openly taking the parts of any of the foreign contenders, in order to defend its territory and its neutrality policy, Sweden invested much in the development of national technology and in the military field.

This process was successful, resulting in a gallery of interesting and original industrial products introduced over the years, especially (yet not only) in the field of defense. Among the most tangible outcomes of this push, considering the years of the Cold War, are the unique Swedish school of aircraft design, culminating in the SAAB aircraft dynasty, as well as the establishment of factories manufacturing field weapons or land vehicles for all purposes, notably ranging from cars for everyday use to heavier armored vehicles, which are still in business today.

Of course, this development process profited from contacts with the West, especially Britain, France and the USA. For instance, in the post-WWII years, selected jet engines, missile systems or tanks were purchased from the West. Interestingly however, after the end of the Cold War, some surplus material of Soviet production, coming from newly opened borders, ended up in the inventory of the Swedish military. This reflects the often pragmatic philosophy behind procurement, usually adopted by the Armed Forces in this Country.

For those with an interest in the rich military history of Sweden, several collections can be found in the southernmost part of its territory, which is coincidentally the easiest to reach and visit from continental Europe. These collections, often actively supported by groups of enthusiasts, offer a glimpse of the technical and military tradition of this welcoming Country.

In this chapter, two of the most prominent museums in the area dedicated mostly to artillery are covered, with photographs taken from a visit in 2024.

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Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad, Kristianstad

Sights

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm

The exhibition of the Hässleholms Museum merges a few thematic collections, gathered and carefully maintained by local groups of enthusiasts. The topics are mainly technical vehicles of the Swedish Armed Forces – including armored vehicles, field transport vehicles, trucks, field kitchens, jeeps, special purpose trailers, etc. – and vehicles for the fire brigade. In addition, the museum has on display weapons, technical gear and training material employed by the Army.

It is actually from here that the exhibition starts. Support material like transportable field kitchens, including one from WWII years, and a portable forge for processing horseshoes are on display, within nice full-scale dioramas portraying scenes from different ages.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Training material include medical material and a rig for simulating a reanimation maneuver on a human body. Further medical gear includes many items for field surgery, as well as a diorama of field surgery room set up in a tent.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

A huge, super-interesting collection of training plates is on display – really rare in this size. Plates are typically employed for illustrating the assembly of mechanical systems (weapons, on-board systems of vehicles or aircraft, etc.), or to shortlist the basic characteristics of enemy vehicles. Most of these clearly date from the Cold War era, and refer to military material from those decades.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Original cases with figurines to recreate tactical scenarios, for operation planning or training purposes, make for an unusual display. Similarly, reviews and brochures covering topics of military interest, as well as vehicle recognition charts in Swedish language (in this language are also the training plates) are unusual items to find.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Some of the plates explain what to do in case of a nuclear attack, or one carried out with chemical agents. These plates are displayed together with protection gear, mostly gas masks, and antidotes – including an automatic syringe for injecting the neutralizing agent for nerve gas (atropine)!

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Artillery weapons, like special grenades, shoulder launchers, and various types of mines and standard cartridges, are displayed as samples in convenient display cases.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Even a few fragments of the Third Reich battleship Tirpitz, sunken in northern Norway, ended up here – as well as in many other military museums in Scandinavia (see this post). These armor pieces have been employed for testing some type of ammunition. The thickness of this armor is always impressive!

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

A gallery of uniforms, including personal light weapons and technical gear (like skis or portable aiming devices) conclude this part of the exhibition.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

The collection of military vehicles takes two adjoining hangars. It is particularly appealing for technically-minded people, since it looks like mechanics workshop, with a mixture of assembled and disassembled vehicles, allowing to see the inside, as well as the on-board sub-plants.

Armored vehicles on display are really many. Among the most massive are a Centurion battle tank, and a recovery vehicle for the same type. This highly successful British tank has seen extensive and prolonged use by the Swedish Army from the early 1950s to the 1990s, when it was phased out in favor of the German Leopard heavy tank. Depending on the variant, the Centurion was attributed several code-names in the Swedish inventory, namely Strv 81, 101, 102 and 104 (Strv standing for Stridsvagn, the Swedish word for tank).

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Ahead of the tank, you can see its very power train, composed of the mighty Rolls-Royce Meteor, 27 liters V12, 650 hp engine, and the Merrit Brown Z51R transmission gearbox. The recovery vehicle is roughly as massive as the tank itself.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Close by the Centurion, another sizable item is the armored bridging vehicle Brodbandvagn 971 (aka Brobv 971), which is the Swedish inventory name for what is actually a GDR-designed machine! Looking for a bridging vehicle compatible with the weight of the Leopard tank, a relatively cheap alternative was found in the BLG-60 model, originally manufactured by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) modifying the blueprint of the Soviet T-55 tank, and later sold as surplus by reunified Germany. Roughly half of the 32-units batch got from Germany in 1999 is still preserved today in Sweden, including the exemplar on display here.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

The bridge span is 20-m when deployed, and the top load is 50 tons (actually a bit short of the weight of a Leopard tank…).

Next, a rare sight here is the Rlpbv 4014 radio link armored track vehicle. Again, this was originally an East German tank purchased as surplus by Sweden. It was modified in that instance from the original Soviet design (named MT-LB) into a signal relay platform, supplied with parabolic antennas. The latter were removed from the tank upon retirement, which took place by 2011, together with all technical gear. Only a few machines were sold to Finland at the time, and the exemplar in the museum is the only surviving of this specific type in Sweden.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Close by are a Pbv 301 and a Pbv 302 armored and tracked infantry fighting vehicles, designed and largely employed by Sweden. Pbv 301 dates from the 1960s, and was superseded by Pbv 302, eventually manufactured in more than 600 exemplars during the Cold War and employed uniquely by the Swedish Army until retirement in 2014.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Bigger and heavily armed vehicles are interspersed with service vehicles, typically designed in Sweden, or propelled by Swedish engines. These include a trucks with cranes, field ambulances, technical wagons with tooling for repairs carried out in the field.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Motorcycles are well represented too, some of them with interesting side skis, installed for advancing on snowy terrain.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

A rather unusual sight is a full-scale field bakery! This is composed of a trail to prepare bread dough, and a big bakery oven. This and similar components of military supply, albeit often overlooked, are actually crucial in real operations, just like field guns and armored tanks – a quote attributed to Napoleon actually tells ‘An army marches on its stomach’!

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Smaller items on display in the same area include several types of engines, presented on transport cases, attached to testing rigs etc. These engines range from Volvo to some US manufacturers, and include marine engines, tank engines and gas generators.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Another highlight of the show is a Stridsvagn 103. An original Swedish design from the 1980s mostly intended for domestic supply in consideration of the characteristics of the Swedish territory, this tank is designed for a crew of three, but conceived to be optionally fully operated by a single crew. It is equipped with a blade to prepare a dugout, thus converting into a field cannon, and it is able to move in shallow waters. The only limitation is in the lack of a turret, which is traded-off for a better compactness and low-rising side section, which in turns makes this tank less exposed to enemy fire especially on uneven terrain, where chance of hiding is higher.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Beside the tank, it is possible to see the engine, and the corresponding tank-trailer and support vehicle, a tracked vehicle itself called Bgbv 82, and obtained as a modification of the Pbv 302 (see above).

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Nearby, several technical vehicles, including trucks and trailers (some with provision made to carry skis!), can be checked out as well.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

An interesting Swedish vehicle here is a tracked anti-aircraft missile launcher, model Lbrbv 701 manufactured by Hagglunds. The main weapon is the surface-to-air missile Robot 70. The aiming device is particularly prominent to the front of the vehicle.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

An array of three anti-tank machines is presented next. The first is a tracked anti-tank missile carrier, named Pvrbv 551, and originally capable of carrying 8 anti-tank missiles, shot from a single barrel on top of the tank. The second is a wheeled vehicle, named Pvpjtgb 1111 and manufactured by Volvo. This still carries a 9-cm recoil-less gun, and it was supplied with 8 shots. The third is a Pvpjtgb 9031, an even lighter vehicle from the 1960s, featuring again a 9-cm recoil-less anti-tank gun.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

A few tanks designed in Sweden conclude the display in the first of the two dedicated hangars. On the two extremes of the same row are a Strv 74 and an older m/38, aka L-60. The former was a light tank developed in the late 1950s by physically modifying older m/38 models (both types were manufactured by the Landsverk company in Sweden), and kept in service until the 1980s.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

In between these two tanks are displayed a Strv m/42 and two exemplars of the self-propelled cannon m/43, respectively a tank-destroyer version (Pvkv m/43) with a prominent 7.5 cm anti-tank gun, and anti-aircraft version (Lvkv m/43), featuring a 40 mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

The second hangar has in store a rare Strv m/40, developed during WWII based on the m/38 (see above). All other vehicles on display are wheeled. These include the Tgbil m/42, a 4×4 armored transport. This vehicle is an impressive Swedish design (with several big names involved in the design) enjoying an incredibly long career, spanning from WWII to the early 21st century through several upgrades and modifications.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Another iconic Swedish design by Volvo is the TP21, an off-road personal transport vehicle, originating in the 1950s from the successful PV800 civilian series by Volvo.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

Also in this area field kitchens are on display, together with trucks, tractors and other technical vehicles.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

The final indoor component of this impressive collection is made of vehicles belonging to the fire brigade. The crucial role of firefighting was made even more complex back then, due the limited supply of pressurized water on the territory, as well as the use of wood as the basic material for construction, and of open fire for many more uses than today.

The earlier vehicles are mostly carriages or cars converted for carrying small pumps, evacuation ladders and water hoses.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

More modern vehicles on display are mostly US-designed types (Ford, Chevrolet).

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

The collection in Hässleholm is completed by a few items sitting outdoor. These include a Volvo P210 transport van, a red Hägglunds Bandvagn 206 – a marvelous and very successful multi-purpose, all-terrain tracked transport (see also this post) – and a Brobv 941, a bridge-layer vehicle introduced in the 1970s and in service until the end of the Cold War to support operation of the tank units of the time.

Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden

All in all, this museum is an unmissable stop for those in search of an insight on the history of artillery and military technical production of Sweden.

Getting there and visiting

The museum is located on the eastern side of Hassleholm, a peaceful village in the southernmost region of Sweden. The exact name and address is Hässleholms Museum – Norra Kringelvägen 9, 28141 Hässleholm. Large parking on the inside apron. There is a little cafe inside, and a little shop. Visiting might easily take about 2 hours for an interested subject, reading the documentation and taking pictures.

The website, in Swedish language, but pretty self-explanatory at least for the most relevant visiting information, can be found here.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad, Kristianstad

The Museum of Artillery has been established in the southern town of Kristianstad, for roughly two centuries the home of the A3 ‘Wendes’ Artillery Regiment. This was originally formed in 1794, and stationed permanently (partly or entirely) in Kristianstad since 1815 until 1994, with disbandment following in the year 2000.

The collection is physically hosted in a few low-rise buildings and depots. Most of them are accessible on a self-guided base, where a couple of them can be visited only on a guided tour.

The building where the ticket office is has on display some interesting communication equipment, including encryption gear, retracing the history of military communication in Sweden from the end of the 19th century to the full span of the Cold War.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Most of the consoles are made in Sweden, but some made by Nokia, Philips or Siemens are similarly on display. In the same room the history of grenade construction is illustrated, through relevant specimens of shells and cartridges.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

An adjoining building is employed for gatherings by veterans, sympathizers and preservation groups, and usually showcases an annual temporary exhibition. At the time of my own visit in 2024, the theme of the exhibition was the combat-readiness in Sweden, from WWII onward.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

The other buildings are former depots, and offer a wide range of artillery pieces and military vehicles, covering the history of artillery warfare in Sweden.

The artillery pieces on display in a first depot are from the 19th century. They include some very interesting one-of-a-kind exemplars, for example a French cannon from Napoleon’s army! The iconic ‘N’ mark of the French Emperor is still intact on top of the barrel.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Another interesting item is a rocket launcher, made in Sweden from 1832, and cloned from an earlier British model. This early system, well ahead of its time as a concept, was not satisfactory in terms of field performance, thus it was phased by 1846. Additionally, an early multi-barreled gun from 1875 has been restored by volunteers to an almost pristine condition.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

An experimental recoil-suppressing gun carriage, with a prominent metal spring integrated in the structure, is on display along with many pieces which allow to appreciate the gradual improvement in the technology of field guns over the 19th century.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

The exhibition on artillery pieces is continued in another depot, mostly with horse carriages, needed for the movement of artillery, as well as with position artillery. The big calibers here, mostly made in Sweden, offer a very complete display of the catalog of guns employed for defense. Typically too heavy for quick repositioning, the purpose of this type of gun was that of defending fortresses or coastal positions.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Moving on to the last two depots, these deal mostly with the Cold War era. In a first one, artillery technology from the Cold War era is on display, including guns, as well as tons of technical devices for aiming, communicating, taking field measurements, etc.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Among the artifacts on display is an original camera for reconnaissance troops, as well as incredible traces of an espionage operation! You can see two maps of the same location, one released by Swedish authorities, the other by the Soviet Union. The latter is clearly way more accurate than the former, when it comes to describing a site of military interest, undisclosed on the Swedish map. Based on the date of the Soviet map, the espionage activity must have taken place in the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A diorama displays a reconstruction of an entrenched observation post.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Two adjoining dioramas reproduce a fire control post and a gun emplacement for a 10.5 cm howitzer. This design from 1940 saw action well into the 1960s and the Cold War, which is the time of the gun emplacement diorama. Notably, a muzzle velocity measurement system is mounted on the cannon.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Measuring atmospheric conditions in the field is an often overlooked component of artillery action, but it is actually crucial when good precision is required for a hit. Especially when a cannon is capable of hitting way ahead of its muzzle, a good knowledge of the state of the atmosphere – including wind intensity and direction, as well as the temperature and other properties of air – between the cannon and the target is totally relevant for accurately computing the trajectory and hit point of the shell. For example, a substantial error of some hundred meters on a hit may result for a shell travel of 20-30 km, typical for a high-performance field cannon of the Cold War, even for a mild wind below 10 knots.

An aiming system PE07/R based on a radar and a balloon with onboard sensors is on display, intended for the 10.5 cm howitzer.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A much more modern weather radar and fire control station for the Bofors 15.5 cm FH77A field gun can be similarly checked out. Dating from the 1970s and the early digital era, this original Swedish system offered improved range (almost 20 km) and accuracy with respect to all previous models.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Two exemplars of the FH77A gun are on display as well! The cannon had a good maneuverability and autonomy of motion. It could be transported on longer distances coupled to a Scania 411 truck, also on display.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

In the same room are a French 15.5 cm cannon, acquired in the 1950s, and a much older Krupp 21 cm howitzer. The latter, a German design from 1917, represents the top caliber ever pressed into service by the Swedish artillery, and saw action in Finland, where it was leased out during WWII (see this post).

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A bit of an outlier here is a diorama of a cavalry charge from the 19th century – which is however impressively well-crafted!

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

The last depot is especially lively in the summer, when vehicles mostly preserved in fully working conditions are taken out on the apron! Anyway, the depot is also interesting as a static display, with many well preserved items, all formerly in service with the Swedish armed forces.

These include first a full range of motorbikes, some of them today rather sought-after classics! They are notably of different makes, including British makers like BSA, Triumph and AJS.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A self-propelled, tracked 15.5 cm cannon, listed as Bkan 1A in the inventory of the Swedish Army and made by Bofors in 1965, stands in front of an older m/43 self-propelled gun, from 1943.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A PBV 301 armored transport and a Caterpillar bulldozer frame an interesting Radiobandvagn 203B. This articulated tracked vehicle resembles the Bandvagn 206 (see above), but it was manufactured by Bolinder Munktell, Sweden. It dates from 1967, but the Volvo engine looks like brand-new!

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

A US-made Dodge T214, a highly successful machine produced in more than 250,000 units, is on display in its original late-1940s Swedish camouflage. Sweden acquired more than 200 of these utility vehicles from a surplus deposit in France, after WWII.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

An example of Pvpjtgb 9031, with its distinctive recoil-less anti-tank cannon, and a Pbv 302 (see above), are on display alongside many military transport vehicles, mostly made by Volvo.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

An interesting item is a gas generator designed by Ford, yet bearing Swedish labels, hence likely intended for the Swedish market. This device could employ wood or charcoal to produce gas, which when suitably processed through heat-exchangers, can be employed to run an internal combustion engine. In an emergency situation, like when facing a shortage in oil supply, this type of device can be profitably employed to propel vehicles. This was a rather widespread option during WWII. Bulkier designs can be employed for running larger piston engines, e.g. for electric power production.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

On the apron between the depots, more vehicles and guns can be found. Some of them are typically recovered under a roof in the winter, to be taken out in the good season. These include perfectly working examples of a Volvo TP21 military transport (see above) – a predecessor of the modern XC90 SUV! – and a massive Volvo HBT artillery tractor. This half-track vehicle was based on a German design. It was built in Sweden in roughly 100 units, and employed for transporting troops, as well as cargo, including cannon trailers or self-propelled cannons. The speed of each track is controlled together with the direction of the front wheels by the pilot’s yoke, allowing for an easier steering action.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Finally, a few more guns are on display outside, including a rare m/1946 multi-barreled cannon made by Bofors, and even a Soviet 12.2 cm gun m/1932-1937, largely employed within the Soviet Bloc, from Stalin’s era to the 1990s, and donated by a Czech artillery collection to the Artillerimuseet.

Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden

Getting there and visiting

The Artillerimuseet can be reached at the address Köpingevägen 86-30, 29163 Kristianstad, which corresponds to a nice countryside location, roughly 3 miles south of the small center of Kristianstad. Access is via a short unpaved road, and the parking area inside is very convenient.

The place is run by knowledgeable volunteers, mostly former military staff. A visit of what is described here, which corresponds to what you can see on your own without a guide in the good season, may take about 1.5-2 hours for an interested person.

Please note that the cashier accepts only cash (possibly other forms of electronic payment available for Swedish residents). The website (mostly in Swedish) with full information is here.

Military Collections in Sweden – First Chapter

January 26, 2025 CarloRLeave a comment

When visiting the countries of northern Europe as a foreigner today, you may be easily captured by the beautiful landscapes and elegant architectures, as well as the great food options and the generally exceptional hospitality. Actually, a visit to Scandinavia will hardly disappoint, either in the summer or in the cold season. Everywhere looks like an ideal place for having a good time off.

However, digging in the military history of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, you might be surprised. Actually, since medieval times peaceful mutual relations have been built very slowly over the years in the area, going through centuries of unrest and struggle often culminating in open wars. In the global conflicts brought about starting with Napoleon until the end of the Cold War roughly 190 years later, the Countries around the Baltic sea have been in the center of a theater of operations of their own.

World War II and the Cold War

Looking at WWII and the Cold War era, the roles of Northern-European countries have been significantly different. Denmark, geographically untenable in front of the German enemy, was taken by Hitler’s Third Reich forces almost overnight, with Norway following shortly after. This gave birth to fierce resistance actions, trying to jeopardize the activities of the enemy. Norway was in the focus of much attention by the Western Allies, who tried to land in Narvik, sank battleship Bismarck, bombed the heavy water plant in Vemork, and transited in its arctic seas to feed Stalin’s Soviet Union with much needed supply (see this chapter). Conversely, Finland fought a fierce war against the USSR, ending up as an ally of Germany after the start of Operation Barbarossa, and finally turning against the Wehrmacht on agreement with the USSR, and managing to leave the conflict in 1944 (see this chapter).

Finally, Sweden did not take part to offensive military actions in WWII, managing to keep a neutral role through delicate diplomatic actions. For this neutrality to be credible however, the Country had to be defended, and its border – both on land and along the shoreline – actively guarded. This meant the construction of many forts all along the Baltic coast, to the west, south and east, as well as ground installations along the border with Finland. Similarly, the military tradition of Sweden, that in modern times date at least from the 17th century, when in the Thirty Years War Sweden managed to take a primary role in the balance of powers in Europe, was not discontinued at all. Despite neutrality, traditional manufacturers of fine firearms and shipbuilders were flanked over time by companies making excellent heavy-duty vehicles, armored tanks and aircraft.

In the Cold War period following the end of WWII, Scandinavia got a possibly even more central status, due to its proximity with the USSR and the control it could exercise on the sea accesses of the Soviet Union to the Northern Atlantic. Where Denmark and Norway joined NATO (see this chapter for Norway, this for Denmark), Finland and Sweden kept a neutral role. Once again, Sweden, not entangled in a complicated post-WWII deal with the USSR unlike Finland, could develop the credibility of its neutrality, preparing for defending against the Soviet threat with a build-up of its armed forces, and the development of original and high-tech military solutions, tailored to its territorial and climatic needs, carried out mostly in-house.

Traces in Sweden

The facts of WWII and especially of the Cold War in Sweden have left relevant traces, which are proudly preserved for the public either in world-class exhibitions, sometimes prepared on the very site of former military installations, or in smaller, well-crafted and much detailed collections, often run by groups of exceptionally passionate enthusiasts.

This and the following chapters cover some of them, offering a cut-out of what a visitor interested in military technology and history can find in beautiful Sweden. Photographs were taken in 2024.

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Aeroseum – former Säve Air Force Base – Göteborg
Maritiman – Göteborg

Sights

Aeroseum – former Säve Air Force Base – Göteborg

Besides making for a testimony to the originality and commitment of Sweden military planners, the air force base of Säve, located about 4 miles north of the major town of Göteborg in South-Western Sweden, is truly a one-of-a-kind example of a Cold War installation. Conceived for anti-blast protection in the early years of the nuclear age, the base was designed to carry out all operations, except take-off and landing, underground. This included aircraft storage and servicing, but also refueling, loading, towing, and lighting the engines in corridors carved down to 100 feet underground in the hard Scandinavian rock!

The project had an anticipation during WWII, when some special aircraft shelters had been obtained on site by drilling the hillside. However, the actual digging of this incredible Cold War underground base was started in 1950, to be inaugurated by the king Gustav VI Adolf in 1955 (even if not totally complete at the time). The base was sized for a crew of 40 men staying underground with 15 aircraft, of the then new type Saab J29 Tunnan (which translates into ‘barrel’).

The plan of the underground facility features multiple accesses from ground level, on the sides of local hills. Entrances are all misaligned, to reduce the potential damage from a hit by a single attacker. The actual access to the descending tunnel driving down is through a colossal concrete sliding door, 2.3 ft thick and weighing 70 tonnes, with a front area such to allow a fully mounted aircraft to transit with sufficient clearance from the walls and ceiling!

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Interestingly, the concrete door is preceded outside by a curtain, which together with traffic lights, switch cabinets and cables can still be seen today. This was installed for further protection to prevent the effects of fallout and contamination, in case of a nuclear attack on the base premises. The heavy curtain could be effective in stopping debris and lower-energy contaminated particles from even touching the doors. Soaked in water for cleansing, it could be then potentially re-employed multiple times, in case of a nuclear war scenario with waves of nuclear strikes.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

This feature of the base, already pretty unusual, is the first to welcome – and strike! – the visitor. Then the tour takes you inside, for a full exploration of the underground facility beyond the massive concrete doors.

The feeling when accessing the tunnel is really of something huge. A description of the history of the base is offered as a first item through pictures, schemes and original crests. Then the roomy environment of the access tunnel, descending in a bend to the bottom part of the base, is stuffed with a rich collection of aircraft and helicopters in service with the Swedish Air Force, their engines and technical accessories.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The base of Säve was fully completed by 1963, including the fuel supply system which had posed some safety issues in its original design (fuel went down in case of accidental spilling, thus remaining trapped in the deep-end of the base). However, the F9 squadron of the Air Force, home-based in Säve, was disbanded just a few years later, in 1969. This meant that the underground airbase saw active service with the J29 and later the J34, the latter being the Swedish designation of the British Hawker Hunter. After 1969, Säve was home base to the 2nd Helicopter Squadron, and the underground part, hardly of use for rotorcraft, was then employed as a safe storage for non-active aircraft, notably the illustrious Saab J35 Draken, of which 70 (!) were long-term stored inside, with wings dismounted. The base finally ended its military service in 1998. The underground bunker was re-opened later as the Aeroseum museum, where most of the former airbase was turned into a civilian airport, still working today.

Among the aircraft on display in this first descending tunnel are a Saab J29 Tunnan, alongside its De Havilland Ghost jet engine (license-built under the designation RM2 by Svenska Flygmotor, later Volvo Aero, in Sweden). In service between 1948 and 1976 with the Swedish Air Force, the somewhat elusive J29, little known in the West, was a massively produced swept-wing fighter and fighter-bomber, with 661 exemplars manufactured! Austria, another non-NATO country lying on the border with the Soviet bloc, was the only foreign customer for this machine, which in the 1950s formed the backbone of Sweden’s defense force. A modern fighter in many respects, in the same class of the North American F-86 Sabre and of the MiG-15, the J29 was not easy to master for novel pilots, and unfortunately caused many accidental losses, at a time when Sweden was the fourth air force in the world in strength. It was actively employed in the Congo, where Sweden took part within the United Nations contingent in the 1960s.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

On display are also the towing truck and generator employed for engine spool up. In a scramble, the aircraft could be towed up by this Volvo truck, directed on an open air apron, from where it could complete its taxi run alone and finally take-off.

Next in line is a Saab J35 Draken (meaning ‘dragon’), an iconic and successful supersonic fighter/interceptor from Sweden, first flown in 1955 and entering service in 1960, manufactured in 615 exemplars and not less than 10 variants. Besides the Swedish Air Force it was adopted by the foreign Air Forces of Denmark, Finland, and again Austria, the last to withdraw it from service in 2005! This Mach 2 capable machine, with a double-delta wing planform, was propelled by a slightly modified Rolls-Royce Avon engine (manufactured by Svenska Flygmotor as RM6). An original design from the Swedish school, among the features making it so versatile were provision for a two-seats airframe, as well as a general plant simplicity and undercarriage sturdiness, which together with a stopping parachute allowed its deployment from the wartime landing strips.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The latter were obtained in Sweden from the quick conversion of short sections of straight roads in the highway system, creating a network of so-called krigsflygbaser (‘war air bases’), in a defense plan called Bas 60 and later Bas 90. A solution to be found also in the Federal Republic of Germany in the Cold War years, this could greatly enhance the chance of survival of the air force following enemy strike on major air bases, through force dispersal. Yet not all aircraft can safely operate from similar airstrips. Swedish aircraft take this ability into account from the design phase, yielding dependable aircraft, capable of operations in far-from-ideal conditions.

Despite featuring a double, fixed-geometry and comparatively small air intake, the aircraft is single-engined. Underneath the fuselage, this aircraft features a ram air turbine (RAT), for powering the aircraft systems through kinetic energy in the airflow, in case of an engine shut-off in flight.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

To the back of this exemplar of the Draken model is a Saab J37 Viggen (which is the name of a local species of duck). Another great example of an original design from Sweden, the J37 is an attack aircraft built in a canard configuration, and like its predecessor capable of short take-off and landing from road runways. Made in mode than 300 exemplars and employed uniquely by Sweden, it was in service between 1971 and 2007. Quite difficult to see out of Sweden, at the time of its introduction it was arguably the most advanced aircraft design to date, in terms of aerodynamic study, avionic suite and attack potential.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Developed in a number of variants for several roles, the exemplar on display features a number of payloads, to be attached to the underwing pylons or under the fuselage, also thanks to the good clearance from ground offered by the tall undercarriage (not to be found on the Draken). Differently from its Saab predecessors, the J37 was powered by a Volvo RM8, based on the American Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbojet, instead of a British engine.

Close to the Viggen, on display is a Saab car employed for friction test on the runway. This was rather widespread in airport facilities in Sweden. Vehicles with similar function can still be found everywhere in the world, especially in countries where runways are subject to icing.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Next in the line is the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, the most current evolution of the Saab dynasty of attack aircraft. Currently manufactured in more than 300 exemplars and exported to several countries, this machine is another original design from Sweden which is also a post-Cold War commercial success. A canard design like the Viggen, this model was introduced in the late 1980s, and it has been updated over the years as an air superiority platform, with a good mix of performance and efficacy, dependability and economical efficiency. Based on the Volvo RM12, derived from the American General Electric F404, it is currently in service. The aircraft on display is the oldest surviving.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Before reaching to the bottom, in one of the recesses along the corridor, photos from the construction phase of the bunker base, its inauguration and the years of operation can be checked out.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Also mentioned in the exhibition is the peculiar chapter of the Swedish nuclear program. The latter was envisioned in the early nuclear age following WWII, and it took shape especially in the 1950s and early 1960s. Besides facilities for the making of what was needed for fueling and managing a nuclear deterrent, on the aviation side Saab was tasked with dedicated projects for a delivery aircraft for nuclear ordnance, to flank the Saab J32 Lansen intended as an interim platform in that role. Project A 36, for an aircraft featuring a Viggen-like fuselage but no canard, and with an unusual overhead layout of the engine similar to the North American F-107, was in the pipeline when the government started to face increasing contrast from the public opinion concerning the entire national nuclear program, which was eventually cancelled in 1968.

Looking at the structure of the tunnel, left mostly untouched from the days of operation, the original wiring and piping for various systems – electrical, ventilation, etc. – can still be seen. The tunnel is also interspersed with frames, where light fire-proof doors could be lowered in case of an accidental fire. They could seal segments of the tunnel, which could then be flooded with fire-suppressing foam.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Approaching the bottom of the descending tunnel, it is possible to find a group of helicopters, in service in Sweden mostly for rescue operations, like an ubiquitous US-made Piasecki H-21 (the ‘Flying banana’), a Sud Aviation Allouette 2, an Agusta-Bell 402 and a Bell 206, the latter employed in polar missions from icebreaker Ymen. An Eurocopter Super Puma and a MBB Bo 105 come from the Swedish military, the latter reportedly having been prepared in a special anti-tank version, but never pressed into service.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Once on the bottom level, you can explore the halls, which are all interconnected, forming a network with a plant similar to a double ‘H’. On the crossing of two halls, you can spot the big round turntables, employed to turn the aircraft when towing them from storage to the base of the ramps going up. There are actually two of these ramps, one is that employed for access by visitors, the other is currently only visible from the bottom level, and off limits (employed for museum service). Its access can be found to the opposite side of the bottom level upon entering.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

You can find several aircraft and exhibits on this level, including some pay-per-use professional flight simulators. An interesting exhibition tells about the organization of the STRIL, an acronym for stridsledning och luftbevakning, forming the backbone of the air defense system of Sweden from the early years of the Cold War on. Among the most unique facilities managed by the system are the krigsflygbaser mentioned above. Some original pictures and scale models tell about the detailed scheme of such bases, which could be activated when conditions required.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

It is possible to board examples of both the Draken and Viggen models. The latter is presented with the engine dismounted from the airframe, and with many examples of war load either hanging from the wing pylons, or lying underneath. The number of options is really big, witnessing the versatility of the Viggen as an airborne platform.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The cockpit of the Viggen has evolved over time. The one you can see is fully analog. Close by is also the RM8 jet engine of the Viggen, with the afterburner pipe installed – a pretty long assembly! Also a trailer for storing and transporting jet engines is on display.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

One of the Saab Draken exemplars is displayed alongside its engine as well. Interestingly, the afterburner pipe has been separated from the engine core in this case, allowing to check their respective size.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Another interesting item on display in this area, alongside a Bell 47 helicopter with its distinctive bubble canopy, is a Saab J32 Lansen. Primarily built as a fighter and entering service in the 1950s, the career of the Lansen stretched to the 1990s, and saw it employed in several roles, including as a trainer. Interestingly, the study for a dedicated engine – the STAL Dovern – was started alongside with that for the airframe, as typical to other military programs especially in the US. The engine, which reached the flight testing phase, is displayed alongside the aircraft. It represents one of the few projects of the Swedish company STAL for aviation. The company has been for long a primary manufacturer of turbines for electric power plants, started in the early 20th century on the remarkable Ljungström design (the homonym brothers actually founded STAL). In the end, the Lansen employed the British Rolls-Royce Avon.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

A well-stuffed display is that of on-board radar equipment employed on the SAAB aircraft in service with the Swedish Air Force.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Among the many design and procurement programs of the Swedish military, special attention was given to missiles. The Robot 08 A, an anti-ship cruise missile employed on destroyers and from coastal batteries in Sweden, was the result of a collaborative program with the French. After a boost phase employing rockets, the efficient small jet engine employed for thrust in cruise (a Turbomeca Marbore) allowed the missile to travel at transonic speed, delivering a warhead up to 100 nautical miles away from the launch site. Navigation was through radio control, and homing on target was radar-assisted.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

A real work-horse both in the US and abroad (see this post), a Cessna 337 Skymaster in service with the Coast Guard of Sweden can be found in apparently pristine conditions.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

A wing of the museum is dedicated to the collection of the Aviation Veteran Society of Göteborg. Among their many interesting projects is the restoration of classic models, often times unique exemplars from an age prior to the introduction of jets. Each of the aircraft on display in their collection, which is always evolving, has a story to tell. For example, one of them, a British De Havilland Gipsy Moth, was employed by his owner (the Swede Gösta Fraenkel) in the 1930s for an experimental treatment of whooping cough, an infectious disease typically developing in children. The pilot took infected people on board the open-cockpit biplane, allowing cold, dry and clean air to ram into their respiratory channels and lungs for some minutes while flying at a sufficient altitude. Apparently, this treatment accelerated recovery in a percentage of cases. Another aircraft in this area is a SAAB 91A Safir. The ‘A’ version is the original and oldest of this light basic trainer and multipurpose aircraft, dating back to the 1940s, and a good commercial success for Sweden.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Another rich collection is based on an impressive archive of Cold War files documenting many Soviet activities in the territory of the German Democratic Republic. This exhibition (a topic often touched on this website, see for instance here and here) is especially interesting for its completeness and for the level of detail – most files show photographs and numerical data.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

A nice array of models, often portraying in dioramas scenes from the real aviation history of Sweden or the region of the Baltic sea, is aligned along a wall. Among them, you can see the first ever defection of a MiG to the West on the Danish island of Bornholm (see this post), as well as the grounding of a Douglas DC-3 in Swedish markings by a MiG-15 which had taken off from Estonia (at that time within the borders of the Soviet Union). That DC-3 has been savaged from the bottom of the Baltic Sea years later, and it is now on display at the museum of the Swedish Air Force in Linköping.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Even if you don’t need it, you should take a detour to the toilet, to access an original corridor and have a look to two full-scale reconstructions of STRIL command centers.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Back outside, you can climb uphill to check out a few additional military vehicles on display, including an exemplar of the highly-succesful line of bi-modular track vehicles called Bandvagn, made by the Swedish company Hägglunds in tons of variants and for different roles. Basically unstoppable on any terrain (and actually working in shallow waters as well), this highly versatile machine is here displayed in a Swedish Army camo paint. Also on display is a rather rare moving lounge, a vehicle for easing boarding operation on larger aircraft. Made by Chrysler in the US (and reportedly employed at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., back then), this exemplar was in use at Göteborg Landsvetter airport, before the terminal was re-designed for a better management of passenger traffic.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

From the hilltop, you may get a vantage view of the airfield, now the general aviation airport of Säve.

Aeroseum Air Force Bunker Base Air Museum – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Getting there and visiting

The exact address of Aeroseum is Nya Bergets Väg 50, 41746 Göteborg, Sweden. The location is easily reachable along Hisingsleden, taking north from Göteborg, and connecting some of the premises of the huge Volvo factory quartered north of town. From the crossing with Flygflottilijens Väg (where a bus stop is), it is a .4 miles stretch to the museum’s gate. Huge parking on site. Visiting for technically-minded people with an interest for aviation can easily take 3 hours (4 in my case), checking out all the nice exhibits. There is a self-service restaurant at the bottom of the bunker, as well as a nice shop. Entertaining activities for the kids are on the menu as well.

Together with the Air Force Museum in Linköping, this is possibly one of the top air museums in Sweden, well worth a dedicated trip also for the special construction where it is located. Website with full information (also in English) here.

Maritiman – Göteborg

Located in downtown Göteborg, this museum has on display a handful of vessels, originally employed in Sweden in either civilian or military roles. The most sizable of them, the destroyer Småland (J19), is also an illustrious witness of the Cold War, and a lone survivor of the Royal Swedish Navy of that era. She was built by Eriksbergs shipbuilding company in Göteborg, a now defunct primary player in the Swedish naval history, and it saw service between 1956 and 1979 together with the only sister ship Halland, which gave name to the class.

The neutrality of Sweden for the Navy meant that the fleet of the kingdom was developed with self-defense in mind. At the end of WWII, two cruisers were laid down, Tre Kronor and Göta Lejon, which were the largest vessels ever to see service in Sweden. In the 1950s the shipbuilding effort saw the completion of the new destroyers Halland and Småland, which went operating alongside many more destroyer units over the 1950s and 1960s. All these four ships however were the pinnacle of shipbuilding in Sweden in terms tonnage. By the end of the 1950s the last four destroyers of the Östergötland class (lighter than Halland class) had been put into service, and manufacture of either cruisers or destroyers ceased altogether. By the end of the 1960s, the two cruisers were stricken off, and over the 1970s and 1980s many of the destroyers followed. In the high-tech late era of the Cold War, Sweden opted for a larger number of lighter surface ships, in particular corvettes and torpedo boats. The former are represented today by the highly effective Visby class, which constitutes the backbone of the Royal Swedish Navy today.

Of the historical cruiser and destroyer fleet of the Swedish Navy, the Småland is the only surviving unit. In the Maritiman museum, it is possible to board and thoroughly explore this vessel. Among the distinctive construction features, the castle structure runs all along the ship, allowing the crew to operate while keeping inside, so as to avoid exposition to fallout radiation in a nuclear war scenario. Provision for cleaning the outer decks was made with a pressurized water system, running around the castle. Furthermore, material was steel and iron, instead of aluminum, sometimes employed in shipbuilding for saving weight, but more prone to fire damage than heavier steel. The crew was of 250-290 men. The ship went through three modernization programs, and included three fire direction facilities in the castle.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The heavier gun armament of the destroyer is composed of two turrets (one at bow, one at stern) with two 120 mm guns each, and a bow turret with two 57 mm cannon. Additionally, six 40 mm single-barrel anti-aircraft cannons on revolving turrets are placed along the sides of the ship. All guns were made by Bofors in Sweden.

A single 120 mm gun turret was manned by seven men, and could fire 42 rounds per minute, with a range of roughly 12 nautical miles. It could be employed for targeting other ships, aircraft or land installations.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

On the side of the 120 mm turrets you can see flare rockets with super intense illuminating power, which were employed for fire direction at night. Fire direction systems evolved over the years, but the task was mainly performed in the castle structure.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The 57 mm gun turret was designed for anti-aircraft operations, with a range of up to 4,000 m, which was roughly 25-30% more than the standard 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. Fire direction was from the castle deck or locally by the designated gunner.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

For anti-submarine war operations, Småland has revolving torpedo tubes on the deck, for the Torped 61 torpedo series, a highly-successful design from Sweden, employed also by foreign customers (see this post).

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Additionally, to the bow are two racks of launchers for four anti-submarine rockets each. An example of the body of a Bofors 375 mm anti-submarine rocket is on display beside the rocket launchers. It took 40 seconds to reload one launcher. Fire direction and timing was performed from inside the sonar room, or from a control station beneath the launchers.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The ship could carry out mine laying operations. To the stern of the ship some sea mines are on display on the rail employed for launching them outboard.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The Småland could manage helicopter landings on its deck, and it had the ability to launch anti-shipping cruise missiles. This rather innovative solution for the time was based on the Robot 08 platform (see also the Aeroseum exhibition here in this chapter). Two of them could be carried on the launching pad, where further missiles were stored under deck, and a special incline was employed to take them to the outer deck level for launch. Launch was managed with a dedicated fire control computer.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The Småland could operate as a flotilla capital ship, thus navigation and communication systems were particularly modern and capable on this ship, for the time. Digital computers, with pre-defined communications which could be issued at quick pace, are part of the scenery on the top decks of the castle structure.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The crew compartments, even those for higher-ranking staff, and many technical rooms are as cramped as usual on military ships, not so far from their WWII predecessors.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

On top of the castle, the command deck can be found, and from here you can get also a nice view of the town of Göteborg.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Among the most interesting parts, is the engine and power supply area. The Småland was pushed by two independent boiler/turbine systems, which gave power to two propellers. Top speed was 37 knots, and at that speed the ship employed 420 liters of fuel per minute!

The engines required 16 men for operations initially, working close to the hot ducts and parts of the engine at extreme noise level. At a later stage, control rooms were installed in the engine compartments, allowing to reduce the workload and increase comfort to a reasonable level. Filtering and shielding was installed on the air intake system, to reduce the effect of nuclear fallout ingestion by the combustion system.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

This area can be toured extensively, unveiling many narrow passages and showing the complex structure of the energy plant, producing power for motion and for all the other onboard systems.

Another highlight of the Maritiman is the Draken class submarine Nordkaparen (Nor, in the registry). The six ships of this class were manufactured in the early 1960s, Nordkaparen (laid down by Kockums at Malmö) entering service in 1962, to be stricken off in 1988. The Royal Swedish Navy has always invested much in its submarine fleet, especially along the entire span of the Cold War, with more than 20 units manufactured post-WWII and before 1989. New models have been introduced after the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, and currently four modern units are in service.

The Draken class, propelled by Diesel-electric propulsion, was introduced as an improvement of the older Hajen class, with a single slow rotating propeller instead of two, and a modified stern part and control surfaces. With an operative depth of 150 m and manned by 36 men, it was capable of a top speed of 22 knots submerged.

At the Maritiman it is possible to board the Nordkaparen from the stern hatch, and have a complete tour of its well preserved interiors, coming out from the hatch to the bow.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The rear compartment with the electric motors and a sleeping area for the crew is relatively roomy. Conversely, the center section of the submarine allows only a narrow passage between the Diesel engines, with round tight doors which require some body flexibility to go through!

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The navigation deck and the cockpit are again somewhat roomier than their WWII counterparts, similar to the forward compartment, with a reasonable area for the crew.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

A unique feature of this design is the revolving rack for storing the torpedoes. Torpedo tubes are four, and all placed to the bow of the ship. The revolving rack, resembling that of a giant revolver, hosts eight torpedoes. It is itself loaded from the back, and it can pivot around its axis pushed by a motor, putting a torpedo in the revolver at the level of the firing tube to be reloaded, thus allowing a faster recharging of any firing tube.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Another military boat from the Cold War years on display is the patrol boat Hugin (P151). A fleet of many, lighter vessels was preferred by military planners in Sweden to one of heavier and more expensive ships with greater firepower, especially towards the last decades of the Cold War. Hugin was the first of her class, and it was manufactured in Norway (Bergen Mekaniske Verksted). Sixteen units of this class were in service in the 1980s with the Royal Swedish Navy.

The boat features a steel hull, and is pushed by two 20-cylinders MB518D Diesel engines made by MTU, delivering a power of 3,500 hp each, and giving this boat a top speed of 39 knots. The crew of twenty men could operate for more days in a row on board the ship. This versatile fast boat was armed with inertial-guided and IR-homed anti-shipping missiles (type Robot 12 Mk 2, made in Sweden), depth charges and ASW-600 Elma grenades (made by SAAB in Sweden) for anti-submarine warfare, and sea mines for mine laying missions.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

Additionally, the boat has a single Bofors 57 mm cannon for anti-aircraft gunnery. One of the versions of the Arte fire control system made by Philips was installed on the ship, allowing to engage more targets simultaneously.

Maritiman Museum Swedish Navy Småland Nordkaparen Hugin – Göteborg Gothenburg – Sweden

The Maritiman has on display a number of other boats, covering a range of uses and a big part of the storyline of shipbuilding in Sweden. Among them are fire-fighting vessels, tugboats, as well passenger commuters.

Getting there and visiting

A top attraction of Göteborg, the Maritiman museum can be reached with a nice walk from the historical city center, simply reaching the water bank from it. The museum will be very entertaining for children, but it has even more to tell to technically minded people. Many detailed descriptions in multiple languages all along the visiting path allow to get much from your visit. Furthermore, the majority of the compartments are open or visible on the Småland ship, all on the Nordkaparen, allowing to fully explore these vessels or look into the many technical rooms. A thorough visit may take about 2-3 hours or more, depending on your level of interest.

The exact address is Packhusplatsen 12, 411 13 Göteborg. Parking options nearby (public at a fee). Website with full access information (also in English) here.

The Wollenberg Bunker – Linking East Germany and the USSR

April 21, 2024April 22, 2024 CarloRLeave a comment

	Heading to Berlin or the former GDR? Looking for traces of the Cold War open for a visit?
	A Travel Guide to COLD WAR SITES in EAST GERMANY Second Edition - 2024
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The events taking place on the geopolitical stage during the last decade of the Cold War – the 1980s – gave little indication of the imminent collapse of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc (1989-1991). Correspondingly, looking at the amount of technology developed and deployed in the military field during the late, hi-tech stage of the Cold War, it is easy to notice that opponents on both sides of the Iron Curtain dedicated a significant (and even increasing) budget in preparation for a possible total confrontation. Reading papers and specialized books from the time, the outbreak of an open conflict, such to put a violent and abrupt end to years of opposition between the two opposing systems by recurring to nuclear warfare over the territories of Western Europe (most of them belonging to the NATO alliance, and all being substantially more militarized than today), was not deemed just likely, but more as a matter of time.

The БАРС system – The tropospheric network of the Warsaw Pact

In that era of extreme tension, it is not surprising that one of the most sophisticated and expensive assets developed and deployed jointly by all Nations in the Warsaw Pact, of course led by the USSR, came alive. History would cut its life short though, and as soon as the Warsaw Pact disintegrated, as a result of the opt-out from communist dictatorship of all Countries in Eastern Europe, this asset was decommissioned. This system was the tropospheric communication system ‘БАРС’, a Russian word reading ‘BARS’ and meaning ‘snow leopard’. The name stands as an acronym for four words in Russian, which translate into something like ‘Sheltered autonomous radio communication system’.

The idea put forward by the Soviet top-ranking military staff in the early 1980s (prior to the onset of Gorbachev administration) was that of a system capable of transmitting complex orders (not just simple signals, like for opening a bunker door or silo, but articulated messages) in a safe encrypted way, at a long distance and minimizing the chance of a complete breakdown even in case of an enemy nuclear attack. Despite being not new, the concept of a resilient and reliable system, such to allow exchanging significant amount of data without relying on cables, had been tested in earlier stages of the Cold War only for short-radius operations. Mobile transmitters/receivers, loaded on purpose-designed trucks, allowed for a reduction of the risk of a direct hit from an attacker, and for a quick redeployment in case of need. However, for the amount of data and range required for the coordination of a war scenario, involving many different Countries, and geographically encompassing an entire continent, a different system was required, capable of transmitting more massive data flows on longer distances, with a reduced risk of a sudden or complete interruption.

The БАРС system was based on a certain number of stations, scattered over the territory of the Countries of the Warsaw Pact. Each node was built as a bunkerized, manned military installation, featuring high-power, high-frequency fixed antennas emerging from the ground, and an underground shelter protecting all the technical gear required for manipulating the data to be sent or received, interfacing with the other existing local (i.e. national) networks for military and executive governmental communication, and of course managing the tremendous amount of energy required to pump a long-reaching signal into the ether.

Laying on the front line with the West, hosting a Soviet contingent of some hundred thousands troops (see here and links therein), aircraft (see here), missiles (see here) and nuclear warheads (see here), and being a key-ally of the USSR in case of the outbreak of an open war (at least until late 1989), the German Democratic Republic (or GDR, or DDR in German) was clearly included in the БАРС network from the initial drafting phase. Similarly, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, and of course the Soviet Union (which included Belarus and the Baltics, and stretched west to Kaliningrad), all had БАРС stations on their territory. Stations were located at a range of a few hundred miles from one another, thus within the range required for each of them to communicate with one or more of the other nodes. Data (e.g. orders, reports or authorizations) input locally could be relayed along the network through intermediate nodes, down to the intended destination node. There were 26 nodes in total, of which four were in the USSR.

The Wollenberg site – Bunker 301 ‘Tushurka’

The GDR in particular had three stations built, all along the border with Poland, and located east of Berlin – namely Station 301 in Wollenberg, at the same latitude of Berlin, Station 302 in Langsdorf, towards the Baltic coast, and Station 303 in Röhrsdorf (near Königsbruck), not far from Dresden in the southeast of the GDR territory. The first among them, the Wollenberg site (codenamed ‘Tushurka’) could communicate with the other two national stations, as well as with Station 207 in Poland, from where data would be transmitted further down the network, towards the USSR.

The site was built by the GDR state, with technical hardware coming from several Countries within the Warsaw Pact, and most of the military hi-tech components manufactured in the USSR. The actual site (similar to its sister sites) was built in the frame of a highly secretive operation. The staff comprised about 60-70 men, the majority of which were military, where about 15% were civil technicians. Maximum security clearance was required, due to the top-secret nature of the installation and of the overall БАРС system. The bunkerized part of the installation was only a component of the larger premises of the base, camouflaged within the trees on the side of low-rising hill.

As pointed out, the immense spending required for setting up this multi-national hi-tech military communication system, which was extensively tested and completely commissioned (as a network) by 1987, did not save it from a quick demise and disappearance. In particular, Station 301 went definitively offline as early as August 1990.

However, the fate of the Wollenberg site was not so sad as that of many former Soviet or NVA (i.e. the East German Army) installations in the GDR. The high-power antennas were torn down, but except from that, little material damage was inflicted to the buildings and bunker on site. The place was basically shut-off and left dormant, until when a society of technically very competent local enthusiasts started a plan to preserve and open it to visitors, as a memorial specimen of the technology of the Cold War years.

A visit to the Wollenberg bunker site reveals a tremendous deal of interesting details, very uncommon to find elsewhere in the panorama of Cold War relics around Europe. Thanks to a careful preservation and restoration work, the bunker has most of its original systems still plugged to the grid and lit-up – some of them are reportedly still working! Even though the communication networks have been severed, the experience in the bunker is really evoking, and the atmosphere – with all the lit-up cabinets, lights, CCTV cameras, 1980-style screens, etc. – closely resembles that of the bygone era when БАРС was operative!

This report and photographs were taken during a private visit to the bunker, carried out in the Summer of 2023.

Sights

A visit to the the installation in Wollenberg starts from the original high-security access gate. As you may quickly notice when passing through it and getting a first view of the site, the state of preservation is exceptional. Except for the lack of military staff around, everything looks mostly like in the years of operation.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

A group of soft-construction service buildings and a reinforced multi-entry garage constitute the first – and visible – nucleus of the installation. All buildings are painted in a camo coat.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

A former building for the on-site staff has been turned into a permanent exhibition, with memorabilia items from the Cold War years, when the Nationale Volksarmee (or NVA, the Armed forces of the GDR) cooperated with the Soviet Red Army and the national Armed forces of other Countries in the Warsaw Pact.

A meeting room, now employed also for small gatherings, is especially rich of interesting and diverse items, including emblems, books, memorial plates and pennants, as well as TV screens, hi-fi systems and and beamers from the era.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Another room has been set-up as a control center for the base, with an original console and regional maps.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Compared to military bases (for aircraft or tanks), the Wollenberg installation is rather compact, with a main road giving access to most of the (not many) buildings on site, as well as the bunker. Actually, the bunkerized part was built under a low-rising hill, with the antennas originally standing on top of it. Access to the bunker is possible either by climbing uphill on the main road, or through a suggestive original pedestrian tunnel. The latter starts from within the service building itself, and – somewhat unexpectedly, for an underground installation – it climbs uphill, while keeping beneath the surface of the hill side slope. The lower end is guarded by an original CCTV camera.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

At the top end of the tunnel you can find the actual access to the bunker. The design and reinforcement level conferred grade ‘D’ protection according to the military standard in use at the time, with grade ‘A’ being the strongest. Access is through an airlock, constituted by two tight doors at the opposite ends of a small vestibule built in concrete. This design allowed protection from the blast of a nuclear device.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Notably, the locking mechanism of the tight doors is Soviet military standard, which can be found in high-value installations like nuclear depots elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc (see for instance here in Poland, and here in Czechoslovakia).

To the visitor with some experience of Cold War installations, it will be apparent from the very start of the tour that the state of conservation of the bunker, including the systems in it, is exceptional, similar to the rest of the Wollenberg site. The original warning lights and the CC-TV camera for identifying people at the entrance are still in place.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Next to the entrance, a control room with technical gear for checking-in can be found – including original dosimeters for radiation and chemicals, mostly Soviet-made. Looking inside these devices is possible, and reveals a great deal of sophistication in the design and realization of the military-grade material from the time.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Showers and sinks for washing, as well as canister for disposing of contaminated clothes, are located in the same area.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Upon getting access to the sealed area of the bunker and passing by the decontamination facility, you find yourself on the top floor of the underground bunker. The high-technology gear required for the transmission/reception of data on the БАРС network, as well as the interface with other national communication systems, required for receiving data, issuing orders, etc. over the territory of the GDR, were located on this floor.

Two symmetrically placed rooms host two twin transmission centers for the БАРС system. A single manned console can be found in each of them, surrounded by electronic cabinets and switches. At a closer look, all the material herein is Soviet made, and labeled in Russian only.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

On the wall ahead of the console station is a set of cables, communicating with the antenna and allowing to set the orientation and monitoring its status.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

The actual signals transmitted to the antenna, or received from it, traveled along special hollow ducts, with an almost rectangular section. Bundles of these ducts can be found in the ‘Sender’ (which means ‘transmitter’ in English) room, immediately next to the room where the manned console is.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

The modulation and demodulation of the signals going out and coming in respectively through the antenna on top of the bunker required some special pieces of electronics, which included the Soviet-designed KY-374 klystron (codenamed ‘Viola’), a component to be found in the cabinets of the ‘Sender’ room.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Following the hollow ducts, it is possible to find where they finally exit the usually manned part of the bunker, bending into receptacles and leading outside. Piping related to other systems, including air conditioning, can be seen as well crossing or running in the same narrow technical corridors.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Beside the consoles monitoring the antenna and the data flowing through it, a kind of operative room for communication can be found, where consoles allowing to receive and forward data and communication to/from all systems are on display. This largely original room features consoles of different levels of technology.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Original explanatory schemes showing the basic features of the БАРС system are on display in that area – in Russian!

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

An adjoining room features the cabinets required for making all these system work. The cabinets are really many, with a significant share of material manufactured in the USSR. The sight of all these cabinets together is really impressive, and tangibly provides the feeling of a high technology, sophisticated and expensive design. It compares well, but in a largely up-scaled fashion, to the electronics to be found in some special communication bunkers on the western side of the Iron Curtain (see here).

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Interspersed with the original arrangement of the cabinets and consoles are some displays of original material. These include specimens of different types of cables for signal transmission – some of them hollow and pressurized, others featuring impressive bundles of thinner wires – the KY-374 klystron, and other once top-secret core components of the БАРС transmission system. Also on display is one of the few remaining parts of the original system of antennas, once on top of the bunker. The antennas were the only part to be physically torn down when the system was decommissioned, upon the demise of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold War.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

The bunker was manned by military and technical staff 24/7. Furthermore, as typical for bunkers from the Cold War era, provision was made at a design level to allow the staff to live isolated within the bunker for an extended period of time, in view of the eventuality to face a nuclear fallout scenario.

On the same floor as the technical rooms, the commander of the station had his own private room. This is still adorned with typical Soviet iconography, as well as everyday material from the age when the bunker was operative.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

A small canteen, with a kitchen and a modest living room, can be found at the same level. An original storage room has been employed to gather examples of everyday products, like soap, skin care cream, etc., as well as canned food, cocoa, and beverages of all sorts.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

This represents a very rich catalog of now largely defunct and forgotten labels, from the age and regions of the Eastern Bloc (and especially from within the GDR). Also on display are bottles of spirits, likely still very good!

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

The visit proceeds then to the lower floor, which can be reached through a flight of metal stairs.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

The lower floor host the plants required for the regular operation of the entire bunker, such to guarantee operational ability even in case of an enemy attack carried out with nuclear, chemical or biological warfare. The air filtering and conditioning system is very modern. Beside typical filtering drums for particles, to be found also in other bunkers (see for instance Podborsko here), you can see a bulky filtering and climate conditioning system, neatly arranged within two parallel square-shaped ducts. Filtering against chemicals as well as biologic agents was carried out employing special active filters.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Sensors for the level of contamination of the bunker air can be found in different rooms. Much material here is standard Soviet-made.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Systems for water pumping and compressed air can be found as well, including compressors, pumps and reservoirs. Looking at the always interesting factory labels in this area, it is easy to find export products of Bulgaria, Romania and other communist dictatorships of the era. Of course, much hardware is also manufactured in the GDR.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Electricity was supplied from the outside grid, yet capability for self-sustaining in case of a grid loss (for instance in case of war) was implemented as well. Three big German-made Diesel generators have been put in place, and are still in an apparently good condition.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Another example of the high technological standard reached in the late Cold War era is represented by the control room for the plants within the bunker. A manned control station, with a console and a direct view of lit-up cabinets, reporting the status of the various systems running in the bunker, compares well with control rooms of large industrial plants in operation today.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Carefully kept in its original status, with many of the electric links and cabinets still working, the sight of this room is especially evoking.

Also on the lower floor are the sleeping rooms for off-duty staff. Typically, this was not employed except for drills, when the bunker could be sealed to simulate operations in case of the outbreak of hostilities.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Back to the upper floor, it is possible to exit the bunker via a stairway and through a side gate. You will find yourself on top of the low-rise hill where the bunker has been dug. Here the concrete base of the crane where the БАРС antenna used to sit are still visible. Notably, these antennas were much smaller than the tropospheric antennas employed for the TROPOSCATTER system of NATO. This was the result of a different bandwidth employed for transmissions. Therefore, even in the days of operation, the antennas on top of the bunker were not as sizable as those of TROPOSCATTER installations (which were enormous in size).

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

Looking closely, in the top area of the installation, the duct for supplying the Diesel oil tank of the bunker can be found, similar to sensors for radiation and other atmospheric parameters (similar to what can be found also in other nuclear-proof bases, for instance here). These allowed to monitor the conditions of the outside air, detect an attack and trigger or manage the sealing of the bunker in case of need, by locking all the tight doors.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

This access to the bunker is fenced by the original electrified fence, severing this area from the rest of the installation through a further layer of security.

Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility

All in all, a visit to the Wollenberg bunker offers an incredible insight in a fascinating and crucial field of warfare – data and communication exchange – as well as a lively and evocative display of a late Cold War hi-tech installation from the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain!

Getting there & Visiting

The German name of the Wollenberg bunker is ‘Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 Wollenberg’. It can be reached very easily with a car. It can be found in the open countryside along the regional road 158, driving about 35 miles (about 1 hour) northeast from downtown Berlin towards Poland. The exact location is between the small village of Höhenland (~4 miles) and the more sizable Bad Freienwalde (~6 miles). There is a large parking area immediately next to the road, giving direct pedestrian access to the premises of the former military installation. Despite being placed very conveniently, the site is rather elusive when passing by, since it is hidden in the trees and not directly visible from the road. The address corresponding to the place in Google Maps is Sternkrug 4, 16259 Höhenland. The inconspicuous village of Wollenberg, giving the name to the installation, is just nearby, but it is not crossed by the regional road, and it should not be employed for pointing this destination with a nav.

The Wollenberg bunker is a listed historical installation. It is perfectly maintained, privately managed, and it can be regularly accessed with guided tours. These are offered typically one day per week in the summer, or by prior arrangement. Possibly the best option for getting the most out of your visit is getting in contact with the group of very knowledgeable enthusiasts running the place. The official website is here (do not be discouraged by the ‘static’ appearance of the website, they are very active, and they shall typically answer your inquire).

My visit was planned by initiative of Dr. Reiner Helling (see also here), and we visited in a group of three, including the guide (Dr. Michael Schoeneck, a former engineer, with a profound knowledge of any technical aspects related to this installation), which happened to be a perfect option for touring also the narrowest receptacles of the bunker. Visiting in groups too big may be not advisable, since the rooms and corridors are rather narrow, and the place may turn overcrowded for interacting with the guide and for taking good pictures. I think the visit – including the technical content – may be tailored to the needs of the audience. For technical-minded subjects, historians and former military, a visit may take about 2-3 hours (the latter was my experience). In my case, the guide could understand but not speak fluent English, yet Dr. Helling could translate with ease all the explanations. Of course, if you have at least a basic knowledge of German and of the technical material you are looking at, this may simplify your visit, which is in any case highly advisable for those interested in military technology and the Cold War.

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War Museums in Western Poland

June 25, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

Similar to other Countries around the Baltic Sea, Poland has a positive attitude towards its military past. Beside castles, barracks and traces of war from older ages, remarkably also some war material from the 20th century, and especially from WWII and the Cold War, has been in the focus of conservation activities.

The mystery bunkers in the southwest of the Country dating from the years of the Third Reich (see here), or the Soviet Monolith-type bunker in Podborsko (see here) and the impressive fallout monitoring center in Kalisz (see here), stand out as major remains from WWII and the Cold War for everybody to check out – and they are just examples.

Along those sites with a history of their own, Poland has many war museums, thematic collections and exhibitions to offer, retracing the evolution of its rich and extremely complex military history.

Looking at the 20th century, it is apparent that Poland has been swept violently and insistently by the winds of war. At the start of WWII, it was surrounded by the Third Reich on two sides, something that contributed to its quick invasion and defeat at the beginning of the conflict. A special relationship with the British meant some from the Polish military ended up directly in the British ranks in exile, whereas others were incorporated in a pro-German Army. However, in the closing stage of the war, when the unfriendly Soviets invaded from the East on their run to Berlin, some from Poland entered the ranks of a pro-Soviet, anti-German army.

Following WWII, Poland was re-founded with new borders, basically those we know today, and due to the presence of the Soviet Army on their territory, they quickly fell under communist control. The relationship between the USSR and Poland military was strong during the Cold War, and the military assets of the Polish Army were massive. The Red Army was also physically stationed in the Western part of the Country, in preparation to a much planned full-scale ‘atomic-supported blitz’ to the Atlantic coast, which luckily never materialized.

The many collections to check out in Poland these days are especially rich in Cold War era supply, and therefore they are tremendous resources for finding many examples of Soviet technology from the Cold War era. However, in most cases also highly valuable material from WWII and from the fierce battles fought on Polish territory mainly between the Germans and the Soviets can be checked out.

This post presents a quick, mainly pictorial description with excerpts from several collections open for a visit in Western Poland. Photographs were taken in the summer of 2020.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

The sites presented in this chapter are all in the Western part of Poland, i.e. west of Gdynia and Poznan. They are listed here below, basically from south to north on a map.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora
Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora
Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan
Museum of Armaments, Poznan
Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz
Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie
Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg
Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin
Naval Museum, Gdynia
Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka

Sights

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora

The collection of the Museum of Military History in Jelenia Gora is arranged on an open-air apron. Here you can find several items mainly from the Soviet inventory – albeit in several instances physically manufactured in Poland – and once adopted by the Polish Armed Forces.

In the area closer to the ticket office, possibly the most exotic – or harder to find – items include transportable radar antennas. Items like these are still today the backbone of anti-aircraft defense, and are employed to either detect enemy aircraft or to guide surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) against this type of target. Differences among antennas reflect their actual purpose, as well as different range, intended target level (close to the ground, higher layers of the atmosphere, …) and ease of deployment. The latter is clearly inversely proportional to the bulkiness and weight of the antenna.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Truck-mounted antennas on display include an RW-31 and JAWOR-M2, both from the 1970s, respectively with a vertically- and horizontally-mounted antenna on top.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Exemplars of more modern RT-17 (on top of a taller tower) and PRW-17 models from the 1980s, the latter manufactured in the USSR, feature a somewhat larger size. Despite movable, these antennas are mounted on more articulated trailers.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Many more trailers and trucks are on display as well.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Further on, a few tanks and armored vehicles can be found. These include a well preserved Soviet T34-85, a modernized version from the early 1950s of the original homonym design, which gained fame with the Red Army in the closing stages of WWII against Hitler’s Wehrmacht.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Similarly interesting are a BTR-152, a troop transportation armored truck of Soviet make, and a launcher for a triplet of SA-6 Gainful SAM. The latter, namely a 2K12M, is an interesting and pretty widespread Soviet-made item from the early 1970s, with very good tactical deployment capability granted by its tracks. Also on display is a classical BM-13 Katyuscha rocket launcher, again a workhorse of the Red Army in Stalin’s era.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

The latter part of the museum hosts a number of artillery pieces of various size, ranging from ship-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns, to field cannons, anti-tank cannons, etc. These are mostly from WWII, but reaching to the early Cold War period, and invariably share a Soviet design.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

An especially interesting design is a recoilless B-11 cannon, designed against light armored vehicles. Of lighter design with respect to other guns of the same bore, it was pretty widespread as a tactical weapon in the early Cold War stage in countries of the Warsaw Pact.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

A Mil helicopter, warship guns and some water mines complete this compact yet rich and well-maintained collection.

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora – Muzeum Historii i Militariów – Poland War Museum

Getting there & Visiting

The museum is called ‘Muzeum Historii i Militariów’ in Polish. It can be found less than 1 mile southeast of the city center, to the east of the road 367 going south to the border with the Czech Republic. It can be reached easily with a walk from the city center, or by car. Free parking on site (limited capacity, but properly sized for the place). The exact address is Sudecka 83, 58-500 Jelenia Góra.

The museum is made of an open-air exhibition only (no inside display), where all artifacts can be checked out on a self-guided basis once past the ticket office. Plates with basic data and information in double language Polish-English are available ahead of most of the items on display.

The site is rich in material, yet not too big or extensive in size, hence easily digestible even for those without a special interest in military technology. Very convenient to reach and walk. Most artifacts are in a good to very good general condition. A visit taking many good pictures may take up to 1 hour for an interested subject, 15 minutes may be enough for a quick walk. Website with many detailed information, including an inventory of the weapons on display (also in English) here.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora

The prominent collection of the Lubuskie Museum of Military History is composed of an inside exhibition, hosted in a converted villa from the 19th century, and a major open-air display in the garden, where some of the items are protected under light structures.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Inside the museum building, a few rooms witness the involvement of Poland in several wars over the centuries. Beautifully crafted weapons from the 17th century, including both firearms and edged weapons, can be found in a number.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Several display cases are related to the involvement of Poland in WWII. The articulated history of the Polish Armed Forces in WWII is witnessed by the number of uniforms, medals and papers resulting from actions of Polish corps within the ranks of foreign Armed Forces – especially British.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Light weapons and technical gear from the time is abundant, including genuine material from the Armed Forces of the Third Reich, which occupied substantial parts of the Polish territory for almost the entire duration of WWII.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

A historically interesting item is the headdress of a Polish officer killed in the Soviet town of Katyn, in the homonym massacre ordered by Stalin against the the ranks of the the Polish Armed Forces, soon after portions of the Country had been taken over by the Soviets upon agreement with Hitler. This was an unprecedented move to devitalize the Polish military structure by killing all key-figures in it. A pistol employed for executions and a few more memorabilia items from this awful chapter of Polish history are similarly on display.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Other rooms cover the technological evolution of military gear during the Cold War. Here, items on display range from air-to-air missiles – partly dismounted to allow looking at the electronics inside – tactical weapons, aircraft-mounted guns (always with impressively sized cartridges!), as well as anti-radiation suits with protection masks, flight suits, helmets, visors, and much more. Most of the material from those years obviously comes from the Soviet inventory.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

In the outside exhibition a few thematic areas can be found. Possibly the richest among them is that of armored vehicles and artillery pieces. A major highlight is a couple of exemplars of the Soviet SU-152 self-propelled gun from WWII, made of an impressive 152 mm gun on a tracked vehicle. One of the exemplars has been recently refurbished and looks mint.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

More Soviet tanks include some versions of the T-34 – a classic combatant of WWII – a T-55, and a more recent fully-working T-72, an icon of the Cold War in the 1970s. This is sometimes moved around in the apron.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

A long array of guns, mostly field cannons, can be found on the border of the museum garden.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

An impressive sight is the gigantic 2S7, a 207 mm self-propelled cannon manufactured in the Soviet Union from the 1970s, and still employed today by both Russia and Ukraine. Side by side with its ‘little cousins’, the monster size of this asset from the Eastern Bloc is readily apparent.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

A second thematic area is centered around SAM missiles and their launchers, as well as theater missiles. Also radar antennas for aerial target tracking or missile guidance are on display.

Some major SAM Soviet systems are on the list, including the SA-2 Guideline, the SA-3 Goa and the SA-4 Ganef. The latter is present with the corresponding deployable radar (model code SNR 1S32M1), together composing the 2K11M1 SAM system, codenamed ‘Krug’ in Russian.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Theater missiles include the so-called Luna-M system (model code 9K52), composed of a wheeled transport truck and a missile (9M21), as well as an original transport trailer with a Scud missile! (See this and this chapter for dedicated information on Soviet-designed theater missiles)

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Aircraft on display range from the early Cold War period – end of the 1940s – to the more hi-tech stage of the 1980s. Early jets include MiG-15 and MiG-17, and a pretty rare Jak-23, all in the colors of the Polish Air Force. Propeller aircraft include an Il-14 transport and a license-built Douglas C-47, aka. Lisunov Li-2 in the USSR.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Notably, the first defection to the West of a pilot from the Eastern Bloc on a Soviet-made jet fighter happened from Poland. A Polish pilot flew a MiG-15 to the Danish island of Bornholm, having departed from the Baltic coast of Poland. This was immediately after the death of Stalin, in March 1953. The controversial diplomatic case that ensued from this action was settled returning the aircraft to Poland, obviously after a secret and thorough inspection. The pilot moved to Britain and the US. His flight suit is in the Smithsonian collection in Washington, DC.

More recent aircraft include two MiG-21, a Su-20 and a Su-22. The latter is still operated by the Polish Air Force, and is presented in the museum with an underwing cannon pod for strafing. Also on display is a larger Il-28 light bomber.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Massive technical trucks, like movable pontoons, amphibious vehicles, etc. can be found in yet another thematic area, together with a small WWII diorama. The latter features a possibly original Third Reich emblem.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Finally, a small hangar to the far end of the exhibition area has on display a range of restored items of special interest. A didactically disassembled SA-4 Ganef missile allows to see the inner structure of this modern machine, still in use today.

Several field rocket launchers, including a Katyuscha, as well as field cannons and shells, make for a comparative display.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Interestingly, also a full array of air-to-air missiles, and aircraft components including almost complete engines can be checked out in this display.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora – Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe – Poland War Museum

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of the museum is Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe. It is located southeast of the small village of Drzonow, just west of Zielona Gora. The exact address is Drzonów 54, 66-008 Świdnica. Easy parking possible along the little-trafficked road ahead of the entrance.

Rather unapparent until you get very close to it, the museum hosts a very rich collection, with a long list of artifacts to check out in an open-air exhibition, as well as really interesting and well-presented thematic rooms in the classical building – once a private residence – employed as ticket office and museum.

Despite the understated appearance, the museum is really worth visiting for everybody with an interest in weapons, especially field artillery and air defense. The physical extension of the site is relatively small especially for the content, hence the display is very dense and easy to tour. A complete visit may easily take 2 hours or more for an interested subject, and when visiting with kids or uninterested subjects the site offers plenty of intriguing sights as well, so it may take at least 1 hour.

The organization is really active, with a very rich website and many temporary war-themed exhibitions and events. Unfortunately, all plates and descriptions are in Polish only. Yet the collection is in a generally very good state of conservation (with the exception of some of the aircraft exposed to the elements in the courtyard), and offers a very rich insight in the past assets of the Polish Armed Forces, including literally tons of Soviet-made gear.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan

For those visiting Europe with a specific interest to armored vehicles and tanks, the Armored Weaponry Museum of Poznan is a must-see. Besides an extensive collection with some tens of tanks and vehicles mainly from WWII onward, all preserved in mint condition (many of them still running!), the museum has been carefully and modernly designed, making for a very enjoyable visiting experience.

The exhibition is hosted in a few adjoining hangars, where vehicles are grouped based on technology, provenience, intended role, etc. The following pictures provide only an excerpt from this great collection. Tanks from different Countries are well represented. Starting from WWII, a British Centaur tank and an Achilles anti-tank self-propelled gun are displayed side by side with lighter vehicles.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

A very rare Sturmgeschütz-IV, a self-propelled assault cannon from the Third Reich Wehrmacht, has been carefully restored and colored in an impressive camouflage. A SU-76 and ISU-152 self-propelled cannons of Soviet make are also on display.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Battle tanks include an ubiquitous Soviet T-34, and comparatively less common IS-2 and IS-3 Soviet designs. Both conceived amidst the battles of WWII based on experience against the technologically impressive German armored machines, the IS-3 entered production too late for WWII, and was instead rather widespread among the Countries falling in the Soviet orbit during the Cold War, to see action in the Cold War era.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Tracked missile launchers as well as cut-out engines are on display.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Among the most iconic tanks from the early Cold War period are the Soviet T-54 and T-55. The exemplars on display are movie stars, having been featured in ‘The bridge of spies’ by Steven Spielberg, who also left an autograph signature on the huge turret of one. From the same period is a PT-76 Soviet amphibious tank.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

NATO counterparts from the early 1950s include the US-made M47 and M60 Patton.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Many more vehicles are on display from the Cold War, mostly from the Soviet galaxy, and covering several functions from carrying troops to vehicle recovery and repair. Also modern self-propelled guns like the 2S1, another Soviet model, are on display.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

A small collection of parade cars, once employed by high-ranking military or governmental staff from the USSR, is on display.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

An interesting addition is a couple of PT-91, which is a Polish-designed development of the highly-successful Soviet T-72 design, currently manufactured and employed by Poland, and exported to several Armies in the world.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Outside, a WWI scene is reproduced with a steam railway engine carrying a WWI fighter replica on a trailer!

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan – Muzeum Broni Pancernej – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of this world-class museum is ‘Muzeum Broni Pancernej’, and it is located in the western outskirts of Poznan, one of the largest cities in Poland. The exact address is 3 Pułku Lotniczego 4, 60-421 Poznań. Large parking inside, flat access, totally easy to tour.

The collection has been transferred to its current purpose-built location in 2019-20, therefore it is totally modern and exceptionally well presented. The collection is completely indoor and away from the elements, with a suggestive low-light atmosphere, and tons of information for every single tank or vehicle on display, in double language – Polish and English.

A primary destination in Europe for everybody with an interest in tanks and armored vehicles, visiting may easily take more than 2 hours for an interested subject. Due to the number and attractive good condition of the items on display, not less than 1 hour is advised also for those with a less specialized interest.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan

Conveniently located in a nice park, which lies in the area formerly belonging to a Prussian fortress from the 19th century, this museum is a branch of a larger entity, which manages several war-themed exhibitions in town. The museum is composed of an inside display and an open-air area, where larger items like tanks, cannons and aircraft have been placed for display.

Due to an unforeseen closure on the day of my visit (2020) I could only access the outside part of the exhibition.

The most prominent asset is an Il-28 twin-jet light bomber. This is flanked by a Su-22 fighter-bomber, as well as a MiG-21 and a MiG-17 fighters, all Soviet designs adopted by the Polish Air Force over the years of the Cold War.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

A beautifully restored An-2 biplane, an ubiquitous workhorse in the USSR, the Eastern Bloc and exported to many clients around the world still operating it today, can be found to complement this heterogeneous collection.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

A display of transport vehicles include both vans and transports from the Eastern Bloc, and a US-made 4×4 vehicle.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

An SA-2 Guideline SAM is presented on its launcher in a ready-for-launch attitude.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

A big collection of field cannons, anti-tank guns and lighter pieces of artillery from various ages starting from WWII is aligned on a side of the exhibition, where you can spot also a MiG-15 fighter from the late 1940s.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

Armored vehicles include some armored transports for tactical deployment, self-propelled cannons and tanks.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan – Muzeum Uzbrojenia – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The museum in Polish bears the name ‘Muzeum Uzbrojenia’. Among the many war-related museum in Poznan, which also cover conflicts from various ages in history, this can be found easily in the middle of the Citadel, north of downtown Poznan. Access to the old Citadel fortress – now a park – is not possible by car, but parking for accessing the park by walk is abundant all around. I would suggest parking on the southern side of the citadel, for instance in the public parking area located at Al. Niepodległości, 61-001 Poznań, for easily accessing also other monuments of interest, like the war cemetery and the Soviet commemoration monument from the Great Patriotic War (described here).

The exhibition is convenient to reach, and located in a very nice and relaxing park, ideal also for taking a breath from the crowded historical city center of popular Poznan.

As noted above, I could not visit the inside exhibition on the underground level, due to an unforeseen closure. The outside part can be walked in 20-30 minutes, since it is arranged on a relatively compact apron. Most exhibits feature a modern explanatory panel in double language, including English. An institutional website with visiting info (in Polish) is here.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz

The collection of the Land Force Museum branch in Bydgoszcz is displayed in two parts. A large purpose-built – and recently renovated – building hosts temporary exhibitions, as well as a number of thematic rooms, with high-quality dioramas flanked by display cases with material ranging from weapons and technical gear to uniforms and memorabilia.

The thematic rooms cover the history of land armed forces in Poland over the ages. Among the most striking war material from before the 20th century are authentic pieces of armories, swords and edged weapons from the 16th and 17th centuries. In those years, the Polish Army was pivotal in helping the Empire to fight against the invading Islamic Ottomans, who had conquered the eastern-European territories up north to today’s Hungary, and had reached the gates of Vienna. Some material, including uniforms, maps and firearms, dates back to the 19th century, including the Napoleonic Wars and the German Second Reich period.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Of course, most of the items on display date from the 20th century. Especially nice dioramas include a setting in WWI and the inter-war period.

The evolution of the war material, including the appearance of automatic firearms, is readily apparent following the display cases, which of course include much gear from WWII.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Looking at the uniforms on display, you can note the number of unusual affiliations of the Polish ranks, who due to the complex evolution of the occupation of their national territory, had to deal with several allies and invading forces, who were enemies to one another. Thus the original Polish Army survived a kind of incorporation within the British Army in exile, but also within the Third Reich, the Red Army, and tried also to act independently at home. It is hard not to get confused, and possibly the best way to get the hang of this fascinating plot is by following the display in a museum like this one!

Dioramas from the Cold War are particularly interesting, and perfectly recognizable by the distinctive anti-radiation or chemical warfare suits worn by the models. Also the firearms and the technical gear on display is in line with the evolution of the tactical hazards faced on the front.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Much of the material on display from this age is clearly of Soviet make. The inside exhibition ends with the most modern engagements of the Polish Army in recent conflicts.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Outside, a nice array of perfectly preserved field guns, anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns can be found on the platform ahead of the front entrance.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Also mortars and tactical rocket launchers are on display.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Possibly even more captivating for the eye are a T-34 tank in a rampant position, and a the sheer beauty of a T-72 tank. Both iconic Soviet-designed models, these tanks were supplied to most Countries in the Soviet orbit over various stages of the Cold War.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Another massive tracked object is a 2S1 self-propelled cannon, looking mint like the T-72!

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Finally, also two missiles can be found, an SA-2 Guideline SAM, and the Scud, a tactical nuclear-capable missile which became a widespread asset in Eastern Europe over the years of the Cold War (see this post).

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz – Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of this very nice museum is ‘Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych’, which includes also other branches in Torun (see here) and Wroclaw. The location of this major branch is in the northern outskirts of the town of Bydgoszcz, at the address Czerkaska 2, 85-641 Bydgoszcz.

The museum does not feature a private parking, but good parking opportunities can be found for free on most of the quiet residential streets around (for instance, I found a number of free lots on Świerkowa, 85-632 Bydgoszcz).

The collection is interesting and generally attractive both inside and outside, with high-quality dioramas with much original material, as well as ‘big items’ like guns, tanks and missiles outside. Its size and level of detail are well balanced for both the more committed technically-minded subjects and those with only a general interest in the topic, especially kids. Visiting may require 1 hour for the permanent exhibition, more including the always interesting temporary exhibitions.

Some paneling with double language explanations including English can be found along the visit. The official website with access information in English is here.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie

The collection of the Museum of Coastal Defense is reportedly one of the largest private military collections in Poland. It is hosted in the evocative frame of an original Prussian fort from the 19th century, Fort Gerharda. Originally designed to guarantee free access to trade ships entering the Szczecin Lagoon and going to the major inner port of Szczecin, the fort was potentiated in more instances, but basically never saw war action. It was later employed as a reserve fort by the German Kriegsmarine, and by the Soviets as a depot for a while after WWII (similar to Komarom in Hungary, see here). Over the last two decades the fort was substantially restored, and opened to the public as a major attraction.

Access to the fort, rather compact in size, is through a drawbridge. The inner courtyards are the setting for bulkier collection items, including original cannons from the 19th century, as well as anti-tank cannons from WWII!

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Range-finding gear, half-dismantled torpedoes, machine gun turrets and more can be found in the recesses of the articulated geometry of the low-rise constructions inside the fort.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Some of the ammo storage bunkers in the fort can be seen inside.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

The core of the collection of the Museum is inside the central building in the fort, an interesting multi-level construction. Older items date from the 19th century or earlier. Reconstructed scenes from the life in the fort at the time include men working around a heavy piece of artillery, a communication office with a telegraph and the nicely reconstructed kitchen of the fort.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Other scenes are from WWI and WWII, including men around a howitzer and a German soldier hiding in an apartment!

Interesting memorabilia items range from larger ones, like original flags from warships, to smaller personal items for everyday use, like canned food or table games employed by the troops.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

The collection of weapons and technical gear is really rich and interesting, and mostly centered on material from the inter-war period onward. Racks of rifles an light arms of various makes are on display.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

A part of the collection is especially focused on weapons by the marvelous Soviet/Russian weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Of major interest are also special military suits, against poisonous agents, gas, etc. dating from the Third Reich and Soviet era.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Some of the displays of foreign origin are really unique – and unexpected on the northern boundary of Poland! Others bear Cyrillic-written tags, witnessing their Soviet origin.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Many artillery range finders are on display, of different make and level of complexity. They include a rare Cold War computer-assisted model.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

Fort Gerharda is right in the northwestern corner of Poland, on the Baltic Coast less than 1.5 miles from the German border. The reference town of Swinoujscie (Swinemünde in Prussian times) is located on the western bank of the water access from the Baltic to the Szczecin Lagoon. The fort is instead on the eastern bank. The waterway can be crossed via a quick ferry. Access from mainland Poland is seamless along the E65.

Fort Gerharda is a bit hidden in the trees, despite in a rather urbanized area, and therefore not easy to spot even from close apart. However, a fence with a small parking clearly mark the entrance. The address is Ku Morzu 5, 72-602 Świnoujście. More parking spots can be found along the same road.

The ensemble of the fort plus the collections in the museum make for a very interesting and rich visit for everybody, including families. For the more technically-minded subjects, the military collection, despite compactly presented, is rich of very interesting items. A visit of 1-1.5 hours to the complex is likely, depending on the level of interest.

A website with many updated information is here (in Polish, with a rich downloadable leaflet in English).

This area is rich of interesting sights for those with an interest in military history, including the ‘Vineta Battery’ WWII/Cold War fort (see here), and a prototype of Hitler’s V-3 multi-stage cannon, actually built in northern France (see here).

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg

Kolobrzeg is the Polish name for Kolberg, a town belonging to Prussia (then Germany) at the times of the two World Wars of the 20th century. The place was a theater of war, in the focus of a fierce battle in the March of 1945. The Polish Army and the Soviet Red Army, along their march to Berlin, isolated the town from the south, triggering a massive evacuation of German military forces and civilian population by sea, to further west along the Baltic coast in Germany. It is estimated that more than 100’000 people were evacuated in less than a week. In the attack, the town was almost completely destroyed. As a matter of fact, most residential housing today clearly dates from the communist era.

The Polish Arms Museum is the ideal location to see memories from this great battle, as well as for retracing the military history of the Polish Armed Forces more at large. The collection on display is composed of an inside display and an outdoor exhibition.

Inside, the items on display, mainly preserved weapons, armories, but also parts of ships, date to as far back as the 16th century. The role of the Poles in countering the Ottoman Islamic domination in Europe is retraced through precious weapons from the time. Clearly more abundant are the items from the interwar and WWII period. An organic display of uniforms is featured, witnessing the many affiliations of the Polish troops during WWII.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

Uniforms and light weapons belonging to the Western Allies, the USSR and of course the Third Reich are on display in this nice collection.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

A small diorama with a painting related to the conquer of Kolobrzeg in WWII is clearly part of the show.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

In a hall immediately ahead of the open air exhibition, some restored light transport vehicles are on display, including jeeps and trucks, as well as a light plane.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

The outdoor exhibition features an array of heavy armored vehicles. These range from Soviet-made tanks – including a T-34 and IS-2 – and self-propelled cannons – for instance a massive ISU-122 – and armored vehicles, to a tracked Scud missile launcher, in very good general conditions.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

A well-stocked array of field guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns is aligned along a side of the exhibition court.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

Aircraft on display include Soviet-made material which saw service with the Polish Air Force, in particular an Il-28 Beagle, as well as a Su-22.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

A rather unusual item on display is a railway carriage, in the colors of the USSR railway service, the same model employed for the deportation of people from Europe to the gulag system in the USSR at the time of Stalin, and later – in some cases – to return them to their home Countries. A vivid exhibition on this terrible part of WWII and early Cold War history is narrated inside the carriage, through maps, photographs and other memorabilia items (unfortunately only in Polish, but many of the artifacts are almost self-explanatory).

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

A Soviet SAM, an SA-2 Guideline, is on display on its pivoting launch platform.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

The Navy Museum in the same town is an outdoor-only exhibition, mostly made of two well-preserved warships, namely the anti-submarine patrol ‘Fala’, from 1965, and the missile launcher ‘Wladyslawowo’ (NATO class Osa-I) from 1975. The former was laid down in Poland (Gdynia), and withdrawn from service in the 1990s, whereas the latter was manufactured in the USSR and saw service until the 2000s.

Both are interesting examples of Cold War warships. The armament of the ‘Fala’ was mainly composed of depth charges. Many of the original rooms are preserved in good conditions, showing some of the most interesting technical gear installed on this type of warship.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

This includes the navigation room and the deck, with the helm and engine controls on top. The canteen, cabins and official quarters are on display, with a depressing – likely original – Soviet-style upholstery and furniture. Interestingly, despite being a Polish warship, most of the labels, including explanatory ones intended for use by the hands on board, is in Russian.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

Technical gear include an inertial system, and acoustic sensors to find and track enemy submarines.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

The engine compartment hosts two big 2.500 hp Diesel engines, plus three Diesel generators for electric energy supply. The control room for the electric and propulsion system is inside a dedicated cabin. Again, writing is almost invariably in Cyrillic only.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

The Osa-I class ‘Wladyslawowo’ was designed around four P-15 (SS-N-2 Styx) surface-to-surface passive-active homing anti-shipping missiles. The mission of this very fast warship, capable of a peak speed of 40 knots, was that of hitting surface shipping. For self-defense, the ship was equipped with two AK-230 turrets, served by an automatic aiming system, as well as a rack of four Strela-2 light surface-to-air missiles. The overstructure of the ship is very limited, the upper deck being mostly taken by the Styx missile hangars. Inside, the technical rooms – still in very good condition – include sensors, inertial navigation gear, as well as compartments for the troops.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

Also visible are the engine rooms. Three bulky 4.000 hp Diesel engines provided power to as many propellers, producing the power needed for the high speed of the warship.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

The deck (GSD) is stocked with yellow cabinets, allowing to monitor virtually all plants on board. As expected on a Soviet-made warship all writing is in Cyrillic.

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg – Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu – War Museum Poland

All in all, a visit to the Navy Museum is really evocative especially for those with a fascination for the Cold War. The Osa-I class saw extensive service in the cold waters of the Baltic, including with the GDR, and this exemplar represents an easy-to-reach specimen offering a rare glimpse in Soviet marine technology from the time (similar to the K-24 Juliet-class submarine in Usedom, not too far from this location, see here).

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish Arms Museum, named ‘Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu’ in Polish, is located in the city center of the coastal town of Kolobrzeg. The exact address is Gierczak 5, 78-100 Kołobrzeg. The open-air part can be clearly spotted from outside – like a fenced city park – when walking the (really) crowded pedestrian area. Due to the totally central location of the museum, right in the most touristic area of this small town, parking in the vicinity may be not the easiest task, but many parking lots are theoretically available in this district. Another option is parking out of the city center at all, and enjoy a pleasant walk to the museum and other attractions in its vicinity.

The Museum is rather compact in size, and a popular destination. It offers many interesting items, including less obvious ones for more technically-minded visitors, as well as well as heavier armored vehicles, artillery pieces and planes which will appeal to everybody. A visit of about 45 minutes to 1 hour may be fine for a complete tour.

The open-air Navy Museum, aka. ‘Kołobrzeski Skansen Morski’ in Polish, is located beside the marina. A convenient public parking just 150 ft from the museum entrance is here, 54.175972, 15.559315. The two warships can be boarded and visited thoroughly on your own, making for an interesting and rewarding visit for everybody. A time of 45 minutes to 1.25 hours may be adequate depending on your level of interest.

Walking between the two destinations in town is an easy stretch of about 20 minutes one way.

The two locations are brilliantly administrated by the same subject, the ‘Muzeum Oreza Polskiego’, which also has under its umbrella other sites of great interest in the vicinity of Kolobrzeg, including the world-class exhibition of one of only two preserved and accessible Monolith-type Soviet bunkers for nuclear warheads in Europe (Podborsko, see here). The website – unfortunately only in Polish – covering all the sites managed by this association, with many details on the exhibits beside logistical information, is here.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin

The Museum of the Air Defense in Koszalin offers an exceptional insight in the capacity and evolution of the anti-aircraft defense systems deployed in Poland. The collection in this hidden gem, relatively far from the tourist path (especially from abroad), is based on the heritage of a similar initiative from the Cold War years, when Poland was a satellite of the USSR especially in terms of weapons supply. As a result, the display allows to get a detailed overview of the Cold War anti-aircraft technology of the Soviet Union, with examples of material (especially surface-to-air missiles) still in use today in many Countries.

The collection is located close to an active military academy, in a quiet and secluded neighborhood of the town. The exhibits are partly inside, partly outside on a small apron around the museum building.

Some initial dioramas are focused on range-finding gear, with material dating from WWII and the Cold War era. Anti-aircraft machine gun batteries are also on display.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

A centerpiece of the exhibition is a didactic cutout of an SA-2 Guideline (aka. S-75 Dvina) SAM, an early anti-aircraft missile from the 1950s, which was however rather effective. The propulsion system, guidance mechanisms and warhead are on display. The latter appears relatively small compared to the overall size of the missile, but it is actually rather powerful. This system was not intended to physically touch the target, but an explosion of the warhead in proximity to the target could be enough to irrecoverably damage an aircraft.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

A super-interesting sight is the array of cabinets employed for the launch of the SA-3 Goa (or S-125 Neva). An example of the corresponding battery of missiles is located outside. This suite, was called Karat-2 in Soviet standard, allowed for TV-guidance of the SAM system. This incredible piece of technology from the time of the Iron Curtain – and from the early age of miniaturized electronics – is presented partly lit-up, revealing the colors of the buttons, and making it even more captivating – you would like to try all its functions like in a new video game! Needless to mention, all writing on the labels is in Russian.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Another unusual sight in the collection is a static example of the still widespread SA-6 Gainful (or 2K12 Kub). Further material on display include instrumentation and cabinets for launch control and guidance of other missiles, or for managing radar-gathered information.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Smaller anti-aircraft weapons are also represented, like the Strela-2 shoulder launched missiles.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

On display in the outside exhibition are very interesting items, starting from a battery of two SA-3 Goa, side by side with their corresponding target tracking antenna. The latter, pretty rare to see in museums, is actually composed of a suite of antennas, and is designed to track smaller and low-flying targets, against which the relatively small SA-3 missile is particularly effective.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Close by are an SA-2 Guideline in an upright ready-for-launch attitude, as well as a SA-4 Ganef, sitting horizontally.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Another radar antenna is the truck-mounted PRW-9 altitude finder, complementing the guidance suites of the SA-2 and SA-3 as well.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Armored anti-aircraft vehicles are also on display, similar to anti-aircraft guns, trailers, SAM missile canisters and field range finders. An interesting item is a searchlight (model APM-90), which unexpectedly does not come from WWII, but was instead put in production in the early 1950s, well in the turbojet era and atomic age. It was a handy item mostly for helping aircraft in homing on obscured airbases in case of war. It was truck-mounted, and could employ the same engine of the truck for power production – ingesting up to 17.5 kW, thus remaining visible from a distance of 80 miles!

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

As a bonus, two aircraft are on display in the museum, a PZL TS-11 Iskra trainer, and a Yakovlev Yak-40 three-jet small transport, employed for state flights. The latter, a Soviet aircraft from deep in the Cold War era, was withdrawn from service apparently in the 2000s. Manufactured in more than 1.000 exemplars, this type was rather widespread in the USSR and its satellites.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

The aircraft can be accessed – through the unusual back door! – revealing a neat interior, and a captivating purely analog cockpit. The typically Soviet black rubber ventilation fan for the pilot is prominently hanging from the ceiling!

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin – Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The name of this exhibition in Polish is ‘Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej’, and its location is in the southeastern suburbs of the northern town of Koszalin, itself less than 5 miles from the Baltic coast. The exact address is Wojska Polskiego 70, 75-903 Koszalin. The place is surrounded by neat, active military facilities (academy). The museum is easily noticed from the road, thanks to the bulky and unusual items on display in the outdoor exhibition! A small parking area can be found cross the road with respect to the gate.

The display is gathered in a single building, surrounded by a small yard. Visiting is totally easy, and the collection is not too big, yet extremely interesting and well preserved. A visit of at least 1 hour will be needed for technically-minded subjects, whereas for the general public 30 minutes may suffice for a quick look at everything. The place is managed and frequented by former men from the military, who will likely offer you further insight if you ask. Some information is in double language (Polish and English) in any case.

The museum is currently a branch of the bigger Museum of the Air Force located southeast of Warsaw (Deblin). The website of the latter provides information also on the Koszalin site (see here).

Naval Museum, Gdynia

The port town of Gdynia, since long the major industrial port of Poland, is also home to the collection of the Naval Museum, an eminently military collection, with some unique items on display from various ages, making it a primary addition to the panorama of naval museums in Europe.

This museum is composed of two parts, namely an exhibition building, located right ahead of the nice touristic waterside and featuring an indoor and outdoor exhibition, as well as nothing less than an original destroyer from the 1930s, the venerable ORP ‘Blyskawica’, a true WWII veteran!

The indoor exhibition has been refurbished recently, making the visit light and enjoyable. Among the artifacts on display are original anti-aircraft guns, previously installed on warships, of diverse size and provenience.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Torpedoes, including old German designs from before WWI, are on display together with rare examples of sea mines. Some of them are cut to ease looking inside.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

The Soviet anti-shipping missile P-15 (SS-N-2 Styx) and its evolution P-21/22 are on display as well, with photographs witnessing their deployment on board Polish warships.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Interestingly, also aircraft-carried missiles and rocket pods, of Soviet make, are on display. Everything comes with a technical description in double language, allowing to obtain many information on the exhibits on site.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

A rare artifact is an experimental weapon from the Third Reich, a rocket-torpedo. Valuable memorabilia items include many documents and papers, as well as uniforms, from ages before the 20th century. A fragment of the flag of the ill-fated ORP ‘Gryf’, a massive mine-layer from WWII sunk by the German forces at the beginning of WWII, is prominently on display.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

The outdoor exhibition is hosted in a small yard to the side of the museum building. Bulkier artifacts have been put here, including cannons from the ORP ‘Gryf’, several torpedoes and torpedo-launching tubes, depth-charge launchers, older cannons from the age of sailing ships, weapons, propellers (of downed aircraft and ships) and even a helicopter!

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Perfectly visible for everybody passing by, a major focal point of the museum is the ORP ‘Blyskawica’. This destroyer was laid down in Britain, together with a twin ship, for the Polish Navy in the mid-1930s. Unfortunately, Poland was among the first Countries to fall under the attack of Hitler’s Third Reich. The Polish Government and a good part of the Armed Forces were evacuated to Britain. In particular, the troops and much of the savaged war material was incorporated in the ranks of the British, with a special agreement which kept the two formally independent, and defined a scheme of mutual anti-German cooperation.

A very modern ship for the time, well armed and propelled by steam turbines granting a speed nearing 40 kn, the ‘Blyskawica’ fought for the entire duration of the war, with key roles in several war actions. After the war, the ship was reclaimed by communist Poland. Following an accident to the propulsion system, it was never fully repaired, and it was converted to a marginal role before retirement and re-opening as a museum ship in the 1970s.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Today, this perfectly preserved warship makes for a really captivating sight. The naval guns and much of the machinery on board clearly bear British markings.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

The engine room can be visited, and offers an exciting view of the mighty boilers an steam turbines allowing the destroyer to reach its incredible top speed.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Beside this warship, even though not part of the museum, chance is to see the ‘Dar Pomorza’, a splendid sailing ship from 1909, employed as a training ship between the 1930s and the 1980s.

Naval Museum, Gdynia – Blyskawica – Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The museum, called ‘Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni’ in the local idiom, is located in a prominent location in the most touristic part of the port town of Gdynia. The building of the museum is separated from the destroyer ORP ‘Blyskawica’, which can be reached with a 3 minutes walk from the museum. The address of the museum building (hard to miss) is ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1B, 81-374 Gdynia. Parking lots are available around the building and in public parking. However, please note that this totally central area may be very crowded in the high season, so be prepared to some traffic congestion.

The inside collection is very interesting and valuable, yet not disproportionately big. Therefore visiting can be enjoyable for the committed military minded subjects and for the general public as well. A visit to the building may take 30-45 minutes. A visit to the glorious destroyer Blyskawica may take as much, depending on what parts of the ship are actually visible – thanks to the prominent position and historical value, ceremonies and cultural events or visit sometimes take place, therefore the ship is at times only partially open.

The museum is very modern, boasting a well-designed, up-to-date website in double language (here). A smartphone app can be employed to take you along the museum historical path.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka

This impressive collection was created through a private initiative after 2010. It bolsters two equally interesting and fascinating sections, one devoted to shells and bombs, the other to vehicles – either armored, transport or civilian. The collection is very rich and exceptionally well presented.

The shells and bombs display is one of the largest collections of shells, cartridges, shoulder-launched rockets, air-dropped bombs, land mines, etc. to be seen in Europe. The presentation follows a thematic-chronological order, therefore you will start with cannon balls, walk through shells from field cannons from the 19th century and WWI, and end up with a plethora of WWII and Cold War items.

To the inexpert eye, a cannon or mortar shell may look like a dull piece of metal. Looking closer, you notice that most of the shells are actually rather complex pieces of machinery, with mechanisms inside them to regulate the behavior of the shell after fire.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Furthermore, many types of shells exist, engineered to maximize the damage against some type of target or another – armored vehicles, buildings, ships, troops, deposits of explosives, wooden constructions, metal constructions, etc.

Extremely interesting is the collection of WWII air-dropped bombs. As known, the accuracy of bombing raids left much to be desired during WWII. Furthermore, as you can clearly see here, bombs from the time were relatively small, with a limited yield. These factors in turn forced bombing groups to carry out massive attacks, with many aircraft involved, to maximize the effectiveness of the mission.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Mortar shells take several dedicated display cases. Represented are many and diverse models from different provenience.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A similar impression as with shells you get looking at land mines – so many different designs, corresponding to different targets, and of course resulting from engineering efforts carried out in different Countries, and over several ages. These include material from WWII, like explosives put on railway tracks, glass mines or air-launched land-mines.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Original explosives from the Third Reich are on display, with clear swastika and eagle insignia on them!

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

An incredible and unique display is related to triggered explosive devices. This includes several original triggers, from the US, Soviet Union or Third Reich, and from various ages.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Shoulder-launched rockets include the pretty famous RPG from the Soviet Union – displayed together with original instructional panels! But also more technically evolved rockets are on display – or parts of them, like what appears to be the homing system of a SAM missile!

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Demining gear follows suit – a rich collection also in this respect – together with grenades, both hand-launched or rifle-mounted.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A collection of purely Cold War gear is that of anti-radiation suits, measurement gear, and instructions for emergency in case of a nuclear bombing raid. These are very similar to their Western counterparts (see this post).

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A few dioramas are build including original material from WWII, including Third Reich uniforms, and the Cold War.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

This really impressive collection is just a part of this great museum. The second part is composed of a series of vehicles, ranging from cars and buses, to military trucks and, of course, armored vehicles and tanks. Similar to the previous part, the appearance of this component of the museum is exceptional. It is no surprise that all the vehicles here are working, or undergoing restoration to a working condition!

A first display is related to civilian vehicles from the communist era, some from the Soviet union – like a GAZ car – or from Poland – like interesting license-built Italian cars, labeled as ‘Polish-FIAT’!

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A second hangar has on display a set of wonderful trucks, including German Mercedes-Benz trucks from WWII – similar to the one featured in the Indiana Jones movie ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’! – and massive Soviet designs, like ZIL and more modern KRAZ.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A separated hangar hosts a number of US-made trucks and jeeps, and a nice collection of rare OPEL light trucks from Germany. Also on display are a glider and a few side-cars.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

A focus of the visit is of course the hangar dedicated to armored vehicles. These include Soviet designs, like the iconic T-34 and T-54, and working replicas of German vehicles – in particular a Panther. Even an original Gepard moving light artillery battery from West Germany is part of this collection!

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Even on standard days when non special events are planned, it is likely you will see some of this massive vehicles moving around, on the apron and along a small circuit to the back of the museum!

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Also field cannons and other artillery pieces – including anti-aircraft guns – are on display.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Leaving the museum, you may notice a Guideline and a Ganef SAM from the USSR, as well as a static T-54 in a desert camo.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka – Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf’ – War Museum Poland

Getting there & Visiting

The location of this impressive collection (‘Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf” in Polish) is somewhat secluded in the trees, close to the small village of Dabrowka. The address is ul. Ppłk. Ryszarda Lubowiedzkiego 2, 84-242 Dąbrówka, and the coordinates to the entrance are 54.55185, 18.17217. The place is in the countryside, some 20 miles west of the major port town of Gdynia.

The museum is compact to tour, but the exhibits are many, extremely interesting and nice to check out, especially thanks to the exceptional state of preservation. This is true for both the many vehicles and for the exhibition on artillery inside, one of the most impressive of the kind to be seen in Europe – and one of the most neatly presented!

The collection may require 1.5-2 hours at least for a technically minded person. A 1 hour visit is advised for the general public. Time may vary, however, in case live exhibitions are taking place – usually involving tanks performing some acrobatic maneuver!

A small restaurant is open inside for lunch around midday.

Their very good website, with full information for a visit and also about the collection, in both Polish and English, is here.

Herdla Torpedo Battery – Defending Bergen in WWII and the Cold War

January 28, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

Despite overshadowed by the natural beauties of Norway, the heritage of the rich war history of this Country would really deserve a dedicated trip. Thanks to its geographical location, this Scandinavian Nation had a primary strategic role both in WWII and the Cold War.

Hitler’s Third Reich military forces conquered Norway early in WWII (Spring 1940), gaining an effective stronghold for launching sea and air patrolling missions over the Norwegian Sea and the northern Atlantic. The long coastline stretching from the Skagerrak strait up to North Cape was made impenetrable to enemy invasion, building anew a capillary network of fortifications – the Atlantic Wall. This masterpiece of military engineering was based on an extensive catalog of reinforced concrete standard elements (Regelbau in German), ranging from fortified casemates to radar towers, to observation and target range finding stations, to bunkerized gun batteries, etc. These elements were assembled in larger fortified compounds, placed in key strategic locations along the coast or in the narrow firths reaching to major ports and towns, like Bergen or Trondheim.

Typically run by the Kriegsmarine (Navy) or Luftwaffe (Air Force), these forts may comprise measuring stations, anti-shipping guns, anti-aircraft cannons, plus barracks, services, ammo storages, and even airfields in some cases. They were built not only in Norway, but having been originally planned by the Third Reich to protect the entire coast of conquered continental Europe, they were erected along the shoreline also from Denmark down to France.

As a matter of fact, many of the Norwegian fortresses of the Atlantic Wall rank today among the most massive and well-preserved of the entire line (see here for some highlights).

But the war history of Norway, and of its mighty military infrastructure, didn’t stop with the end of WWII. With the start of the Cold War, Norway became a NATO founding member, and once again of great strategic value. It found itself in close proximity to the USSR, and with a long coastline facing the sea corridor taking from the highly-militarized Murmansk and Kola Peninsula (see here) to the northern Atlantic.

Most of the Atlantic Wall forts, especially anti-shipping and anti-aircraft gun batteries, were obsolete by the 1950s, and were soon deactivated. Some were abandoned or, when retained by the Norwegian military, they were modified to cover new functions.

In a few cases, the original mission of the site by the Third Reich was retained by NATO forces in the Cold War. This is the case of the torpedo battery in Herdla.

The fortress of Herdla was a major strategic fort in the Atlantic Wall, allowing to keep a watch on the entry point to the inner waters leading to the large industrial and military port of Bergen. Thanks to the morphology of the area, featuring a rare spot of flat land nearby a steep and rocky cliff, an airfield was installed by the Third Reich besides a set of bunkers, effectively hidden in the rocks. A land-based torpedo battery, consisting of a range-finding and aiming station and torpedo-firing tubes, was part of the fort.

During the Cold War, it was decided that the torpedo battery could be still a valuable asset, and Herdla was retained by the Norwegian military – by comparison, the airfield, too short for the requirements of the jet-era, was not. Over the years, the torpedo battery was potentiated to keep up-to-date against the technological offensive capabilities of the Eastern Bloc, and to exploit the most modern identification and surveillance techniques.

The torpedo battery was part of a larger naval fort, which controlled also the barrier of sea mines implemented to stop a sea-based intrusion towards Bergen.

As a matter of fact, the area control functions and the offensive capability of Herdla were retained until the early-2000s, when the fortress was deactivated following the end of the Cold War and defense budget cuts.

Luckily however, the often neglected Cold War chapter of warfare history has in Herdla a valuable asset – an accurately preserved fortress regularly open for a visit. A modern visitor center welcomes the more curious travelers, leaving Bergen towards the remoteness of the coast. It retraces the WWII heritage of the Herdla site, thanks to an exhibition centered around an original Focke-Wulf FW190, recently salvaged from the bottom of the sea, and with a special history to tell. Then a visit to the battery, looking like it had just been left by the military staff, is a unique emotion for both the specialized war technology enthusiasts and the general public as well.

The following report and photos is from a visit taken in Summer 2022.

Sights

As outlined in the overview, the Herdla site today is centered on two major highlights. One is the visitor center, with the preserved relic of a unique Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf FW190. The other is the former torpedo battery and Navy area command bunker, Norwegian facilities installed during the Cold War in bunkers dating to the Third Reich era.

Visitor center & Focke-Wulf FW190 exhibition

The relic of a Focke-Wulf FW190 A-3 German fighter from WWII is hosted in a dedicated room, where a scenic lighting makes this impressive exhibit literally shine.

This exemplar of the iconic Third Reich fighter, produced in some thousands examples, and now almost impossible to find especially in Europe, is ‘Gelbe 16’ (which can be translated in ‘Yellow 16’) of 12./JG5, and its history is deeply related to Herdla.

It took off on December 15th, 1943, from the airfield the Luftwaffe had established on the flat area now lying ahead of the visitor center, at the time a very active German airbase.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Following troubles with the engine, it ditched in the cold inner water near the island of Misje, some ten miles south of Herdla, the pilot being able to abandon the doomed aircraft, and being saved by local fishermen – and returned to the Luftwaffe, who had a Norwegian resistance prisoner released in acknowledgment.

The aircraft sank to the bottom of the sea, but its memory was not lost by some of the locals, who clearly remembered the events. The Focke-Wulf remained there for 63 years, but it was finally located and pinpointed by the Norwegian Navy, instigated by local interest, in 2005. After preparatory work – including exploration dives, to assess the condition and to set-up recovery operations – the fairly well-preserved wreck was lifted to the surface on November 1st, 2006, and loaded on a tug. Conservative restoration work then took place in Bergen.

Instrumentation and the machine guns were all recovered, together with many further fragments of equipment. Interestingly, evidence of repaint was found during conservation, retracing some previous assignments. Yet the history of this very exemplar remains difficult to write in its entirety.

Finally, following completion of conservation works, a new home for the aircraft was prepared in Herdla, where a hangar was built anew – and this is where you can see it today.

FW-190 Restored – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The aircraft is in an exceptional state of conservation, considering it spent 63 years in sea water. The fuselage, wings and tail are not significantly damaged, with just some paneling having disappeared on tail control surfaces, due to corrosion. The swastika on the vertical stabilizer is still perfectly evident, like other painted details.

FW-190 Restored – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The propeller blades are all bent downstream, as typical for an emergency landing carried out without the landing gear and the engine still running. The tail wheel is there with its original tire, the emblem of the German brand ‘Continental’, still in business today, being clearly noticeable.

FW-190 Restored – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The instrumentation from the pilot’s control panel has been put on display separately. Also a gyroscope has been found. Everything is only slightly damaged. Similarly, the two machine guns, dismounted prior to lifting the aircraft from the sea, are little damaged, and displayed with some ammo.

FW-190 Restored – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Complementing the exhibition are a few other pieces from other wrecks, as well as some quality scale models and dioramas portraying Herdla in the days of Third Reich tenancy.

FW-190 Restored – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Torpedo Battery

Access to the torpedo battery, which was built in WWII just above sea level, is from a gate on the land side. From outside, the bunkers in the fortress of Herdla appear especially well-deceived in the rocks of the cliff.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

What is seen today inside, however, dates to the years of Norwegian tenancy. The facility was updated in several instances during the Cold War, the last in the 1990s. Immediately past the gate, you get access to a modern and neat mechanics shop, where a partly dismounted torpedo allows to have a suggestive look inside this marvelous weapon.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Interestingly, Norway inherited and went on operating a significant number of German G7a (TI) torpedoes. This was the standard torpedo employed by the Kriegsmarine since 1934, and with some modifications (‘TI’ standing for ‘first variant’, the later variants bearing other codes), for the full span of WWII.

Propulsion power for this torpedo was from a piston engine, fed by high-pressure vapor obtained by the combustion of Decaline with compressed air stored onboard, mixed in a heater (i.e. a combustion chamber) with fresh water, similarly stored in a tank. The resulting mixture fed a 4-cylinder radial piston engine, driving two counter-rotating propellers. The exhaust in the water produced a distinctive contrail of bubbles, and the presence of a high-frequency moving mechanism had the side-effect of a significant noise emission. The head of the cylinders can be clearly seen in the dismounted exemplar.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Guidance was provided by rudder steering controlled with the help of gyros, whereas depth was controlled via a mechanical depth sensor. The torpedo could stay close to the surface or keep an assigned depth. In WWII the torpedo had no homing device – i.e. it was ‘blind’, thus requiring carefully putting it on a target-intercept trajectory. It could however cover pre-determined trajectories of some sophistication. The set-point selection for guidance and the yaw regulation gyro assembly have been taken out of the torpedo, and can be checked out in detail.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The range could be selected before launching, and was traded off with speed. It could be between 5.500 and 13.200 yards, and the speed ranged between 44 kn and 30 kn correspondingly. The German origin of the torpedo on display is betrayed by the writings in German on some parts.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Leaving the workshop through a gate towards the inner part of the bunker, a roomy supply storage area can be found, with some interesting material including torpedo parts, as well as a torpedo launching cannon.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

This item represents the primary way of launching torpedoes in the early Cold War from land-based batteries or ship decks. This was a technology inherited from WWII, when coastal batteries of the Atlantic Wall ejected torpedoes from slots in the bunker wall, shortly above the surface of the water, employing cannons similar to this one (which dates from the Cold War period), thanks to a burst of compressed air. This cheaper, but less ‘stealthy’ and accurate launching procedure, was replaced by underwater launching tubes only over the years of the Cold War, featuring an increase in the level of sophistication of warfare. Correspondingly, the slots in the side of the torpedo battery bunker facing the water were bricked up, and torpedo cannons were retained mostly for use from the deck of warships.

From the storage room you get access to the core area of the battery. This is through a decontamination lock, with gear for anti-contamination testing, including paper strips for checking contamination from poisonous gas.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The battery features two diesel generators for electric power, employed in case of disconnection from the regional grid.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Less usual – for a military facility – is the presence of two air compressors. Compressed air is relevant for torpedo operation, being employed for the launch burst from the torpedo tube, as well as for propulsion and gyros in the G7a torpedo. The air compressors in Herdla are made by Junkers, solid German technology from 1961!

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

A few bunkerized resting rooms for the staff manning the battery can be found in the same area, besides the power/compressed air supply room and the torpedo room. The resting rooms are minimal as usual, with suspended berths, and much personal military equipment on display – coats, blankets, medical kits, and more technical material.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Finally, the core of the battery is the torpedo room. This is much longer than wider, access is via the short side. In the Third Reich years, the launching slot was on the short side to the opposite end of the room, right above the water. Today, this slot has been bricked up, and there is no window at all.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The torpedoes are aligned on racks along the long sides of the room. The launching system is via two underwater tubes, which are accessed via obliquely mounted hatches, one to each side of the room at the level of the floor. The section of the racks closer to the entrance door is actually a pivoting slide. The slide could be pitched down, thus allowing the torpedo to slip through the hatch in the firing tube. The original launch control console can be found to the right of the access door – in a mint condition, it looks really like it had just been put in standby following a drill!

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Over the years, the stockpile of G7a TI torpedoes was upgraded especially in terms of guidance. The major modification was the adoption of wired control. This is based on a thin electric cable unwinding as the torpedo proceeds along its trajectory, keeping it linked with the launching battery. This upgraded model is called G7a TI mod 1. Control via a steering joystick and trajectory monitoring system could provide manual guidance to the torpedo, thus sharply increasing the chance of target interception. This technology is still in use today. Wire tubes can be found on top of the rudder of torpedoes.

Besides the G7a, Herdla battery received the TP613 torpedo, a weapon developed in Sweden in the early 1980s from previous designs. Exemplars of this torpedo, still in use, are visible in the torpedo room. In terms of mechanics, the piston engine of this torpedo is powered by the reaction of alcohol and Hydrogen-peroxide. In terms of guidance, this torpedo features improved wired communication for guidance and power setting (i.e. changing torpedo speed during the run), as well as passive sonar homing. A dismounted section exposing the engine can be found on display.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The wire tube installation on top of the rudder is featured also on this model, and examples of the wire are on display.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The original guidance console, made by Decca, with a prominent joystick on it, is on display as well!

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Training and proficiency checks are typically carried out without a warhead, but with an instructional head. Distinctively painted in shocking red, and with powerful lights in them – to show their position to simulated targets during training exercises, when needed – these are on display in a number. Since the torpedoes, just like missiles, are very expensive, a way of recovering them after instructional use has been envisioned, in the form of inflating bags coming out of the head, increasing the buoyancy of the emptied torpedo and forcing it to surface when reactants tanks are empty and power is off.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Offensive warheads can be exchanged with dummy ones for training, bolting them to the body of the torpedo, which remains totally unchanged. A warhead with a 600 lbs explosive load, triggered by a proximity pistol, was typically put on G7a torpedoes. The proximity pistol was made of four petals, which on contact with the target were bent towards a conductive metal ring around the nose cone of the torpedo, closing an electric circuit and triggering the explosion.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Leaving the torpedo room and the bunker is via the same way you came in.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Sea Mines & Area Control Center

But your visit is not over. As mentioned, the Herdla coastal battery hosts an area control center, with provision to manage target detection facilities and the minefields in the waters around Bergen.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

This part was built in a facility strongly potentiated with tight doors, typical to the shockwave-proof military construction syllabus of the Cold War. A sequence of roomy vaults carved in the rock hides a number of containerized modules, together with an exhibition of sea mines and related apparatus.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Most notably, an L-type Mk 2 moored mine and a Mk 51 bottom mine are on display, with a understated control panel. The latter is actually a portable controller for triggering the mines. Already before WWII, sea mines were often put on the bottom of the sea in shallow waters, or moored in deeper waters, to control access inner waters, firths, ports, etc. The Germans made extensive use of this technique in Norway, and following WWII this strategy was inherited by Norway to protect its waters from (primarily) Soviet intrusion.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Despite contact mines were still popular in WWII, they have been surpassed and gradually replaced already in that age by proximity mines, based on noise and – especially – magnetic sensors. Today, proximity fuses activated by the magnetic field of ships or submarines passing nearby are standard technology. Onboard electronics allows to distinguish between the magnetic signature (i.e. fingerprint) of different ships, thus avoiding any issue for civilian or friendly traffic, and activating only against enemy shipping. Degaussing techniques – i.e. the ability of military ships to hide their signature – have forced to improve detection technology, which is today extremely sophisticated.

Furthermore, for the protection of ports and friendly waters, sea mines are typically controlled and triggered by hand, upon detection and localization of enemy shipping, by means of dedicated detection facilities on land or water. This improves precision and allows more flexible defensive-offensive tactics, since a human chain of command has control on the minefield, instead of a pre-determined computer program.

To trigger the mines, consoles like that on display are employed, where a trigger for each mine allows precise control over the minefield.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

The first containerized control center hosts a similar, yet much more modern, dedicated console. Everything in this movable control center is very neat, and really looking like reactivation might take place in just moments! Of interest is also the situation map, covering the area around Herdla and the water inlet to Bergen.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

A nearby container reveals berths and a small living area for stationing staff.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

Yet another container hosts a complete situation room covering the area. Similar to the coastal battery in Stevnsfort, Denmark (see here), a careful eye was constantly overlooking the shipping in the area.

Cold War Coastal Torpedo Battery – Command and Control – Operations room – Atlantic Wall – Herdla Fort – Bergen – Norway

In the same container, a console for steering torpedoes, more modern than that previously seen in the torpedo battery, is on display.

All in all, Herdla is a one-of-a-kind destination, of primary interest for those interested in Cold War military history, enjoyable and easy to visit. Totally recommended for everybody with an interest in history, with much to see and learn for the kids as well.

Getting there & Visiting

Herdla fortress features an official visitor center with a large parking area, and amenities including a small restaurant and a shop. The official website is here. It can be reached about 27 miles north of central Bergen, roughly 45 minutes by car. The address is Herdla Museum, Herdla Fort, 5315 Herdla.

The torpedo battery and control bunker can be visited only on a guided tour. Visiting from abroad, we scheduled an appointment, and were shown around by the very knowledgeable guide Lars Ågren, a retired officer of the Royal Norwegian Navy. He joined the Navy in the late 1970s, in time to gain a substantial, hands-on Cold War experience during the final, high-tech part of that confrontation. He was promoted to tasks in the NATO headquarters in Belgium, later returning to Norway, and totaling more than 37 years in service. He is strongly involved in the management of the Herdla site. Chance is for you to embark on a visit with this guide, or other very competent guides who will satisfy the appetites of more committed war technicians and engineers, being capable of entertaining also the younger public as well.

A visit to the torpedo battery and control center may last about 1 hour. Seasonal changes to opening times may apply, as common in Northern Countries, therefore carefully check the website.

Traces of World War II in Norway – Highlights

September 25, 2022September 3, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

War actions in Scandinavia constitute a crucial stage in the unfolding of WWII events in Europe. The strategic position of the Scandinavian peninsula was not overlooked by strategists in the Third Reich and the USSR, and by the Western Allies. As a matter of fact, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway took place as early as the Spring of 1940, starting just weeks before the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France.

History & Remains – A Quick Summary

For Germany in WWII, the long and impervious coast of Norway constituted an ideal strong point to carry out raids over the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, the northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea, interfering with resupply convoys from Britain and the US. Especially after the start of the war against the USSR in 1941, the polar routes going to Murmansk – the only non-freezing port on the northern coast of the USSR – were within range of German warships and aircraft operating from the north of Norway. Control over Norway and Denmark meant total control on the access to the Baltic Sea, thus protecting the northern coast of Germany from direct attack by the Western Allies, allowing unimpeded action against the Soviet Union on that sea. Of the greatest importance in the northern European territory was also the abundance of raw materials – mainly metals for industrial production – so desperately needed by the Third Reich.

For the Allies, keeping Scandinavia was an objective of great relevance in the early stages of the war, since this territory could be a convenient springboard to launch attacks against the flat and easy coast of Germany. In the rapidly changing complex alliances and diplomatic relationships of the early stage of WWII (1939-40), Norway and Sweden tried to keep out of the war. Finland fought the Winter War against the USSR (itself one of the results of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, albeit not to the knowledge of the Finns), loosing part of its territory and strengthening its link with Germany for some years to come (see this post). The Third Reich attacked Norway by air and sea in April 1940, and help was sought especially in Britain. King Haakon VII of Norway left for exile in England, and the initial battles of WWII between the Reich and the UK were fought – mainly at sea – in proximity of Norwegian ports.

The Atlantic Wall

Possibly the most impressive military trace of WWII in Europe, the Atlantic Wall – a defense line stretching from France to northern Norway – was designed and built in Denmark and Germany, immediately following the successful push of the Third Reich into these Countries. Actually, those are the Countries where the most relevant remains of this interesting trace of war can be found today. A very ambitious project both in purpose and required resources, the Atlantic Wall never reached completion. Despite that, the geography of Norway, with a coastline featuring only limited access to the inland area, allowed to create an effective barrier against a potential enemy landing. Hundreds of gun batteries, complemented with anti-aircraft artillery and radars, constituted a powerful deterrent against any invasion. As a matter of fact, after the unique episode of the Battle of Narvik in the early stages of WWII, no Allied forces ever landed in Norway from the sea for the rest of the war.

A complete visit to all sites of the Atlantic Wall in Norway is a really immense task, due to the number of installations and their geographical remoteness. However, a few impressive highlights can be found in convenient locations, and can be easily visited by everybody. In this post some of them are presented – the colossal battery ‘Vara’, the southern fortified area of Lista, the forts of Fjell and Tellevik near Bergen, and the massive cannons of Austratt.

War Museums

But other fragments of the rich legacy of WWII in Norway can be retraced also away from the preserved installations of the Atlantic Wall. An interesting page is that of naval warfare deployed by the Navy of the Third Reich – the Kriegsmarine – to counter Allied shipping activities. Names like Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are frequently found in history books as well as in movies or scale model shops, and they are just a few of the mighty vessels linked to the Scandinavian war theater. Dedicated exhibitions can be found in little but impressively rich museums on these topics. In this post, the Tirpitz Museum in Alta, the War Museum of Narvik and the exhibition in the visitor center of North Cape are covered.

Special interest sites

Heroic actions involving the Norwegian resistance organization are proudly remembered all over the Nation. A particularly interesting location being the Rjukan hydroelectric power-plant, which produced heavy water, a key-component in the research leading to the preparation of fissile material. This strategic asset was highly needed by the German nuclear program. On the other hand, its possession by the Third Reich was seen as a clear and present danger by the Allies, who tried to have the plant destroyed in several instances. The Norwegian resistance was clearly much involved in sabotage missions, due to the difficulty in targeting the place through air bombing raids. The power-plant is today a nice museum, covered in this post.

Photographs in this chapter were collected on a visit in August 2022.

Sights

The map below shows the location of the sites mentioned in this chapter. Their listing in the descriptions roughly follows a clockwise sense, starting from the southernmost point of Kristiansand (Vara battery). Red items are in disrepair, whereas blue ones are official tourist destinations.

Vara Battery – Kristiansand

The Vara battery was built as the core of the strongly fortified area around Kristiansand. Thanks to its position close to the southernmost tip of the Norwegian territory, this port town is still today very busy with passenger and freight traffic from nearby Denmark.

The Third Reich military started to lay sea mines as soon as it gained control of both sides of the Skagerrak strait. The coast around Kristiansand was reinforced with several coastal artillery pieces, and production of a set of special 38 cm caliber guns – called Siegfried -was started by the Krupp ironworks in Essen in 1940. The aim was that of controlling access to the Baltic sea by means of two batteries of long-range naval guns, one to the south in Denmark (Hanstholm, see here), and one to the north in Kristiansand.

The cannons should be capable of revolving by 360 degrees, and special concrete rotundas were prepared for the scope in a location called Møvik, on the southwestern end of the gulf of Kristiansand. The complex morphology of the terrain in this site led to a smaller than desirable area for the battery, where all technical buildings – including ammo storages – had to be built relatively close to one another. These massive constructions alone, built by the same ‘Organisation Todt’ responsible for the implementation of the coastal defense positions all over Europe, make for a remarkable work of engineering, carried out with the help of local builders, working relentlessly around the clock to have these emplacements ready as soon as possible.

In the event, only three of the four Siegfried cannons made their way to the battery in Kristiansand, one being apparently lost when the transport ship carrying it was sunk on the Baltic Sea. Transporting these 110 ton, around 60 ft long barrels by rail from Germany into the narrow valleys of Scandinavia was not an easy task. However, two cannons were test-fired in May 1942, and the third in November the same year.

The battery received the name ‘Vara’, after a high-ranking official killed in Guernsey in 1941.

Battery Vara went through the war without seeing an involvement in any major war action, and was mainly test-fired only. The whole installation, comprising target detection points, analog computers for target aiming, ammo storages – including more than 1.400 shells! – and many other service buildings, was inherited intact by the Norwegian Armed Forces in 1945, similar to many other installations along the coast of the Skagerrak and the North Sea. It was incorporated in the Norwegian coastal artillery between 1946 and 1954, being later placed in reserve having by then become obsolete for Cold War warfare standards. Two cannons were scrapped, whereas one – the only entirely surviving battery Nr. 2 – was luckily kept. The site survived subsequent stages of demolition works over the next decades, but in the early 1990s it was finally re-opened as a museum.

Cannon Nr. 2

Today, the centerpiece of the visit is constituted by a walk around the perfectly preserved building of cannon Nr.2. This bunkerized building is composed of a set of technical rooms, for ammo assembly and storage, as well as for services like Diesel power generators, and an adjoining rotunda, where the big cannon revolved around a pinion, and could be pointed to its target, following instructions from the battery control center. The latter elaborated target data from detection, identification, measuring and range-finding positions scattered around the battery perimeter.

Access to the back of the concrete building is via the original hatch, closed by iron doors. You can see the narrow-gauge railway track leading in. This linked the cannon buildings with the ammo storages around, and allowed to supply the cannon with ammo parts (the explosive cartridge and the shell are not assembled in a single unity for larger cannons, unlike for lighter weapons). The hatch drives you into a long corridor, the backbone of the bunkerized quarters behind the cannon rotunda. Here some shells have been put on the original railway trolley for display.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The cannon building hosted a permanent watch of a few men, which manned it permanently in shifts. A living room with some berths is the only one offering some comfort in the building.

A number of rooms in the bunker are dedicated to the power generator plant. A primary and a back-up generator share the same room. Of special interest are the labels on all machines and mechanisms, proudly made in Germany – in some cases, by brands still existing today.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Electric power was required for the motion of the cannon, besides for smaller appliances like lights and radios. The cannons could make use of the regional grid, but since an unstable supply might have damaged the cannon motors, aiming operations were often carried out on the controlled internal power grid, fed by the generators, and producing an optimal output.

Beside the generator room, the air conditioning plant (not for comfort, but to slightly pressurize the bunker in order to repel and pump-out poisonous or exhaust gas), the Diesel tank and the water tank for cooling the generator can be seen in adjoining rooms.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

To the far end of the corridor, a radio room was used to maintain a link with the battery command post, located more than 1 mile away from Vara battery. Actually, by design the electric signals to orient the cannon could be given by the control post, and the radio communication system was there for backup.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

On the other side of the corridor with respect to the generator rooms – i.e. towards the cannon rotunda – are four adjoining rooms, used to store the components of the explosive cartridges and shells. The shells and cartridges prepared for firing were moved via a crane to a tray, and from there sent side-wards to the rotunda, where they were loaded on a trolley. The cranes, trays and slots linking these rooms to the rotunda can be found around the area of the bunker closer to the rotunda.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The cranes moved along tracks hanging from the ceiling. These tracks had some switch points, allowing to allow the crane to move across different rooms in the bunker.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Inside these rooms, today you can find much original material of special interest. Specimens of high-explosive (yellow) and armor-piercing (blue) shells are displayed. The weight of the shells was around 800 kg, where the cartridge could feature different weights, roughly from 100 to 200 kg.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The top range of these cannons and shells was around 43 km. Smaller 500 kg shells could alternatively be fired by Siegfried cannons, with a longer range of 55 km. Furthermore, the cannon could be test-fired during drills with smaller caliber shots, by reducing the bore of the cannon. This was a very useful feature, since the estimated loss of barrel metal due to attrition was a staggering 0.25 kg per shot, implying a life of the barrel of only around 250-300 shots, firing with sufficient accuracy. Shooting smaller shells allowed to spare barrel wear and extend the time between overhauls of the cannon.

The sealed canisters for the explosive cartridges, with original markings in German, can still be seen piled in a room!

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

More material on display includes a rare example of fire direction computer. Actually, that on display is smaller than the one originally used for the long-range cannons of Vara battery, but it provides a good idea of the level of sophistication of this mechanism. Data like target distance, velocity, orientation, wind speed and direction, etc. were set as input to this analog computer, producing fire direction variables to point the cannon. An incredible masterpiece of engineering and craftsmanship, this type of computer is difficult to find in museums, and allows to appreciate the level of development of warfare back in the 1940s.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Data including range of the target was found with the help of special instrumentation. A stereoscopic range-finder was installed in the battery command post, with an arm of 12 m, which allowed good accuracy for very distant targets – required for the long range of the cannons of Vara battery. Smaller instruments with the same principle are displayed in one of the rooms.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Among the special features of this bunkerized building are the restored, original writings from German times, as well as a one-of-a-kind painting made by a Soviet prisoner of war.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

From the bunkerized room, you can get access to the rotunda. Cartridges put on trolleys moved along a circular railway track all around the rotunda. This way, cartridges could be taken to the cannon whatever the direction it was pointing. Once to the base of the cannon turret, the explosive charge and the shell were lifted separately by means of two special elevators, up to the level of the gun shutter.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

An impressive feature of the rotunda is the ring cover for the circular railway. In order to protect the railway passage from above, while allowing the cannon to rotate, a roof made of thick metal scales was implemented. When revolving around the pinion, the cannon turret would automatically lift the scales on its passage. The sound of the scales being lifted and released while the cannon body was revolving must have been really an experience!

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Pictures can hardly tell how big the cannon turret is!

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Following an exploration from beneath, you can exit the bunker building, climb up to the level of the barrel, and finally enter the turret.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Here the back of the barrel dominates the relatively large firing chamber. The shutter has been left open, so you can see the sunlight through the barrel.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The shell and explosive charge were received from the two elevators on a special tray, and here they were finally aligned one before the other. Somewhat in contrast to the top-notch technology level of the installation, the cartridge had to be pushed from the back into the barrel by hand. A long wooden stick was used for the task. Actually, it was so long that it protruded from the back of the cannon turret, thus requiring a small hatch to be pierced in the metal armor correspondingly. On one side of the barrel, instrumentation for measuring the pointing direction is still in place.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Air-pumping mechanisms can be clearly seen, similarly to communication phones to the back and top of the room.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Cannon Nr. 1

The position of cannon Nr.1 was prepared unusually close to that of Nr.2. As said, this was due to the limited available area on the uneven coast section where the battery was put in place. However, Nr.1 never received a cannon. Conversely, it was modified later in the war, when experimenting with cannon protection from air-dropped high-yield bombs. The rotunda was capped with a very thick concrete roof, sustained by sidewalls which limited the side-wards rotation of the cannon to 120 degrees.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The rotunda can be walked freely. The central pinion is still in place. Inside, the ceiling is covered in original metal panels. The round corridor for the trolleys can still be seen, but there is no access left to the bunkerized part.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The firing position can be climbed, and from the elevated top you get a great view of the battery and of the area ahead of it.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Other buildings

Following the railway around the site is a great way to find what remains today of the original installation. There are two bulky ammo storages. These were reportedly more thickly armored than usual, in view of a higher risk of getting hit, due to the unusual proximity with the cannons – designated targets for the enemy.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Furthermore, other smaller buildings are scattered around, which may have served as storage for lighter weapons.

The positions of cannons Nr. 3 and Nr. 4 have been largely demolished, and access is permanently shut to the bunkerized part. However, you can easily climb to the top level, to get a nice view of the rotunda.

Vara Battery Kristiansand Movik – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Visiting

Vara is in the top-five list of the most famous surviving installations of the Atlantic Wall in Europe, and a visit to this destination is in itself a good reason for a detour to Norway for war historians and like-minded people. Due to its proximity to the port of Kristiansand, just minutes apart by car, and the relatively easy-to-reach location in the most populated part of Norway, it is also a top destination for any tourist in the area. As a matter of fact, the place is run as a top-level museum, with great reception capability, and is visited by thousands of visitors per year.

Visiting can be performed on a self-guided basis, with an explanation leaflet which allows to get much from your visit, especially if you are not new to installations of the Atlantic Wall (which are mostly standardized, despite Vara having really oversized guns!). A tour of the main features – cannon Nr.2 and the building of Nr.1 – may take 1 hour at least, for an averagely interested person. For an in-depth visit and a quick tour of the premises including other remains, more than 2 hours are needed. Thanks to the exceptional level of conservation and the explanation of whatever is on display, the visit is not boring and may be very rewarding even for younger people.

Large parking on site, picnic tables and warm reception are available – as usual in Norway! Website with full information here.

Nordberg & Marka Batteries – Farsund

Located in the southwestern corner of the Norwegian territory, about 100 miles south of the port of Stavanger, the municipality of Farsund encompasses a number of small coastal villages, around the landmark represented by the lighthouse of Lista.

Two batteries were set up by the German occupation forces as part of the Atlantic wall, both fully operative by 1942. The northern one is called Nordberg fort, where the southern one, very close to the shore line, is known as Marka fort. Between the two, the Germans installed a full-scale airbase, with a runway of roughly 1.5 km, complemented by hangars and shelters largely standing today. Following the end of WWII and the withdrawal of the German military, all these installations were converted for military use by the Norwegian armed forces, which also developed the original airfield into a more modern airbase by stretching the runway.

Today, Nordberg fort is a museum. The German Navy was in charge of the station, which had as centerpieces three 150 mm cannons, with a range of around 23 km. The cannons have been scrapped (with the exception of a lighter piece of Russian make). However, the firing positions are still there, linked by a semi-interred trench.

Nordberg Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

You can see also the original control point for the battery, developed by the Norwegians more recently, and the concrete base for a radar antenna originally on site.

Nordberg Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Several original buildings for services – canteen, hospital,… – are still there, making for a an interesting opportunity to see how this installation looked like back in the 1940s.

Nordberg Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The Marka fort was assembled around six 150 mm guns, located very close to the sea, grouped in two batteries of three firing positions each. A huge bunkerized command post was built in the premises of the fort. Today, after the Norwegian military left at the end of the Cold War, the Marka battery is basically a ghost site, despite being still in a relatively good shape.

The control bunker is especially interesting, since you can access the top level and watch the sea from the very same room and windows originally used by the German Navy troops! The general arrangement of the bunker is similar to other command posts you can find on the Atlantic Wall – especially in Denmark (see here).

Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The positions for the coastal guns can be reached close to the control bunker. They are uncovered round areas, slightly below the level of the ground, framed by a circular reinforced sidewall.

Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

More Atlantic Wall remains, like bunkers, foundations for radar stations, or emplacements for lighter guns, can be be found scattered in the area of Farsund – which kept its military site status well after the Germans had left.

Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The museum of Nordberg keeps some of the buildings on the respective site open. However, the majority of the site is open 24 hours, and can be walked freely. A visit may take about 1 hour. A convenient parking can be found right ahead of the modern and welcoming visitor center, from where you can effortlessly reach most of the points of interest in this installation. Website with full information here.

The site of Marka – not part of any museum – can be approached at any time with some walking in the rural area along the coast line. A good starting point for an exploration is here, where you can leave your car and move along an easy trail to the command bunker and the gun rotundas about 0.5 miles west.

Fjell Fortress – Bergen

Bergen was a strategic base of the German Navy, which received a fortified submarine deck among the largest, most active and longest lasting in the history of WWII. The complex morphology of the territory around this port town allowed to effectively protect the access by means of a network of nine firing emplacements. One of them – Fjell – was of exceptional power and range.

It was built between 1942-43 diverting one of the batteries of battleship Gneisenau, which had been damaged beyond repair by an air raid while in port at Kiel (Germany). The battery was composed of three 28 cm guns in a single turret. The latter was very compact in design, a real masterpiece of naval engineering, but nonetheless it featured a rather tall substructure, with all that was needed to operate the guns – protruding from the relatively sleek top of the turret, surfacing on the ground.

Placing this special battery in Fjell required carving the rocky coast, creating a cylindrical underground pit, inside coated with concrete, to host the turret. The turret, an assembly of around 1.000 tonnes with the guns on top, was then transported up to this elevated site, and lowered into the pit. The battery was test fired in the mid of 1943. It acted as an effective deterrent, and reportedly never used in combat.

The battery was incorporated in the Norwegian coastal defense after WWII, and sadly scrapped in 1968, since by then obsolete, but not yet considered an historical landmark.

Clearly, the battery was in the middle of an off-limits military area in wartime, where bunkers for several services and for the the troops, at least two radar antennas and many emplacements for lighter defensive weapons were installed to protect the battery from ground and air attacks.

Today, the bunker-pit where the turret used to rest is the centerpiece of a visit to the site. Starting from the visitor center on top, where the guns used to be, you can descend to the base of the cylindrical pit – roughly 30 ft in diameter and 75 in depth! Here you can see the rooms originally employed for storing the explosive cartridges and the shells for the cannons. These were supplied on trolleys and slides, and sent inside the metal turret, to be lifted up to the level of the cannons for firing.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Most of the original German mechanical and electrical systems is still there to see, including wiring, phones, cranes, trolleys, and examples of shells and cartridges.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Back then, you got access to these storage areas from an entrance on the same level (i.e. not from the top of the turret, but from the base). You can see this entrance, as well as the curved corridor leading from the gate to the ammo storage area. Here, examples of sea mines and other war material can be found. The corridor has narrow-gauge railway track, which was used for resupplying the ammo storage from outside.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The corridor is curved, and firing positions are strategically placed to cover it, in order to counter enemy intrusion.

The bunker gives access to the living quarters for the troops. These are well preserved, and feature brick walls to help insulating the inside from the wet rock of the walls and ceilings.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Services, like toilets, sauna, washing machines and more, are original from the German tenancy. Especially the water basins appear very stylish, a good example of German design from the era.

Besides the main turret bunker, as said the Fjell site offers other constructions on a vast area, which can be checked out from the outside – also since the premises are at least formally military grounds still today.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The road reaching the site from the parking, gently climbing uphill, is reportedly the original main access to the Third Reich site. An interesting tank-stopping device can be seen to the lower end of the road – heavy stones on top of light pillars on the sides of the road. The pillars could be blown, and the stones would fall cutting the road, in case of a potential intrusion.

Fjell Battery Bergen – Gneisenau – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The fort of Fjell, about 15 miles west of central Bergen, is professionally run as a museum. Parking is only possible to the base of the cliff where the turret used to stand. From there, a 0.8 miles road climbs to the entrance. The scenic location and the nice rural area around make for an enjoyable walk. Visiting inside is only possibly on guided tours, offered also in English (an possibly other languages). A small restaurant can be found on top, where an observation deck has been built in place of the battery.

The location of the parking is here. A visit may take around 45 minutes, excluding the time needed to climb uphill and descend to the parking. Website with full information here.

Tellevik Fort – Bergen

The coastal fort of Tellevik, on the eastern head of the Norhordland Bridge, 15 miles north of Bergen, was part of the lighter defense artillery put in place by the German military to defend any access by water to Bergen. The battery was built by order of the Third Reich, profiting from the forced labor of Soviet prisoners of war.

Lighter howitzers were enough to cover the narrow water passages in proximity of the town. The elevation of the emplacement is low, slightly above the water surface.

The battery of Tellevik was centered on two such howitzers, placed on open-top positions. The two guns can be seen still today, on round concrete firing positions. The giant bridge today largely obstructing the field of sight was not there at the time of the German occupation.

Tellevik Battery Bergen – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The site displays also a concrete trench, connecting the firing positions with a command post for the battery.

Tellevik Battery Bergen – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

A monument to Norwegian seamen victims to sea mines laid by the German to protect the access to Bergen is concurrently located on the site of the Tellevik battery.

Tellevik Battery Bergen – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Visiting

Tellevik is an open air memorial, which can be walked freely 24/7. It can be reached by inputting these coordinates to a GPS navigation app.

A visit may take about 15 minutes, a nice detour from exceptionally crowded downtown Bergen.

Austrått Fortress – Austrått

Similar to Bergen, the major port of Trondheim was a strategic base for the German Navy. Protected by a long firth, the port was an ideal base for submarines and warships, to intercept convoys in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. Correspondingly, a number of coastal forts was prepared by the German occupation forces to counter any unauthorized access to the waterways leading to Trondheim.

The most powerful and impressive of these batteries is the Austratt Fort. Similar to the fortress of Fjell near Bergen (see above), Austratt received one of the turrets of the ill-fated battleship Gneisenau, damaged while moored in Kiel, in February 1942. A control and aiming position was put in place a few miles apart along the coast, whereas the battery was surrounded by an off-limits area, stuffed with bunkers for the troops, ammo storage bunkers, and lighter guns for protection against an attack by land.

A major difference between the two ‘sister sites’ of Fjell and Austratt is that in the latter the cannons are still there!

Following the installation of the turret, test fired in September 1943, the fort saw little action, acting as a deterrent, and effectively preventing any serious intrusion by the Allies towards Trondheim from the sea. After the demise of the Third Reich, the fort was taken over by the Norwegian coastal defense, stricken off in 1968, and restored as a museum in the early 1990s.

The cannons are on top of a hill. From the outside, the massive three-barreled turret is really impressive in size!

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The barrels can be seen besides the original range-finder – with its impressive arm, granting good measuring accuracy even at a large distance from the target. This item, with its bell-shaped cover, was originally part of the control point, located southwest of the battery, in a location currently very close to an active base of the Norwegian Air Force (Orland).

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Despite access to the the firing chamber being possible through a hatch to the back of the turret, the tour follows the way a shell would travel from storage to firing. Hence you start your tour from an entrance to the side of the hill, at the same level of the bottom of the cylindrical tower supporting the guns. This metal tower was taken from the Gneisenau together with the cannons, and put in a pit carved in the rock for the purpose in Austratt.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Access through the side of the hill is protected by a smaller gun. Once inside, you find yourself in a curvy corridor, with a narrow-gauge railway track for the trolleys needed to carry the shells and cartridges inside. A firing position behind an embrassure points against the entrance, for further protection of the site against an intrusion.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The bunker in Austratt – but the same happened to many installations of the Atlantic Wall in Norway – was plagued with severe humidity problems. Immediately besides the entrance, a room with a water basin is fed by natural water dripping from the ceiling and from the rocky walls around.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Original machines for tooling, put in place for maintenance purposes back in the Third Reich years, are still there and working. Similarly, a primary and a backup Diesel generators supplying the fort are still in place, with all ancillary plants, like big Diesel and water tanks for cooling. This is original machinery too, as witnessed by the tags of the mechanical components, all made in Germany.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Living quarters were at the bottom level too. Trying to supply some comfort, the rocky walls were covered with bricks and wood, especially against humidity. These rooms have been partly refurbished with a good resemblance to the original ones. They include the kitchen and some of the sleeping quarters for the troops. However, since humidity was really extreme, troops spent limited time here especially for sleeping, and provisional barracks were built outside of the installation instead.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Hygienic services were reportedly extremely advanced compared to Norwegian standards of the time. Fully working toilets, lavatories and showers were taken as a blueprint by the Norwegian Army after the war. The electric water heater put in place in the Austratt battery was apparently among the first installed in the whole Country – it can still be seen.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Explosive cartridges, fuses and shells arriving from the bunker entry you have walked through at the beginning of your tour would be eventually lifted upstairs. Shells, either high-yield explosive or armor-piercing, would be stored in a chamber featuring cranes hanging from the ceiling, used to put the shells on trolleys. These trolleys transported the shells to the lower level of the turret. The chamber where the shells were stored is physically separated by the turret by means of a concrete wall.

Tight compartments are often found in war bunkers of the Atlantic Wall, and this can be explained by the fact that the deadliest effect of an enemy shot (either a cannon shell from a warship, or an air-dropped bomb) would be that of an overpressure wave (shockwave), capable of killing many in just moments. Overpressure effects can be effectively reduced by putting physical obstacles on the way the shockwave would travel – walls, tight doors, etc. – or by forcing it into smaller passages, like hatches or smaller doors and windows. Therefore, bunkers like Austratt are built in rather small rooms, connected only through narrow hatches and doors.

Again in the storage chamber for the shells, extensive writing in German can be found on many of the mechanisms and electric plants. Everything is original and exceptionally well conserved, just like the Germans had just left!

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

The lowest level of the turret, where the shells would arrive from the storage chamber to be loaded on elevators going to the upper levels, is a masterpiece of engineering. The technical problem here was that of connecting the slides from the storage chamber, which are anchored to the ground, to the receiving slides on the turret, which could pivot around 360 degrees. The designer of the turret solved the issue by placing an intermediate ring, revolving independently, and capable of connecting the fixed slides from the storage chamber to the revolving platform on the turret. The extremely compact size of the overall design, originally prepared for fitting into a warship, and the elegance and precision of the mechanism resemble those of a pocket watch from the 1920s more than a cannon!

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

On the turret, you can see three elevators for the three barrels, which were therefore fed independently.

Going upstairs, you meet the storage room for the explosive cartridges. These used to be stored in sealed canisters on display, original from the time. This storage room is placed to the side of the corresponding level in the turret, in a similar fashion to the shells storage below.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Climbing up one more level inside the turret, you reach a platform with the motors for moving the battery around its vertical axis, and for lifting or lowering the three monster barrels. The motion involved high-pressure mechanisms, rather complex and requiring many valves and extensive piping.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

To the back of each of the barrels, you can see a large empty volume for recoil. The battery rested on a ball bearing – one of the pretty sizable metal balls is on display.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Finally, the firing chamber can be found on the top level in the turret. Here the shells and cartridges were received, aligned and loaded from the back into the barrels by a pushing mechanical arm. Three independent mechanisms were put in place for the scope in the firing chamber.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

To the front of the battery, instrumentation for aiming can be found, with writing in German. Also radio positions are there.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

Battery fire could be triggered by a single man, sitting to the back of the turret in front of a control panel with three independent triggers.

Austratt Battery Trondheim – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway

You can exit the turret from the hatch to the back of the turret, concluding your tour. In the video below you can see a portrait of the battery from the air, made with a drone.

All in all, similar to the Vara battery (see above), Austratt is in an exceptional state of conservation in the Norwegian and European panorama of artillery engineering from WWII, and a visit may be super-interesting for any public.

Visiting

Despite being relatively close to Trondheim on a map, as usual in Norway, Austratt is a more than two hours drive from the town, and reaching requires taking at least one ferry. However, as noted, this location is a pinnacle in the Atlantic Wall, and surely deserves a visit for technicians and non-technical public as well, and of course for the kids.

Access to the exterior is possible at any time, but visiting inside is only possible on guided tours. The guide is very knowledgeable and makes the visit interesting also for a technically-minded public. The visit inside may take around 1 hour, more if you make questions and show some interest. Convenient parking by the gate of the fort, easy access to the area around the battery. Moving inside can be requiring for non-fit people.

Website with full information here.

Arctic Circle & North Cape

As pointed out in the introduction to this chapter, Norway is rich of memorials from WWII. Even close to some of the attractions in this wonderful Country which are must-see stops for other reasons, features recalling memories from war actions are offered to a curious eye.

Two notable examples are the visitor center of the Arctic Circle along the E6, as well as that of North Cape.

Scandinavia has been a bloody and extremely active theater of war all along WWII, and Norway was directly involved in significant war actions since the first year of the conflict. As a matter of fact, most of the impressive line of fortifications constituting the Atlantic Wall was erected by deploying forced laborers, typically prisoners of war from the Eastern Front, primarily including Russians, other people from the USSR, and Balkan prisoners.

Soviet troops attacked the northernmost German-occupied region from the North, together with the Finns, after the latter negotiated a separate peace with the USSR in late 1944. The retreating Germans opposed a fierce resistance, and it was in this latest stage of the war that most physical damage to towns and installations was caused in Norway, since German troops were ordered to burn up all positions they had to leave.

These facts explain the many Soviet monuments and war cemeteries scattered especially in the northern part of Norway still today – commemorating Soviet soldiers fallen either in war actions or as prisoners of war in the harsh conditions of northern Norway.

One such monument, albeit overlooked, is prominently placed besides the visitor center of the Arctic Circle.

Soviet Memorial – Arctic Circle Visitor Center – WWII – Norway

The interest of Germany for Norway was primarily for its strategic position, which became an asset of special value after the start of the war against the USSR in mid-1941. The convoys feeding vital material to the USSR from Britain and the US had to go to Murmansk (see here) and the Kola Peninsula, i.e. over the Barents Sea. This was conveniently controlled by the German occupants, operating from the Norwegian coast.

In the visitor center of North Cape some panels are dedicated to this topic, showing an impression of the structure and routes followed by Allied convoys going to the USSR.

Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway

Detailed panels with maps and pictures recall the last battle of the German battleship Scharnhorst, which was confronted by the group of the British battleship HMS Duke of York, in an epic battle relatively close to North Cape. The massive German battleship, deployed to Norway with Tirpitz (a sister ship of the famous Bismarck) to block the resupply traffic to the USSR, was hit several times and finally sunk in the freezing last days of 1943. The battle was posthumously named ‘Battle of North Cape’. A detailed scaled model of the German battleship is similarly on display in the visitor center.

Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The visitor center of the Arctic Circle on the road E6, with a small Soviet monument, can be found here. The monument is open 24/7.

The visitor center of North Cape is… at North Cape! The inside can be accessed during opening times, and the tables with information on WWII convoys and battles are on an underground mezzanine. Website with full information here.

War Museum – Narvik

The port town of Narvik was founded in the 19th century as a commercial base for exporting iron ore from Sweden. A small town by the sea, surrounded by steep-climbing mountains, and in a remote location well north of the Arctic Circle, Narvik was turned for about two months into a though theater of war for the Germans, following their occupation of Norway.

It was here that the British started a battle to stop the German push to the north, as soon as the 10th of April 1940, basically at the same time as the Germans had reached the town during their conquering campaign.

What resulted was a complex, multi-stage operation, lasting until early June 1940.

At first, the British fleet mounted a naval attack, carried out with a flotilla of five destroyers. This force clashed with the local German complement of ten destroyers. The British operation met with mixed success, and was finally repelled by the German navy operating in the narrow waters around Narvik, at the price of two destroyers on each side – plus several cargo ships destroyed in the battle. Three days later, on the 13th of April, a new force, composed of the British battleship HMS Warspite and 9 destroyers, launched another assault, resulting in the complete loss of the German destroyers fleet in the region – German warships were either sunk or scuttled.

The Germans however kept control of the town. A mixed force of British, Polish and French troops, together with the Norwegians, started an operation to conquer the town by land. The operation was successful, and the German troops had to retreat along the coast, away from Narvik. However, the start of the Battle of France – the invasion of France by the Third Reich – on the 10th of May, 1940, resulted in a rapid loss of priority of Narvik as a strategic target for the Allies. It was decided in Britain to withdraw from Norway, and to evacuate all previously landed military forces from Narvik. The town fell under German control on June 8th, basically concluding the conquer of Norway by the Third Reich.

The Allied landings around Narvik in 1940 where the first on the European continent in WWII, carried out without the participation of the US, more than three years before operations in southern Italy or Normandy.

The town of Narvik is still today an active commercial port of primary relevance in the region. The heritage of war actions is preserved in a purpose-installed museum, modernly designed and easy to visit.

On a first floor, the naval operations around Narvik are described by means of technological 3D board with virtual projections – very nice and lively. Around the board, memorabilia from the British and German warships taking part to the operations back in the Spring of 1940 have been put on display.

War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway

They include an original Nazi eagle from one of the ships. Since the campaign around Narvik included also air and land operations, war traces including parts of aircraft, guns, mortars, machine guns, first-aid kits and many uniforms are also on display.

Uniforms are from the many corps which took part to those actions – they are British, German, Polish and even French.

War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway

On a second floor, you are offered displays of artifacts retracing other aspects of WWII in Norway. These include land mines – put in place by the Germans along the coast, similar to Denmark, to impede Allied landings – an Enigma coding machine, Third Reich memorabilia, a section of the Tirpitz armored hull, radio machinery supplied to the resistance, as well as personal items belonging to former prisoners of war.

War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway

Finally, on the last floor heavier weapons are put on display, including torpedoes, light armored vehicles and more, even for post-WWII times.

War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The battle of Narvik is one of the best known from WWII in Norway, and the little museum in the town center duly retraces its timeline, through an elegant exhibition, sufficiently rich to satisfy even the most exigent experts, but not so extensive to be boring for the general public. A really well designed museum, surely worth a visit, which may last from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your level of interest.

The location is right besides the town hall, and can be found here. Parking opportunities on the street nearby. Website with information here.

Tirpitz Museum – Alta

The German battleship Tirpitz was laid down as the only sister ship to the well-known Bismark. Eventually, she underwent developments which made her the heaviest battleship built in Europe. Her actions were concentrated along a limited time frame, between January 1942 and November 1944, when she was finally sunk by British Lancaster bombers, making use of Tallboy high-yield bombs.

She spent her operative life along the coasts of Norway, where she constituted an effective deterrent against a sea-launched Allied invasion, and was employed tactically against resupply convoys going to the USSR.

Tirpitz was a strategic target for the Allies, which tried to get rid of her by no less than seven war operations, meeting with limited success until the last one.

With an armor more than 30 cm thick, Tirpitz was marginally maneuverable especially at lower speed, but the hull was very difficult to penetrate, and the four turrets and eight 38 cm barrels, plus twelve side-shooting 15 cm barrels, complemented by many more defensive weapons, made it a dangerous asset against land and sea targets.

The ship capsized and sunk in shallow water in the bay of Tromso, and following the end of the war, she was largely dismantled. Original pieces of the ship could be collected, as well as some personal belongings from the crew. Some more were taken out from the water over the years.

The museum in Alta is dedicated to the memory of the ship, and offers an extremely rich collection of items connected with Tirpitz. Furthermore, by means of memorabilia items, it retraces the history of the war years in the northernmost region of Norway – Finnmark. The reason for installing the Tirpitz Museum in Kåfjord, near Alta, is bound to the fact that the battleship was based here for a period, as witnessed by some historical pictures. The museum has a rich guestbook, which includes top-ranking military staff from several Countries.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

The small museum is home to some of the finest and largest scales models portraying Tirpitz. The level of detail and the accuracy of the reconstruction is really stunning.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

Some smaller diorama models portray scenes from the life onboard, or details of special interest. An unusual one portrays the capsized hull of the ship, following the sinking!

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

Besides the scale models, original instrumentation, shells, wooden slabs from the deck, and more parts of the ship are put on display.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

A room is dedicated to the operations carried out against the battleship. The ship was reportedly attacked several times without substantial damage. One of the attacks was carried out by the British, recurring to mini-submarines. Among the artifacts on display are the decorations to the men involved in these operations.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

Extremely interesting artifacts in the museum include material from the crew, taken away after the sinking over the years – sometimes found in the area as recently as the year 2000.

These include typewriters, cutlery with swastika emblems, musical instruments, sport suits with prominent Third Reich insignia, and many personal belongings.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

In one case, the cabinet or wallet of a crewman revealed cash and stamps from the time.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

Among the countless items in this exhibition are original material – including radio stations – employed by the resistance movements in Norway, as well as light weapons, uniforms and decorations of the Soviet troops who operated in the Finnmark region, helping in repelling the Germans in the last stages of WWII.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

On the outside, the anchor and parts of the armor of Tirpitz can be seen, together with an official memorial stone.

Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The museum is located some five miles from Alta, in the small settlement of Kåfjord. It is hosted in a single, small wooden building – possibly a former canteen – to be found here, with a small parking nearby. A website with full visiting information is here.

Visiting the museum may take from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your level of interest.

Vemork Hydroelectric Power Plant & Heavy Water Facility – Rjukan

The nuclear program of the Third Reich is still today a matter for researchers, since – mysteriously enough – most documentation disappeared by the end of the war. Among the ascertained facts were the excellence of nuclear scientist in Germany at the time on the one hand, and the total lack of adequate quantities of raw material, or plants for processing it, to actually build real nuclear weapons on the other.

The latter is witnessed by the great strategic value attributed to the plant in Rjukan, hidden in a scenic deep valley in the region of Telemark, in southern Norway, about three hours by car from Oslo. A hydroelectric plant there – the exact name is Vemork power-plant – was employed to produce heavy water through a dedicated electrolysis separation process, which requires huge amounts of energy. Heavy water is a key component for the production of Plutonium – in turn required for atomic weapons – in heavy-water reactors.

Also the Norwegians understood the value of the plant. As soon as the winds of war started blowing from Germany in early 1940, heavy water then in storage was taken away to France, and later to Britain following the invasion of France by the Third Reich.

After Norway had been occupied by the Reich, the plant was at the center of three sabotage operations. Extremely risky and partly ending in disaster, these operations were carried out both by Norwegian and British staff, parachuted from Britain.

It took until 1944 to mortally hit the plant, well protected by its own natural setting. Two dedicated bombing raids carried out by US bombers damaged the plant beyond repair – at least in the late war scenario, when the Third Reich reaction capacity was weakening every day. The final act in the Norwegian heavy water saga was the sinking of the small boat – named Hydro – loaded with the reserve of heavy water from Vemork, having just started its trip to Germany on Lake Tinn.

The plant was again in business in the years after the war, and remained operative until the early 1990s, involved in production of various chemicals.

Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway

Today, it is a much visited museum. Actually, the most impressive part of the plant is that of the hydroelectric turbines. Aligned in a single immense hangar, these now silent giant machinery send glimpses of the original, fashionable early-1900 industrial style.

Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway

Some of the turbines and generator assemblies – manufactured by AEG, as witnessed by the labels – are really huge.

Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway

A suspended platform allows to capture with a bird’s eye the entire hall. Here you can see also completely analog control panels, again in a very elegant style from the era.

Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway

Visiting

The museum in Vemork can be reached in less than 3 hours driving from central Oslo. The power-plant can be approached walking from the parking (here) over a suspended bridge crossing the deep valley. The area is very scenic. The highlight of the show is the hall with the power turbines. A visit may take from a few minutes to more than 1 hour for more interested subjects.

A website with full information can be found here.

German and Soviet Military Traces in Jüterbog

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 CarloRLeave a comment

The area around Jüterbog, about 1 hour and 15 minutes south of Berlin by car, has enjoyed a long military tradition, dating from the years of the Kaiser and WWI, through the Third Reich and all the more than four decades of the Cold War, until the departure of the Soviet Army in the early 1990s.

Almost for the entire duration of the 20th century, the area has been scattered with barracks, immense training grounds, shooting ranges, officer’s houses, army administration buildings, technical depots, airports and military academies.

The town of Jüterbog is actually much older than the 20th century, but the Soviets, who grew to a much greater population than the Germans in town after 1945, did not pay much attention to this nice medieval town. Following their withdrawal and the end of all military operations around, the town center received substantial money for restoration from the Government of reunified Germany, and the result is really remarkable – Jüterbog is today possibly one of the most lively and nice-looking centers in the region, with medieval towers, gates and churches, hotels, restaurants and bright-painted houses all around.

However, one hundred years of military activities in this province could not be wiped out at once, and despite nature is now invading the old army premises after operations ceased, to a careful eye the heritage of the German and Soviet Armies stationed there can be spotted quite easily, immediately out the lovely historical town.

Perhaps the most prominent witnesses of the past activities are the old flight academy, installed in the Third Reich years and later employed also by the Soviets, who got control of the area after they arrived in 1945, and kept it even after the foundation of the GDR and the corresponding Armed Forces (i.e. the Nationale Volksarmee, or NVA). The flight academy is today a listed building, despite in a state of partial disrepair. Another example is the big airbase of Jüterbog/Altes Lager, which went on operating as an NVA and Soviet airbase until the very end of the Cold War, and is now being used as a sport airfield, a kart circuit track, an event venue and a solar power plant.

Both these two items are covered in another chapter.

In the following report, more locations in and around Jüterbog are pinpointed, photographed during two visits, partly guided by the knowledgeable Dr. Reiner Helling, in the Summer seasons of 2021 and 2022.

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Sights

The material in this post covers ‘Shelter Albrecht’, a one-of-a-kind private collection of items from WWII and especially from Soviet times, more views of the former airfield of Altes Lager, with a Granit bunker still in very good conditions, an abandoned military hospital with evident traces of Soviet operations, a Soviet cemetery, and a few more items, silent and overlooked witnesses of a recently bygone era.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

Shelter Albrecht
Granit Bunker and Hangars in Jüterbog/Altes Lager
Military Hospital
Soviet Cemetery
Railway Yard, School and Command Building

Shelter Albrecht

The airbase of Jüterbog/Altes Lager was selected by the Soviets for further development with the arrival of jets in the late 1940s-early 1950s, and grew to be a prominent attack aircraft and helicopter base in the territory of the GDR. Now reduced in size to the point that some taxiways have been turned into public roads, some of the incredibly many aircraft shelters originally in place in the peripheral parts of the base – mostly AU-16 – have been wiped out. However, a set of two to the east of the runway have been spared this fate, and have been redeemed by a private business. One has been turned into a venue for events, whereas the other has been employed to showcase a great collection of WWII and Cold War memorabilia. Actually, the two hangars are located inside a somewhat larger perimeter, with an original technical building and room for even more exhibits.

A first impressive sight is the original Soviet scheme of the base. Similar signs were typically put close to the gate of any Soviet base (as seen for instance here in Ribnitz/Damgarten), and with their Russian writings today they witness the Soviet tenancy of the base.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

On the apron, an original military version of the ubiquitous Trabant, in army green color, is on display together with a field kitchen and a gigantic roadwork machine. The latter is Russian made, with tank tracks, and powered by a 12-cylinder Diesel engine.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

A Mil Mi-2 helicopter, which for some hard-to-imagine reason had ended up on the Adriatic coast of Italy in a private collection, where it sat almost derelict, has been brought back to the other side of the Iron Curtain, and restored in a camo coat and placed in a prominent position. Not far, a wing from an old Lavochin La-5 Soviet aircraft can be found.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Still on the open air exhibition are a decorated panel once gracing a Soviet hospital – possibly the one described later (here) – and another celebrating the Warsaw Pact. But the exhibits are really countless, and include propaganda posters, and canisters for ordnance.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

To the side of the main exhibition hangar, in the area of an interred fuel tank once serving the base, is an incredible set of Soviet panels, originally from this or other Soviet bases around. These panels are partly decoration/celebration signs, with portraits of Soviet soldiers and emblems.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Other are technically-themed, with explanations concerning driving habits and rules, hand-to-hand combat, and more. Similar items, including fake targets for assault training, can be found for instance in Forst Zinna, an abandoned Soviet base not far from Jüterbog (covered here).

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Also part of the collection is a rare mural, apparently retracing the push to the west of a Soviet division (?) during the Great Patriotic War.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Inside, the aircraft shelter is stuffed with interesting memorabilia. From WWII, exhibits include remains of downed aircraft, including damaged engines, propellers and canopies. Among them are remains of an Avro Lancaster, a Focke-Wulf 190, a Junkers Ju-87 and the canopy of a pretty rare training (two-seats) version of the Messerschmitt Bf-109.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Four large scale models cover as many interesting sights around. The first is the former flight academy of the Third Reich (mentioned above and covered here), north of the Altes Lager airbase premises. Also on display are books and furniture originally from the library of the academy.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

A second model portrays the entire area between the academy (north) and the airfield (south), including the latter. This area, now largely shrouded in the trees and partially in private hands, used to host technical installations and even factories connected with warfare business – all linked by an extensive network of roads and railways.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Another model is that of two airship hangars from the years of German tenancy. These had to be really huge, but are today completely gone. Among the factories in place in the area, were those for supplying gas for the airships.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Finally, a fourth scale model represents the older airfield of Jüterbog/Damm. The latter is not far from Altes Lager, and is today in private hands for some cattle breeding business. It features very peculiar concrete hangars, an interesting specimen of Third Reich construction engineering. Some aerial pictures can be found here. That airfield was not selected for further development by the Soviets, due to the limited potential for runway lengthening, in turn due to the proximity with Jüterbog town.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Soviet-related items on display range from painted tables, originally gracing the walls of the base, to technical signs in Russian, to a full array of personal and military items, all belonging to the Soviet staff stationed in Jüterbog. These include an interesting overall map of the Soviet airfields on GDR territory, with basic technical data.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Among the highlights, an official printed portrait of Stalin, and one of Brezhnev in a military uniform, parachutes and parts from attack aircraft, many direction signs and instructional panels for low-ranking military staff. Also very interesting is a radar scope with the three air corridors to West-Berlin and the position of Altes Lager printed on it!

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Of special interest for aircraft enthusiasts are many pictures from the days of operation of the airbase, with many exotic Soviet aircraft seen landing, departing or taxiing around.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Other panels tells about the presence of rocket forces in the area of Jüterbog – in particular the 27th R.Br. of the NVA. They operated the SCUD-B system.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Back outside, the exhibition is completed by an original monument from Altes Lager, often employed as a background for official ceremonies, and more personal memorabilia of the owner of the museum, formerly serving within a tank division of the NVA.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Reconstructed shops and schools are on display, with much original furniture and everyday items of Soviet make.

Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection

Getting there and Visiting

The place is really worth a visit for everybody interested in memorabilia items from Soviet times, or for those looking for tangible traces of the military past of Jüterbog. The location is easy to reach by car, with a convenient internal parking. The address is Niedergörsdorfer Allee 4, 14913 Niedergörsdorf, Germany.

An updated official website with opening times is apparently not available. However, Mr. Helmut Stark, the owner of the place, may be contacted beforehand (in German only) to inquire about opening times and plan a visit – try Googling his name and that of the site for updated contacts. The place is regularly open at least in the weekends in the warm season. A visit to this site will be likely with Mr. Stark following you and giving explanations in German. This will take about 45 minutes.

Granit Bunker and Hangars in Jüterbog/Altes Lager

Some views of the Altes Lager airbase are provided in this chapter, and some aerial views can be seen here. The huge, flat-top hangars date from the Third Reich era, and similarly the control tower with its annexes. Some of the hangars were reportedly dismounted by the Soviets and taken to the Soviet Union soon after the end of WWII.

Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads

Besides all the aircraft shelters scattered all around the runway, a relevant and pretty secluded Soviet addition north of the airfield is a Soviet Granit-type bunker. This type of bunker was among the lightest in Soviet inventory, and could serve multiple purposes, e.g. storing movable radar trucks, tanks, other machinery, or weapons. Actually, its presence on an airfield may suggest the purpose of storing special air-dropped weapons, maybe tactical nuclear, high-explosive or chemical ordnance.

Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads

Bunkers of Granit-type are possibly the most frequent special constructions in former Soviet bases (see for instance here or here), but the one in Jüterbog is interesting since it is very well conserved, and its massive metal doors are still perfectly in place, providing a nice impression of how this technical item should have looked like in the days of operation.

Getting there and Visiting

The airport of Altes Lager is today pretty busy, with several companies having taken over much of its original premises now open for business. Multiple access points are available, and chances of looking inside the original installations are many. Given the still exceptional state of conservation of the Granit bunker, in order to protect this rare historical artifact from the impressive hordes of catatonic idiot spoilers and writers out there, no indication is provided on its exact location.

Military Hospital

Among the buildings now shrouded by the overgrown vegetation in the area between Jüterbog/Altes Lager airfield and the town of Jüterbog is a sizable military hospital. Totally invisible from the road, the hospital is basically made of a single, building featuring three long interconnected rows.

It is made of the typical German dark-red brick, a design which is way too elegant for Soviet occupants. The arrangement of the facade and the nice railings suggest a construction date from the years of the Kaiser and the German Empire, maybe early 20th century.

Jüterbog Niedergorsdorf Altes Lager – Abandoned Military Hospital – Soviet Relic

However, the years of Soviet use are witnessed by a big mural, portraying Lenin with some Soviet soldiers in the background, with a black and yellow striped ribbon and a red star, emblems of the Red Army.

Jüterbog Niedergorsdorf Altes Lager – Abandoned Military Hospital – Soviet Relic

To the more careful eye, a few graffiti in Russian can be found here and there, with a date as usual.

Jüterbog Niedergorsdorf Altes Lager – Abandoned Military Hospital – Soviet Relic

The aura is very silent and mysterious, and as such, this location is a mecca for urban explorers. Actually, the only noise came from a fast spinning ventilation fan in a window frame! This was pushed by an air stream however, not likely by a motor…

Jüterbog Niedergorsdorf Altes Lager – Abandoned Military Hospital – Soviet Relic

Some more buildings complete this complex, and original GDR-style lamps can still be seen around – the tall trees now surrounding the building were likely not in place when the hospital was closed, presumably in the early 1990s.

Jüterbog Niedergorsdorf Altes Lager – Abandoned Military Hospital – Soviet Relic

Getting there and Moving around

Not difficult to find in the trees between Jüterbog and the airfield of Altes Lager, there is no clear interdiction sign to access this complex from behind, yet vibration sensors planted in the ground can be spotted around, and some security cars can be seen sometimes parked on the main road. A walk around the hospital is not especially dangerous nor difficult, and may take about 25 minutes taking all the pictures. The building is architecturally nice and possibly listed. Yet it is in partial disrepair and largely sealed, and getting in is obviously not advisable.

Soviet Cemetery

The only relic of the years of Soviet occupation which is immediately visible to the general public in Jüterbog is the Soviet military cemetery. This is located to the back of the Liebfrauenkirche, in the historical center of Jüterbog.

Actually, a monumental part, with railings embellished with hammer and sickle emblems and a monument with writings in German and Russian to the back, is detached from the church yard.

Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof

However, possibly in later times, the limited space available in the lot originally planned for the monument meant some graves were dug right in the church graveyard, side by side – but not mixed – with German graves.

Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof

Getting there and Visiting

The exact address is Am Dammtor, 14913 Jüterbog, Germany. The place is well-kept, being part of the historical city center of Jüterbog. Parking opportunities all around on the street. A visit may take 10 minutes.

Railway Yard, School and Command Building

The town of Jüterbog acted as a ‘local capital’ for the many Soviet troops and their families scattered in the corresponding district. The hospital (see above) was not the only large installation in place. A district school was also installed, which served not only the very town of Jüterbog – with a Russian-speaking population of more than 70.000, greater than the German nationals – but also the residing Soviet population of smaller technical installations in the area. A notable example is the impressive nuclear depot in Stolzenhain (see here), where a dedicated staff and their families occupied four residential blocks now gone. Their children reportedly attended school in Jüterbog.

The school is today largely abandoned, and a quick tour around reveals typical Soviet decorations in the large sporting hall.

Jüterbog Soviet School Abandoned Cold War Relic

The school building is geographically close to the railway station. The latter had a passenger terminal dedicated to the Soviet population, which was completely segregated from the German one.

Furthermore, the railway in Jüterbog had also a primary logistic function, connected with the military activities going on in the area. Besides transporting tanks, vehicles and other material, also nuclear warheads arrived by rail from Belarus or Ukraine (both in the USSR at the time), for storage in the Stolzenhain Monolith-type bunkers (see here). A special railway track with a dead end in the trees featured a special interchange platform, allowing to move the sensitive warheads in their controlled canisters to trucks, and by road to Stolzenhain – usually at night. Since warheads were also sent back for maintenance or overhaul, the transport operated also in the opposite direction.

Jüterbog Railway Track Station

Very close to the railway station and the school is also a large grassy area, surrounded by a nice, old-style metal fence. This area is that of an older training ground, dating to the years of the Kaiser. A command building, now in disrepair, betrays the same origin, featuring decorations in a typical old-German style.

Jüterbog Command Building Abandoned Relic

Getting there and Moving around

The school can be found in Jüterbog here. Cross the street from the school, the old training grounds and command building are immediately spotted. Walking north past the command building, you get access to a pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks, with a nice view of the station. An exploration of the railway tracks has to be considered extremely dangerous, since the railway line there is today a high-speed one, with bullet-fast trains appearing in just seconds. A walk around this spot in Jüterbog may take 15 minutes. Parking opportunities ahead of the command building.

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Soviet ‘Monolith’ Nuclear Bunkers in Poland – Survivors & Ghosts

November 18, 2020November 19, 2020 CarloR1 Comment

Since the beginning caught in the storm of WWII, Poland saw its border changed again in 1945 by the Western Allies and the USSR – the lack of natural borders meant that fate for this Country several times over the centuries. Furthermore, as a massive flow of Soviet forces had been pivotal in repelling Hitler’s forces, similar to other nations sharing a border with the USSR, Poland found itself deep in the sphere of influence of Stalin’s Soviet Union. A communist dictatorship was installed starting 1945, due to last until the end of communism in Europe in 1989.

As a matter of fact, Poland turned out to be by far the most populated and largest of Eastern Bloc countries. Strategically placed in the middle between the USSR and free Western Europe, with a wide section of the Baltic shoreline and a huge, mostly flat territory, similar to the German Democratic Republic nearby, Poland was the theater of a significant militarization effort by the Soviets. Not only the Polish army received Soviet war material in large stocks over the full span of the Cold War, but the Red Army also actually had significant assets scattered over Polish territory – its huge Northern Group of Forces being stationed there, with tanks, aircraft, dedicated bases, firing ranges, as well as several tens of thousand troops and their families, making for a kind of military colony of the USSR.

What is possibly less known is that also Soviet nuclear weapons were stationed in some satellites of the USSR, like the GDR (see this and this chapters, for instance), Hungary (see this chapter), and of course Poland.

Some elements of the global picture have been introduced in another chapter, dealing among other things with a Basalt-type bunker built for storing air-launched nuclear systems, on the premises of the Soviet airbase of Wiechlice (Szprotawa). Yet as can be argued from the general map of of nuclear depots known to Western intelligence, dating from 1979 (‘Warsaw Pact Forces Opposite NATO’, Vol.I-II, CREST record number 0005517771, declassified and released in 2010, here), there were also three major depots of the Monolith-type in Poland. Similar to Stolzenhain and Lychen in the former GDR (see this post), these depots were larger, multi-chamber storage facilities, intended to store primarily missile warheads for longer periods, for instance to complement the SCUD launch system for theater missiles.

The uniqueness of Poland in the panorama of Cold War archaeology lies in a generally positive attitude towards preserving some traces of this dramatic piece of recent history, when the map of Europe was markedly different from now, and the western world found itself multiple times on the verge of a nuclear confrontation, to be fought on the very territory of now wealthy Core Europe. As a result, an impressive number of war museums putting on display military stuff from all the 20th century can be found scattered over the broad territory of today’s Poland.

Even more important, a certain number of former Soviet military installations are being either actively preserved, or at least not condemned through demolition works or re-assignment to improbable new uses. This is despite a totally justified negative attitude towards the Soviet occupation forces and communist dictatorship. This attitude marks an unusual difference between the cultural attitude of the fierce Polish people towards recent military history and Soviet occupation, with respect for instance to Germany or Hungary, where the comprehensible dislike for the Soviets has taken a shape in leaving behind – i.e. more or less demolishing – every trace of a Soviet military presence, and especially in the former, reducing military museums to a minimum.

Among the most prominent Cold War relics you can find in Poland are the three Monolith-type nuclear warhead bunkers mentioned above. One of them – the Podborsko site – has been restored with 90% original material, and makes for a world-class, top-tier museum in the panorama of Cold War military history. The other two, Brzeznica-Kolonia and Templewo, have been left to nature and have now become ‘Soviet ghosts’, but they are advertised with panels, providing some info, and while access is not encouraged, a quick look inside the bunkers, as well as freely walking in the former premises of these bases, is of course possible.

This post covers these three Monolith-type sites, with a focus on the unique preserved Podborsko site, which needs to be on the shortlist of everyone with an interest in Cold War technology, as well as in the history of the nuclear stockpile. All sites were visited, and all photographs taken, on a trip to western Poland in summer 2020.

Navigate this post – click on links to scroll

Podborsko – Objekt 3001
Brzeznica-Kolonia – Objekt 3002
Templewo – Objekt 3003

Sights

All three sites are in northwestern Poland. GPS coordinates are provided in the respective sections. Despite being not too much afar from each other, due the relatively slow connection roads in the area, visiting all three places in one day is not possible. Furthermore, the area is quite dense in both general interest and Cold War related destinations, so I would advise planning a trip to this region of Poland and listing these sites among other destinations.

Podborsko Site – Objekt 3001

A good specimen of a Monolith site, Podborsko – or Objekt 3001, as per the official military listing of the Cold War years – was centered on two large half-interred bunker, each with two big side-wards opening tight doors at ground level, providing access to the interior with the trolleys used to move the nuclear warheads from the transport trucks to the cellars.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

For an increased protection in case of an attack to the site – likely listed among targets of strategic value by Western Countries – a second tight door was put immediately next to the external one, creating a tight, blast resisting and insulated airlock between the interior of the bunker and the outside world.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Both doors to the two ends of the airlock can be – and are – opened via a manual crank system. Two men are needed to actually move the doors however – they are really heavy! A servo-assisted system was in place originally.

An interesting detail is the original sensor for the door status, part of a security system of the base.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Similar to their US counterparts, the Soviets took the problem of security of the nuclear arsenal pretty seriously. Each door on the path followed by the warhead from the outside to the cellar, including the airlock doors as well as the cellar doors inside the bunker, were associated to a trigger. When the corresponding door was opened, the trigger sent a signal via a dedicated cable link to the headquarters of a dedicated branch of the Red Army offices in Moscow, Russia, which was kept constantly updated on the status of each critical door in the depot. The link was via purpose-designed vacuum-protected cables – the actual wiring ran along a vacuum manifold, so that in case of the cable was bitten and the vacuum manifold collapsed, an emergency signal was immediately sent to the nearest nodes of the network, allowing surveillance staff to intervene promptly.

The opening of and closing procedure of the airlock doors involved communication with a post in Moscow too, which started with the local guards communicating their intention to open the doors via a system housed in a blue cabinet besides the tight door. As the signal traveled from the bunker to the headquarters and back, the opening of an airlock was not a quick operation! Original writings in pencil can still be found in the cabinet.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Past the airlock, you land on an elevated concrete platform. From here the warheads were moved to the underground floor via a mechanical crane. This is still standing today, with limit indications in Russian.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

From the platform you get an excellent lookout of the bunker structure. You can see a twin suspended platform to the opposite end of the underground floor, with a tight door shut closed. Along the long sides of the main hall, on the underground level you see several doors. On the right hand side, big sliding doors painted in white give access to the cellars, where the warheads spent most of their time in rest. On the opposite side are smaller man-sized doors, giving access to the technical area, with provision for the men of the permanent bunker watch.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The stairs leading downstairs are among the few complements to the original structure – they have been put in place to ease visiting. Originally, the underground floor could be reached from the suspended platform only via a lateral manhole with a vertical metal latter.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The warheads are long gone today – the site was built in the late 1960s, and was emptied of its strategically relevant content in the late 1980s, to be finally ceded back to the Polish government after the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Europe. The cellars today are mainly empty, and used to showcase interesting items related to the site.

First, you can see a scale model of the entire site. In Soviet times, the place was a full scale military base. It included a separated area with living facilities for the troops and their families, who ran the base with both technical and surveillance tasks. Today, this area has been taken over by the government, and used as a prison – Podborsko is rather secluded and far from populated areas on the Baltic coast. Furthermore, as said there used to be two twin bunkers. Today only one has been restored, whereas the other is sealed and waiting for reuse. Between the sectors of the base multiple fences with barbed wire, concrete walls, foxholes and other deterring/defense devices and systems were in place, making the innermost part of the base with the bunkers rather inaccessible.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

An original armored cabinet from the time of operation is still in the corner of a cellar, its original use is uncertain.

In another cellar you can find everyday items and relics from Soviet presence in the area. These range from toothpaste to children’s toys. Also more military-related items, like cartridge boxes and even original Soviet military dog tags have been found scattered over the area!

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

You can also find weapons, a scheme of the base in Russian, anti-radiation suits, and parts of the body, control and guidance systems of a Soviet SCUD theater missile – the corresponding warheads being the main business in Podborsko. There is also a copy of the plan of an attack scenario for Western Europe, showing some targets on the respective sides of the Iron Curtain.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

One of the cellars has been left empty, with a mock-up of a warhead, resting on one of the original trolleys. This is particularly evoking, despite being just one out of the high number of warheads usually stored in a cellar. The actual number of warheads residing in each Soviet storage over the years is still today not totally clear. However, reportedly former Soviet staff support there was in a single Monolith bunker in Poland enough nuclear material for the whole attack plan over Europe, meaning a number of several tens warheads per site.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The trolley is original as said, and it shows the function of the slots on the ground of each cellar, which allowed anchoring the trolley firmly in position. This was possibly needed also in the extreme case of a blast hitting the bunker, so as to avoid any unwanted displacement of the trolleys.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

A fourth cellar displays a set of panels, outlining the history of the Cold War.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

As said, the security triggers telling the status of the door can be found close also to each of the sliding doors of the cellars.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Before moving to the technical area on the other side of the bunker, a look to the central hall reveals a number of original material. In particular, you can find an interesting set of instruments, handles and gauges packed together in a metal cabinet. Their function was that of monitoring the state of each warhead. Nuclear material needs to be stored in precise conservation conditions, so warheads were kept in dedicated cases. These were inspected regularly by connecting them to the monitoring system and recording the corresponding gauge readings. Traces of the positioning markers for an inspected trolley can be found close to the cabinet, painted on the ground.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Another conspicuous sight in the main hall is the heating system, needed to keep the inside atmosphere at a constant assigned temperature and humidity level, to guarantee the health of nuclear material. A big array of heat exchangers takes the top part of a side wall in the main hall.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The technical part is made of two main parts, and is accessible on the long side of the hall opposite to the cellars. One part is made of a blind sequence of three narrow compartments. Here you can find a case for manipulating dangerous chemicals, with protection gloves once protruding inside. Nearby, a sink and some cabinets recall a medical room.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

This area was designed to manipulate and check the triggers of nuclear weapons in use at the time of construction of the Monolith bunkers (late 1960s). These made use of reactive materials, thus requiring some precautions and a complex maintenance procedure. They were phased out soon after the construction of the site though, so this part of the bunker was basically unused since that time. A tight door connects this area to the main hall.

The second part of the technical area is arranged along a U-shaped corridor, starting and ending in the main hall. Similar to the previous technical part, a small sealed door connects the corridor to the main hall.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The first technical rooms you meet are related to climate control.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Next you find a big water tank. Close by there is a single toilet. This was reportedly seldom used, as drainage did not work properly due to the underground placement. Watchmen during their shifts in the bunker went out for their physiological needs.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Going in and out for pedestrians was made possible through a man-sized airlock. This is perfectly preserved in Podborsko, similar to the passage leading up, by means of very steep metal ladders.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Another interesting sight in the technical area is the air filtering room, which is close to the small living area for the watch staff. In case of an attack to the facility, making the area poisonous possibly also due to fallout, this huge filtering system allowed the troops inside to survive for some time.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The electric control room is in almost mint condition. Only the major connections to the external power lines – not there any more – have been cut. Same electric connections still bear their original hand written identifiers!

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

An original – and rare – handbook with some illustration of standard trolleys is among the artifacts to be found in this incredible exhibition.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Concluding the technical part, a massive Diesel power generator, with its ancillary air pumping and exhaust expulsion systems, is still there in a rather good state.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Back outside, the Podborsko site features also a Granit-type bunker, perfectly preserved with its metal doors – seldom found elsewhere. Granit bunkers were much softer in construction than the Monolith-type, and they might be used for storing assembled missiles, command posts and more. The one in Podborsko is another Soviet mystery – it is hard to tell to what purpose it was built, probably in the late 1970s-early 1980s.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

The second bunker, very similar inside to the main one, is sealed and waiting for restoration. You can walk the exterior, where some remains of the truck loading/unloading platforms can be found. Traces of a fence line can be seen to the back.

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Getting there and moving around

The Podborsko site is a branch of the ‘Muzeum Oreza Polskiego w Kolobrzegu’, called ‘Cold War Museum Podborsko 3001’ (‘Muzeum Zimnej Wojny Podborsko 3001’ in Polish). The town of Kolobrzeg is on the Baltic coast, roughly a one hour drive from this bunker, and hosts other branches of this nice museum (a tank and artillery collection, a marine branch,…). The dedicated website of Podborsko is here, to be Google-translated from Polish. The Podborsko site is open on a regular basis at least in summer, and also by appointment. I guess the visit may take about 1 hour once on site.

My visit was a special one though, as I had the chance to join in for a special thorough visit of the site, prepared for Dr. Reiner Helling, a nuclear scientist from Germany, and one of the most knowledgeable historians in the field of Soviet military presence and nuclear assets in Europe. Dr. Helling extended the invitation to me, so I had the unique chance to take a private, tour with the local curators of the branch, Mr. Mieczysław Żuk and Mr. Pawel Urbaniak. We spent some hours touring the site inside and out – special thanks to all three for an unforgettable experience!

Podborsko Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War Museum

Getting to the bunker is easy by car. Driving will be along an original Soviet service road, which can be faced with a regular city car. You may park once on the spot once there.

Brzeznica Kolonia – Objekt 3002

The site in Brzeznica Kolonia can be found close to the former Soviet village of Klomino – pretty famous in its heyday among the urbex community – and in the vicinity of the airport of Nadarzyce, still active today.

The site has been largely wiped out, but the bunkers and a little more hardware survive, in a ghost condition. However, the site is advertised with some explanatory panels, and it is also quite popular among the locals, which come here to take a couple of pics in a weird scenery.

One of the most portrayed items on the premises of this site is the Granit bunker, which is today lacking its original metal door. Similar to Podborsko, this ‘soft’ bunker was added at a later stage, and its function is to be guessed. Interestingly, some painted stripes can be found on the pavement, possibly marking the position of some trailer or gear.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Similar to Podborsko, the two major Monolith bunkers are arranged with their respective axes crossed. The eastern one can be accessed from its southern door pretty easily. Inside, it reveals its similarity with Podborsko, except for having being spoiled of any metal part – from the doors to the heat exchangers – and having hosted a wildfire or similar, as can be guessed from the sooth on the walls and ceiling.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Getting to the underground level from the suspended platform is not safe if you are going alone, like me, as the original metal ladders have been taken away. However, hard spoiling has to be expected also in the technical rooms.

Walking on top of the bunker, you find traces of the man-sized side entrance, completely interred.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Ahead of the bunker and to the back, traces of the loading/unloading platforms for trucks can be still recognized.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

The westernmost bunker is easy to access from the eastern gate. Inside, it has been spoiled of any metal, similar to its twin brother. It is in a generally better shape though, without sooth on the inside walls.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

In both bunkers, traces of original painting can be found.

In between the two bunkers, a number of smaller buildings are still to be found, including – apparently – a water tank, and some sentry boxes.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Also, more than in Podborsko you can appreciate a network of foxholes, which despite fading in nature, can be clearly noticed departing from the main roads once crossing this military installation.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Back to Nadarzyce nearby, you can get access to the former ghost town of Klomino. The majority of the original Soviet blocks have been wiped out, but most incredibly some of them have been restored and are today inhabited. This, and the very bad access road, make this place worth a visit only for completing the tour of this once big Soviet installation, without adding much. There is really not much left to see in Klomino.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Getting there and moving around

As said, the bunkers are pretty popular among the locals, who go there by mountain bike or car. The site can be accessed via an unpaved service road, totally safe also for a standard car, taking south from Nadarzyce. The parking point is here 53°25’51.0″N 16°34’43.6″E. There are also some picnic tables, an explanatory panel and some warning signs.

Brzeznica Kolonia Klomino Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Templewo – Objekt 3003

Similar to Brzeznica Kolonia, the Templewo site has been largely reclaimed, and is now partly preserved as an unusual spot in the wilderness. The base has completely gone, but the the monolith bunkers are still there.

They can be found following an original Soviet paved road.

Templewo Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Both Monolith-type bunkers can be accessed with little difficulty, despite the gates having being mostly interred, like for Objekt 3002.

Templewo Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

With respect to the latter, they appear in a generally better shape, albeit stripped of any metal hardware. Again, going down to the underground level is not recommendable if you are exploring alone, as there are no ladders from the suspended platform.

Templewo Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Taking a detour from the Monolith bunker area reveals an extensive network of trenches and foxholes, with abundant traces of – dangerous – barbed wire.

Templewo Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Finally, a single Granit-type bunker, added to the site at some point similarly to Podborsko and Brzeznica Kolonia, has been completely taken away. Only the side embankments can be seen today, wet and with a slimy puddle in between.

Templewo Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bunker Warhead WMD Monolith Depot Poland Cold War

Getting there and moving around

The site can be reached by car, shortly north of the road connecting Trzemeszno Lubuskie to Wielowies. A parking area, part of the former base, is here 52°25’16.2″N 15°19’10.6″E. No special car needed, you can drive the original Soviet service road with a standard city car. From the parking, you may move north for a very short walk. You will soon find mild warning signs concerning the bunkers.

The area is located next to a huge military proving ground, so loud bangs might be heard quite easily, and you will see signs telling not to go south with respect to the access road to the former nuclear installation. However, the bunkers themselves are out of the danger area, and totally open and accessible.

The Red Army in Hungary – Airbases, Bunkers and Ghost Towns

October 5, 2020September 22, 2023 CarloRLeave a comment

Similar to other satellite countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and the former German Democratic Republic, for decades after WWII Hungary was under the strong influence and de facto military control of the Soviet Union. As a result of the anti-communist revolution of 1956, when the Soviet nearly lost control of the country for a while, a massive Soviet force was stationed in Hungary to prevent further turmoil – the so-called Southern Group of Forces – acting in parallel with the local Hungarian Army, although in a coordinated fashion.

This was reflected by the turning of several existing airfields and training grounds from older times into modern Soviet bases. Their premises, and the territories around them, were completely severed from the rest of the Country, leaving the Soviet forces with a great freedom of action concerning the deployment of unspecified numbers of troops, tanks, aircraft, communication gear, and even nuclear warheads. Furthermore, the families of the Soviet troops stationed in the Country were hosted in dedicated purpose built – or purpose converted, pre-existing – villages.

All this left traces of course, and after the end of communism in Europe, and later the collapse of the USSR, the majority of these installations were either abandoned or converted to some other use. Abandoned – i.e. not converted – Soviet bases and installations in Hungary were pretty many. Today, many of them are being demolished, or are still standing, but severely damaged after years of disrepair. Actually, the best preserved installations are those waiting for conversion or for some yet-to-be-defined destiny, and currently under custody of private owners or the state.

This post is about some of these installations, and it focuses especially – but not exclusively – on storage bunkers for nuclear warheads. Besides being especially appealing to mystery-hunters and urbex explorers, such places are an interesting testimony of the serious attitude of the Soviets towards a war in the European theater. This was considered a likely event in many instances over the decades of the Cold War, from the 1950s to the years of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. The money spent over the years by the Soviet Union to build up a dedicated military infrastructure, and the deployment of tactical warheads close to the designated targets in western Europe to prepare for such scenario, show that the USSR did not think of fighting a nuclear-based final battle just as a mere theoretical exercise.

Photographs were taken in August 2020.

Sights

Based on a CIA report dating from 1979 (‘Warsaw Pact Forces Opposite NATO’, Vol.I-II, CREST record number 0005517771, declassified and released in 2010, check it out here), there used to be a small yet significant number of bunkers for the storage of the Soviet nuclear stockpile in Hungary. The following map, taken from this report, shows their approximate location and type.

Soviet Nuclear Bunkers Hungary CIA 1979 Report

Despite a clear correspondence of each symbol with a Soviet bunker construction type is not readily available, it is possible to reconstruct the information as follows.

The only solid triangle corresponds to a Monolith-type storage bunker, the largest and most sophisticated type of storage in the Soviet standard inventory, made for long-term storage of nuclear warheads. This site is located close to the village of Urkut, in the middle of an extended region, once the largest part of Hungary managed exclusively by the Soviet military. In this area you can find also the headquarters of the Soviet forces in Hungary, the Southern Group of Forces, located in the small village of Hajmasker, as well as the airbase of Veszprem, with an annexed village with housing for military staff and their families.

Monolith-type bunkers were seldom built on the premises of airbases or other military bases. They were prepared mostly in secluded area, shrouded in the vegetation, so as to avoid any unwanted attention as much as possible. They would store high-yield warheads for theater missiles (e.g. SCUD missiles). Urkut is no exception, as there are no airfields close to it. It is shrouded in the vegetation, and far from any village of significant size.

Back to the map, round dots represent Basalt-type storage bunkers, which are most commonly to be found close to airfields. This type of bunker is significantly large, and capable to store air-dropped/launched tactical weapons with nuclear warheads. Two sites are shown on the map, of which only the one on the premises of the former airbase of Kunmadaras could be located.

Finally, the squares correspond to Granit-type storage bunkers. These were of much lighter construction with respect to Monolith and Bazalt, and their purpose could be that of hiding either missile launchers of various size, or command/communication posts. Much has to be guessed about the actual function they had in all places where they were built. In Hungary, three such bunkers are reported on the map, of which the easternmost is on the still active airport of Debrecen, the westernmost is on the small local airport of Heviz (formerly Sarmellek), and the latter is presumably on Tokol, a major airbase in the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary capital city.

In the following you can find some pictures from the storage sites of Urkut, Kunmadaras and Sarmellek, plus pictures from the Soviet bases of Veszprem, Tokol and Kalocsa, and from the former Soviet headquarters in Hajmasker.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

Urkut Monolith-Type Nuclear Storage Site
Soviet Headquarters at Hajmasker Castle
Veszprem Abandoned Airbase & Ghost Town
Tokol Airbase
Basalt-Type Nuclear Storage on Kunmadaras Airbase
Kalocsa Airfield & Anti-Aircraft Defense Area
Heviz Airport (formerly Sarmellek Airbase) and Granit-Type Bunker

Urkut Monolith-Type Nuclear Storage Site

The Urkut site is also familiarly known as ‘little Moscow’, due to the fact that this site hosted also a very small, perfectly Soviet-style quarter for the troops working on the base, or being trained in the local training center. The site is in a wide and pleasant valley with a north-south alignment. There used to be two access roads which today take from the main (and only) road running along the mostly uninhabited valley, connecting Urkut (to the north) and Nagyvazsony (to the south). The two access roads take you to the main gates, placed to the north and south ends of the complex.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Similar to other nuclear sites based on the Monolith-type bunker model (see for instance this post for an accurate pictorial description of another one), security was clearly a major concern. Still today, walking in the trees and approaching the base without going the official access roads, you will meet four external fences.

The outer one is made of concrete posts and barbed wire, but today this is mostly gone – which makes it practically more dangerous, as the few remnants of suspended barbed wire are barely visible, and much leftovers are partly hidden by the abundant low-growing vegetation.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Next you will come to a concrete wall made of prefabricated slabs, with traces of barbed wire on top. This is still today basically impenetrable.

Once in, you will find two further lines of barbed wire, suspended on concrete posts. This double fence of barbed wire is still in very good shape, and creates a watch corridor.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Inside the perimeter, you can spot a network of trenches and foxholes.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

In Urkut, the training grounds and bunkers are close to the northern gate, whereas to the south you can find the former living quarters for the troops. A prominent training hangar can be found in the northern part of the base.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Inside, a perfectly conserved mural with the heads of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and Moscow’s Kremlin in the background, is still hanging on top of the main gate.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Along the hangar, a corridor with classrooms clearly shows the intended function of the building.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Not far north from this major attraction, you soon meet a smaller technical building, and the southern Monolith bunker close by. Bases centered on the Monolith type typically had two independent twin bunkers built onsite, usually with their axes tilted by 90 degrees, so as to minimize the chance of a single bomb effectively striking both bunkers. This is not the case in Urkut though, as both bunkers are built along an East-West direction. Urkut is different from other Monolith sites also for having been built on the slope of a hill, so connection roads are never flat.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

The warheads reached the bunker by truck. A covered loading/unloading platform can be found on both opposite entrances to the bunker. For the southern bunker, you can see in the pictures the platform is still in very good conditions, with colored signs on the pavement for facilitating movements. Even the lamps are still there!

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

The main access to the bunker was via an airlock, with two gigantic square-shaped blast-proof doors on each side. In this pictures you are seeing the western access to the southern bunker.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

The innermost part of the Urkut bunkers is inaccessible, as the inner doors of the airlocks are shut. Yet it is possible to get access to the airlocks. For the southern bunker, going to the eastern access you find a covered platform similar to the western one, yet here the roof has partly collapsed.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

You may open the outer door of the airlock, and get access. Here you can see writing in Russian. The state of conservation is generally speaking extremely good.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

On one side of the eastern loading platform, you can see a standard Soviet military transportable trailer, maybe a local operation control center.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

In order to get to the northern bunker you need to climb uphill, crossing some further inner fences – it was typical to Soviet bases having multiple fences inside military bases, separating parts with different functions and levels of security.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

While loading platforms of the southern bunker are tilted by 90 degrees with respect to the axis of the bunker, for the northern bunker they are aligned along the same direction.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

The eastern access to the northern bunker features is fairly well conserved. Also here, it is possible to access the airlock, but the inner gate is sealed.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

On top of the northern bunker, you can find the ‘pedestrian access’ to the underground cellar. The gates used to carry the warheads in and out were usually kept closed, and the troops or technicians staying inside the bunker, which had provision for a few men overlooking the sensitive ordnance 24/7 in shifts, could enter and leave the bunker via a more modestly sized hatch. This could be reached from the top of the bunker, descending very steep stairs to the level of the bottom of the internal chamber. There you had an airlock, with tight doors the size of a man. These are closed in Urkut, but you can see the external tight door in its original yellow coating with conspicuous writing in Russian.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

The soft construction protecting the access to the stairs is today severely damaged.

Finally, the western entrance to the northern bunker is very similar in shape to the eastern one. The northern gate of the complex is not far from here.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

Also here, the airlock can be accessed, but the bunker cannot be entered.

Urkut Soviet Abandoned Central Nuclear Warhead Storage Monolith Cold War Base Hungary

All in all, the Urkut site is in an exceptionally good condition in the panorama of Soviet remains. A conversion into a museum would be highly desirable, and would require a very little effort. The fact that the bunkers are closed clearly suggests the inside was not touched, so maybe only basic renovation would be required to make the place a top-notch attraction for Cold War history enthusiasts.

Getting there & Moving around

The site is either on private land or state-owned. In any case, it is not officially accessible. The access roads are guarded, with people (and watchdogs) living on site. Car access on the access road is not allowed either. Walking on the site you may find several vibration sensors with cable connections likely to the booths close to the main access. For these reasons, further indications on access will not be provided.

Soviet Headquarters at Hajmasker Castle

Similar to Wünsdorf in Germany (see this post), Hajmasker Castle was built just before WWI, the focal point of a large military settlement of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During WWII, it was used as a military command center, and as a local headquarter of the German Army in the latest stages of WWII, when the willingness of a part of the Hungarian establishment to put a quick end to the war by negotiating a peace treaty with the Western Allies caused the Germans to take direct control of that war theater.

After the defeat in WWII and the Soviet invasion, since 1945 the castle hosted the headquarters of the Soviet military in Hungary – just like Wünsdorf in the German Democratic Republic. Again in a totally similar fashion, the symbolic end of Soviet dominance in Hungary was marked by the last train for the Soviet staff leaving Hajmasker for the USSR in 1990.

As said, the castle is what remains of a larger military village. The building is really sizable, with a characteristic prominent tower on the front facade.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

Walking around the castle you can find a theater hall opposite the tower.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

The walls are pierced, so you can see inside, without getting access to the hall, which appears really one step away from collapse. To the back of the castle you can find traces of a large apron for military use, and direct access to the railway nearby.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

Back to the tower, the original gate is not made for large vehicles, and the gracious artistic style of the construction clearly suggests a pre-Soviet design.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

Climbing upstairs, you meet long corridors with traces of the offices of the top-ranking men from the Soviet military. Hajmasker is strategically located close to the region where the Urkut site is (see above), and where the former base of Veszprem is also located. The place is less than one hour from Budapest.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

The view from the top floors of the building further reveals the size of the castle, together with the poor state of conservation.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

Ahead of the entrance, a Soviet-style apartment block can be found, still inhabited today. Smaller buildings are all around the castle, both modern or from the age of the castle. You can find also the flat building of a former canteen, clearly Soviet-designed and today abandoned.

Hajmasker Soviet Headquarters Hungary Veszprem

Getting there & Moving around

The place is located at the following GPS coordinates: 47.148319, 18.026145. The castle is formally off-limits, but it is totally abandoned and accessed by writers, creepy-ambience-lovers, as well as by the local population. You may park right ahead of the gate among the cars of those living in the local neighborhood. You will be spotted for sure when accessing, but nobody will likely interfere, as access is totally easy (no fences, no barbed wire,…), despite being formally prohibited. Enter at your own risk, as the building looks really rotting, with the roof partly collapsed, exposing wood and bricks as construction materials – considering their age, the high rise of the building and total disrepair over the last decades, this means high risk.

Veszprem Abandoned Airbase & Ghost Town

The old airfield in Veszprem acted as a major helicopter base during the Cold War, but style of the some of the older buildings betrays its 1930s origin as an airbase with annexed training academy. Of course, the Soviets enlarged its structure, and possibly as late as the 1980s they built massive housing in their typical poorly original style.

In the 1990s, with the change in the global strategic situation following the Soviet demise, the Hungarian government got rid of many military infrastructures, and Veszprem was on the list. Since then, the airport was turned into a short-lived base for commercial transport run by a private company, and as of 2020 it is at the center of a dispute, where the local municipalities are trying to get the land for other uses.

What you can see now reflects this state of things – trucks coming and going everywhere between the old buildings of the former airbase, with some demolition work being carried out and some gigantic commercial storage being built close by. The air-side of the airport appears basically dead, with no flights coming or going, not even small private aircraft operating around it. However, a control tower is still on site, so technically speaking the airport appears to be open for operations.

The place deserves a visit especially for getting a glimpse of the large structure of the maintenance hangars. From the outside, they can be spotted from a distance thanks to their tall curved rooftops.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

The hangars have been divided internally in smaller spaces at some point. Getting access is possible in some of them, by the sight is rather desolating since the roof has mostly collapsed, and vegetation is taking over wildly inside.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Towards the airport you can spot more technical buildings, surrounding a wide apron. These technical buildings are apparently from a later era. The metal doors of the big curved hangars are such that getting larger helicopters in and out would not be possible. Maybe they were actually sized for the smaller aircraft of WWII, and their use was somewhat changed in a later time.

Between the hangars and the runway, you can find an impressive number of smaller maintenance buildings and garages, likely for trucks.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

In some of them, a few signs in Russian can still be found.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Open air as well as indoor platforms for truck servicing are also there in a number.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Going even further towards the runway – and very close to it – you may find a light, partly wooden construction, with extensive remains of writings in Hungarian, including boards and stuff related to air operations. Here you see also some ‘modern’ writing in English. This is probably a kind o clubhouse of a local flying school from more recent years, likely the 1990s or later.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Looking at the satellite map of Veszprem airbase, you will notice a number of buildings put like spokes on a wheel. These were probably part of the original flight academy. These are today in a very bad shape, totally emptied and waiting for demolition. You can still appreciate the sober, yet stylish construction typical of the late 1930s, with some elements in common with Berlin Tempelhof (see this post).

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

‘Pravda’ paper was used for gluing the wallpaper in most Soviet bases, and Veszprem is no exception!

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Farther away from the runway, you can easily spot massive buildings from Soviet times, like those you could find in Pripyat (see this post), and almost in every larger city of the former USSR.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Further buildings feature a rather peculiar style, with stone decoration you would not expect in military buildings. The fantasy of such decoration is not in support of a Soviet make, so these buildings might be from an older era too.

Veszprem Abandoned Soviet Base Ghost Town Hungary

Getting there & Moving around

As said, this former airbase is technically an active airport, so the area of the runway is likely not safe to go. Yet the level of security is close to null, and you would likely be able to invade the air side before being stopped. However, no aircraft was spotted for the whole length of a multiple hour visit.

The older buildings, including the hangars, as well as the more modern housing from Soviet times, are in a really bad shape, and mostly dilapidated by looters and spoiled by writers. The more modern truck garages and the buildings closer to the runway are in a better shape.

Access by car from the south-western corner is not prohibited, so this may be a good way to get close to the buildings. Large parking opportunities, as the place is mostly unguarded and uninhabited. Just be sure not to interfere with local businesses. Even when spotting your car, the locals will not care about you (this was my case at least), so the place can be visited without much tension. However, for historians this place has not much left in store, and it may be visited mostly for the massive ensemble than for specific highlights.

Tokol Airbase

The former airbase in Tokol is today an active airport. The base used to be a major Soviet asset in the Cold War years, and home to a number of squadrons from the Soviet Air Force and the Soviet Army as well, operating everything ranging from helicopters up in size to transport aircraft. Its extensive premises have been divided, and the state is basically renting most of the hardware – including the former aircraft shelters and aprons – and land to a number of private enterprises, either connected with aviation or not.

The runway is still active for smaller general aviation aircraft, as you can see from the pictures. The place is really a suggestive scenario for pleasure flights, especially for history-fond pilots!

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

During our visit we had the chance to access some of the largest air shelters, built in the 1980s for aircraft the size of a MiG-29. There are at least five of them, along with more common and smaller ones.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Designed for the case of a scramble, these shelters allowed an aircraft to start its engines inside.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

To this aim, the back of the shelter is not closed, but it features a large exhaust deflector tunnel, bent towards the side of the hangar, with a metal door closing it when not in use.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

The front gate of the shelter is blast proof, an its thickness is actually really amazing!

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

The hangar we accesses shelters a couple of nice historic aircraft today. Traces of writings in Russian are a testimony of the previous owners.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Several abandoned buildings, including a rather large one with a small control tower, possibly from an older era – judging from the style similar to some German airfields from Hitler’s times (see this post).

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

One of the smaller shelters hosts another private enterprise, operating a unique airworthy Aero L-29 trainer from Soviet times. The same hangars offers a rich collection of Soviet signs on the walls.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Tokol features a number of older control towers – the reason is hard to guess…

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Climbing one of them, we could get a very good view of the western part of the airfield, with many shelters around. Rather unexpectedly, the tower features an official writing in Chinese – maybe for potential Chinese customers?

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Away from the runway, the airbase unfolds with a network of service roads and a number of buildings from Soviet times, today still in a very good shape, albeit shrouded by vegetation.

Tokol Budapest Abandoned Soviet Base Aircraft Shelter Hungary Cold War

Getting there & Moving around

Tokol is an active airport, fenced and guarded. Getting in is basically not possible, unless you have a valid reason to enter. We had the chance to get in thanks to the invitation of the owner of the historical Aero L-29 mentioned above, who is also the tenant of the corresponding old aircraft shelter.

Basalt-Type Nuclear Storage on Kunmadaras Airbase

Kunmadaras used to be a major Soviet attack base in Hungary. The place was base for Sukhoi Su-17, Su-24 and MiG-27. This clearly justifies the construction of a Bazalt type storage, for aircraft-dropped nuclear weapons.

As the base is home to some residual, non-military activity and consequently at least lightly guarded, it may be interesting to concentrate on the most unusual nuclear bunker, located in an isolated spot, some .75 miles north of the runway and far from the most active areas.

The road connecting the airport to the bunker, detached in a fashion similar to other Soviet bases (see here and here for more examples), is today completely invaded by vegetation, leaving only a narrow passage to get access to the wide apron where the bunker entrance is located.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

A loading platform for trucks can be spotted to the side of the shelter, ahead of the apron.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

The six pillars, once covered with a roof and holding a crane for loading operations, are still prominently in place.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

The entrance to the bunker is partly hidden by overgrown vegetation. The external curved tight door is gone, similar to the square shaped one deflecting side-ward and creating an airlock by the main entrance. Access is henceforth very easy.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

To the side of the entrance corridor, the technical rooms have been spoiled of any hardware, yet the original paint is still in place, as well as writing in Russian. The metal staircase leading to the rooms for the air conditioning plant on the upper floor has been taken away, making the upper level inaccessible. Air conditioning was pivotal in nuclear storage bunkers, due to the need to store the warheads in specific temperature and humidity conditions.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

Going further in, you finally get close to the gate of the storage chamber. The two halves of the massive curved tight door once closing the chamber have been taken from their posts and left on the ground. This provides a glimpse of the monster size of these blast-proof doors.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

The chamber has turned very humid, and is totally dark. With the help of a torchlight or a camera flash, you can see the walls are still largely covered in their original coat, with painted frames and numbers possibly marking the position of fire extinguishers.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

Electric line or pipeline holders painted in green can be found on one side. Also the pavement features a peculiar colored pattern, painted on a kind of linoleum, today covered in dust and dirt.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

The concrete wall to the back of the chamber has been torn down, and some stones and land have come into the chamber. Bazalt type bunkers had only one main gate to the front.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

Back out, to the north of the hangar, traces of the original barbed wire can be found in the impenetrable vegetation.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

Going north from the shelter, pointing away from the base, you can get a distant view of conspicuous housing for the troops and their families – today completely abandoned.

Kunmadras Abandoned Soviet Airbase Nuclear Atomic Warhead Bunker Bazalt Hungary Cold War

Getting there and Moving around

As said, the main gate east of the base is guarded, as private companies have taken over part of the premises. However, the nuclear bunker is located north of the airfield, at a safe distance from the former airbase and the businesses going on there today. You may reach close to the base by car along an unpaved road used by local farmers, going parallel to the northern side of the base, keeping about 1 mile from it. This is not suitable for city cars though, so maybe you can stop when you feel appropriate, and go by foot.

To access the bunker area from the road (i.e. from north), you need to go through a field of turn-flowers. My advice is to go along the side of the bunker area to the south of it, and taking the old connection road going from the base to the bunker pointing north – trying to penetrate the area directly from north is made extremely difficult, due to the incredibly dense vegetation.

The area of the bunker is totally abandoned, so you can take your time when visiting the place.

Kalocsa Airfield & Anti-Aircraft Defense Area

Kalocsa airfield, located just northwest of the homonym village famous for the paprika business, was used by the Soviets as a helicopter base. Today, this relatively small airfield is very active with smaller general aviation flights and flight school activities, henceforth it cannot be toured freely.

Kalocsa Abandoned Soviet Airbase Anti Aircraft Defense Missiles SAM Hungary Cold War

However, to the northwestern corner, you may easily access the area of a former SAM base, likely put here to defend the airfield from air raids. The area features a number of small almost-circular embankments, with concrete platform at the center. This is where the missile would stand. Looking closely, you may see the concrete ducts for cables and pipes connecting the control trailer to each missile.

Kalocsa Abandoned Soviet Airbase Anti Aircraft Defense Missiles SAM Hungary Cold War

The area of the embankments is connected to an abandoned command building via a narrow paved road. To the western side of the building, traces of a small monument can be found.

Kalocsa Abandoned Soviet Airbase Anti Aircraft Defense Missiles SAM Hungary Cold War

Just south of the command building, a hangar made in 1970 – as the sign clearly says – is today used as a stable.

Kalocsa Abandoned Soviet Airbase Anti Aircraft Defense Missiles SAM Hungary Cold War

Getting there & Moving around

Access to the northwestern corner of the airfield is easy moving by car along an unpaved road going along the western side of the airport, and accessible from a public road running south of it. The area of the missiles is formally on the airport, so you should be careful not to interfere with any activity. More importantly, you are likely on a farmer’s land, so enter at your own risk.

Heviz Airport (formerly Sarmellek Airbase) and Granit-Type Bunker

What is today a small civil airport, surrounded by an array of rotting buildings, used to be a prominent Soviet air base, reportedly operating even the MiG-29 type in its heyday.

Being an active commercial airport, access to the air-side is not possible. Yet the premises of today’s airport are more modest in size than those of the original airbase. As a result, you may get access to a part of the former airbase without interfering with airport operations.

Many local businesses have taken over most of the former shelters for fighter aircraft.

Heviz Airbase Hungary Soviet Abandoned Airport Atomic Nuclear Warhead Bunker Granit

Significant houses and garages, in the shabby pure-Soviet style, are now abandoned, and make for a creepy sight.

Heviz Airbase Hungary Soviet Abandoned Airport Atomic Nuclear Warhead Bunker Granit

Going along a former service road, taking south from the control tower, you end up in the land of a farmer. Where the road ends, you can easily spot beyond the fence marking the current perimeter of the airport, the entrance and the typical round shape of a Granit bunker. The original metal door typical to this type is missing, or maybe it was never installed.

Heviz Airbase Hungary Soviet Abandoned Airport Atomic Nuclear Warhead Bunker Granit

As said, Granit bunkers could be used for a variety of purposes, including storing command and control facilities, or as communication bunkers. The fact that the CIA listed this site as a nuclear depot may be also due to the fact that the Granit bunker made the place ‘nuclear-ready’.

Getting there & Moving around

As said, this is a commercial airport. The entrance to the former airbase gives access to the control tower as well as the small modern terminal area – a new building to the northeast of the runway. As said, the Granit bunker can be reached by taking the service road from the control tower to the south. This is surrounded by desolating dumps and half-demolished buildings. While technically out from the active airport area, you are still likely moving on private land, so enter at your own risk.

The Atlantic Wall in Denmark

December 1, 2019 CarloRLeave a comment

A pleasant country in northern Europe, Denmark is geographically surrounded by the North and Baltic seas, and shares its only land border with Germany. In the late 1930s, this meant having a very dangerous dictatorship as the only neighbor, and no possible direct help coming by land from other allies. Without natural defenses against and attack from the south, the Kingdom of Denmark was militarily occupied basically in one day, on April 9th, 1940. This happened through a joint operation carried out by the land, air and naval forces of Nazi Germany.

A quick historical overview

The interest of Germany in controlling Danish territory was mainly strategic. It served as a springboard to attack Norway further north. The latter was in itself more interesting to the economy of the Third Reich, as it was rich of natural resources, including raw materials not available in Germany. These were so needed by the Führer, who was dreaming of making Germany independent from international supply trade.

Furthermore, controlling both Denmark and Norway meant control over the eastern coast of the North Sea, and a chance to control the only access to the Baltic Sea. The USSR was not a declared enemy before 1941, but withdrawing from the mutual cooperation pact with Stalin – signed in a hurry just days before the invasion of Poland in September 1939 – at some point, and openly attacking Russia, had been in the mind of the Führer since he first put on paper his worrying geopolitical thoughts. By controlling the Baltic, Hitler could control sea trade to non-freezing ports of the USSR, which in 1940 had already taken over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in agreement with Germany.

As a matter of fact, the conquer of Norway was not without significant losses for Germany. This was also the result of Britain starting to militarily oppose Germany. The two countries had been already at war since September 1939, but without any serious confrontation having taken place for months.

Since then, the British – and later also the American – threat from the west had to be faced through the fortification of the western coast of the Third Reich, which by the end of the summer of 1940 extended roughly from the Pyrenees in southern France to Kirkenes in northern Norway. This highly visionary task was taken up very seriously by the German military-economic machine, and produced the ‘Atlantikwall’ – which translates pretty obviously into the ‘Atlantic Wall’. This long defensive line had to be built all along the coast, and was mainly based on a catalog of standardized reinforced concrete constructions, to be reproduced in great numbers. Construction was coordinated by the main contractor, the German ‘Organization Todt’, which made extensive use of subcontracted local companies in the various occupied states where construction had to take place.

Despite the majority of the elements in the line were reinforced barracks for troops watching the coastline, ammo and supply storages, command and communication bunkers, canteens, and other service buildings, there were of course also a number of heavier constructions. These included coastal gun batteries, to counter attacking ships, lighter gun batteries, to stop troops attempting a beach landing, aiming stations, to adjust the line of fire of gun batteries, anti-aircraft guns to defend the line from air attacks, and some technical buildings serving as bases for advanced radar systems. The latter were among the most useful and widespread items along the line, as German technology developed fast during the war, to produce powerful detection systems against air and sea menaces.

Needless to remember, similar to many pharaonic works conceived by the Führer and his entourage, the Atlantic Wall was never completed, and it failed to spare the Third Reich from total annihilation. The once-modern military installations along the western coast of Europe soon became obsolete, as war changed face at a quick pace following WWII, with new weapons and techniques. Furthermore, the front line of the new Cold War shifted geographically to the middle of Europe. A tangible sign of enemy occupation, the massive bunkers of the Atlantic Wall met different destinies depending on the country. However, albeit only rarely preserved, thanks to their bulkiness and sturdy make, they are in most cases still visible.

About this post

Being the first land along the western coast to fall under German control, work on the Atlantic Wall started in Denmark earlier than anywhere else. Today extensive traces of the line are still pointing the shores of the North Sea.

A few focal points are preserved as first-class museums. These include the strongholds of Hirtsthals and the huge battery at Hanstholm, in Northern Jutland. The latter had been designed around a cluster of four monster coastal guns, to the aim of controlling the passage through the Skagerrak channel, providing access to the Baltic Sea. A twin battery – Vara – was built to the north of the strait in Norway.

Closer to the German border, the area of Blavand – featuring also the famous ‘Tirpitz battery’ in its arsenal – is another example of a partly preserved portion of the line. Bangsbo fort in Frederikshaven has been partly refurbished and opened as a museum, after being used by the Danish military for a while. There you can find one of the few remaining examples of an Atlantic Wall installation with its original guns still in place.

Smaller strongholds, opened as smaller scale museums or left to more adventurous explorers, often feature unique special constructions, which justify a detour at least for more committed war historians. These include the Skagen battery, the disguised bunkers in Thyboron, and the complicated Stauning battery, built on two opposite coasts of a closed firth.

All these sites – and a few more – are covered in this post, which is based on photographs taken in August 2019. Denmark is officially protecting the installations of the Atlantic Wall as historical buildings – unlike France, for instance – so visiting even abandoned sites maybe rewarding, especially if they are out of the mainstream touristic routes. Unfortunately, many bunkers now closer to crowded touristic areas have been damaged by vandals.

Sights

Map

The sites covered in this post are listed on the following map. Sites opened as museums are pinpointed in red, wild sites are marked in blue.

The sites are listed in the post following the coastline of Jutland from its southwestern end.

Blavand – Shore Battery & Military Area

Located about 50 miles north of the German border along the coast of the North Sea, the small town of Blavand sits on a promontory protruding towards the sea, and protecting the access to the port town of Esbjerg – still today a major commercial port of Denmark.

The area of Blavand saw the construction of an incredible number of Atlantic Wall elements, which grew up in more instances during the war years.

Close by the parking ahead of the lighthouse on the very tip of the promontory, you can find trailheads leading to the southern and western shores of the promontory.

The southern shore makes for a typical North Sea landscape – an endless sand beach. What makes it different from others is the number of light bunkers placed along the shoreline. Despite little imposing, this model – type ‘F’ – was purpose built for the wide shores of Denmark in 1944, in view of a potential enemy beach landing. These firing positions were armed with machine guns, and placed at pre-determined intervals – about 1’500 ft – matching their accuracy range.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Many bunkers are slowly sinking in the sand, and only small parts of them can be seen emerging from the ground.

Others have been turned into strange sculptures, adding a horse head and tail.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Under favorable tide conditions, you may enter some of the bunkers. There you can appreciate their simple structure, with a defensive embrasure by the entrance (looking towards the coast) and loopholes to the sides of the firing chamber.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

On the beach close to the lighthouse you can find a very big bunker with a wide hollow cave on the inland side, which used to support a searchlight.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Along the western shore you can find more massive bunkers. These include four former coastal gun batteries. These heavier constructions have assumed strange attitudes, after sinking in the sand somewhat irregularly over the years.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Looking towards the inland from the beach, you can spot an aiming/fire control positions, with a distinctive bulbous roof and a long curved slot on the facade.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Your walk along the northern shore may be interrupted by safety warnings concerning mine threat. As a complement to the defensive potential of the Atlantic Wall, extensive minefields were set up on most of the Danish beaches. This turned into a big issue soon after WWII, when an extensive demining action had to be carried out.

Furthermore, part of the Blavand promontory is occupied by a military firing range. When training exercises are taking place, special warning lights are lit and flags are raised, to delimit the territory where you should not venture.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In the dunes slightly inland from the shoreline, it is possible to find another big number of bunkers. They are not always visible from the distance, and entrance is in most cases from one side only – the only side emerging from the sand.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A very distinctive item is the colossal platform for a ‘Mammut’ type long-range anti-aircraft radar. This used to be operated by the Luftwaffe, whereas other bunkers in Blavand – like elsewhere along the Atlantic Wall – used to be run by other branches of the Germany military.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The base for the radar is in itself a rather complex bunker, with several cavities and extensive piping, once needed for power cables feeding the antenna, as well as other wiring.

Close by, a smaller radar base bunker used to be operated by the German Navy. Also here, holes and passages for cables can be found in the walls and roof.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

It is noteworthy how many bunkers feature traces of original decorations, like painted walls, fake wallpaper, frescoes and small frieze lines. This is typical to many other installations of the Atlantic Wall.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Metal hardware can be found in the form of a bulky aiming turret emerging from a bunker.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In another instance, a mortar mouth pops out from the ground.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The underground bunker underneath the latter can be explored with some difficulty – there are also quite annoying bats inside -, but it reveals an aiming wheel with original markings in a reinforced concrete dome!

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

An interesting sight nearby the lighthouse is the tower once supporting a ‘See Riese’ radar. The protruding arms once sustained a wooden platform for military operators.

Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The area of Blavand is rather extensive and rich of diverse installations, so notwithstanding the general bad shape of most of the bunkers, visiting may easily take 3-4 hours for a committed tourist, getting inside most of the items. A good starting point is the free parking by the lighthouse, provided you come early especially in summer, cause it tends to get more and more crowded along the day.

Blavand – ‘Tirpitz’ Coastal Guns

Despite at least some of the bunkers on the shores of Blavand being in a relatively good shape, there is a part of the Atlantic Wall which is officially preserved as a museum. This is one of the two unfinished bunkers intended to support a set of massive 38 cm coastal guns.

These guns – four, two for each bunker – were originally intended to be put on board battleship Gneisenau. The latter got damaged in port, and the guns were diverted to coastal use. The decision to build the Tirpitz battery to protect the port of Esbjerg came relatively late during the war, in 1944. As a result, construction of the battery supporting structures was not completed when the war ended, and the four never installed guns were scrapped – except one, which can be admired in Hanstholm (see below).

The name ‘Tirpitz’ attributed to this battery is of uncertain origin, and sometimes this installation is also referred to as ‘Vogelnest’.

The museum has been built only in the southernmost bunker. The installation is very modern (and crowded), and it has been designed as a thematic museum in five sections. Two of the most interesting are about the Atlantic Wall and its impact on local life, and on the extensive mining and demining operations on the shores of Denmark.

Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Other sections are related to amber trade and local seamen activities.

Finally, you can get access to the base of the gun turret. Photographs are bad here, due to very poor lighting and limitations on camera use.

You can see a central round dome, surrounded by an external corridor. Traces of a post-war explosion can be noticed looking at the metal part of the construction.

Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Outside of the museum you can find a cannon cut in pieces, plus rigs used for construction. The bulky concrete arms protruding from the roof were meant to support the crane for mounting the cannons.

Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

With a five minutes walk from this bunker, you can get to the northern battery. This is not preserved, and the entrances have been bricked up. Yet you may better appreciate the size of the bunker from this exemplar than from the one turned into a museum.

Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The museum is located east of Oksby along Tane Hedevey, a local road connecting Blavand to Esbjerg. There are signs along the road, and a large parking ahead of the entrance. The museum is very modern, and may turn very crowded in summer. Website with full information here. You can visit on your own with an audio-guide. The visit to the military-related sections may take about 1 hour.

Adding a walk to the northern battery will take further 20 minutes at most, as there is no chance to step in.

Stauning Battery

Construction of this battery started in the second half of 1944, and consequently it was only partially completed before the end of the war. The geography of the Stauning battery is rather peculiar. The intended design was based on four coastal guns to be placed on the inland side of the Ringkobing firth – basically a lake with a channel-like small mouth connecting it to the sea. On the other coast of the firth, i.e. very close to the North Sea in Hvide Sande, the aiming station for the battery was finally built.

In the event, only one of the reinforced concrete gun positions reached completion, whereas the other three cannons were kept on basic, not reinforced aprons. The gun bunker is the only exemplar of this model built along the Atlantic Wall, and was designed around a 19,4 cm gun manufactured in France.

Located far from the shore in a secluded area of the countryside, this battery is in a relatively good shape, and thanks to the hard soil its position has not drifted since it was installed. You can even walk on top.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

More elements are scattered in the bushes and over the private pasture nearby. Among them, a firing position presumably for anti-aircraft or light field guns, and corresponding ammo storages.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There is also a reinforced concrete barrack or command post. This can be toured inside, revealing some metal piping still in place.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Traces of gun concrete platforms – likely gun firing positions – blown up after the war can be seen, similar to many smaller cubic buildings of uncertain purpose.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A couple of unattractive half-interred ‘living bunker’ can be found too, another design present only in Denmark – the type was named ‘Falkenhorst III’. Inside, traces of original wall paintings can be easily spotted.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There is actually a fire direction post of some sort in this part of the battery too. This is a square-based concrete booth, with an adjoining living bunker.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The aiming position in Hvide Sande is rather easy to find, on top of a mound close to the city center. There are actually two concrete accesses on the eastern side of the hill. The one closer to the top gives access to the metal dome you can spot on top of the mound.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Hvide Sande Point Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Climbing up to the dome is possible along a rusty ladder, going through a narrow vertical passage. Once there you can see the mounting of a telescope for measurements. There are side slots looking outside, and an original marked wheel to provide measurements. You can also spot small foldable wooden tables (or perhaps jump-seats).

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Hvide Sande Point Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Downstairs, there are a few panels explaining the history of the battery.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Hvide Sande Point Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The second concrete entrance gives access to a ‘living bunker’ for the troops, with explanatory panels on the history of the place.

Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Hvide Sande Point Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The inland part of the Stauning battery with the gun station is located close to Stauningvej 55. You may park your car not far north from this address, on a wide lot close to the entrance of a local residential area. Most notably, this battery is about .5 miles from the beautiful Danish Museum of Flight (see this post). Exploring the battery may take 1-1.5 hours, as the place is totally wild and inconvenient to visit.

The Hvide Sande point is on the northern rim of the channel linking the firth to the North Sea. You can see the mound close by a major round about, where road 181 meets Troldbjergsvej. There are several parking options nearby. The place is technically not abandoned, but there was no ticket/staff, and it was totally dark when I visited. You would better take a small torch with you.

Sondervig

Just as an example of how extensive the construction of the Atlantic Wall was in Denmark, you may have a look to the beach in Sondervig, where people spending the day by the sea are accustomed to the view of the monstrous German bunkers pointing the shore.

Atlantic Wall Sondervig Beach Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

You may find a parking spot in Sondervig and access this famous touristic beach by foot.

Thyboron

The coastal battery at Thyboron has a unique place in the panorama of Atlantic Wall buildings. Here a sort of sample list of possible deceptive techniques were tested on otherwise normal bunkers. The usual constructions pointing the shore have a strange appearance here, thanks to the imaginative talent of a Danish architect – who turned out to be a spy working for the Allies.

At least two gun batteries bear a special roof, resembling that of a house. Also thanks to erosion, they now have even odder shapes, resembling some Star Wars spaceship.

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

An observation bunker bears a tiled roof. Surprisingly, an apparently original fragment of telegraph wire can be found inside.

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Given the position of the bunkers – lying isolated on a deserted beach – it’s pretty difficult to suppose this kind of deception was ever effective…

There are also some more straightforward constructions around, some of them in a relatively good shape. The cusped lintels above most doors and openings are typical to elements of the Atlantic Wall in northern countries, and are made for protecting the passages against snow and icing rain.

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Just inland from the ‘sample list’, you can find a large underground bunker, somewhat difficult to access – it is sinking in the sand. Conspicuous traces of original wall painting and even writings in German can be found on the walls.

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The message in German is a warning message, telling to stay away of the walls in case of bombardment. This warning sign is rather ubiquitous in Danish bunkers.

Close to the the city center – and actually a part of the Coastal Center, a museum for children dedicated to the life along the western coast of Jutland – it is possible to find another bunker deceived as a wooden house! This deception technique is far more convincing than those on the shore…

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

To visit the bunkers on the shore you can reach a convenient public parking at the southern end of Vesterhavsgade, southern Thyboron. Visiting these bunkers may take about 45 minutes for a committed tourist. To get to the Coastal Center you may follow the signs and park at your convenience ahead of the building. The deceived bunker can be seen from the outside of the museum, so getting the ticket is not needed if you are not interested in the rest of the installation.

Extra feature – Sea War Museum, Thyboron

Thyboron has a prominent place in WWI history, being the Danish village closest to the area of the Battle of Jutland, one of the very few naval battles of that war, and one of the top-ranking in history for the number of vessels and tonnage involved, and for the casualties – almost 9’000 seamen were killed.

The battle was fought between two major formations of the the German Kaiser on one side and the King of England on the other. Started almost by chance, as the two opposing factions appeared on the same sector unaware of each other, the fighting was so intense that cannon fire was heard along the shores of Thyboron for many hours. The battle ended with a tactical defeat on the British side, but the Kriegsmarine of the Kaiser avoided any other serious clashes with the British for the rest of the war – in this sense, this was a British strategic victory.

Today, a monument dedicated to those who perished in the Battle of Jutland occupies a wide area over a promontory in northern Thyboron, close by the Coastal Center (see above).

Sea War Museum Thyboron (Thyborøn) Jutland Battle WWI Denmark

A nice museum dedicated to sea war has been put in place nearby. On the exterior you can find old mines, torpedoes and even parts of relics taken from the bottom of the sea.

Sea War Museum Thyboron (Thyborøn) Jutland Battle WWI Denmark

Inside you can find many unique artifacts, including cannons, insignia, and everyday items from ships taking parts to the Battle of Jutland.

Sea War Museum Thyboron (Thyborøn) Jutland Battle WWI Denmark

Also unique are parts of early submarines dating from WWI, recovered from the sea thanks to novel investigation and capture technologies.

Sea War Museum Thyboron (Thyborøn) Jutland Battle WWI Denmark

The museum is at large dedicated to naval battles and ventures of WWI. A section is dedicated to the most modern sea archaeology techniques.

Sea War Museum Thyboron (Thyborøn) Jutland Battle WWI Denmark

Outside of the museum, you may spot a few Atlantic Wall bunkers as well, likely converted into more modern military installations in a post-WWII period. They are apparently run as museums, but they were closed when I passed by.

Atlantic Wall Thyboron (Thyborøn) Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The Sea War Museum is located very close to the Coastal Center in central Thyboron. Dedicated free parking right ahead of the entrance. Visiting may take about 1.5-2 hours for more committed subjects, despite the small size. The museum is stacked with extremely interesting details, the exhibition is rich and well made. Really an interesting detour for anybody interested in sea war. Website here.

Agger

Agger is located north of the Thyboron Channel, and can be reached with a five minutes ferry ride from nearby Thyboron. The long, windy, wild and distressing beaches south of the village of Agger are not really welcoming, nor easy to visit. Yet here you can find some unique and imposing elements of the Atlantic Wall.

These include a firing control bunker of the Navy. A feature often found also elsewhere, you can see some of the concrete bunkers are made of joined blocks. Light can be seen coming from the thin slots between the blocks in some occasions.

Atlantic Wall Agger Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Another special construction here is the support tower for a ‘Seetakt’ radar. The tall concrete tower is assembled together with a bulkier concrete base.

Atlantic Wall Agger Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The assembly has slipped to the shoreline, and today it can be neared only in favorable tide conditions. Furthermore, it is sitting in a banked attitude, making it looking really derelict.

Atlantic Wall Agger Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Thanks also to a rather bad weather, these elements of the Atlantic Wall looked really eerie when I visited!

Getting there and moving around

The Agger site is wild and not signaled. The area is part of a national preserve, and part of the endless beach is a stage for kites, surfing activities and other beach sports. There is an official parking at the western end of Lange Mole Vej, less than five minutes by car from the ferry terminal to Thyboron. From there you should go to the beach and walk north for about 15 minutes to get to the tower, the highlight of the show.

You may spot it from the distance. I could not get in the tower due to unfavorable tide conditions, but visiting inside may not take much time, for the expected condition is not good, with little left to see.

Hanstholm

The Hanstholm battery is one of the most developed of the entire Atlantic Wall. As pointed out in the introduction, together with the sister site ‘Vara’ in Norway – about 80 miles north – this battery was centered on four massive 38 cm cannons, installed to obstruct surface passage through the Skagerrak, and de facto controlling the access to the Baltic Sea.

An initial battery based on less powerful 17 cm coastal guns was put in place as soon as 1940. The gigantic 38 cm guns arrived only later and were tested, but never used in action. The metal parts of the firing stations, including the turrets and guns, were eventually scrapped in the early 1950s. Over the years, this huge installation, with more than 300 bunkers fell largely into private hands, and today many former storage bunkers are used as warehouses for machinery and goods by local owners.

Nonetheless, battery Nr.3 has been turned into a modern museum, after being largely refurbished to its original splendor. As such, it is a one-of-a-kind museum, with thousands of visitors per year. Two more turrets and a number of bunkers are left to explorers. While they are not actively maintained, they are still in a rather good shape, and responsible exploration is even supported with some indications.

The area of the Hanstholm is almost 4 square miles. In order not to get disoriented, a good starting point is the museum in and around turret Nr.3. There you are greeted by a pretty unique 38 cm cannon! This is actually from the Tirpitz battery (see above), but it is exactly the same item once installed in Hanstholm. The size is really remarkable, especially when compared to more modest and usual 15 cm coastal guns, on display.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The modern museum offers a quick recap of the history of the place, with memorabilia including everyday items, letters, maps and original weapons.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Once you are done with that, you can get access to the underground part, where you first meet the ammo storage rooms, on the side of a long corridor aligned along a narrow gauge railway track. This was used to connect the firing stations – i.e. the four bunkers with the guns – to larger ammo storages scattered around the are of the fort.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There are two major adjoining rooms along the corridor, each dedicated to a different part of the cartridge. The piercing part – the ‘bullet’ – and the exploding fuse were kept separated from each other. This is similar to naval guns, and typical to larger calibers. The complicated railings hanging from the roof were made to allow moving the parts of the cartridge by means of movable cranes.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In action, the bullets and fuses were loaded on a slide, and from there on trolleys which would enter the turret from below. Today, as the turret is not there any more, the trolleys are in an open air corridor, apparently without any sense. It is noteworthy that the inscriptions and frescoes are all original, albeit refurbished.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The structure of the firing station and of the Hanstholm fort can be better appreciated from the drawings and models below.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A second part of the firing station is the bunker for the complement of men needed to operate this complicated cannon. The place was permanently watched, with shifts spending the night in underground quarters. Those pertaining to firing station Nr.3 have been refurbished, and provide a vivid impression of the original appearance. There are sleeping and living quarters, as well as large, military style showers and toilets.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There is also a complete power station, with two Diesel generators, a mechanics shop, water tanks and more.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Out of the Nr.3 firing station you are encouraged to tour at least part of the site along a series of prescribed trails. Among the items you meet on this tour is one of the ammo storages. It is not dissimilar from the ammo storage part of the firing station. The ammo parts were loaded on a railway car passing through, and from there moved towards the gun turret.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There are also many smaller storage and service bunkers, some bearing interesting original inscriptions inside.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The Hanstholm fort was defended by field cannons and anti-aircraft guns. Emplacements for the latter can be spotted around in more instances.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Another suggested part of the visit is firing station Nr.4, which is not really preserved, but is not in a generally bad shape either. You can get in only if you have a torchlight. Visiting may offer something very similar to Nr.3, except everything is more derelict – but for this reason, may be more authentic.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In the living part, you can find inscriptions in German and traces of the original wall paint. With a general knowledge of the plan from the visit to Nr.3, you may easily recognize the corresponding rooms – power station, toilets, living rooms, etc.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

To get to the ammo storage part, you can walk along the round corridor outside. No trolleys left here, differently from Nr.3.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Inside the ammo storage rooms, you notice that the inscriptions have been largely canceled for some reason, but the slides as well as the frescoes above them are still there.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Still part of the suggested itinerary, you can find a control station, in a rather bad shape, and more interestingly a very peculiar building, located on top of a cliff.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

This was a fire direction station. Due to the high-tech nature of the Hanstholm battery, fire direction worked on what can be considered archaic computers! The building has many floors. There is provision for a permanent team of technicians, hosted in living and sleeping quarters downstairs.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The top floors used to host the computing machines, which were fed by measurements from instruments mounted in metal domes, facing on the roof of the building. The room for the computing machines is rather dark, and due to the black walls it is difficult to see anything even with a torch.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The Hanstholm site offers several ancillary bunkers open to the public. Among them, one for a generator, supplying the whole fort in case of a grid failure.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Another bunker is an ammo storage, with a big concrete arch outside, for a moving crane operating above railway cars. Narrow gauge railway tracks can be seen still today in this part.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The pivot in the middle of firing station Nr.2 has been interred after the war, but the living/sleeping quarters for the troops and the ammo storage parts can be visited, albeit they are not connected any more by a direct passage.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A visit to this firing station is very interesting, for writings are in a generally better shape than in Nr.4, even though this too has not been refurbished.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In the ammo storage part, writings are especially abundant. You can see also traces of the original telephone wiring.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The last firing station, Nr.1, is not accessible, even though not interred.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

As said, there are many other bunkers an remains around, which are typically not accessible, especially the farther you go from the museum. They are now largely on private land and used for something else.

Atlantic Wall Hanstholm Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The Hanstholm strongpoint is a must for everyone interested in the Atlantic Wall! The museum is modern, completely accessible, with a convenient parking and all usual facilities. Website here.

The refurbished part is basically only firing station Nr.3, but many other bunkers, like the fire control center, as well as firing stations Nr.2 and 4 are open for explorers, and they have not been spoiled by vandals. You need to go with a torchlight and proper clothing, but the visit may be very rewarding.

Many more bunkers around are closed to the public, as they are now private property and used for other purposes.

Due to the enormous size of the area, visiting may easily turn into a full-day or even multi-days business for an enthusiast. For the general public, a visit to the museum and one of the trails may take a 2-3 hours depending on the level of interest.

Hirtshals

Similar to Hanstholm (see above), the area of Hirtshals was soon selected by the Wehrmacht for a coastal fortification, thanks to its strategic position overlooking the mouth of the Skagerrak strait.

The first four 105 mm field guns were positioned here as soon as summer 1941. They occupied open-air concrete aprons, which still today bear trace of the original camouflage paint and deceptive net.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A peculiarity of this fort is its extensive network of trenches, which connect all the battle stations to the living quarters for the troops and the service buildings, like the canteen-bunker and the hospital-bunker.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

On top of the steep cliff dropping to sea level, you can find the bunkers for the guns. These were moved from the open aprons in 1944, into purpose built reinforced concrete firing positions. A special feature here is the steep flight of stair giving access to the gun area from behind. This construction was made necessary by the particular morphology and rock type of the cliff.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

You can spot significant traces of the original camo paint, and the letters ‘St’ on many walls, meaning ‘Ständig’, i.e. resistant in German. These letters were used to mark those buildings capable of sustaining shelling and bombing raids.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A bulbous roof allows to easily recognize the fire direction station.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A more rare item in Hirtshals is the base for the ‘See Riese’ radar. This is a hexagonal concrete hollow platform. The bunker underneath it would serve to host a Diesel power generator.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Back from the coastline, you may enjoy a long exploration of the trenches and of the many restored bunkers. Many bear original markings and paintings.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

In some rare cases, you can also find original decorative paintings, likely made by the soldiers stationed in the bunkers.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Restored bunkers include a ‘living bunker’, but many other installations are in good conditions, like interred shelters, ammo storages, etc. Traces of cables, armored doors – some of them with glass lights – and telephone wires can be found in many bunkers.

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Furthermore, in Hirtshals you have the chance to get a bird’s eye view of the fort, by climbing on top of the local lighthouse!

Atlantic Wall Hirtshals Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The Hirtshals site is an open-air museum. There are technically opening times, but the area is not fenced, so if you are looking for a visit to the exteriors, you can walk around freely at any time. The museum has a website here, and guided visits are offered in many occasions. Many bunkers were closed when I visited, and they might be visible only with a guide. Some other bunkers are open and lighted, whereas the majority are basically left to explorers – open and not lighted – but rather accessible and very easy to visit, maybe with the help of a small torch. There is not a clear entrance (the area is not fenced), nor permanent staff on the site.

There are explanatory signs for basically all of the bunkers, in double Danish/German language.

The parking is ahead of the lighthouse, which is a different entity and operates with opening times you can find here. The parking is large and free. Climbing on top of the lighthouse is possible at a small fee – apparently only Danish Crowns cash accepted.

Together with a climb on top of the lighthouse, the visit may take from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on your level of interest.

Skagen

The Skagen area is mostly famous for its location on the very tip of the Jutland peninsula, the natural northern end of continental Europe, and ideally as the geographical point where the North Sea and Baltic Sea join together. The long and quiet shores there and the population of seals contribute to making Skagen a prominent touristic attraction, often crowded with visitors from Denmark and abroad.

What people going there may not expect is the presence of a number of massive firing positions from the years of the German occupation! These are concentrated along the eastern coast, and include firing position for 120 mm coastal guns, overlooking the Skagerrak strait.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There are also a fire control bunker, which has drifted to the shoreline, as well as radar support bunkers.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Unfortunately, these installations have been left to the elements and – most sadly – to vandals. Except for their huge size, there is not much left to appreciate.

But there is more related to the Atlantic Wall in Skagen. A former hospital bunker has been partly refurbished and converted into a very interesting smaller museum on the local battery.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Inside, you can first appreciate the special size of the doors and corridors, made to allow moving stretchers around.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Put on display are several items related to the history of the Skagen fortress. There are uniforms from the time, photos from the years of operations, and everyday items left over by the Wehrmacht.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Some of the rooms have been reconstructed, and provide a vivid impression of the original appearance.

Atlantic Wall Skagen Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Among the exhibits are also some relics from a downed British aircraft.

Getting there and moving around

Visiting the Skagen battery is easier from the small parking Hvide Fyr, Fyrvej, 9990 Skagen. This parking is free. Going on the Baltic shore from the parking means a five minutes walk along a prepared path. A quick walk with a look to the abandoned battery would take about 20 minutes.

You may either walk to the tip from there, or better move your car to shorten the walk, going to the huge dedicated parking area where the road N.40 ends. This parking is not free.

You will find the Skagen Bunker-Museum in the former hospital bunker immediately to the southwestern side of the parking. Website here.

Visiting may take about 30-45 minutes, an interesting small detour from the local natural attractions.

Bangsbo

Comparatively less fortified than the North Sea coast, the eastern cost of Jutland is the place of a primary military and commercial port named Frederikshavn. This is also a starting point for travelers going to Norway from central Europe.

Here the Germans installed one of the few strongpoints on this side of the peninsula. What makes the so-called Bangsbo fort unique among the Atlantic Wall installations is the fact that three of the four original guns in the coastal battery are still in place!

The main area of Bangsbo fort, where the coastal battery is located, can be found to the south of the town, and is somewhat similar to Hirtshals (see above). Both are located on top of a cliff, with a significant area to the back dedicated to command, living and service bunkers.

Today, some of these bunkers have been completely refurbished. These include the command bunker for the local commander of the Kriegsmarine (the German Navy). This is super-interesting, with many artifacts from the time, from military gear to swastika-marked dishware, from maps to photographs of general Rommel – who superintended the construction of the Atlantic Wall – visiting the installation, and much more.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Much interesting is especially the reconstruction of the command/meeting room.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Scattered over the premises of the military area are cannons and several strange items, like a tank turret intended to be placed on top of a defensive Tobruk.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There are a refurbished hospital bunker and reconstructed living quarters.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The firing control post roughly at the center of the area is another highlight, having been completely refurbished, with plenty of Nazi insignia and original material.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

To the back of the bunker are a living and command area, whereas the front part is an observation deck.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The firing positions with guns are numbered from Nr.1 to 3. They are based on 15 cm coastal guns, installed in 1944, replacing older and smaller pieces.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The guns can be walked around. The cartridge supply slides to the back of the firing chamber are still in place.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Guns Nr. 1 and 3 are similar, whereas the central gun was taken from a Danish cruiser cannibalized by the Germans in Kiel during the war. Today, it bears a greenish paint.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

There used to be a fourth cannon with a field of fire of 360 degrees. Trace of a platform can be seen, as well as an anti-aircraft gun.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

The fort shares a border with an active military area, so a part of the original installations cannot be visited. Others are open only for those visiting on guided tours. These include a radar-supporting station. Others can be entered, but are basically empty.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

A minor part of the Bansgbo fort is located north of Frederikshavn. It is a partially preserved anti-aircraft firing station. This was made of four firing places and a central fire direction point. The latter is still visible at least from the outside.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

One of the anti aircraft guns is also in place. The rest of the installation has been filled with land and made inaccessible.

Atlantic Wall Frederikshavn Bansgbo Fort Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall

Getting there and moving around

The major part of Bansgbo fort can be found south of Frederikshavn. It can be accessed from Bakkevej, which ends with the parking of the museum. Website here. The area can be walked and accessed with a ticket. There are picnic facilities and a small shop. Guided tours are offered at pre-defined times, see the website. You can get a good impression even by walking around on your own, but some bunkers can be accessed only with a guide. I did not join a guided tour, and all the pictures above are from a self-guided visit.

The site is not huge, but very interesting thanks to preservation efforts. It may easily deserve a 2 hours visit.

The anti-aircraft site is located north of Frederikshaven, and can be reached from Nordre Strandvej. You may park on the large free parking made for the local beach. This smaller installation may be visited in 10-15 minutes without a ticket.

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