Jonastal

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The Jonastal
Muschelkalkfelsen in the Jonastal
Memorial for the victims of National Socialism in the Jonastal

The Jonastal is a cut in the terrain within the Ohrdrufer Platte , which stretches from Crawinkel to Arnstadt in central Thuringia . It is traversed by the Wilder Weisse , which has partially cut its way deep into the shell limestone, creating steep breaks. The approx. 10 km long valley is deeply cut, has mostly very steep walls, is mostly very narrow and strongly twisted. In many places the valley is so narrow that there is just enough space for a narrow county road, apart from the river Weisse.

In this valley many rare orchids and other plants such as limestone preferable that grow Cowslip . Since there is hardly any space for agricultural land in the valley, the vegetation is very natural.

On the plateau west of the valley is the former military training area Ohrdruf, where nature has been able to develop freely for decades and where wolves have now settled.

The valley is still known for a secret construction project in this area at the time of National Socialism .

The Jonastal separates the Gossel plateau to the right of the Wild White from the western Ohrdrufer Platte.

Construction activities during World War II

In the last months of the Second World War , the Jonastal became the site of a secret construction project by the National Socialists . Tens of thousands of prisoners from the Buchenwald concentration camp drove 25 tunnels into the mountain in the Jonastal valley under the strictest secrecy between November 1944 and the beginning of April 1945 as part of the special construction project " S III " .

The purpose of this construction project was unknown to the public for a long time and gave rise to much speculation. However, more recent source studies and the interrogation report released in 2005 by the then head of the responsible planning office, Karl Fiebinger , show that these were bunkers that should have served Adolf Hitler as the (last) Führer headquarters . The place was chosen because of its central location. In addition, it is practically impossible to drop bombs in the valley, because it is too narrow, too tortuous and too deep.

Already in the years 1936–38 a bunkered communication system with the camouflage designations “Amt 10” or “Olga” was built on the edge of the military camp in Ohrdruf , which was originally supposed to provide the communication links for a planned alternative headquarters of the Army High Command . This facility was probably also included in the overall planning for "S III", as were the barracks of the Ohrdruf military camp and other larger buildings in the wider area, for example various hotels to accommodate staff.

SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler was in charge of the "S III" project, and he received the order for this directly from Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler .

In connection with the construction work, the “S III” subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp was built. The camp existed from November 6, 1944 to the beginning of April 1945 (from November 14, 1944 to January 15, 1945 it was run as an independent concentration camp and did not count as an external command during these eight weeks). In addition to the north and south camps at Ohrdruf , the “S III” subcamp also included the other camps in the Crawinkel air ammunition facility and the tent camp at Espenfeld .

On April 2, 1945, construction work ceased and the concentration camp prisoners rushed off on death marches. The bunkers were inspected by the US Army and then blown up before they were handed over to the Soviet Union.

More guesswork and conspiracy theories

Several authors and revisionists claim that nuclear weapons were developed in the Jonastal during the “Third Reich”.

Like some other tunnel systems, the Jonastal was and is searched for the Amber Room .

natural reserve

The slopes of the valley between Gossel and the southern outskirts of Arnstadt form the 714 hectare nature reserve No. 391 Jonastal .

literature

Web links

Commons : Jonastal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dieter Zeigert: Hitler's last refuge? The project of a Führer headquarters in Thuringia 1944/45 . Munich 2003, ISBN 3-8316-1091-6 .
  2. ↑ http://ecc.pima.edu/~gusen/Fiebinger/May_7_1947_British_%20Interrogation_Report_RG_319_270.84.2.7_E.PDF , there point 3.a. (7).
  3. ↑ Hans Georg Kampe: Army intelligence and German Reichspost. Military and state communications in Germany from 1830 to 1945. Waldesruh near Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-932566-31-9 , p. 327.
  4. ↑ Franz W. Seidler, Dieter Zeigert: The Führer Headquarters. Facilities and planning in World War II. , Munich 2000, ISBN 3-7766-2154-0 , p. 311.
  5. ↑ Dieter Zeigert: Hitler's last refuge? The project of a Führer headquarters in Thuringia 1944/45 . Munich 2003, ISBN 3-8316-1091-6 , pp. 154-161.
  6. ↑ Affidavit from Heinrich Werner Courté dated June 20, 1947 for submission to the Military Court No. II (Case IV), Nuremberg, Germany, in the addendum to Interrogation Report No. 322 of November 16, 1946.
  7. ↑ Historians' dispute over Hitler's bomb, Der Spiegel, March 3, 2005
  8. ↑ focus.de May 23, 2016
  9. ↑ Information about the book

Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ′ 54 ″  N , 10 ° 52 ′ 12 ″  E