BASA bunker
The BASA bunkers were protective structures for the telecommunications network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn during World War II .
With the technology of the railway self-connection system (BASA) developed by Siemens & Halske since 1914 , the Deutsche Reichsbahn was able to set up its own telecommunications and telex network from 1928, which reduced the importance of exchanges due to a high number of cross connections and thus achieved greater reliability. From 1933 onwards, all systems were standardized ("Einheitsbasa") and the entire network in the German Reich was coordinated. This technological lead offered German warfare logistical advantages in the rapid deployment of troops during World War II . However, the growing air war in World War II forced the most important facilities to be protected in bunkers. The central control center in Berlin in particular was secured at great expense. Further BASA bunkers have been built in Cologne , Munich and Nuremberg .
BASA bunker Berlin
- Location: 52 ° 30 ′ 2.1 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 42.4 ″ E
The BASA bunker Berlin is located on the Landwehr Canal in the Kreuzberg district north of the Anhalter Steg on Halleschen Ufer .
Documents on function and building history
The bunker was built from 1942. The reference to this can be found in the newspaper of the Association of Central European Railway Administrations published in Berlin by Bruno Moeller , the former President of the Reichsbahndirektion Königsberg , under the heading "News from the Association Area - Germany" from June 1942:
"Establishment of a central traffic control center. In order to ensure the expedient distribution of the transports in the entire Reich territory according to uniform criteria, the Reich Minister of Transport has set up a central traffic control center at the headquarters of the General Operations Management East of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Berlin. "
The main reason given for the centralization is friction among the “regional traffic management” over the allocation of railroad cargo space. The article also briefly outlines the tasks of the authority. There is a further note on the description of an aerial photo with "Sept. 43: [...] the so-called BASA bunker , Hallesches Ufer, still under construction."
Flooding in 1945 and post-war use
A few hours after General Weidling gave the order to end the fighting in Berlin , on May 2, 1945 at 7.55 a.m., the ceiling of the north-south tunnel under the Landwehr Canal was blown up by SS units. As a result, the underground facilities of the neighboring BASA bunker were also flooded. (see also: History of the Berlin U-Bahn )
After the Soviet handover of the region to the US Army in July 1945 and the establishment of the American Zone , the system was salvaged and extensively repaired in 1946:
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“... although the situation was particularly difficult because the system had been under water for a long time. It concerns the telecommunications systems in a bomb-proof bunker of the Reichsbahn in Berlin, which they had built in 1944 at the intersection of the Landwehr Canal and the S-Bahn tunnel. As is well known, this intersection was blown up during the fighting and as a result the S-Bahn tunnel was flooded. The telecommunications bunker with its countless valuable devices was also flooded. "
Between 1959 and 1962 the bunker was used for the Senate Reserve .
Renovation 2016
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A private museum has been located in the bunker, which was converted by British architect John Pawson , since spring 2016 . According to the architect, it was decided “to leave things as they are, to work with what we found on site and to understand it. First of all, everything was cleaned. We made decisions bit by bit. Should we remove the graffiti or leave it? The stalactites? It was a slow, gentle process. We also left the floors as they were. "
Indoor space information was also known: On the ground floor "2,000 square meters, in the basement even 4,000 square meters."
The museum houses the “Feuerle Collection”, in which international contemporary artist positions are juxtaposed with Imperial Chinese furniture and art from Southeast Asia.
In the course of the renovation, a water-bearing shaft directed directly to the nearby Landwehr Canal was opened and closed again.
New use
As part of the Gallery Weekend Berlin 2018 (from April 28th to 30th) an opening ceremony ("Incense Ceremony") took place for invited guests. "The ticket for the regular visit to the Feuerle Collection" can be booked from May 2018.
BASA bunker Cologne
- (Demolished 2013)
The “Regional Traffic Management West” was housed in the protective structure in Cologne . The building was a covered bunker between the streets “Am alten Ufer” and “Johannisstraße”.
In connection with the gutting of the building of the former Reichsbahndirektion Cologne on Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer in Cologne, the BASA bunker was also demolished from January to April 2013.
BASA bunker Munich
- (Demolished in 2009)
In December 2008, the demolition of the communications bunker of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, built in Munich in 1942, began. “The bunker has two underground floors. The approx. 2–2.5 m thick concrete ceiling is above ground. In the first basement there are two rooms that extend almost the entire length, in the second basement there are several small rooms. "
Photos can be viewed on the website of the Bunkerfreunde München. In mid-January 2009, the blasting of the bunker facility located on a 2300 square meter property began.
BASA bunker Nuremberg
As in many other cities, the construction of bomb-proof bunkers for the civilian population began in Nuremberg as part of the “ Immediate Leader Program ” (also known as the immediate air defense program) issued on October 10, 1940 . This created 15 high and 6 deep bunkers with a capacity for around 17,000 people. Parallel to the bunkers of the “immediate air raid protection program”, the Reichsbahn built two bunkers in the main train station and the BASA bunker on Sandstrasse under today's DB Museum .
The 1000 m² bunker under the DB Museum was built in 1937 as a command control center for the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Even after the Second World War, during the division of Germany , the bunker - now owned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn - was kept in reserve in case of war and modernized in the 1970s to protect against a nuclear strike . After the outbreak of World War III, it should have served as a control center for rail traffic for 14 days. From here the regions of Upper , Lower and Middle Franconia as well as the Upper Palatinate , parts of Lower Bavaria and the military training areas Hohenfels , Hammelburg , Grafenwoehr and Wildflecken were to be commanded.
In 2006, Deutsche Bahn handed over the bunker to the museum.
“The bunker is located in the inner courtyard of the former BD Nürnberg. On the right of the path there is a defiant concrete block, the BASA bunker. The line signal box was in it. "
literature
- Dietmar Arnold, Rainer Janick: Sirens and packed suitcases, everyday bunker life in Berlin. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-86153-308-1 .
- Josef Kirch: Construction of standard rail connection systems. Otto Elsner Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin, Vienna, Leipzig 1942.
- Rainer Knothe: Anhalter Bahnhof - development and operation. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997. ISBN 3-88255-681-1 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Josef Kirch: Construction of standard railway connection systems .
- ↑ Establishment of a central traffic control center In: Newspaper of the Association of Central European Railway Administrations , published on behalf of the association by Reichsbahndirektionspräsident a. D. - Dr.-Ing. E. h. Moeller in Berlin, Volume 82, No. 25, June 18, 1942, p. 340
- ^ R. Knothe, Anhalter Bahnhof, p. 77
- ^ Rudolf Kerger (head of the building department at the Reichsbahndirektion Berlin): The S-Bahn tunnel in Berlin; destroyed and rebuilt. In: Der Verkehr, Volume 1, Issue 2 (July / August 1947) p. 59
- ^ Michael Braun: North-South S-Bahn Berlin . GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89218-112-5 , pp. 188 .
- ^ Michael Braun: North-South S-Bahn Berlin . GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89218-112-5 , pp. 198 .
- ^ Artur Flad: Reconstruction of telecommunication systems. In: Die Technik , Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 43, Berlin 1946
- ↑ In: Die Technik , Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 43, Berlin 1946
- ^ Arnold, Janick: Sirens and packed suitcases , p. 181.
- ↑ Jeanette Kunsmann, Stephan Burkoff: concrete and personality - A conversation with John Pawson. In: BauNetz . March 30, 2016, accessed April 6, 2016 .
- ↑ The Feuerle Collection - Conversion of the former bunker facility on Halleschen Ufer into a private museum. In: Architekturpreis Berlin 2016. Retrieved on April 6, 2016 .
- ↑ Website Feuerle Collection .
- ^ Forum, Traces of History: Railway Protection Rooms Cologne , accessed on May 6, 2013.
- ^ Express Cologne: Reichsbahndirektion only facade. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Forum, Traces of History: Demolition of the BASA bunker of the Reichsbahn in Munich. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ↑ Bunkerfreunde, Munich: Photos, condition 2008 and demolition. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ↑ Wochenanzeiger , Munich: explosions in the residential area. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Museum, Industrial Culture : Archive 2005 - Oppressive Places. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ DB bunker under the transport museum
- ↑ Closed due to peace . In: DB World . No. 2 , 2013, p. 8 f .
- ^ Bahn 04 First signal and point remote control of the Federal Railroad in Nuremberg - 1952. October 24, 2006, accessed on May 6, 2013.
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