Complex camp 12
The complex bearing 12 was at the time of the GDR an underground warehouse of the NVA in the counter mountains south of Halberstadt . The underground facility was built in the Third Reich under the cover name Malachite as an underground manufacturing facility. Until 1995 it was still used by the Bundeswehr as Air Force material depot 52 .
The facility has a size of about 57,000 m², according to other information 67,000 m², and was thus the largest underground facility in the GDR . The entrance to the camp was colloquially called the Nightingale Gorge .
history
Construction at the time of National Socialism
From April 21, 1944, thousands of prisoners from the Langenstein-Zwieberge concentration camp , a satellite camp of the Buchenwald concentration camp , were called in to build the facility ; In the bunker system, which bore the code name Malachite , engine parts for aircraft were to be manufactured for the company Junkers Motorenwerke Dessau . An aircraft production with 6000 workers was planned. It was also briefly planned to make space available for the BMW engine works in Berlin-Spandau.
More than 1900 concentration camp prisoners died while the facility was being built; around 13 km of tunnels were built during this time. The work was stopped on April 6, 1945.
A memorial in Langenstein-Zwieberge commemorates the deaths of the concentration camp prisoners.
Use from 1945
The Soviet troops first dismantled the technical facilities and in 1948 prepared to blow up the facility, which was to take place in January 1949. The demolition was prevented by the deputy chairman of the German Economic Commission in the Soviet Zone , Luitpold Steidle . Only minor explosions were carried out. The facility has been officially destroyed since then.
From 1976 the plant was taken over by the NVA. Around 40,000 m² of space was modernized. Around 9,000 tons of ammunition, clothing, food and equipment were temporarily stored here. On May 1, 1984, the secret complex camp 12 (Object 16/630) was put into service. Complex camp 12 was directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff of the Rear Services in the Ministry of National Defense , as were the other three camps of this type, complex camp 2 in Blankenburg , complex camp 22 in Rothenstein and complex camp 32 in Pirna . Complex camp 12 had the code name “Departure Signal” and the NVA post box number 15723.
After the fall of the Wall, the Bundeswehr used the complex as Luftwaffe material depot 52 until December 1993, before it was sold to a private individual in 1995.
The warehouse was also used for storing GDR banknotes. After the monetary union in 1990, NVA soldiers housed around 620 million banknotes there. The facility became known because notes were stolen from this money supply. The banknotes were then burned in a waste incineration plant.
A small part of a tunnel is open as a memorial in the summer months (April to October) on the last weekend of the month from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Boards with texts and photos explain the history and further development.
Web links
- History of the complex camp 12
- geschichtsspuren.de: U-relocation malachite / complex storage facility KL-12
- Pictures on one-tages.de
- Series of images on LostAreas.de
- Lostplace Productions - Underground Relocation Malachite
- Detailed maps "Complex Camp 12 / Malachite Halberstadt"
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c einestages.de
- ↑ a b c d e geschichtsspuren.de (formerly lostplaces.de): U-relocation malachite / complex warehouse KL-12
- ↑ Helmut Sachse: The complex camp 2 (KL-2) in the turning point November 1989 to September 1990 . Working History & integration in the German Armed Forces Association eV
- ↑ Location database of the National People's Army, the border troops of the GDR and the Soviet (Russian) armed forces in the GDR , status of the deployment 1986/87, at the MGFA .
Coordinates: 51 ° 51 '27.4 " N , 11 ° 1' 32.9" E