Führer Headquarters Wolfsschlucht 1
The Führer Headquarters (FHQu) Wolfsschlucht , located in the Belgian village of Brûly-de-Pesche , near Couvin , was one of a total of 18 Führer headquarters that were built during the Second World War , some of which were unfinished. In order to be closer to what was happening in the war, Hitler demanded that his headquarters be relocated further west when the campaign in the west began; as a result, the FHQu Wolfsschlucht was built.
Construction and planning
Fritz Todt , Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition, was responsible for selecting a suitable location . The choice fell on the small Belgian village of Brûly-de-Pesche, 25 km northwest of Charleville-Mézières . On May 25, 1940, construction work began on this project, carried out by the Todt Organization (OT). 600 members of the OT were busy with the execution of the work up to June 6, 1940. Hitler's three meter deep concrete shelter was built from 630 m³ of concrete and offered a usable area of 25 m². Furthermore, five barracks , one of which was intended for Hitler, were built with a total usable area of 1500 m². One more of these barracks was intended for the Wehrmacht Leadership Office (WFA) and as a dining room. An additional 800 m² of usable space was added in the houses, such as B. School building and church in the village of Brûly-de-Pesche made available. A landing pad for small aircraft, on which a liaison aircraft was constantly on standby, was built south of the village.
25 houses were requisitioned there for the Army High Command (OKH), which set up its headquarters in Chimay , a few kilometers away .
Fuse
The entire complex was fenced in with barbed wire and guarded by security guards. The strength of the security forces was 26 officers, 185 NCOs and around 750 men. The air defense was removed by three Flak - batteries with 10.5-cm-Flak , a battery having 3.7 cm Flak , and a 2-cm ensured battery.
Adolf Hitler in the Fuehrer's headquarters in Wolfsschlucht
Hitler left his first permanent headquarters, the Felsennest , on June 6, 1940 to move into the successor quarters, Wolfsschlucht. He only used the FHQu Wolfsschlucht from June 6, 1940 to June 27, 1940 and only occasionally. Eyewitnesses reported that Hitler was mostly outdoors because of a mosquito plague inside the building. He criticized the entire system as “not safe”, and never lived in the bunker built by the OT . Hitler left Wolfsschlucht on June 25, 1940 , and on June 19, 1940 he ordered the Führer headquarters to be relocated to Tannenberg . On July 2, 1940, the plant was handed over to the OT.
Wolfsschlucht 2
Wolfsschlucht 2 ( 49 ° 26 ′ 48.1 ″ N , 3 ° 24 ′ 27.8 ″ E ) was created in Margival near Soissons , France. There is a railway tunnel nearby, in which Hitler's train could be stored.
Current condition
Hitler's bunker has been preserved and can be visited. In 1992 two museum pavilions were built on the site. In them you can find out about the campaign in the West and about the actions of the Resistance . A replica of the Resistance's forest lower quarters can also be viewed on the site.
Model of a forest district of the Resistance
Bunker of the Führer Headquarters
The interior of the bunker
Entrance area of the bunker
Church of the village of Brûly-de-Pesche
literature
- Pierre Rhode, Werner Sünkel: Wolfsschlucht 2nd autopsy of a leader's headquarters (= essays on history + technology. 1). W. Sünkel, Leinburg 1993, ISBN 3-930060-01-9 (with mentions and descriptions of the FHQ Wolfsschlucht 1 and 3rd - 3rd edition, on CD. W. Sünkel, Leinburg 2005, ISBN 3-930060-81-7 ).
- 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.
- Hans-Josef Hansen: rock nest. The forgotten Führer headquarters in the Eifel. Construction, use, destruction. 2nd, expanded edition. Helios, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938208-21-2 (including images and information about Wolfsschlucht, pp. 130-136).
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 5.5 ″ N , 4 ° 27 ′ 33 ″ E