Fuhrer's headquarters in Tannenberg
The Führer Headquarters (FHQ) Tannenberg was on the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse near the Alexanderschanze on the almost 1,000 meter high Kniebis in the northern Black Forest (municipality of Baiersbronn ). Today the area with the remains of the former FHQ Tannenberg lies in the backdrop of the Black Forest National Park .
Construction and planning of the plant
Tannenberg was created during the preparations for the French campaign on the edge of a high moor-like clearing not far from the Alexanderschanze restaurant . Carried out by the Todt Organization and some private subcontractors, construction work began on October 1, 1939. It was not a matter of a new building, but of the expansion and expansion of an existing structure on the Siegfried Line .
By July 1, 1940, two bunkers with a total usable area of 275 m² and a barrack of 85 m² were built next to the corresponding access roads . One of the bunkers was supposed to serve as accommodation for Hitler, while the other housed a telecommunications center. In addition, the existing accommodation buildings and shelters were expanded and expanded. The National Defense Department of the Wehrmacht Command Office of the OKW moved into the Hotel Alexanderschanze about 2 kilometers away, which still exists but is empty.
A total of 2,340 m³ of concrete had been used by July 1, 1940. With a weekly working time of 54 hours, the labor input corresponded to 43,750 daily work, whereby one daily work corresponds to the working time of a worker on one working day.
Hitler's stay in Tannenberg
Hitler stayed at the FHQ Tannenberg only once, from June 27 to July 5, 1940, after the triumph in France. He liked to show himself in public, u. a. when visiting the wounded in the Freudenstadt military hospital, which years later brought little sympathy to the city when the French advanced.
His arrival and the associated relocation from the previous location in Wolfsschlucht to Kniebis was announced on June 16, 1940 by the commander of the FHQ and the chief adjutant of the Wehrmacht . Nine days later, on June 25, 1940, the individual groups of the Supreme Command arrived in Tannenberg. During his stay, Hitler went on excursions to neighboring Alsace from here . He also received numerous guests, including the Italian ambassador Alfieri, Baldur von Schirach , Josef Bürckel , Arthur Seyß-Inquart , Reichsminister Lammers , Goebbels and Josef Terboven .
On July 2, 1940, Hitler edited the "Final Report of the OKW on the Campaign in the West" designed by Alfred Jodl in Tannenberg . On the same day, the chief of the Wehrmacht command staff presented Hitler with the first drafts and plans for an invasion of Great Britain. At noon on July 5, 1940, Hitler left Tannenberg. The Führer-Escort-Battalion , which was responsible for its protection, was also withdrawn and transferred to the Führer Headquarters Kehlsteinhaus (Adlerhorst) in order to prepare it for Operation Sea Lion , which was abandoned in 1941. In Tannenberg only a small guard was left. In November 1940 the facility was taken over by the Stuttgart military district command and used as a command post until the end of March 1945 .
Demolition after 1945
At the beginning of April 1945 units of the V US Corps reached Tannenberg, which German pioneers had blown up a few days earlier. In 1946 and 1947, many remains were removed, and the rubble served the population as building material for years. In the early 1960s, most of the remains of the former Führer headquarters in Tannenberg were finally removed and the foundations of the buildings leveled. Today there are only a few bunkers and foundations left.
FHQ Tannenberg
FHQ Tannenberg
FHQ Tannenberg
Base of barracks
literature
- Ralf Bernd Herden : The “Führer Headquarters Tannenberg” on the Kniebis. In: The Ortenau . Jahresband 82, 2002, pp. 681-684 .
- Ralf Bernd Herden: The “court” of the Führer headquarters [on the knee]. In: The Ortenau. Annual volume 93, 2013, pp. 443–452 .
- Franz W. Seidler , Dieter Zeigert : The Führer Headquarters. Facilities and planning in World War II. Herbig, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-7766-2154-0 , pp. 180-183.
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 29 ′ 45.7 " N , 8 ° 15 ′ 52.3" E