Führer headquarters rock nest

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Location of the FHQ Felsennest in Europe

Felsennest was the code name of a so-called Führer headquarters in Rodert , a district of Bad Münstereifel in the Eifel .

Location and structure

The "Felsennest" was the first fixed Führer headquarters of the Second World War . In contrast to the later headquarters , which were located away from towns and villages and were carefully guarded, the rock nest was on the edge of a village.

It was originally a limited-developed Flak - battery position of "air defense zone West" (abbreviated LVZ West ). Starting in 1939, four concrete gun stands were built on the Radberg, a device position for determining the shot values, a position for a 2 cm Flak 30 for anti -aircraft defense, crew barracks and ammunition bunkers. Somewhat separated from the battery position with 8.8 cm flak , stands were set up on a ridge for the fire control of the surrounding battery positions. These two bunkers were the basis of the "Führer Headquarters" built later. It had been expanded since February 1940 and was located in the rear area of ​​the west wall . The complex is the only one of its kind that has not been given a new alias, but has taken over the existing topographical name of a mountain ridge - rock nest . It was not until the 1970s that the name was deleted from the official topographic map and renamed "Eselsberg". Hitler didn't decide on the rock nest until the end of February 1940. He previously rejected the headquarters "Adlerhorst" in the Taunus (north of Frankfurt am Main), which was actually intended for the western campaign . The rock nest was built in a short time by members of the Todt organization . The access road to Rodert was also expanded. In mid-March 1940, the first units of the Führer-Escort Battalion arrived in Rodert to guard the facilities.

Two air raid shelters were built for the population of Rodert (in the upper and lower villages). A so-called "guest bunker" and an air raid shelter for the typists were built on the premises of the headquarters. The National Defense Department of the Wehrmacht Leadership Office under Colonel Walter Warlimont was housed in Rodert .

The villagers were given ID cards (so-called ID cards) to enter and leave the place.

The " Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler " took over the security and surveillance within the restricted area I , outside members of the Führer-Escort-Battalion.

Military use

During the first part of the “Fall Gelb” campaign in the west (German troops marched into the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg and northern France ), Adolf Hitler used the headquarters from May 10 to June 6, 1940. At the same time, the attack began in the west. The high command of the army was housed only a few kilometers from Rodert in a forest area (bunker and barracks) around the forester's house Haniel in Hülloch . Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop , Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler and the head of the Reich Chancellery , Hans Heinrich Lammers , stayed in the so-called "Minister Train Heinrich", which was parked in Flammersfeld near Altenkirchen until June 8, 1940. The special train "Asia" of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force was not far from the tunnel near Trimbs (southeast of Mayen) on the Koblenz - Polch railway line, about 50 kilometers from the rock nest. These two special trains belonged to the headquarters as connected facilities.

While it was in use as headquarters, Hitler received the Italian Ambassador Alfieri , Grand Admiral Raeder , Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler , Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop , Field Marshal Göring , Colonel General von Brauchitsch , General Franz Halder , General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen , Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Norwegian Territories, Josef Terboven , Reich Minister Otto Meissner , Sepp Dietrich , head of the "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"; Reich Minister Fritz Todt , Reich Minister and Head of the Reich Chancellery Hans Heinrich Lammers , Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick , Propaganda Minister Goebbels . On May 11th, Hitler visited the OKH district to have the situation presented to him. It was his only visit to the OKH district during the entire western campaign. In a specially built, well-camouflaged wooden barracks in restricted area I, the situation meetings took place twice a day on average (participants included: Keitel , chief of the OKW and Jodl , chief of the Wehrmacht leadership office ). On May 13, 1940 , Hitler received paratroopers who played an important role in the conquest of the Belgian fort Eben-Emael in order to award them the Knight's Cross. On May 21, 1940, a second high medal was awarded in the rock nest, which was in connection with the conquest of the fort in Belgium. Sergeant Josef Portsteffen and Lieutenant Colonel Hans Mikosch were awarded the Knight's Cross by Hitler. Portsteffen was the first non-commissioned officer in the army to receive such a high distinction.

With a decree on May 18, 1940, Hitler annexed the areas of Eupen , Malmedy and Moresnet separated by the Versailles Peace Treaty and incorporated them into the Rhine Province (Aachen region).

On May 24, 1940, Hitler had the armored troops stop in front of Dunkirk (see Battle of Dunkirk ). Only a few days later could they resume the attack on Dunkirk and the port. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated to England . In the rocky nest, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, von Brauchitsch, tried to persuade Hitler to withdraw his momentous order; in vain.

At the end of May 1940, Hitler met the Italian ambassador Alfieri again. This brought a message from Mussolini about Italy's imminent entry into the war on the side of the German Empire. It finally took place on June 10, 1940. On June 1, 1940, Hitler and his entourage went on a two-day trip to Belgium and northern France. He met u. a. Commanding generals and the commanders in chief. He returned to the rock nest on June 2nd by plane.

During the time it was used as the Führer headquarters, the rock nest was overflown several times by enemy aircraft. However, there was no serious air strike. Precautionary measures to combat paratroopers have been taken. Those responsible counted on a corresponding company by the British and French. Compared to the later FHQ Wolfsschanze, however, the safety precautions were extremely simple.

After Hitler's departure on June 6, 1940, the rock nest continued to be guarded and maintained. The Eifel headquarters was available at any time during the entire war.

During the briefing on March 5, 1943 at the Werwolf headquarters , Hitler announced that he did not want to use the rock nest again. He cited the air threat and the risk of destruction in the city of Euskirchen, which is about 15 kilometers away, as the reason.

In mid-September 1944, the command squadron of the 7th Army of Army Group B temporarily used the facilities around the Hülloch forester's lodge as their headquarters (details here ). A few months later (probably at the end of November / beginning of December 1944) the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group B, Field Marshal Walter Model , moved into the former OKH quarters in Hülloch. From there he led the Battle of the Bulge (beginning December 16, 1944) - first the advance and then the retreat. At the end of December 1944, Reich Minister Speer visited the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group B in his bunker and barrack camp in Hülloch. At the beginning of 1945 two air raids took place on the facilities of the former OKH quarter. In addition to considerable property damage, there were numerous dead and wounded.

Propagandistic staging of the facility

The "Führer Headquarters" were not just facilities for military purposes, but were at the center of Nazi propaganda right from the start, which made the word "Führer Headquarters" an exclusive trademark of Hitler as Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht.

Hitler also influenced the choice of location and, in particular, the design of his headquarters. These had to be particularly simple in their layout, since Hitler used the image of an ascetic leader for propaganda. For these reasons, he rejected the Ziegenberg complex, which was already ready for occupancy, in advance of using the "Felsennest" complex, as he did not want to reside in a former noble mansion. The architects Friedrich Classen and Siegfried Schmelcher , who were involved in the construction of the facility , later stated Hitler's rejection as follows:

"But after this headquarters had devoured [...] millions of Reichsmarks [...], Hitler declared that the headquarters was far too luxurious for him. [...] The people who would later make pilgrimages to the former Führer headquarters [...] would never understand such luxury. "

From the beginning, the facilities were intended as monuments for posterity and for Hitler's fame as a general. The "Felsennest", the first permanent headquarters from which Hitler had followed the decisive first stage of the French campaign up to June 3, 1940, was therefore to remain completely unchanged by order of Hitler. Hitler also commissioned the famous war painter Ernst Vollbehr to paint his headquarters in France.

post war period

At the beginning of March 1945, the most important facilities in Sperrkreis I (i.e. the K and F stand and several barracks) were blown up by German soldiers. The bunkers around the Hülloch forester's lodge were probably also destroyed by the Wehrmacht during the same period . Münstereifel and the surrounding area were taken by US soldiers on March 7, 1945 without a fight. On March 17, 1945, on the outskirts of the village, on the slope of the Radberg, a huge explosion occurred. The cause of this explosion has not yet been fully clarified. There are indications (including archaeological finds) that point to an early crash of a V2 rocket .

After the war, the facilities were ownerless for a short time, everyone got what they needed. There were lists of who had extracted what from the facilities; the things were confiscated and then auctioned. The bunkers in and around Rodert served homeless people / refugees as emergency shelters until the end of the 1940s. A large cinema barrack was sold to a greengrocer in Euskirchen . The air raid shelter for the civilian population and the guest bunker at the battery inventory warehouse were demolished in the following years. Remnants of the battery inventory were removed in the 1990s.

Current condition

Foundations of the barracks
Remains of the Führerbunker

Structural remains of the Führer headquarters can still be found today. The so-called Führerbunker has been preserved as a blown up ruin, the foundations of the barracks can still be found . The blasted concrete remains of the K stand are still on the top of Eselsberg. The small guest house, in which the female typists stayed, has a new owner. The air raid shelter for women next to the house has been preserved.

Three small splinter protection bunkers in the former Sperrkreis II have also been preserved. In the forest around the rock nest, the remains of the barrier fence for District I can still be found. Two one-man shelters (comparable to the so-called Koch shelters) have not been removed. The former hairdressing barracks and a bathhouse were rebuilt and expanded after the war. The former guard house from the 1942/1943 construction program has also been preserved. The building has meanwhile been clinkered and given a new roof.

From the flak security one finds remains of two concreted gun positions and concrete fragments of the command post I for the command device 36 on the Radberg and on the surrounding heights concrete foundations of wooden towers for light flak (2 cm). The superstructures were already sold in May 1945 on behalf of the district administrator , one of which was specified as a "high seat" as a future use.

In the area of ​​the Bad Münstereifel district of Forsthaus Hülloch ( Hanielsche Forstverwaltung ), to the right and left of the street, there are large fragments of the bunker systems that were blown up and which once served the Army High Command (OKH) as permanent quarters (Colonel General von Brauchitsch and General von Halder). The forester's lodge housed parts of the general staff. A post opposite the entrance to the forester's house has also been preserved. It is a listed building.

The Odendorf airfield was demolished after the war. A new building area was created.

literature

  • Gerhard Buck (Ed.): The Führer Headquarters 1939–1945. Contemporary history in the picture. 3. Edition. Druffel, Leoni am Starnberger See 1983, ISBN 3-8061-0830-7 .
  • Manfred Groß: Bunkers in the West Air Defense Zone in the Rhineland and Hitler's headquarters in Bad Münstereifel-Rodert (= essays on history + technology. 6). Werner Sünkel Verlag, Leinburg 2001, ISBN 3-930060-90-6 , pp. 67-106.
  • Hans-Josef Hansen: rock nest. The forgotten Führer headquarters in the Eifel. Construction, use, destruction. 2nd, expanded edition. Helios, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938208-21-2 (extensive documentation on the first fixed Führer headquarters of the Second World War with numerous historical and current recordings as well as contemporary witness reports).
  • Heinrich Hoffmann (Ed.): With Hitler in the West. Zeitgeschichte-Verlag, Berlin 1940, (including photos from the rock nest and the subsequent quarters).
  • Peter Hoffmann : The security of the dictator. Hitler's bodyguards, protective measures, residences, headquarters. Piper, Munich et al. 1975, ISBN 3-492-02120-4 .
  • Werner Jochmann (Ed.): Monologues in the Führer Headquarters. 1941-1944. Heinrich Heim's notes. Knaus, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-8135-0796-3 .
  • Alexander Kuffner: Time Travel Guide Eifel 1933–1945. 2nd Edition. Helios, Aachen 2007, ISBN 978-3-938208-42-7 , pp. 32-38.
  • Richard Raiber: Guide to Hitler's Headquarters (= After the Battle. No. 19, ISSN  0306-154X ). Special edition. Battle of Britain Prints International, London 1977.
  • Christoph Raichle: Hitler as a symbol politician , Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2014.
  • Christa Schroeder : He was my boss. From the estate of Adolf Hitler's secretary. Published by Anton Joachimsthaler . Langen Müller, Munich et al. 1985, ISBN 3-7844-2059-1 (information and descriptions about the various headquarters).
  • Franz W. Seidler , Dieter Zeigert : The Führer Headquarters. Facilities and planning in World War II. Herbig, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-7766-2154-0 .
  • Walter Warlimont : At the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht 39–45. Basics, shapes, designs. 3. Edition. Bernard and Graefe, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7637-5090-8 .
  • TV documentary: Hitler's Führer Headquarters by Rudolf Sporrer. Bavarian Broadcasting 2003.

Web links

Commons : Felsennest  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Leader's Decree" of May 18, 1940 .
  2. ↑ According to a contemporary witness report , an air raid on Hülloch took place on February 17th
  3. ↑ Christoph Raichle: Hitler as a symbol politician . Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, p. 221 ff .
  4. ↑ Christoph Raichle: Hitler as a symbol politician . Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, p. 237 f .
  5. ↑ Peter Hoffmann: The security of the dictator. Hitler's bodyguards, protective measures, residences, headquarters . Munich 1975, p. 207 .
  6. ↑ Christoph Raichle: Hitler as a symbol politician . Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2014, p. 240 f .
  7. ↑ End of the war in Münstereifel in 1945 (from: Yearbook of the District of Euskirchen 1985, pp. 68–77).

Coordinates: 50 ° 32 '54  .2 " N , 6 ° 46' 17.2"  E