Dülmen-Visbeck special ammunition depot

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Use of the warehouse by Haarmann Feuerwerk (aerial photo, 2014)
Watchtower
Access gate
warning sign
Watchtower
bunker

The Dülmen-Visbeck special ammunition depot in Dülmen about 4.5 km south of the city center near Haus Visbeck was a location for nuclear weapons in Germany .

Construction of the camp began on April 25, 1963 and was completed on September 22, 1965. The camp consisted of two bunkers and was specially secured by the US Army . It could be observed from a larger watchtower. A smaller watchtower also allowed a look into the immediately adjacent, significantly larger ammunition depot of the Bundeswehr with 25 bunkers.

The special ammunition depot had the order to store the "special weapons " ( nuclear weapons ) intended for the 7th Panzer Division :

  • Warheads for the tactical short-range missile Honest John (until 1980)
  • Artillery shells caliber 203 mm for the heavy self-propelled howitzer of the division artillery (atomic from 1960)
  • Artillery projectiles caliber 155 mm for the self-propelled howitzers of the division artillery (from 1972)

Whether nuclear ammunition was actually stored in the warehouse was neither officially confirmed nor denied.

The 81st US Field Artillery Detachment , which was subordinate to the 570th US Army Artillery Group , which was stationed in Münster - Handorf from 1964 to 1992 , was responsible for the operation and guarding of the inner part of the camp . The 5th battery (backup battery ) of the Missile Artillery Battalion  72 was responsible for external guarding  .

In the 1980s, the camp was often a target of the peace movement. The US Army camp was dissolved in 1991 and the Bundeswehr camp in 1996. After that it was used as a warehouse for fireworks (Haarmann Feuerwerk company). In 2018 the city of Dülmen acquired the site in order to use it as an ecological compensation area. Since 2019, the area has been in the interests of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association , which wants to put it under monument protection . A possible solution to the different interests of using it as a memorial, memorial and ecological compensation area emerged in 2019 in the form of a visitor platform and limited opportunities to visit.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Dülmen-Visbeck, former nuclear weapons site . Nuclear weapons AZ.
  2. http://www.bw-duelmen.de/page_1180898151359.html
  3. https://www.dzonline.de/Duelmen/3490825-Stadt-hat-das-gesamte-Areal-des-Munitionsdepots-Visbeck-gekauf-Militaerlager-fuer-Uhus-und-Fledermaeuse
  4. https://www.dzonline.de/Duelmen/3665445-LWL-macht-Strich-durch-Oekopunkte-Rechnung-Munitionsdepot-als-Baudenkmal
  5. https://www.dzonline.de/Duelmen/3810639-Besuche-muessen-moeglich-sein-SPD-begruesst-Wende-bei-Visbeck

Coordinates: 51 ° 47 ′ 45 ″  N , 7 ° 19 ′ 30 ″  E