WW I and WW II Military Sites in Europe
I have personally visited all of these sites, and display a degree of expertise for each one:
A. Concentration Camps and Museums:
- Auschwitz / Birkenau (Poland)
- Buchenwald - Weimar
- Dachau - Dachau/Munich
- Flossenbürg - Flossenbürg, Bayern (site where Dietrich Bonhoeffer was killed)
- Mittelbau-Dora – Nordhausen
- Natzweiler/Struthof (France)
- Theresienstadt / Terezín (Czech Republic)
- Krakau, Poland - setting for Schindler's List
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (US)
Static display at the Technik Museum Sinsheim, near Stuttgart.
B. Secret German/Nazi Military Sites
- Walpersberg (Code name: Lachs) Khala, Thüringen - REIMAHG - underground manufacturing site for Messerschmitt ME-262 and launch runway for finished aircraft (six pictures, below)
Walpersberg / REIMAHG - WW II Allied intelligence photo (above) of the hilltop runway for launching the Messerschmitt ME-262 (Schwalbe - "swallow") and the remains of the surface .
An inclined railway built into the side of the hill was used to move the aircraft from the ground level tunnel exit up to the runway. The first Me 262 took off on 21 February 1945. These aircraft did not possess sufficient power on their own to take off on such a short runway (ca. 1.3 km. / +1 mile) so they were retrofitted with supplemental rockets that could assist them getting into the air, and flying over to an airport (Bebra) where they could be fully outfitted for warfare.
An inclined railway built into the side of the hill was used to move the aircraft from the ground level tunnel exit up to the runway. The first Me 262 took off on 21 February 1945. These aircraft did not possess sufficient power on their own to take off on such a short runway (ca. 1.3 km. / +1 mile) so they were retrofitted with supplemental rockets that could assist them getting into the air, and flying over to an airport (Bebra) where they could be fully outfitted for warfare.
Eventually only around 20 or 30 completed aircraft left the facility before it was liberated by US troops on 12–13 April 1945. Manufacturing structures inside and outside the facility were later blown-up by Soviet demolition crews that came in after the Americans were required to retreat from the Soviet Occupation Zone according to the Potsdam Agreement.
The Messerschmitt ME-262 was the world's first and only operational combat jet aircraft in WW II. The first working prototype was developed tested in July 1038. It was brought into production in early 1941. Hitler erroneously envisioned the ME-262 as a quick-strike bomber, and he stuck with this plan for many months, but finally gave it up after being convinced by his general. It later proved to be incredibly effective after modifications to be an interceptor for Allied bomber formations over Germany from 1944-1945.
Below is a WWII-era photograph of the runway and narrow-gauge railroad running parallel to the take-off strip on the top of the hill. The total length of the runway was only about 1.3 km. (+0.1 mile), which necessitated the attachment of rockets to the under-surface of the wings. This runway was blown-up by Soviet demolition crews, and is now overgrown with trees and vegetation.
The Messerschmitt ME-262 was the world's first and only operational combat jet aircraft in WW II. The first working prototype was developed tested in July 1038. It was brought into production in early 1941. Hitler erroneously envisioned the ME-262 as a quick-strike bomber, and he stuck with this plan for many months, but finally gave it up after being convinced by his general. It later proved to be incredibly effective after modifications to be an interceptor for Allied bomber formations over Germany from 1944-1945.
Below is a WWII-era photograph of the runway and narrow-gauge railroad running parallel to the take-off strip on the top of the hill. The total length of the runway was only about 1.3 km. (+0.1 mile), which necessitated the attachment of rockets to the under-surface of the wings. This runway was blown-up by Soviet demolition crews, and is now overgrown with trees and vegetation.
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/thuringen.htm (photos above and below)
A 45-degree ramp was built with rails and equipped with a cable to winch the completed aircraft resting on a platform up the slope to the runway located on the top of the mountain. The map below with a red line showing the route taken in the 5-hour guided foot-tour.
Historische Wanderung Walpersberg - Rüstungswerk REIMAHG is a 3.4 mile loop trail located at Großeutersdorf with monthly walking tours in German that take participants across the hilltop area occupied earlier by the German Nazi landing strip and in front of the manufacturing facilities. Both fell victim to demolition by Soviets after the war.T
Dokumentation Center, Kleineutersdorf, Facilties Model (above)huringia
Walpersberg - Visitors standing in front of a wall from a manufacturing building destroyed by Russian demolition teams in 1947. Plaques commemorate victims of Nazi brutality - prisoners who were forced to help build the facility.
Here a local club sponsors the comprehensive 5-hour German-language walking tour conducted by a local expert.
http://walpersberg.com/fuehrungen-museum/fuehrungen/
Here a local club sponsors the comprehensive 5-hour German-language walking tour conducted by a local expert.
http://walpersberg.com/fuehrungen-museum/fuehrungen/
I also visited these critical, but relatively unknown WWII manufacturing sites during my 2016 tour:
- Mühldorfer Hart (Code name: Weingut 1) Bavaria - underground manufacturing site for Messerschmitt ME-262
- KZ-Gedenkstätte Mittelbau Dora, Nordhausen, Thüringen - underground manufacturing site for the V-2 rocket and Messerschmitt ME-262 engines
- Denkort Bunker Valentin, Rekum - submarine (U-Boote Typ XXI) manufacturing site north of Bremen
Although more than 1,300 ME-262's were produced, less than 300 saw combat due to heavy allied bombings, pilot shortages, logistical delivery problems, part shortages and assembly issues. The bombing of production sites caused the most damage. Manufacturing was moved to underground facilities in Central Germany, in the State of Thuringia.
The first ME-262 interception of allied bomber formations took place in July 1944, and resulted in shooting down B-17's and Allied interceptor aircraft. American pilots of propeller aircraft did see moderate success in combating the ME-262's on certain occasions - in turning tighter curves in aerial combat, and during landing and take-off.
The first ME-262 interception of allied bomber formations took place in July 1944, and resulted in shooting down B-17's and Allied interceptor aircraft. American pilots of propeller aircraft did see moderate success in combating the ME-262's on certain occasions - in turning tighter curves in aerial combat, and during landing and take-off.
Construction of manufacturing bunker near Munich (Mühldorfer Hart, Code name: Weingut 1, Bavaria), designed by the Germans to build ME-262's. Today, after demolition by US army teams, the ruins can still be visited in a remote forest.
Reinhard Heydrich led the meeting (Wannseekonferenz 20. Januar 1942) in Berlin to plan the Final Solution ( „Endlösung der Judenfrage“) to annihilate the Jews
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Heydrich's Mercedes Benz that was involved in the assassination attack in Prague, 27. May 1942. Note the damage to the vehicle from a bomb that blew-up in front of the right-rear wheel, causing the horse-hair stuffing from the seat to be blown up into Heydrich's appendix, causing a systemic inflection and death after four days.
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C. WW I and WW II - Specialty Lecture Topics
- WW I and Trench Warfare: Verdun Theater
- The Era between the Wars: the Weimar Republic and German culture
- Rise of Hitler and Nazism 1933-1939
- Germany at War – 1939-1945 – the Western Front
- Battle of Verdun
- Battle of Hürtgenwald (Youtube)
- Life and assassination (Operation Anthropoid) of Reinhard Heydrich and his role in the Endlösung (Final Solution) of the Jews
- Events leading up to the 20th c. European Holocaust
- Development and Employment of the Vergeltungswaffe V-2 rocket
- Development and Employment of the Messerschmitt ME-262 jet fighter plane
- Life, relationships, work and politics in former Communist East Germany
Destruction of Lidice, CZ, village by the Germans. Reprisal for Heydrich's assassination, May 1942.
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SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, 3rd Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, at the Prague Castle
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D. Germany: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Aachen: The Battle of Aachen - first city conquered by the Americans in a bloody battle as they entered Germany in 1945
- Bastogne, Belgium: Battle of the Bulge – Luxemburg, General Patton.
- Berchtesgaden – Obersalzberg Documentation, Kehlsteinhaus
- Berlin – Battle of Berlin, Soviet Army, Partitioning of East Germany and Berlin
- Berlin – Hitler's Reichkanzlei, Führerbunker, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate
- Berlin – Checkpoint Charlie (I visited it twice during the Cold War)
- Berlin – Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Jewish Memorial)
- Berlin – Flak-Bunker Humbolthain
- Berlin – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächniskirche
- Berlin - Treptower Park - Soviet War Memorial
- Berlin – Reichstag, including Mauerverlauf – walking along the Wall
- Berlin - Sowjetisches Ehrenmal im Treptower Park (Soviet War Memorial)
- Berlin - Wannsee Conference Villa (Site of the Nazi meeting led by Heydrich to plan the "Final Solution" (Endlösung) of the Jews, on 20. January 1942.)
- Berlin - Olympic Stadium - 1936 Olympics - Adolf Hitler and Jessie Owens
- Hamburg – Feldstrasse Bunker, Flakturm IV
- Hürtgenwald – Disastrous 6-month battle south of Aachen for the American forces first entering Germany; Vossenack, Rötgen, Monschau, Stolberg (Sept. 1944 - Feb. 1945)
- München - Deutsches Museum - V-2, Messerschmitt ME-262
- München - Gedenkstätte Weiße Rose, Resistance Memorial to Sophie und Hans Scholl - a brother and sister who were members of the White Rose, a student group in Munich active in the non-violent resistance movement in Nazi Germany, especially in distributing flyers against the war and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Both were beheaded by guillotine.
- Munster - Deutsches Panzermuseum (German Tank Museum)
- Nürnberg – Reichsparteigelände (Parade Grounds)
- Sinsheim - Technik Museum (WW II equipment)
- Stohlberg / Aachen – Panzersperren am Westwall / Höckerlinie, (Anti-tank barricades) part of the Westwall / Siegfried Line during the Battle of Hürtengenwald
- Westwall (Siegfried Line) - 1200 km. wall built by the Germans on the Reich's western front
- Worms – Jewish Cemetery - one of the few that survived bull-dozing from the Nazis
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal im Treptower Park (Soviet War Memorial), southeast Berlin
Berlin - Flak-Bunker Humbolthain, 1944. It was the only one of three left standing, and is now open for tours.
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Three V-2 Rockets being prepared to launch - Rügen Penninsula, North Germany
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E. France: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Bayeux - Museum
- Calais - German Bunker
- Normandy Beaches – Utah, Gold, Omaha; Arromanches-les-Bains
- Normandy American Cemetery and German Military Cemeteries
- Elsass - Friedhof Bergheim - German Military Cemetery near the Hoch-Königsburg castle
F. Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Bastogne - Battle of the Bulge ( Ardennenoffensive), Bastogne War Museum, Belgium
- Maastricht - Fort Eben-Emael, Belgium
- Luxembourg - Military Cemetery - Patton’s Grave
- Battlegrounds and memorials in Northern Luxemburg
- Naval Gun Battery, Scheveningen-Nord, NL
Fort Eben-Emael, Belgium - fascinating WW II fortress that was captured by the German using gliders
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G. Czech Republic: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Lidice – Lidice village massacre (Nazi reprisal action for Heydrich’s assassination in Prague)
- Prague - St Cyril and St Methodius Cathedral (hide-out and site of gun battle that ended in the suicide of Heydrich’s assassins)
- Prague – Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely (Letecké Muzeum Kbely) static display of ME-262. (I've visited other ME-262's at the Deutsches Museum, München, and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC)
Above: Engine from the V-1 on display at the Mittelbau-Dora underground manufacturing site, Nordhausen, Germany.
H. Poland: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
I. Italy: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
J. Turkey: World War I Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Auschwitz/Birkenau Concentration Camp
- Krakow - city; site of "Schindler's List."
I. Italy: World War II Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Monte Cassino
J. Turkey: World War I Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Gallipoli / Dardanelles - tragic decisions by Winston Churchill and other leaders led to the loss of three British and French destroyers by a mine layer. Then followed disastrous losses for the Anzac troops who attempted an amphibious landing and invasion on nearby beaches.
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K. France and Belgium: WWI Battle Grounds, Museums and Sites
- Bitsche - Ouverage Simserhof (Maginot Line) (France)
- Sommes (France: Beaumont Hamel, Thiepval Hill, La Boisselle / Lochnagar Mine Crater, site of +20,000 British killed on one day, Vimy Ridge); war cemeteries
- Verdun (France) – Museum, forts, city, cemeteries and most locations in this WW I theater
- Yper (Belgium) – Cloth Hall and battle grounds to the east and south of the city
L. Italy: WWI Alpine Battle Grounds
- Drei Zinnen - Italian artillery emplacements on hiking trail near the Dreizinnenhütte
- Cortina d'Ampezzo - Roadside reinforced concrete bunkers
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Germany: Berlin and Cold War German-German Border Sites
Berlin:
Berlin:
- Berliner Fernsehturm (TV tower) - built during the GDR
- Brandenburg Gate – view of the Chancellery site of underground bunkers
- Gedenkstätte Berlinermauer (Bernauerstrasse) - Wall Museum
- Reichstag (including Mauerverlauf – walking along the Berlin Wall)
- Wannsee Conference Villa
- Checkpoint Charlie
- Treptower Park, Soviet War Memorial - burial site built to commemorate 7,000 of the 80,000 Red Army soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in April–May 1945.
- Berlin Wall – I’ve been through the original (Cold War) Checkpoint Charlie twice before the Wall fell in 1989 and visited East Berlin.
I have visited these four German-German museums on the former Cold-war Communist border:
- Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth 95183 Töpen (Hof)
- Grenzlandmuseum Eichsfeld e.V. 37339 Teistungen
- Grenzmuseum Rhön "Point Alpha" 36169 Rasdorf
- Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund 37318 Asbach / Sickenberg
Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund - during Cold War
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Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund - today. Barbed-wire and mine-fields have been cleared.
Brandenburger Tor, Berlin
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Berliner Fernsehturm am Alexanderplatz
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