Hitlers bunker site at the Wolfs Lair, Poland

I was reorganising some holiday photos the other day, and came across these from the Wolfs Lair complex, near the village of Ketrzyn (or Rastenberg as the Germans renamed it) in North Eastern Poland - near the Mazurian Lakes. As questions come up on here about the place, I thought I'd share them. A word of warning though - the site is infested with mozzies, so make sure you take some repellant.

The site (which is massive and located at N54 04.742 E21 29.599) from memory comprises about 21 bunkers, including Hitlers which was severely blown up. The complex was served by a nearby airfield and was built for the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union codenamed 'Operation Barbarossa' (22 June 1941), and abandoned on 25 January 1945 as the Soviet troops approached. Expansion work was stopped only a few days before the Russians advanced. Apparently Hitler ordered the bunkers to be destroyed as the Germans retreated, as he thought it was too valuable an asset to leave to the Russians.

<a href="http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/?action=view&current=POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I would have liked to see the whole site in its prime, but most bunkers / buildings have been blown-up to different degrees. Some are virtually flattened, while others are badly damaged but mainly intact but damaged. Even though there are painted signs everywhere telling you not to enter the bunkers, you can't help it and my reasoning was that judging by the thickness of the concrete, these structures will still be there in another thousand years. There are still recognisable parts though including this aircraft tower, which toppled over from the roof of the adjoining bunker apparently. The round hole at the top would have had an anti-aircraft gun installed but has been removed.

<a href="http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/?action=view&current=POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The whole place oozes history, and includes the remains of this building where Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944. A plaque now marks the site. Von Stauffenberg was a suspect within hours of the failed attempt, and was shot by a firing squad in a courtyard next to his office in Berlin the same night of the explosion. Justice - Nazi style.

<a href="http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/?action=view&current=POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/POLAND20063-WOLFSLAIR1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Although it seems a bit surreal, the building which had housed the SS guards has since been converted to a hotel. I didn't stay there, preferring to stay at the lakeside Dworek Hotel (N54 04.466 E21 28.567) just under a mile away.

More pics needed.......

Davy F said:

More pics needed.......

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Oh go on then.

I forget whose bunker this was (the leaflet you get would explain it) but basically the higher you were, the closer your bunker was to Hitlers.

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Given the size of the concrete walls / concrete roofs etc there is no way these buildings would be reduced to rubble, so there are loads of little nooks and crannies like this.

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This was the typing pool apparently, so you can imagine how many people worked there at one time.

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Believe it or not, this is the remains of Hitlers bunker. Trees have since grown in the rubble, but you can still clearly see the remains of some pipes and reinforcing rods in the foreground.

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This photo shows the water reservoir in the area where Hitler took his dog for walk. The concrete sections fell into the reservoir when a nearby bunker was blown up.

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This entrance was pitch black - obviously there is no electricity. I just walked in as far as I could see and took a photo with the flash on, with no idea what to expect. I have no idea how much further the entrance goes, and of course I couldn't ask as I wasn't meant to be in there anyway.

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The Hotel Dworek, just under a mile from the site. Apparently, it used to be a lakeside palace and I could well believe it. It was very smart but strangely, there were only 3 or 4 of us staying there. From memory, it cost about £20 for the night.

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A fascinating period of history

Thanks for the info and lat/long Taff, do you have the Lat/long for the hotel too?

Spooky

A group of us stayed very close to this place on our Baltic tour in May this year. 2 of the guys , Malc and Terry , had vague info' on the location and went to find it which they did. Anyway , those of us that didn't get to go finally saw the piccies just before New Year.

Amazing place, disappointed I didn't join 'em.


We stayed in a town called Gizycko, the hotel was very basic and cheap but a good location AND many the rooms were above their own garages for the bikes.

traveller said:

A fascinating period of history

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True, and seeing the places / buildings etc where history happened certainly brings it home to you, and makes you realise it's not just something you read about in a book.

ebbo said:

Thanks for the info and lat/long Taff, do you have the Lat/long for the hotel too?

Click to expand...

N54 04.466 E21 28.567 From memory it's very easy to find. If you come out of the Wolfs Lair (which is reasonably well signposted from the neighbouring villages) and turn right heading towards Warsaw, its the first place on the left after approx three quarters of a mile. The hotel may not be visible from the road, but the end of their drive is well marked. It's a very rural area, so there aren't many buildings around there.

Claus Von Stauffenberg fascinates me and doesn't seem to be well known. How would things have turned out if Hitler had been on the other side of the big oak table leg, and the assassination attempt had succeeded? Some reckon that by now Hitler was making such a pigs ear of the war, that they wanted him to stay in power. Anyway, Von Stauffenberg flew back to Berlin from the Wolfs Lair to this non-descript building at N52 30.441 E13 21.792 set on Stauffenbergstrasse - obviously renamed after the war.

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It's still a military building to this day, although a part of one floor has been turned into a museum documenting the attempt on Hitlers life and Von Stauffenbergs part in it. The tour leads you through his office.

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Von Stauffenberg soon came under suspicion (literally within hours of the explosion) and was arrested. I can't remember if he admitted his part in the plot or not, but in any event he was taken down the concrete stairwell and out into this courtyard, where he was stripped naked and shot.

<a href="http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/?action=view&current=GERMANY200543.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/EvansCambell/POLAND%202006/GERMANY200543.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

As you leave the museum though, there must be at least 100 photos of other co-conspirators, including Rommel who was also suspected of involvement in the plot to kill Hitler and forced to commit "suicide". Apparently, no evidence was found that directly linked Rommel to the plot, nor that he had been contacted by any of the plot ringleaders. Bormann was certain of Rommel's involvement, Goebbels was not. The only serious "evidence" against him was provided by his chief of staff who claimed that "rebellious orders" were issued by Rommel. Another piece of "evidence" against him was that his name was found on a list drawn up on which he was earmarked as a possible future President of Germany.

Taff said:

True, and seeing the places / buildings etc where history happened certainly brings it home to you, and makes you realise it's not just something you read about in a book.

N54 04.466 E21 28.567 From memory it's very easy to find. If you come out of the Wolfs Lair (which is reasonably well signposted from the neighbouring villages) and turn right heading towards Warsaw, its the first place on the left after approx three quarters of a mile. The hotel may not be visible from the road, but the end of their drive is well marked. It's a very rural area, so there aren't many buildings around there.

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Cheers Taff
http://www.ksiezycowydworek.pl/

I went here in 1985 while Poland was still under communist control. It was just an open site when I went there. It was really interesting to walk around with a local man who knew about it from the war.

Thanks for posting the pictures it brings back a lot of memories

this is literally only an hour down the road and I still haven't visited it yet

Thanks for the post - it's gonna be one of my first Spring rides of this year

Italian Trev said:

this is literally only an hour down the road and I still haven't visited it yet Thanks for the post - it's gonna be one of my first Spring rides of this year

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Are you getting it mixed up with the Eagles Nest perhaps? The Wolfs Lair is in Poland near the Lithuania / Belarus border.

You'll struggle to ride there from Dresden in an hour - but I've never seen you ride.

Taff said:

Are you getting it mixed up with the Eagles Nest perhaps? The Wolfs Lair is in Poland near the Lithuania / Belarus border.

You'll struggle to ride there from Dresden in an hour - but I've never seen you ride.

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No - I've been to the Eagle's Nest - that is a long way away. Last time I checked i thought the Wolf's Lair was just over the border here going in to Poland - obviuosly it's not

Maybe I was thinking of the Badger's Lair

nice work - an original subject.

looking forward to the Tom Cruise film - not

Wolfsschanze

If you are going to visit the Wolfsschanze, ask for Czeslaw Puciato to guide you. He knows everything worth to know about the place. Author of several books.

patrick56 said:

If you are going to visit the Wolfsschanze, ask for Czeslaw Puciato to guide you. He knows everything worth to know about the place. Author of several books.

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Things may have changed now, but when I went I don't think I was offered a guide - just a guide book.

When you have finished your tour of the site and need a coffee and a chance to reflect, just ride back to the main road and then down the cobbled lane to Hitler's grass airfield. There is a friendy aero club with a pleasant cafe - take your beverage out onto the terrace and watch an AN-2 lumber round the circuit like an overwight mayfly

Guide

Taff said:

Things may have changed now, but when I went I don't think I was offered a guide - just a guide book.

Click to expand...

Last summer there was at least five or six of them on place despite the rain.
Most of them sat on chairs near the entrance / parking place.

Italian Trev said:

No - I've been to the Eagle's Nest - that is a long way away. Last time I checked i thought the Wolf's Lair was just over the border here going in to Poland - obviuosly it's not

Maybe I was thinking of the Badger's Lair

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For your info the Eagle's Nest (S) - plural is actually a group of castles not just one.

Ojcow Castle
Pieskowa Skala Castle,
Rabsztyn Castle,
Smolen Castle
Pilica Castle
Ogrodzieniec Castle,
Mirow and Bobolice Castles,
Olsztyn Castle

karl

turnipbmw said:

.. looking forward to the Tom Cruise film - not

Click to expand...

How prophetic. VALKYRIE

Do you predict Lottery numbers too?

Taff said:

I was reorganising some holiday photos the other day, and came across these from the Wolfs Lair complex, near the village of Ketrzyn (or Rastenberg as the Germans renamed it) in North Eastern Poland - near the Mazurian Lakes. As questions come up on here about the place, I thought I'd share them. A word of warning though - the site is infested with mozzies, so make sure you take some repellant.

The site (which is massive and located at N54 04.742 E21 29.599) from memory comprises about 21 bunkers, including Hitlers which was severely blown up. The complex was served by a nearby airfield and was built for the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union codenamed 'Operation Barbarossa' (22 June 1941), and abandoned on 25 January 1945 as the Soviet troops approached. Expansion work was stopped only a few days before the Russians advanced. Apparently Hitler ordered the bunkers to be destroyed as the Germans retreated, as he thought it was too valuable an asset to leave to the Russians.



I would have liked to see the whole site in its prime, but most bunkers / buildings have been blown-up to different degrees. Some are virtually flattened, while others are badly damaged but mainly intact but damaged. Even though there are painted signs everywhere telling you not to enter the bunkers, you can't help it and my reasoning was that judging by the thickness of the concrete, these structures will still be there in another thousand years. There are still recognisable parts though including this aircraft tower, which toppled over from the roof of the adjoining bunker apparently. The round hole at the top would have had an anti-aircraft gun installed but has been removed.



The whole place oozes history, and includes the remains of this building where Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944. A plaque now marks the site. Von Stauffenberg was a suspect within hours of the failed attempt, and was shot by a firing squad in a courtyard next to his office in Berlin the same night of the explosion. Justice - Nazi style.



Although it seems a bit surreal, the building which had housed the SS guards has since been converted to a hotel. I didn't stay there, preferring to stay at the lakeside Dworek Hotel (N54 04.466 E21 28.567) just under a mile away.

Click to expand...

Great thread Taff, thanks.

Do you have any good route suggestions , and what time of year did you go?

Thanks.