Socrates (bunker)

The bunker Socrates was the command post of the 2nd Hunting Division in World War II in Stade .

history

After the staff of the 2nd Hunting Division had been set up in Stade, a simple brick building was erected as a command post at Bremervörder Straße 111 in the spring of 1942. It consisted of a three-story main house, two two-story extensions and two two-story transverse wings. A large camouflage net spanned the camouflaged building. To protect the staff, there was an underground, covered splinter protection shelter on the apron.

At the beginning of 1943 it was clear that the command post was too small. Besides, it wasn't bombproof. Therefore, the construction of a large bunker was ordered under the direction of the Air Force Office in Luftgau XI.

In order for the building to blend in with the landscape as inconspicuously as possible, a terrace-like depression was created on the eastern slope of the Black Mountain south of the Schützenhalle. The excavation was used below the Black Mountain to widen the space at the Schützenhalle.

In December 1943, operations began in the large Sokrates bunker and in early 1944 it was fully operational. Operations were maintained around the clock by three shifts with 300 people each.

A fire on February 17, 1944 did not cause much damage and did not impair the operational capability of the command post.

From October 1, 1944, through the so-called “Heldenklau ” campaign of the Wehrmacht, experts who were fit for the front were sent to the front. This loss of experienced personnel reduced the efficiency of the command post.

On April 9, 1945, the large bunker was the target of a bomb attack. Bombs fell in the Schwingewiesen east of the Black Mountain as far as Wiepenkathen, on the Hohenwedel and on the Black Mountain southwest of the bunker. The old command post was hit and the broadcasting barrack on the Hohenwedel was destroyed. A soldier died in the cover hole next to the barracks from a direct hit. After the air raid, the corridors of the bunker were available to the population as an air raid shelter .

On the night of April 20, 1945, the command post was made unusable and occupied by British troops on May 1, 1945.

After the war the bunker served as a warehouse. A shoe factory was set up in the extension in 1947. Despite major protests by the city of Stade and proposals to demilitarize the bunker through partial explosions, the bunker was blown up on November 1, 1948 at 11:00 a.m. In addition to the barracks inhabited by refugees, other civil buildings were also severely damaged in some cases. The amount of damage was later set at DM 31,238.60. It took more than two years to repair the damage.

The resulting reinforced concrete mountain was a dangerous place. On December 16, a child was killed playing in the rubble. It was not until 1952 that the city of Stade signed a contract with the demolition company Franke & Co. for the demolition of the bunker ruins. At the end of 1957, the last rubble of the bunker was cleared away.

The old command post was demolished as part of the new hospital building.

literature

• Dieter-Theodor Bohlmann: SOCRATES: The history of the Reich air defense, its facilities and properties in and around Stade 1935-2005. Stade 2005, ISBN 3-933996-27-9 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 42.6 "  N , 9 ° 26 ′ 48.3"  E