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Berlin, Part 3
Other Sites in and
around Berlin
The following
sites are found on this page: Tempelhof airport, Humboldt University, RAD
headquarters in Berlin-Grunewald, Kummersdorf Proving
Grounds, Zossen Bunker Site.
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| Tempelhof
airport was built south of the city center in 1923; the German airline
Lufthansa was founded there in 1926. The airport was enlarged and a
monumental building complex erected by the Nazi government in 1936-1941.
During the Berlin Blockade of 1948, when the Soviets closed off ground
access to Berlin at the start of the Cold War, Tempelhof was the main
hub for Allied aircraft resupply during the Berlin Airlift. The U.S.
military continued to run Tempelhof until 1994, although the airport was
also used for civilian air traffic throughout the Cold War. Tempelhof
was closed to air traffic in 2008, but the complex has been preserved as
a historical monument and public tours are available (www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de).
(Frau Prof. Gerdy Troost,
"Das Bauen in neuen Reich," Vol. 1, Bayreuth, 1938) (MapQuest
Map Link)
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| Two
views of the Tempelhof aircraft hanger area. On the left, the area where
passengers came under the roofed area and entered the airport after
disembarking their aircraft. On the right, a series of metal doors
closes off the hangers on either side of this roofed open area. These
doors are mounted on rails and staggered so that they could be slid
along the rails (seen at the right edge of the photo) and opened in any
combination (that is, the door for Hanger 3, for example, could be
opened without opening Hanger 1 or 2). |
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| A
monumental entry hallway almost 50 feet high was designed by architect
Ernst Sagebiel, but it was never completed, and remains today in a
derelict state (left). The basement contains an air defense shelter (Luftschutzraum)
that still displays Third Reich period artwork on the walls (comical
drawings and sayings). |
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| The
basement levels also contain the so-called "Film Bunker," a
series of rooms with reinforced walls and ceilings that were used during
the war to store secret films and photo negatives. In 1945, when the
Soviets tried to break into this area (access to these rooms had been
hidden), they started a fire that soon burned out of control due to the
highly flammable film. The fire was so hot that it caused layers of
concrete to pop off the ceilings and walls in several of the rooms. This
area was never used after the war and can be seen today just as it was
after the fire burned out, with soot-covered walls and rusty ventilation
apparatus. |
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| The main
Tempelhof building had a large metal eagle on top (this can be seen in
the architectural model above). This eagle was removed in the 1960s and
the head was sent to the USA, but it was later returned and is now on a
plinth in "Eagle Square." The adjacent buildings still carry
six eagles at the corners. See the Reichsadler
page. |
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| Soon
after the Nazis came to power in 1933, the square in front of the
Humboldt University was the scene of a pro-Nazi rally. This location is
across Unter den Linden from the Bebelplatz, site of the infamous Nazi
book burning in May 1933. (Bundesarchiv) (Google Maps
link) |
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| In
1935-36 an administration building for the staff of the Reichsleitung of
the Reichs Arbeits Dienst (RAD - Labor Service) was built in
Berlin-Grunewald. The plan below shows an elevation of the front, with a
large RAD shield in the pediment. The building has been considerably
enlarged, with additions to both wings that now enclose an inner
courtyard. ("Bauten der Bewegung," Vol. 1, Berlin,
1938; Troost, "Das Bauen im Neuen Reich," 1942) (Google Maps
link) |
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Kummersdorf
Proving Grounds and Rocket Test Site
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| An
artillery test range was built south of Berlin near Kummersdorf in 1875,
and this was the basis for a large proving ground (test area) for all
sorts of weapons during the Third Reich period. However, before the
Nazis came to power, the Kummersdorf area was used to test early
experimental rockets. Various test stands and observation bunkers were
built in the area to facilitate these tests. These
two small bunkers are near the rocket test stand Prüfstand Ost. The one
on the left was apparently an observation bunker for testing, as it has
a view port opposite the doorway. The purpose of the open bunker on the
right is unclear. (Google Maps link - this link is to the
local museum, where you can get a guided tour of this closed area) |
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| These
bunkers are in a small complex near the rocket test stand. They include
separate rooms with observation ports for viewing weapons and/or rocket
engine tests. |
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| The
bunkers in this complex are linked by underground tunnels, which also
run to a larger bunker behind, which has been collapsed. |
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| Prüfstand
Ost (in the eastern part of the site) was the first of two large concrete structures built to test rocket
engines (there were eventually four main structures for rocket testing).
Built in 1932, the test stand was used for static testing of liquid
fueled rocket engines. The test stand originally had folding metal doors
at the large openings, and a sliding wooden roof. |
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| The test
stand includes various rooms and areas with observation ports for
viewing the rocket engines under test, as well as mounts for fuel pipes,
valves, and test meters. The usefulness of the Kummersdorf site as a
rocket test area was limited due to the safety concerns of launching
rockets near a populated area. A search was made for a better rocket
test site, and in 1937 German rocket testing would move to Peenemünde. |
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Zossen/Wünsdorf
Command Bunker Site - "Maybach" and "Zeppelin"
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| A
protected bunker command area was built from 1937-40 for the Armed
Forces High Command (OKW) and Army High
Command (OKH) in the area between Zossen and Wünsdorf, south of Berlin.
This bunker site was comprised principally of the "Maybach I"
(OKH) and "Maybach II" (OKW) bunker complexes and the "Zeppelin"
underground communications facility, along with several aboveground
buildings of various functions. The "Maybach" bunker buildings
were disguised to look like normal houses, complete with shingle roofs
with "chimneys" (actually ventilation towers),
"windows" and doors. In reality, these disguises were applied
over thick concrete roofs and walls, although some of the doorways were
functional. This building camouflage can be seen in the period photo
below of one of the bunker "houses" (this structure was not
one of the "Maybach" bunkers, but covered an exit to the
"Zeppelin" bunker). The period photo above shows some of the
same "Maybach I" buildings seen here in the modern photos of
the ruins of "Maybach I." (Google
Maps link - this link is to the local museum, where you can arrange
a tour of this bunker site) |
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| Ruins of
"Maybach I" Buildings A1 and A2 (above), and A3 (below). A1
housed the General Staff of the Luftwaffe, while A2 and A3 housed part
of the Army General Staff. Pursuant to 1945 Allied agreements to destroy
Nazi military facilities, the Soviets blew up the bunker houses of
"Maybach" I and II in 1946-47. (Curiously, the Soviets adhered
far more closely to this agreement than did the American or British
forces.) Note the thick concrete walls, ventilation inlets, and armored
access doors. |
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| Ruins of
"Maybach I" Buildings A4 and A12, which housed the staffs of
the General Quartermaster and the Army Signal Corps. These bunker houses
had similar facilities above and below ground, to enable the staff
personnel to continue their work below ground while under bombing
attack. The underground parts of the "Maybach I" buildings
were all linked by a ring tunnel that also connected to the nearby
"Zeppelin" communications center bunker. |
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| The
"Zeppelin" communications center, one of three main
underground communications centers for the German military, was a large
multi-level bunker built adjacent to the "Maybach I" area
("Zeppelin" was sometimes called "Amt 500"). The
facility included many rooms of communications switchboards, terminals,
telephone exchanges, amplifiers, transformers, batteries, and support
equipment, along with miles of cabling. The facility also contained an
elaborate pneumatic mail system, with tubing running in the walls
throughout the bunker and to the "Maybach" complexes (some of
these tubes can be seen in the photo on the right above). Unlike the
"Maybach" complexes, the "Zeppelin" bunker was not
destroyed by the Soviets after the war, but it was completely stripped
of all equipment and had some explosive charges set in it. On the left
above is one of the rooms that was stripped and set on fire by the
Soviets, and not used again. The Soviets rehabilitated the
"Zeppelin" bunker in 1960-61 as an underground command center
(presumably nuclear-proof) for the Soviet military command in East
Germany. This reuse involved several changes, including new entrances
with Cold War era airlocks and bunker doors. The main entrance from the
OKH period had a series of such airlocks and semi-circular bunker doors
added, as seen in the photos below. (The conical tower seen in the photo
on the left below was the outlet of a bunker emergency exit.) |
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| On the
left above is a junction in the "Zeppelin" bunker corridors,
connecting to the exit tunnel on the north side. The room shown on the
right above housed a telephone exchange for the Soviet headquarters. The
photos below show the 230 meter long West Tunnel and the stairway at its
end, leading to the surface exit. |
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| The
Zossen/Wünsdorf command area included 19 air defense shelter concrete
bunkers of the style designed by Leo Winkel, provided as protection for
the numerous headquarters personnel who did not work in the
"Zeppelin" or "Maybach" bunkers. This was the
largest concentration of Winkel Towers in Germany. Most of the
Winkeltürme at Zossen were destroyed by the Soviets after the war, but
several remain standing. One of these is shown above, complete with
original lightning rod on its metal tip. One of the destroyed Winkel
Towers is shown below. The close-up shows the iron cap for the lightning
rod that was an integral part of the tower tip. |
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| The
Winkelturm above is open to the public, as part of the adjacent museum
complex. The photo on the right shows the steep internal wooden
stairways for access to each level. Below are two more of the destroyed
Zossen Winkeltürme. Click here
to see other Winkeltürme in Giessen, and here
for Stuttgart, Kaiserslautern, and Darmstadt. |
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