Project giant
The Riese project refers to several tunnel systems from the time of the Second World War . It is located in the low mountain range around the Säuferhöhen (Osówka) and Wolfsberg in the Silesian Owl Mountains near Wüstewaltersdorf, today Walim in Poland.
structure
The complex consists of several individual systems. The tunnel systems known today are in the drive- on state , parts of the chamber system have a finished interior made of concrete. It is assumed that the facility in the Owl Mountains should serve as the leader's headquarters and as a replacement for the well-known Wolfsschanze . Notes on this are in a file by the architect Siegfried Schmelcher under the name Geheime Reichssache 91/44 . From here, should operations in the East are performed.
The facilities in Säuferwasser / Säuferhöhen, Wolfsberg and Dorfbach (Rzeczka) are accessible to tourists and can be visited on guided tours. The tunnels under Fürstenstein Castle (approx. 30 km from Wüstewaltersdorf) are also included in the complex. Because it is used as a seismological station, a tour is only partially possible.
The size of the facility can be explained according to the plans as follows: Underground living and working quarters were planned for the Führer Headquarters (FHQ), High Command of the Army (OKH), High Command of the Air Force (OKL) as well as the Reich Foreign Minister and the Reichsführer SS . Furthermore, underground accommodation for security and support staff should be created. An underground industrial plant was also planned (see Mittelbau-Dora ). Such a gigantic, bomb-proof, underground facility was to be built by August 1945. The cost was set at 130 million Reichsmarks . The size of the entire system of the Riese project was to be 194,232 m², the bunker system for the FHQ had an area of 5,000 m². The blueprints for Giant were probably destroyed. Therefore an exact reconstruction is no longer possible from today's perspective.
history
At the beginning of the Second World War and the attack on Poland in 1939, there were no protective devices for the military leadership and the government in the Silesian Owl Mountains . According to contemporary witnesses, areas around Wolfsberg were closed as early as 1938. In September 1943, the construction work for the FHQ in the Eulengebirge was discussed with the Minister of Armaments Albert Speer , and as early as October 1943 construction work began on a large scale under the direction of the Schlesische Industriegemeinschaft AG. In April 1944, the Todt Organization took over construction management. To implement this construction project, labor camps (AL) of the nearby Groß-Rosen concentration camp were established and up to 20,000 prisoners were deployed. Around 5,000 prisoners were murdered.
Since this project was subject to the highest level of secrecy, it also changed the living conditions of the local population to a great extent, some of whom could only move to a limited extent in the restricted areas designated there. Many private companies involved in the construction of the project and the surrounding population were not aware of the purpose of the building project, so that there was speculation about two versions, an underground armaments production facility or another Führer headquarters . Riese's construction plans are still considered lost, although in 2011 a number of new publications (previously only available in Polish) document the state of research, which were presented to a broad public in several events, especially in spring and summer 2011.
In August 2015 there was a report that a buried train from the Nazi era, the so-called Gold Train from Wałbrzych , had been located in the vicinity of the Riese project at a depth of around 70 m , but no evidence was published and no train was found .
Previously known systems
List of known tunnels:
| investment | Remarks | location | Layout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zamek Książ | formerly: Fürstenstein Castle ; developed for tourism | location |
|
| Rzeczka | formerly: Dorfbach ; 3 tunnels developed for tourism | location |
|
| Włodarz | formerly: Wolfsberg ; 4 tunnels developed for tourism | location |
|
| Ludwikowice Kłodzkie | formerly: Mölke ; 1 tunnel developed for tourism | location | |
| Osówka | formerly: Drunken Heights; 3 tunnels developed for tourism | location |
|
| Sokolec | formerly: Falkenberg ; not developed for tourism | Location , |
|
| Jugowice | formerly: Hausdorf (Oberdorf); not developed for tourism | location |
|
| Soboń | formerly: Ramenberg; not developed for tourism | location |
|
| Głuszyca | formerly: Wüstegiersdorf ; not developed for tourism | location |
|
The construction work was carried out with forced labor, on the one hand with prisoners of war from the community camps listed below, as well as with prisoners from the Groß-Rosen concentration camp , who were divided into several labor camps (AL) that were close to the individual construction projects:
| designation | place | location | Usage period |
|---|---|---|---|
| GL I Wüstewaltersdorf | Walim | location | Nov 1943 - May 1945 |
| GL II Dörnhau | Kolce | location | Nov 1943 - May 1945 |
| GL III Wüstegiersdorf | Głuszyca | location | Nov 1943 - May 1945 |
| GL IV Oberwüstegiersdorf | Głuszyca Górna | location | Nov 1943 - May 1945 |
| GL V Tannhausen | Jedlinka | location | Mar 1944 - May 1945 |
| AL Dörnhau | Dörnhau | location | Jun 1944 - May 1945 |
| AL alder bush | Olszyniec | location | May 1944 - May 1945 |
| AL Falkenberg | Sowina | location | Apr 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL Fürstenstein | Książ | location | May 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL cold water | Zimna Woda | location | Aug 1944 - Dec 1944 |
| AL larch | Soboń | location | Oct / Dec 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL Märzbachtal | Potok Marcowy Duży | location | Apr / Jun 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL drunkard water | Osówka | location | Aug 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL gravel works | Głuszyca Górna | location | Apr / May 1944 - May 1945 |
| AL Tannhausen | Jedlinka | location | Apr / May 1944 - May 1945 |
| AL Wolfsberg | Wolfsberg | location | May 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL Wüstegiersdorf | Wüstegiersdorf | location | Apr 1944 - Feb 1945 |
| AL Wüstewaltersdorf | Wüstewaltersdorf | location | Apr 1944-1945 |
| Tannhausen central district | Jedlinka | location | Nov 1944 - May 1945 |
Web links
- Website of the Museum Wlodarz / Wolfsberg in four languages - Project Riese
- Trilingual homepage of a history project on the Riese complex
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Giant Complex (PDF; 215 kB)
- ^ Object Riese - Wüstewaltersdorf 1943
- ^ Labor camp map , website of the Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp Museum, accessed on March 15, 2016.
Map with all coordinates: