German Third Reich Historical Visit 2013

[Karl Welteke]

Flak-Tower Humboldthain, Berlin

Our 2nd stop on our 6th day of our trip into the history of the Third Reich was this Flak-Tower. This tower set (all had two towers) is located in the Humboldthain Park, Gesundbrunnen, Berlin. One tower is the Gefechtsturm (Combat-Tower or G-Twr.), the bigger one with the bigger guns and the smaller tower with radar and smaller guns is the Leitturm (lead and command tower). Both were partially destroyed by explosives after the war and then were almost completely buried with the rubble from the destroyed Berlin. The G-Tower is available for tours but by appointment only. From my visit to this tower I uploaded 24 images into this album:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157634887743628/


This web page says the following about the Humboldthain Flak-Tower:
Elephant in Berlin (a blog on Berlin's buildings)
www.elephantinberlin.com/2012/10/humboldthain-flakturm.html

The Flak tower of Humboldthain is one of the 3 towers on Berlin, built during the WWII by order of Hitler to defend the city after 1940.
It has been used also civilian shelter, with room for 10,000 civilians, and even a hospital ward, inside.
According to the end of the war, the tower was partially demolished; as most of these huge concrete structures, it has not been possible to fully demolish them (the interior walls can be of 3,5-4 meters).
Today the tower is fully inside the Humboldthain Park and one side of the tower has been filled with debris from the WWII collapsed buildings and is now a hill to access the highest point of the tower.
The interior can be visited (infos: Berlin Unterwelten)

Here are some sample images from our visit in the album above but most of these sample images here are from the www:



Z249-The Flak tower (G-Tower) of Humboldthain is already partially buried. Two city rail line go by this side and that is why they didn’t blow up this side. This image is from the www.elephantinberlin.com web pages.



Z250- The north side of the Humboldthain Flak tower (G-Tower) is now used for wall climbing.



Z251-The Flak tower (G-Tower) of Humboldthain is in the first stage of demolition by explosives. This image is from the www.elephantinberlin.com web pages.



Z252-The south side of the Flak tower (Leitturm = Lead-Tower) of Humboldthain. Before I studied my pictures and research the web I didn’t know each Flak-Tower consisted of a set of towers, one for combat and for radar and control.



Z253-The Flak tower (Leitturm = Lead-Tower) of Humboldthain, this images must have been shot from the G-Tower. This picture came from Wiki-mapia.



Z254-The information on the picture says that this Humboldthain Flak Lead-Tower is almost completely buried and that a snow sled track was created. In my album above I noticed this straight shot down. This image came from Wikipedia Commons.



Z255-A view back onto the rose garden from the Gefechtsturm hill (Gefechtsturm=Combat-Tower or G-Tower). The G-Tower is in the north part of the Humboldthain Park. On our way to find the Humboldthain Flak G-Tower we walked thru this very nice park, called a Rose-Garden. I didn‘t do any research as to its history



Z256-We are on the top of the Humboldthain Flak G-Tower, this is the NW corner of this Flak-Tower.



Z257-This is the NE corner of the G-Tower, Flak-Tower Humboldthain, Berlin. I failed to look for any plaque as to what stature is about or whether it just an art work.



Z258-Looking back at the NW corner of the G-Tower, Flak-Tower Humboldthain, Berlin.



Z259-This picture is from Wikipedia-Commons and the particular source is written onto the image. It says the crew of the 2cm Flak-gun are Flak-Helpers and does not say which tower. The crews were not regular soldiers, just teenagers pressed into uniforms.



Z260-These are wrecked heavy Flak-guns of the G-Tower at Humboldthain. It came from that French URL indicated on the picture.



Z261-This is the Grundbrunnen Center and the entrance to the Grundbrunnen City-Rail-Station. This image is shot from the NE corner area of the Flak G-Tower at Humboldthain.



Z262-This is the destroyed, blown Flak G-Tower at Friedrichshain, Berlin in 1949. The process of burying it with city war rubble has started and we can see the rubble rail and the tracks. This picture is from Wikipedia-Commons. It appears the German Federal Government made many of their images available via Wikipedia-Commons, a good idea in my opinion.



Z263-This is the destroyed, blown Flak G-Tower at Friedrichshain, Berlin in 1949. The process of burying it with city war rubble has been completed. This picture is from Wikipedia-Commons.



Z264-One of the three Flak G-Towers in Berlin but I don’t know which one. This picture was found in the www.



Z265-This is a rare picture and it is the only one I seen so far that shows both Flak-Towers of one set on the same picture. Obviously it is shot of the Lead-Tower from the Flak G-Tower. This is the Zoo Flak-Tower set and it is from Wikipedia-Commons. I understand those two towers have been completely razed.



Z266-Blowing up the Zoo Flak-Tower in Berlin 1947. This image is from Wikipedia-Commons.



Z267-This is what you still can see inside the Humboldt Flak G-Tower. The www.berliner.unterwelten.de conduct tours by appointment and this image is from their web page.



Z267-This is what you still can see inside the Humboldt Flak G-Tower. The www.berliner.unterwelten.de conduct tours by appointment and this image is from their web page.

Note:
This Wikipedia link covers all Flak-Towers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower

[Steve Lawson]

Great photos Karl. Thanks very much for doing the travel and research, and of course for posting the photos for all to enjoy. I'm sure my son, Alex, will enjoy them too. He's at the Defense Language Institute for the next 1 & 1/2 years.

[Karl Welteke]

Invalidenfriedhof or Invalid-Cemetery. Historic Cemetery in Berlin

On our 6th day into the history of the Third Reich we visited places in Berlin proper. This album is about the Invalidenfriedhof, Invalid-Cemetery. It was established in the 1700s by Friedrich the Great and many famous or well-known German Officers are buried here.

The East German Government razed many graves for the purpose of building their dividing Berlin Wall.

A few Third Reich figures were buried here also like Heydrich and Todt but the Allied Powers ordered those grave markers to be removed.

20 of my images are in this set of pictures:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157634968088878/


Here are some sample images:



Z269-General Werner von Fritsch, commander of the German Army, 1930s, falsely accused by the Hitler to be homosexual to get rid of him. He served in his old regiment and is believed he was seeking death on the Battlefield and fell before Warsaw in 1939.



Z270-The grave of Gen. Hans von Seeckt who was put in charge of the German Army (Reichswehr) after the WWI and reorganized it into the powerful WWII Wehrmacht. I also learned he was the Chief of Staff in the Turkish Army in WWI and advised Chiang Kai-shek before in 1933-35.



Z271-The grave of Gen. Theodor Schlieffen who was the author of the Schlieffen plan used in WWI.



Z272-The grave site plot of Gen Sharnhorst and family. Gen. Gerhard von Scharnhorst who reorganized the Prussian Army after the peace of Tilsit 1807, was a leader in the struggle against Napoleon and was known for his writings. Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III erected this stature for Gen. Gerhard von Scharnhorst at the Invalidenfriedhof.



Z273-The grave of Gen. Paul von Lettow Vorbeck, the Gen. who held the British Empire in check at the East Afrika Battle field and only surrendered after the war. This grave stone looks like it was replaced here after the German reunification.



Z274-This is the canal side of the Invalidenfriedhof or Invalid-Cemetery, at right are a few sections of the East German border wall left. The wall at left must have been rebuilt and some the grave stone must have been replaced since the German Reunification. The area between the East German border wall at right and the canal at left was the death strip to imprison their own people.



Z275.My friend Steve named this GPS spot on his program Heydrich (The SS General who got assassinated in the city of Prague). We know that he and Fritz Todt (died in air accident) got buried here but the allies ordered all grave stone associated with Nazism removed and we don’t know exactly where they were buried. On the web are pictures which claim where Heydrichs grave was or is. This is one such example, the source of this pictures is indicated on the image.

Use the above two names and you will find plenty on the www.

[Karl Welteke]

Berlin Wall/Mauer at the Invalid Cemetery


The Berlin Wall is a sad story in the history of Germany that followed WWII. Not only did Germany lose 25% of its country to Poland and Russia but the rest of Germany was divided until 1990. The remaining wall sections remind us of the struggle between East and West. To me they are an emotional part of my life. Twice I returned to Berlin and crossed the wall or Mauer at Checkpoint Charlie, once to meet my aunt, the sister of my father who had chosen to stay behind in Frankfurt/Oder and once just as a tourist to show off my US Navy Uniform.

And then that happy moment came, it was unbelievable. I never thought it would happen in my life time. Many things contributed to it, let us not forget the 17th June 1952 when Russian tanks put down a German workers revolt. The Hungarians in 1956, the Czechs in 1968, the Poles a constant thorn in the Russian skin, all the Government leaders who seen the writing on the wall and made it happen by working together.

I grew up with Germany, Viet Nam and Korea divided. I served in Viet Nam 3 times for a total of 4 years. We tried to stop the Commies but one day the Viet Namese people will be free also, it is happening now! The Commies are gone from Europe for the most part. One of my close friends is US-Korean Navy veteran and I hope dearly that we both see the Commies also gone there in N-Korea.

This is the URL for this Berlin Wall album, it has 14 images:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157634984801556/

Here are some sample images:



Z277-When JFK spoke those memorable words: “Ich bin ein Berliner”, (I’m a Berliner 26th June 1963) that lifted our Germans hearts, we knew the United States was on our side.




Z278-This area was part of the Invalid Cemetery but all the grave stones were removed by the East German Government. Right are remnants of the infamous Berlin Wall and my friend Steve is studying the topography. Left is the rebuilt cemetery wall and behind it is the Berlin-Spandauer ship canal. The wall was the outer most barrier. The area of the death strip was to the right of this wall. Here at this section an early death occurred, a 15 year old fleeing German survived with 7 bullet hits but an East German guard got killed by West-Berlin police returning fire to protect the fleeing boy.




Z279-This section of wall has been designated as a commemoration place for the Berlin Wall, especially since this section is also located on the famous Invalid Cemetery. These information plaques are the wall commemoration. One of the 3 information plaques at this Invalid Cemetery Berlin Wall commemoration place, it shows the topography of this section of the Berlin Wall where at least 2 people died.



Z280-This information plaque reports the early victim at this section of the Berlin Wall. The wall was built 1961-08-13 and on 1961-08-24 this young boy, Guenter Litfin was shot here by the East German guards.



Z281-Guenter Litfin is being pulled out of the Berlin-Spandauer ship canal by the East German authorities on 1961-08-24 after they shot him dead. This picture is from West Berlin sources.



Z282-This information plaque deals with the death of the East German guard. The boy in the picture survived with 7 East German bullets in his body. He is visited in a West Berlin hospital and is still suffering from his wounds today. After reunification a trial was held against three guards as to who shot the victim. It couldn’t be established who hit him. One guard claimed he shot only warning shots. They walked out free.



Z283-This is from the East German paper at the time railing away at the western fascists, imperialist and murderers like the OAS, like the French Police (OAS) in Algeria because of the death of their guard. West Berlin authorities ruled the West Berlin Police was correct in returning the fire to protect the fleeing youngster from East Germany who already crossed the canal and so was on West Berlin soil.



Z284-This East German Berlin Wall tower is now a commemoration place and it is dedicated to the young East German boy who was murdered here 1961-08-24. Those new apartment buildings have been built since the German reunification.



Z285-East German border guard Conrad Schumann leaps into the French Sector of West Berlin over barbed wire on August 15, 1961.
Source - from Wikipedia.
Photo by Peter Leibing. Photographer holding picture. This establishes he is the copyright owner as requested in the source tag.
This illustrates the moment of East German border guard Conrad Schumann's defection just as the Berlin Wall being constructed in 1961. This is one of the most iconic images of Eastern Bloc defection.



Z286-A very famous scene and a very happy moment for many and that includes me. The Mauer fell, what a happy moment! This image is also from Wikipedia.



Z287-Ronald Reagan deserves this picture, one of my favorite Presidents.

Note:
Just came across this web page commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Mauer, the Wall. It is from the BUSINESS INSIDER and has many pictures:
www.businessinsider.com/berlin-wall-20-year-anniversary-2009-11?op=1

[Karl Welteke]

Schwerbelastungskoerper, Heavy-Load-Test-Object.

Hitler’s Germania

Hitler’s preparation to build Germania, we visited the Schwerbelastungskoerper on our 6th day into the history of the Third Reich.

Copied from Wikipedia:

Welthauptstadt Germania ("World Capital Germania") refers to the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin during the Nazi period, part of Adolf Hitler's vision for the future of Germany after the planned victory in World War II. Albert Speer, the "first architect of the Third Reich", produced many of the plans for the rebuilt city in his capacity as overseer of the project, only a small portion of which was realized between the years 1937–1943 when construction took place.
Some projects, such as the creation of a great East-West city axis, which included broadening Charlottenburger Chaussee (today Straße des 17. Juni) and placing the Berlin victory column in the centre, far away from the Reichstag, where it originally stood, were successfully completed. Others, however, such as the creation of the Große Halle (Great Hall), had to be shelved owing to the beginning of war. A great number of the old buildings in many of the planned construction areas were, however, demolished before the war and eventually defeat stopped the plans.

Doubts persisted at the time as to whether the marshy Berlin ground could have taken the load of the proposed projects, leading to the construction of an exploration building (Schwerbelastungskoerper, literal translation: Heavy load-bearing body), which still exists on the site where the Arch of Triumph would have been built. It is basically an extremely heavy block of concrete used by the architects to test how much weight the ground was able to carry. Instruments monitored how far the block sank into the ground. The Schwerbelastungskoerper sank 18 cm in the three years it was to be used for testing, compared to a maximum allowable settlement of 6 cm. Using the evidence gathered by these gargantuan devices, it is unlikely the soil could have supported such structures without further preparation.

In this set of images (album) are 18 pictures uploaded:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157634995110228/

Here are some sample images:



Z288-Here it is, the Schwerbelastungskoerper. It was constructed to test the grounds whether it would support the heavy loads of the gigantic structures Hitler wanted to build. Two difficult to tear down it has become on information site, it is free.



Z289-Close-up of the Schwerbelastungskoerper.



Z290-This information sign says: From a test object to an information site.



Z291-Speer and Hitler discussing their pet project.



Z292-The Hitler pet project, the new Germania. The Schwerbelastungskoerper, Heavy-Load-Test-Object would be somewhere near the new gigantic arc de triumph.



Z293-The map of the planned changes to Berlin to make the new World Capitol Germania.

[Karl Welteke]

Tempelhof Airfield, Berlin Airlift, Reichstag area, Birkenwerder




This is the last segment from our 6th day into the history of the Third Reich and it covers 4 subjects. Tempelhof Airfield, the Berlin Airlift, the Reichstag area and the little town we stayed 3 nights in, Birkenwerder.
The Berlin Airlift was not only one of those Momentous Events in the German History but it was one of the defining moments in the East-West Struggle as a result of WWII.
It was most heart lifting when the freedom of West Berlin was maintained. It gave everybody hope that you can stand up against Communism.

I show a few pictures of Birkenwerder as a representative view how a small German towns look like after WWII and reunification, because every night we stayed in one and looked for a hotel.

We stopped only briefly at the Reichstag in Berlin and it is an important landmark in the WWII history.

I established this album/set with 22 pictures:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157635005705907/

Here are some sample pictures:



Z295--Birkenwerder Bahnhof, railway station it can be reached by the Berlin S-Bahn. My friend Steve had stayed here before in a hotel and found it adequate.



Z296-On our way from the hotel in Birkenwerder to our eating place we noticed this cemetery, it has Russian names only and no dates. There was no sign explaining the history or gave a name to this place.
The Russian names or rather that what I assume they are, are from this one and only stone marker on the cemetery in Birkenwerder. I tried to search in the www but didn’t find anything except there was a Russian Military hospital in Birkenwerder for a while in 1945.



Z297-The Berlin map shows most of the places we covered on our 6th day into the history of the Third Reich



Z298-The historic German Reichstag, in Jan. 1933 a fire broke out and the Nazis used it as an excuse, blaming the Communists and arrested their leaders and the leaders of the Socialist party to boot. That was the first step to Hitler’s dictatorship and the birth of the concentration camps(KZ). There are no more lines to visit it like in 2010. Not too far was an office and one made an appointment for the next available time and that time was too late for us.



299-We have arrived at the Platz der Luftbruecke (Place of the Berlin Airlift). It seems that event is almost forgotten. But it is burned in my soul deep, deep for ever. It showed to me that the Allied Powers finally are taking the Communist (Commie) Threat seriously. The Allied Powers were standing on our side for Freedom and Democracy. And it showed the Commies can be put in their place!
This map was posted near by the Place of the Berlin Airlift and where that fat red dot on the left upper corner is, that is were most of these images were shot.



Z300-The Central Airport, but the Tempelhof Airfield has been closed 2008, during the Airlift it was one of three airports in West-Berlin. This Tempelhof Airport was one of those impressive buildings the Nazi regime was able to complete and it seems it didn’t get too seriously damaged during the bombing or fighting. The Allied Powers certainly made good use of it. That eagle’s head is also historic and was returned by the US.



Z301-This sign is in English but is hard to read. It tells the history of this eagle stature and maybe you are able to zoom in and read it. That eagle’s head was returned by the US.



Z302-This Memorial stands for Freedom, it is the symbol of the glorious accomplishment of supplying several million West Berliners in the face of the brutal and inhumane commie blockade by Stalin and Company. The free people of the world stood up here against that inhuman commie regime, in Korea in Taiwan and other places.
We also tried to stand up in Viet Nam and I personally helped but the people of the world were tired and gave up and let down the Viet Namese People. But that regime also had to depart from the Stalin and Mao Tse Tung way of doing things and the people enjoy more freedoms now and one day they will be completely free.



Z303-This is the price of Freedom, Wikipedia says:
Berlin Airlift Monument in Berlin-Tempelhof, displaying the names of the 39 British and 31 American airmen who lost their lives during the operation. Similar monuments can be found at the military airfield of Wietzenbruch near the former RAF Celle and at Rhein-Main Air Base.
Pilots came from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.
A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation.



Z304-This map shows how close the Schwerbelastungskoerper is to Tempelhof. The name Tempelhof has a personal connection to me. The name of this airfield location came from the Templar Knights who hat a place here in the 1200s 1300s. I was born in the village of Tempel in the real East Germany where the Templar Knights developed settlements in the 1200s and 1300s and my village received the name Tempel in honor of the Templar Knights.



Z305-This picture is from Wikipedia, Hitler and Goering in the middle in 1932 had a lot to do with building the new Tempelhof airport structures. This image is from 1932, the man at right is Roehm, head of the SA who was murdered by Hitler in the 1930s.



Z306-One of those famous views of the Berlin Blockade and the Allied Airlift. A -Candy Bomber- is coming in. This image came from Wikipedia.



Z307-This is the famous Candy Bomber Gail-Halverson (wiggly-wings, candy bomber).



Z208- Last picture of Berlin, next day we’ll be heading south of Berlin and visit the WWII German Pentagon. The source of the picture is indicated on the picture.

Note:
This Wikipedia URL covers the Berlin Airlift pretty good!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade

[armyjunk]

also in Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery the famous pilot Ernst Udet the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I with 62 victories.


and Werner Mölders the World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Molders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories.

[armyjunk]

"Z264-One of the three Flak G-Towers in Berlin but I don’t know which one."

I think this might be one of the Hamburg Flak towers
tinyurl.com/mq4rl9r

[Karl Welteke]

The Zossen Stammlager, -Wuensdorf Garrison, -Maybach I, -Maybach II, -Zeppelin Communication Bunker,- Museum

First of Four segments, the Zossen Stammlager, -Wuensdorf Garrison
We are on our 7th day into the History of the Third Reich and we were here all day and then drove to Leibzig to meet one of my cousins.

If you have read WWII history that deals with the German High Command you must have heard of Zossen. The Zossen Stammlager hosted OKH, Oberkomando des Heeres (Supreme Command of the Army) and OKW, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces). They were located here since 1939 and that is why we came. But I will deal with them in the next 3 segments.

This segment tries to deal with all the other history of this place. It was an important garrison before WWI and during the war. The Germans kept some of their POWs here and many were from the British Empire and many were Moslems. And Germany maintained a cemetery for those POWs who had died here.

The Zossen Stammlager, Garrison Museum deals with the Zossen Stammlager, -Wuensdorf Garrison, -Maybach I, -Maybach II, -Zeppelin Communication Bunker Museum and more. This album only deals with the long military use of the whole Zossen Stammlager and Wuensdorf Garrison area. Their presentation and material is outstanding in my opinion. I took many pictures but most are not good enough but here are some I salvaged. Three more albums/sets are to follow, about the Maybach I, -Maybach II, -Zeppelin Communication Bunker Museum and more.

After WWI the garrison was shut down and was used by the Freikorps, it was used for Russian refugees who fled the Communist takeover of Russia in 1918, it was used to house children who lost their parents during WWI.
In the 1920 the new German Reichswehr returned and with the rise of Hitler it became a huge Garrison again.

In the 1930 the Reichswehr became the Wehrmacht and after Hitler chucked the Versailles treaty it became the birthplace of the Panzers and the Blitzkrieg idea.

After WWII the Soviet Union made these places their operational Head Quarters for their Western Front of their huge Communist Empire, the Evil Empire! The Red Army, stayed here until 1994 and this was a forbidden zone. If a German was caught here he might have disappeared for ever.

This Zossen Stammlager, -Wuensdorf Garrison album contains 41 images of the history of this Garrison town:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157635097585516/

Here are 22 sample images and 8 came from the www:



Z316-This is a cover of a book that deals with Zossen/Wuensdorf Garrison History. I wished I had it. This is how some of the barracks looked like in WWI or in the 1920s.



Z317-The two buildings used as museums were horse stables. The left one was open to us, the right one is dedicated to the Soviet Military who took over this whole place in 1945 until 1994 but was not open at that moment.



Z318-The big picture where Zossen town, Zossen Stammlager and the Wuensdorf garrison are located.



Z319-The Memorial Stone from the British Royal House (called the Warstone) for the British Empire POWs, who died here from sickness, established in 1918 by the British Crown, was moved here.




Z320-This sign tells the story of the WWI POW cemetery, a picture is shown how the Ehrenfriedhof (Honor Cemetery) looked like in the 1930s. It shows the location of the “Warstone” from the British Crown. How it looked like in 1995 after the Red Army left. After 2000 it was decided to move the Warstone here to the museum. The Ehrenfriedhof is now taken care of again by the British and German War Graves Commissions, in the album link you can zoom in on this picture.



Z321-The Ehrenfriedhof, these are Indian troops of the British Imperial Army who died here of sickness while POWs in the German Second Reich, 1871-1918.



Z322-We entered the Zossen Stammlager, Garrison Museum, it looks good, it is laid out good and has a lot of information.



Z323-The museum is divided in small segment by subjects. This segment was about the Panzer Regiment #5, a famous regiment.



Z324- On the insistence of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II this Moshe was built here in Wuensdorf for the many Moslem POWs which were captured from the Russian Imperial Army and the Colonial Powers, France and Great Britain. A few years after WWI, after the POWs were gone it was torn down.



Z325-Russian Moslem POWs in prayer in the Halbmondlager (Half-Moon-Camp) at Wuensdorf POW camp in WWI. This is Wikipedia image from German Federal Archives.



Z326-In the Museum, naturally, was a segment on the roll this Zossen-Wuensdorf Garrison played during WWI.



Z327-If one loses a war the military disappeared completely from this once mighty military garrison. The German Freikorps (Volunteer, Freedom Corps) were formed after 1918 to stabilize the new Weimar Republic by fighting communist uprisings and intrusions by Polish Forces who wanted more territory. Some Freikorps units were operating out of here.
The new Weimar republic also housed here the many refugees from Russia who fled, escaped from the Bolshevist takeover of Russia.



Z328-In the 1920s the new Reichswehr reestablished itself with the now only 100,000 men and this Infantry regiment called Zossen, Wuensdorf home.



Z329-The new Reichswehr stressed fitness and this Sports training Center was established in Zossen, Wuensdorf. Some of the trainees here won medals in the 1936 Olympiad.



Z330-At Zossen, Wuensdorf the motorization of the new Reichswehr started, this shows the establishment of a testing facility. Pictures of the testing and development center at Zossen, Wuensdorf.



Z331-Zossen Stammlager and the Wuensdorf Garrison. I like this picture it shows how big Wuensdorf was, most of the Combat arms units were located here. We always hear Zossen Stammlager with Maybach I & II, OKH & OKW but there was so much more here. The Panzer School, another training center was established here and in Wuensdorf many different Kasernen (camps) existed.



Z332-This picture reminds me at Corregidor, they find things here like on Corregidor.



Z333-After WWI, because of the Versailles Treaty, in the Reichswehr everything moved by or on horses. Horses played a big part in the Military, only part of the German Army was motorized. Most of the army moved on foot and with horse and wagon. My uncle was in the Cavalry. In the 1950s the Swiss Army came to Lower Saxony, annually, to buy horse.
But then the Panzers arrived in the Zossen Stammlager and the Wuensdorf Garrison and the Blitzkrieg idea was born here. This is a Wikipedia Image from the German Federal Government Archives.



Z334-The new Panzer force is born, the barracks are built in the Zossen Stammlager and the Wuensdorf Garrison, the new black uniform is paraded and the Generals come for inspections. This is a Wikipedia Image from the German Federal Government Archives.



Z335-Not only the Generals came also visitors from the Far East, the Japanese visited the Panzer regiment 5, look at the bottom row, 2nd from left, I’m sure you heard his name, … Stalingrad. This is a Wikipedia Image from the German Federal Government Archives.



Z336-For training one uses competition, who can change the tire tube the fastest and without mistakes. This is a Wikipedia Image from the German Federal Government Archives.



Z337-The US Army Air Corps visited three times I believe. They didn’t hit Maybach I or II, they got some barracks and missed some. This image is unique, it shows many of those peaked, cigar shaped air shelter including #13 which we visit in another segment.

[Karl Welteke]

Maybach I & II, OKH & OKW, Zossen Stammlager, Lager Zeppelin

This is the 2nd of 4 segment from the Zossen, Wuensdorf military area.

Maybach I was the code name for the German OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres-Supreme Command of the Army). It was ready to be occupied in 1939 at the beginning of WWII. It is located at the Zossen Stammlager, about 40 km south of Berlin. We visited it on the 15th April 2013 and the pictures in the first half of this album are photographs from displays in the Garrison museum. We didn’t look at Maybach II, OKW. After the war these buildings were destroyed by the Red Army.

The pictures of us visiting Maybach I are in this album with 34 images:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/sets/72157635115257341/

Here are some sample images from the album and from the www:



Z338-10 Euros was the fee for a guided tour and we were lucky because there was a special tour at 1100 Hours for a Swedish group and we were invited to join and the tour was going to be in English anyway. Otherwise we would have had to wait longer for a scheduled afternoon tour.
That gentleman was our Bunker-Fuehrer, this title is not to mixed up with the Fuehrer Adolf H. He spoke good English.



Z339-This bunker plan came from the book -The Underground Military Command Bunkers of Zossen, Germany from the author Hans George Kampe.



Z340-This is the cover of the book from Hans George Kampe.



Z341-The Americans came to visit on the 22nd March 1945, they did not seem to have hit Maybach I.



Z342-The Russians visited later and did not leave until 1994. Maybach I in 1945, a visit by the most feared KGB Boss Beria during the Potsdam Conference. He was a Georgian like Stalin and he was executed in the best communist tradition in 1953.



Z343-We are at the gate to Maybach I, it is a secure area. Our Fuehrer (leader, guide) gives the layout of Maybach I.



Z344-The map for the Maybach I area. Notice the structure-Nickel (UK-20) 1984-1992 on top of the map, that was used by the Soviet Supreme Command here. It was not included in our tour, one has to sign up for a separate tour about the Soviet period here at the Zossen Stammlager.



Z345-One of the 12 destroyed Army Command buildings. The tour thru Maybach I, OKH, we started at the gate (W by SW) and exited somewhere at the (E by NE) corner and I don’t know which of these buildings is which. They were numbered A1 to A12, clockwise.



Z346-The tour thru Maybach I, OKH, we started at the gate (W by SW) and exited somewhere at the (E by NE) corner and I don’t know which of these buildings is which. They were numbered A1 to A12, clockwise.



Z347-Here is a close up of four Maybach I buildings in 1939, they are just about finished, Maybe the winter of 1938, snow is on the ground and roofs. There are not too many images from that period. Also a hand rail car track for moving building materials is visible.



Z348-Trees are planted around the Maybach I buildings, maybe 1940. Maybe the tower is an antiaircraft search and warning tower. This image is from the www.



Z349- This is not one of those twelve A1 to A12 Maybach I buildings. I just remembered I seen this picture before. I believe it is a camouflage building covering one of the tunnel entrances to the tunnel system that connects all the 12 buildings and the communication bunker -Zeppelin. This image is from the www.