At the beginning it’s going very well. On both sides of the first-2019-completed path, pine trees rise high into the sky, as far as the eye can see. On the edge of the plates to fall again and again, that clearly warn: “munitions-contaminated area. Danger to life!“ But then Thomas Heinrich in steers his car to the right, further into the impenetrable forest. Without an off-road capable truck is now hardly a forward to come on the hunchback trail. After a few minutes, Henry stops suddenly. In about 50 meters distance of four concrete blocks jut out suddenly between the trees in the sky: Hitler’s “white houses”.
We are located in the vicinity of the village of Rechlin on the Big Kotzower lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. “Here we are”, says Heinrich, and the way forward on the blocks. Finally, we reach a wire fence intended to deny access to. Here, too, signs point to the fact that the terrain of ammunition is loaded and the Enter life can be dangerous. Because everywhere scattered remnants lying around here in the earth, the Ammo will explode if you step Accidentally on it.
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Heinrich points to the four towers. In front of us, the four buildings extend approximately 20 meters in height, or better: parts of the building. “You are made of reinforced concrete, which is apparently indestructible,” explains Heinrichs. And that’s exactly what they should be. Because Hermann Goering’s Luftwaffe tested on them since the end of the 30s, the load capacity in case of attack by bombs or grenades.
– meter-thick walls of steel-reinforced concrete
The sight works is spooky. The four parts of the building stretching with its meter-thick walls made of gray reinforced concrete between the slender trees in the height. Everywhere on the floor, fallen chunks of Concrete mixed down – the moss that has overgrown and the shrubs that they hide part of Verde, testify that you are for decades at this point. But what’s your story? Why were they built, what was their purpose? And why they still stand 75 years after the third Reich went down in this place?
Probably no one can answer such questions better than Thomas Heinrich. The former ship designer, is now self-employed, is the Chairman of the Association of the aviation technical Museum in Rechlin. This facility, which is funded entirely from admission and donations, brings her 30 000 annual visitors, the history of the place. And since there is a lot to tell, because in Rechlin the “testing body of the German air force was during the third Reich”. “All the planes and all the devices that wanted to use the air gun, were tested according to their development here,” says Heinrich.
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The Museum displays a variety of complete aircraft to the card material or the first-produced ejection seat for aircraft. But Henry stressed that it is not primarily the technology, but the people who worked here. So, the visitor also learns curious stories such as the Heinz Rühmann, who was serving in Rechlin his military service. When it was time to March, was the famous actor thanks to his prominent bonus in addition to the marching comrades on the bike ride. Asbjorn Svarstadt The Museum shows the first ejection seat for aircraft.
The entire Area of the test site was Shot by all means
has three airfields, and has the immense size of 120 square kilometers. In the middle of the forest blocks with the four Concrete. Such a dense forest was not at this point, however, even when the plant was built. “At that time, here was Heather,” says Thomas Heinrich, “because for the Experiments was needed a free field of fire”. The forest took the Area in the decades after the war, in possession. Was shot with all available means, for example, with aircraft and tanks.
The four towers are built, the staircases of the proposed Germania. It was planned that they should provide, with their particularly thick and secure concrete walls in case of air attack protection. The residents of the apartments should gather in the stairwells and as long as reside there until the danger was over.
The remaining parts of the building were not secured as strongly as you can still detect it. Originally, the four stair towers were connected, but the connection parts are not held to the fire during the Experiments. In order to test the impact of fire on people who were in the stairwells were locked in sheep during the Experiments.
Probably Hitler’s favorite architect Albert Speer planned for me
For Henry suggests something to the fact that Hitler’s favorite architect and “General inspector for the Reich capital” was involved in the planning, even if no files were found in the archives. He points to the ornate cornice of the parts, the edges of the Roof, while others are broken and overgrown with moss on the forest floor. “You wear spear handwriting,” thinks Henry, and agrees with other historians and architecture experts. In addition, the buildings were decorated with white tiles, they call the Locals still today, the “white houses”. These bricks collected after the end of the war, the people from the environment because such materials were at that time very popular. So the “white houses” today, in concrete grey.
at some distance from the towers are to be found in the woods two thick concrete walls. A stands upright, the other toppled over. They were also fired upon. In the standing wall, a large gaping crater of a bomb. “The wall was shot at about 120 meters. It has held up, but quite a bit of damage taken,“ says Heinrich. In the surroundings was by the way created a small highway, also for training purposes. “She was strafed from the air with aircraft. So you could test on the one hand, what is the concrete stand, and on the other hand, what is the approach and the shot angles were best suited to destruction, to bring about“.
sample buildings for the gigantic “capital of the world”
it is Undisputed that the towers sample were buildings for Germania, the gigantic “world capital” of Hitler after the victory in the Second world war on the site of Berlin planned. The locals called it, therefore, at the time, the towers also “Neuberlin” or “Berlin settlement”. On the other hand, Heinrich speaks of the occasionally explicit Thesis, that Hitler originally wanted to leave at this point, even possibly Germania brand new building, before the Expansion of Berlin was started.
were carried out Until when exactly to the “White houses” Attempts, is unknown. The test site of the air force but was used until the last days of the war and immediately afterwards by the Red army taken. The Soviets used the Area until their withdrawal in 1993. Also by this time, the Museum tells through its exhibits.
In these decades, the site was spear area, and the density of the forest grew undisturbed. Today, he belongs to the animals, for the longest time, have bats, deer and deer here wide. To eliminate the ammunition load is because of the sheer quantity is not possible. Thomas Heinrich warns to make on your own in search of the Remnants from the Nazi time: “It happened already tragic accidents with serious injuries here.”
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