Visiting southern Sweden offers many opportunities to dig into the rich military history of this beautiful Country in Scandinavia. As pointed out in the initial chapter on this topic (see this post), after centuries spent in assuring a stable and strong position in Northern Europe, often times with the help of a powerful military, Sweden managed to keep a neutral role in all major conflicts raging over the continent in the 20th century. While avoiding to openly taking the parts of any of the foreign contenders, in order to defend its territory and its neutrality policy, Sweden invested much in the development of national technology and in the military field.
This process was successful, resulting in a gallery of interesting and original industrial products introduced over the years, especially (yet not only) in the field of defense. Among the most tangible outcomes of this push, considering the years of the Cold War, are the unique Swedish school of aircraft design, culminating in the SAAB aircraft dynasty, as well as the establishment of factories manufacturing field weapons or land vehicles for all purposes, notably ranging from cars for everyday use to heavier armored vehicles, which are still in business today.
Of course, this development process profited from contacts with the West, especially Britain, France and the USA. For instance, in the post-WWII years, selected jet engines, missile systems or tanks were purchased from the West. Interestingly however, after the end of the Cold War, some surplus material of Soviet production, coming from newly opened borders, ended up in the inventory of the Swedish military. This reflects the often pragmatic philosophy behind procurement, usually adopted by the Armed Forces in this Country.
For those with an interest in the rich military history of Sweden, several collections can be found in the southernmost part of its territory, which is coincidentally the easiest to reach and visit from continental Europe. These collections, often actively supported by groups of enthusiasts, offer a glimpse of the technical and military tradition of this welcoming Country.
In this chapter, two of the most prominent museums in the area dedicated mostly to artillery are covered, with photographs taken from a visit in 2024.
The exhibition of the Hässleholms Museum merges a few thematic collections, gathered and carefully maintained by local groups of enthusiasts. The topics are mainly technical vehicles of the Swedish Armed Forces – including armored vehicles, field transport vehicles, trucks, field kitchens, jeeps, special purpose trailers, etc. – and vehicles for the fire brigade. In addition, the museum has on display weapons, technical gear and training material employed by the Army.
It is actually from here that the exhibition starts. Support material like transportable field kitchens, including one from WWII years, and a portable forge for processing horseshoes are on display, within nice full-scale dioramas portraying scenes from different ages.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Training material include medical material and a rig for simulating a reanimation maneuver on a human body. Further medical gear includes many items for field surgery, as well as a diorama of field surgery room set up in a tent.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
A huge, super-interesting collection of training plates is on display – really rare in this size. Plates are typically employed for illustrating the assembly of mechanical systems (weapons, on-board systems of vehicles or aircraft, etc.), or to shortlist the basic characteristics of enemy vehicles. Most of these clearly date from the Cold War era, and refer to military material from those decades.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Original cases with figurines to recreate tactical scenarios, for operation planning or training purposes, make for an unusual display. Similarly, reviews and brochures covering topics of military interest, as well as vehicle recognition charts in Swedish language (in this language are also the training plates) are unusual items to find.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Some of the plates explain what to do in case of a nuclear attack, or one carried out with chemical agents. These plates are displayed together with protection gear, mostly gas masks, and antidotes – including an automatic syringe for injecting the neutralizing agent for nerve gas (atropine)!
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillery weapons, like special grenades, shoulder launchers, and various types of mines and standard cartridges, are displayed as samples in convenient display cases.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Even a few fragments of the Third Reich battleship Tirpitz, sunken in northern Norway, ended up here – as well as in many other military museums in Scandinavia (see this post). These armor pieces have been employed for testing some type of ammunition. The thickness of this armor is always impressive!
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
A gallery of uniforms, including personal light weapons and technical gear (like skis or portable aiming devices) conclude this part of the exhibition.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
The collection of military vehicles takes two adjoining hangars. It is particularly appealing for technically-minded people, since it looks like mechanics workshop, with a mixture of assembled and disassembled vehicles, allowing to see the inside, as well as the on-board sub-plants.
Armored vehicles on display are really many. Among the most massive are a Centurion battle tank, and a recovery vehicle for the same type. This highly successful British tank has seen extensive and prolonged use by the Swedish Army from the early 1950s to the 1990s, when it was phased out in favor of the German Leopard heavy tank. Depending on the variant, the Centurion was attributed several code-names in the Swedish inventory, namely Strv 81, 101, 102 and 104 (Strv standing for Stridsvagn, the Swedish word for tank).
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Ahead of the tank, you can see its very power train, composed of the mighty Rolls-Royce Meteor, 27 liters V12, 650 hp engine, and the Merrit Brown Z51R transmission gearbox. The recovery vehicle is roughly as massive as the tank itself.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Close by the Centurion, another sizable item is the armored bridging vehicle Brodbandvagn 971 (aka Brobv 971), which is the Swedish inventory name for what is actually a GDR-designed machine! Looking for a bridging vehicle compatible with the weight of the Leopard tank, a relatively cheap alternative was found in the BLG-60 model, originally manufactured by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) modifying the blueprint of the Soviet T-55 tank, and later sold as surplus by reunified Germany. Roughly half of the 32-units batch got from Germany in 1999 is still preserved today in Sweden, including the exemplar on display here.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
The bridge span is 20-m when deployed, and the top load is 50 tons (actually a bit short of the weight of a Leopard tank…).
Next, a rare sight here is the Rlpbv 4014 radio link armored track vehicle. Again, this was originally an East German tank purchased as surplus by Sweden. It was modified in that instance from the original Soviet design (named MT-LB) into a signal relay platform, supplied with parabolic antennas. The latter were removed from the tank upon retirement, which took place by 2011, together with all technical gear. Only a few machines were sold to Finland at the time, and the exemplar in the museum is the only surviving of this specific type in Sweden.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Close by are a Pbv 301 and a Pbv 302 armored and tracked infantry fighting vehicles, designed and largely employed by Sweden. Pbv 301 dates from the 1960s, and was superseded by Pbv 302, eventually manufactured in more than 600 exemplars during the Cold War and employed uniquely by the Swedish Army until retirement in 2014.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Bigger and heavily armed vehicles are interspersed with service vehicles, typically designed in Sweden, or propelled by Swedish engines. These include a trucks with cranes, field ambulances, technical wagons with tooling for repairs carried out in the field.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Motorcycles are well represented too, some of them with interesting side skis, installed for advancing on snowy terrain.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
A rather unusual sight is a full-scale field bakery! This is composed of a trail to prepare bread dough, and a big bakery oven. This and similar components of military supply, albeit often overlooked, are actually crucial in real operations, just like field guns and armored tanks – a quote attributed to Napoleon actually tells ‘An army marches on its stomach’!
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Smaller items on display in the same area include several types of engines, presented on transport cases, attached to testing rigs etc. These engines range from Volvo to some US manufacturers, and include marine engines, tank engines and gas generators.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Another highlight of the show is a Stridsvagn 103. An original Swedish design from the 1980s mostly intended for domestic supply in consideration of the characteristics of the Swedish territory, this tank is designed for a crew of three, but conceived to be optionally fully operated by a single crew. It is equipped with a blade to prepare a dugout, thus converting into a field cannon, and it is able to move in shallow waters. The only limitation is in the lack of a turret, which is traded-off for a better compactness and low-rising side section, which in turns makes this tank less exposed to enemy fire especially on uneven terrain, where chance of hiding is higher.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Beside the tank, it is possible to see the engine, and the corresponding tank-trailer and support vehicle, a tracked vehicle itself called Bgbv 82, and obtained as a modification of the Pbv 302 (see above).
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Nearby, several technical vehicles, including trucks and trailers (some with provision made to carry skis!), can be checked out as well.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
An interesting Swedish vehicle here is a tracked anti-aircraft missile launcher, model Lbrbv 701 manufactured by Hagglunds. The main weapon is the surface-to-air missile Robot 70. The aiming device is particularly prominent to the front of the vehicle.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
An array of three anti-tank machines is presented next. The first is a tracked anti-tank missile carrier, named Pvrbv 551, and originally capable of carrying 8 anti-tank missiles, shot from a single barrel on top of the tank. The second is a wheeled vehicle, named Pvpjtgb 1111 and manufactured by Volvo. This still carries a 9-cm recoil-less gun, and it was supplied with 8 shots. The third is a Pvpjtgb 9031, an even lighter vehicle from the 1960s, featuring again a 9-cm recoil-less anti-tank gun.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
A few tanks designed in Sweden conclude the display in the first of the two dedicated hangars. On the two extremes of the same row are a Strv 74 and an older m/38, aka L-60. The former was a light tank developed in the late 1950s by physically modifying older m/38 models (both types were manufactured by the Landsverk company in Sweden), and kept in service until the 1980s.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
In between these two tanks are displayed a Strv m/42 and two exemplars of the self-propelled cannon m/43, respectively a tank-destroyer version (Pvkv m/43) with a prominent 7.5 cm anti-tank gun, and anti-aircraft version (Lvkv m/43), featuring a 40 mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
The second hangar has in store a rare Strv m/40, developed during WWII based on the m/38 (see above). All other vehicles on display are wheeled. These include the Tgbil m/42, a 4×4 armored transport. This vehicle is an impressive Swedish design (with several big names involved in the design) enjoying an incredibly long career, spanning from WWII to the early 21st century through several upgrades and modifications.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Another iconic Swedish design by Volvo is the TP21, an off-road personal transport vehicle, originating in the 1950s from the successful PV800 civilian series by Volvo.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Also in this area field kitchens are on display, together with trucks, tractors and other technical vehicles.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
The final indoor component of this impressive collection is made of vehicles belonging to the fire brigade. The crucial role of firefighting was made even more complex back then, due the limited supply of pressurized water on the territory, as well as the use of wood as the basic material for construction, and of open fire for many more uses than today.
The earlier vehicles are mostly carriages or cars converted for carrying small pumps, evacuation ladders and water hoses.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
More modern vehicles on display are mostly US-designed types (Ford, Chevrolet).
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
The collection in Hässleholm is completed by a few items sitting outdoor. These include a Volvo P210 transport van, a red Hägglunds Bandvagn 206 – a marvelous and very successful multi-purpose, all-terrain tracked transport (see also this post) – and a Brobv 941, a bridge-layer vehicle introduced in the 1970s and in service until the end of the Cold War to support operation of the tank units of the time.
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
Hässleholms Museum, Hässleholm – Military museum in Southern Sweden
All in all, this museum is an unmissable stop for those in search of an insight on the history of artillery and military technical production of Sweden.
Getting there and visiting
The museum is located on the eastern side of Hassleholm, a peaceful village in the southernmost region of Sweden. The exact name and address is Hässleholms Museum – Norra Kringelvägen 9, 28141 Hässleholm. Large parking on the inside apron. There is a little cafe inside, and a little shop. Visiting might easily take about 2 hours for an interested subject, reading the documentation and taking pictures.
The website, in Swedish language, but pretty self-explanatory at least for the most relevant visiting information, can be found here.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad, Kristianstad
The Museum of Artillery has been established in the southern town of Kristianstad, for roughly two centuries the home of the A3 ‘Wendes’ Artillery Regiment. This was originally formed in 1794, and stationed permanently (partly or entirely) in Kristianstad since 1815 until 1994, with disbandment following in the year 2000.
The collection is physically hosted in a few low-rise buildings and depots. Most of them are accessible on a self-guided base, where a couple of them can be visited only on a guided tour.
The building where the ticket office is has on display some interesting communication equipment, including encryption gear, retracing the history of military communication in Sweden from the end of the 19th century to the full span of the Cold War.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Most of the consoles are made in Sweden, but some made by Nokia, Philips or Siemens are similarly on display. In the same room the history of grenade construction is illustrated, through relevant specimens of shells and cartridges.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
An adjoining building is employed for gatherings by veterans, sympathizers and preservation groups, and usually showcases an annual temporary exhibition. At the time of my own visit in 2024, the theme of the exhibition was the combat-readiness in Sweden, from WWII onward.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
The other buildings are former depots, and offer a wide range of artillery pieces and military vehicles, covering the history of artillery warfare in Sweden.
The artillery pieces on display in a first depot are from the 19th century. They include some very interesting one-of-a-kind exemplars, for example a French cannon from Napoleon’s army! The iconic ‘N’ mark of the French Emperor is still intact on top of the barrel.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Another interesting item is a rocket launcher, made in Sweden from 1832, and cloned from an earlier British model. This early system, well ahead of its time as a concept, was not satisfactory in terms of field performance, thus it was phased by 1846. Additionally, an early multi-barreled gun from 1875 has been restored by volunteers to an almost pristine condition.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
An experimental recoil-suppressing gun carriage, with a prominent metal spring integrated in the structure, is on display along with many pieces which allow to appreciate the gradual improvement in the technology of field guns over the 19th century.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
The exhibition on artillery pieces is continued in another depot, mostly with horse carriages, needed for the movement of artillery, as well as with position artillery. The big calibers here, mostly made in Sweden, offer a very complete display of the catalog of guns employed for defense. Typically too heavy for quick repositioning, the purpose of this type of gun was that of defending fortresses or coastal positions.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Moving on to the last two depots, these deal mostly with the Cold War era. In a first one, artillery technology from the Cold War era is on display, including guns, as well as tons of technical devices for aiming, communicating, taking field measurements, etc.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Among the artifacts on display is an original camera for reconnaissance troops, as well as incredible traces of an espionage operation! You can see two maps of the same location, one released by Swedish authorities, the other by the Soviet Union. The latter is clearly way more accurate than the former, when it comes to describing a site of military interest, undisclosed on the Swedish map. Based on the date of the Soviet map, the espionage activity must have taken place in the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A diorama displays a reconstruction of an entrenched observation post.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Two adjoining dioramas reproduce a fire control post and a gun emplacement for a 10.5 cm howitzer. This design from 1940 saw action well into the 1960s and the Cold War, which is the time of the gun emplacement diorama. Notably, a muzzle velocity measurement system is mounted on the cannon.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Measuring atmospheric conditions in the field is an often overlooked component of artillery action, but it is actually crucial when good precision is required for a hit. Especially when a cannon is capable of hitting way ahead of its muzzle, a good knowledge of the state of the atmosphere – including wind intensity and direction, as well as the temperature and other properties of air – between the cannon and the target is totally relevant for accurately computing the trajectory and hit point of the shell. For example, a substantial error of some hundred meters on a hit may result for a shell travel of 20-30 km, typical for a high-performance field cannon of the Cold War, even for a mild wind below 10 knots.
An aiming system PE07/R based on a radar and a balloon with onboard sensors is on display, intended for the 10.5 cm howitzer.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A much more modern weather radar and fire control station for the Bofors 15.5 cm FH77A field gun can be similarly checked out. Dating from the 1970s and the early digital era, this original Swedish system offered improved range (almost 20 km) and accuracy with respect to all previous models.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Two exemplars of the FH77A gun are on display as well! The cannon had a good maneuverability and autonomy of motion. It could be transported on longer distances coupled to a Scania 411 truck, also on display.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
In the same room are a French 15.5 cm cannon, acquired in the 1950s, and a much older Krupp 21 cm howitzer. The latter, a German design from 1917, represents the top caliber ever pressed into service by the Swedish artillery, and saw action in Finland, where it was leased out during WWII (see this post).
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A bit of an outlier here is a diorama of a cavalry charge from the 19th century – which is however impressively well-crafted!
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
The last depot is especially lively in the summer, when vehicles mostly preserved in fully working conditions are taken out on the apron! Anyway, the depot is also interesting as a static display, with many well preserved items, all formerly in service with the Swedish armed forces.
These include first a full range of motorbikes, some of them today rather sought-after classics! They are notably of different makes, including British makers like BSA, Triumph and AJS.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A self-propelled, tracked 15.5 cm cannon, listed as Bkan 1A in the inventory of the Swedish Army and made by Bofors in 1965, stands in front of an older m/43 self-propelled gun, from 1943.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A PBV 301 armored transport and a Caterpillar bulldozer frame an interesting Radiobandvagn 203B. This articulated tracked vehicle resembles the Bandvagn 206 (see above), but it was manufactured by Bolinder Munktell, Sweden. It dates from 1967, but the Volvo engine looks like brand-new!
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
A US-made Dodge T214, a highly successful machine produced in more than 250,000 units, is on display in its original late-1940s Swedish camouflage. Sweden acquired more than 200 of these utility vehicles from a surplus deposit in France, after WWII.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
An example of Pvpjtgb 9031, with its distinctive recoil-less anti-tank cannon, and a Pbv 302 (see above), are on display alongside many military transport vehicles, mostly made by Volvo.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
An interesting item is a gas generator designed by Ford, yet bearing Swedish labels, hence likely intended for the Swedish market. This device could employ wood or charcoal to produce gas, which when suitably processed through heat-exchangers, can be employed to run an internal combustion engine. In an emergency situation, like when facing a shortage in oil supply, this type of device can be profitably employed to propel vehicles. This was a rather widespread option during WWII. Bulkier designs can be employed for running larger piston engines, e.g. for electric power production.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
On the apron between the depots, more vehicles and guns can be found. Some of them are typically recovered under a roof in the winter, to be taken out in the good season. These include perfectly working examples of a Volvo TP21 military transport (see above) – a predecessor of the modern XC90 SUV! – and a massive Volvo HBT artillery tractor. This half-track vehicle was based on a German design. It was built in Sweden in roughly 100 units, and employed for transporting troops, as well as cargo, including cannon trailers or self-propelled cannons. The speed of each track is controlled together with the direction of the front wheels by the pilot’s yoke, allowing for an easier steering action.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Finally, a few more guns are on display outside, including a rare m/1946 multi-barreled cannon made by Bofors, and even a Soviet 12.2 cm gun m/1932-1937, largely employed within the Soviet Bloc, from Stalin’s era to the 1990s, and donated by a Czech artillery collection to the Artillerimuseet.
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Artillerimuseet i Kristianstad – Artillery and military museum in Southern Sweden
Getting there and visiting
The Artillerimuseet can be reached at the address Köpingevägen 86-30, 29163 Kristianstad, which corresponds to a nice countryside location, roughly 3 miles south of the small center of Kristianstad. Access is via a short unpaved road, and the parking area inside is very convenient.
The place is run by knowledgeable volunteers, mostly former military staff. A visit of what is described here, which corresponds to what you can see on your own without a guide in the good season, may take about 1.5-2 hours for an interested person.
Please note that the cashier accepts only cash (possibly other forms of electronic payment available for Swedish residents). The website (mostly in Swedish) with full information is here.
The events taking place on the geopolitical stage during the last decade of the Cold War – the 1980s – gave little indication of the imminent collapse of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc (1989-1991). Correspondingly, looking at the amount of technology developed and deployed in the military field during the late, hi-tech stage of the Cold War, it is easy to notice that opponents on both sides of the Iron Curtain dedicated a significant (and even increasing) budget in preparation for a possible total confrontation. Reading papers and specialized books from the time, the outbreak of an open conflict, such to put a violent and abrupt end to years of opposition between the two opposing systems by recurring to nuclear warfare over the territories of Western Europe (most of them belonging to the NATO alliance, and all being substantially more militarized than today), was not deemed just likely, but more as a matter of time.
The БАРС system – The tropospheric network of the Warsaw Pact
In that era of extreme tension, it is not surprising that one of the most sophisticated and expensive assets developed and deployed jointly by all Nations in the Warsaw Pact, of course led by the USSR, came alive. History would cut its life short though, and as soon as the Warsaw Pact disintegrated, as a result of the opt-out from communist dictatorship of all Countries in Eastern Europe, this asset was decommissioned. This system was the tropospheric communication system ‘БАРС’, a Russian word reading ‘BARS’ and meaning ‘snow leopard’. The name stands as an acronym for four words in Russian, which translate into something like ‘Sheltered autonomous radio communication system’.
The idea put forward by the Soviet top-ranking military staff in the early 1980s (prior to the onset of Gorbachev administration) was that of a system capable of transmitting complex orders (not just simple signals, like for opening a bunker door or silo, but articulated messages) in a safe encrypted way, at a long distance and minimizing the chance of a complete breakdown even in case of an enemy nuclear attack. Despite being not new, the concept of a resilient and reliable system, such to allow exchanging significant amount of data without relying on cables, had been tested in earlier stages of the Cold War only for short-radius operations. Mobile transmitters/receivers, loaded on purpose-designed trucks, allowed for a reduction of the risk of a direct hit from an attacker, and for a quick redeployment in case of need. However, for the amount of data and range required for the coordination of a war scenario, involving many different Countries, and geographically encompassing an entire continent, a different system was required, capable of transmitting more massive data flows on longer distances, with a reduced risk of a sudden or complete interruption.
The БАРС system was based on a certain number of stations, scattered over the territory of the Countries of the Warsaw Pact. Each node was built as a bunkerized, manned military installation, featuring high-power, high-frequency fixed antennas emerging from the ground, and an underground shelter protecting all the technical gear required for manipulating the data to be sent or received, interfacing with the other existing local (i.e. national) networks for military and executive governmental communication, and of course managing the tremendous amount of energy required to pump a long-reaching signal into the ether.
Laying on the front line with the West, hosting a Soviet contingent of some hundred thousands troops (see here and links therein), aircraft (see here), missiles (see here) and nuclear warheads (see here), and being a key-ally of the USSR in case of the outbreak of an open war (at least until late 1989), the German Democratic Republic (or GDR, or DDR in German) was clearly included in the БАРС network from the initial drafting phase. Similarly, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, and of course the Soviet Union (which included Belarus and the Baltics, and stretched west to Kaliningrad), all had БАРС stations on their territory. Stations were located at a range of a few hundred miles from one another, thus within the range required for each of them to communicate with one or more of the other nodes. Data (e.g. orders, reports or authorizations) input locally could be relayed along the network through intermediate nodes, down to the intended destination node. There were 26 nodes in total, of which four were in the USSR.
The Wollenberg site – Bunker 301 ‘Tushurka’
The GDR in particular had three stations built, all along the border with Poland, and located east of Berlin – namely Station 301 in Wollenberg, at the same latitude of Berlin, Station 302 in Langsdorf, towards the Baltic coast, and Station 303 in Röhrsdorf (near Königsbruck), not far from Dresden in the southeast of the GDR territory. The first among them, the Wollenberg site (codenamed ‘Tushurka’) could communicate with the other two national stations, as well as with Station 207 in Poland, from where data would be transmitted further down the network, towards the USSR.
The site was built by the GDR state, with technical hardware coming from several Countries within the Warsaw Pact, and most of the military hi-tech components manufactured in the USSR. The actual site (similar to its sister sites) was built in the frame of a highly secretive operation. The staff comprised about 60-70 men, the majority of which were military, where about 15% were civil technicians. Maximum security clearance was required, due to the top-secret nature of the installation and of the overall БАРС system. The bunkerized part of the installation was only a component of the larger premises of the base, camouflaged within the trees on the side of low-rising hill.
As pointed out, the immense spending required for setting up this multi-national hi-tech military communication system, which was extensively tested and completely commissioned (as a network) by 1987, did not save it from a quick demise and disappearance. In particular, Station 301 went definitively offline as early as August 1990.
However, the fate of the Wollenberg site was not so sad as that of many former Soviet or NVA (i.e. the East German Army) installations in the GDR. The high-power antennas were torn down, but except from that, little material damage was inflicted to the buildings and bunker on site. The place was basically shut-off and left dormant, until when a society of technically very competent local enthusiasts started a plan to preserve and open it to visitors, as a memorial specimen of the technology of the Cold War years.
A visit to the Wollenberg bunker site reveals a tremendous deal of interesting details, very uncommon to find elsewhere in the panorama of Cold War relics around Europe. Thanks to a careful preservation and restoration work, the bunker has most of its original systems still plugged to the grid and lit-up – some of them are reportedly still working! Even though the communication networks have been severed, the experience in the bunker is really evoking, and the atmosphere – with all the lit-up cabinets, lights, CCTV cameras, 1980-style screens, etc. – closely resembles that of the bygone era when БАРС was operative!
This report and photographs were taken during a private visit to the bunker, carried out in the Summer of 2023.
Sights
A visit to the the installation in Wollenberg starts from the original high-security access gate. As you may quickly notice when passing through it and getting a first view of the site, the state of preservation is exceptional. Except for the lack of military staff around, everything looks mostly like in the years of operation.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
A group of soft-construction service buildings and a reinforced multi-entry garage constitute the first – and visible – nucleus of the installation. All buildings are painted in a camo coat.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
A former building for the on-site staff has been turned into a permanent exhibition, with memorabilia items from the Cold War years, when the Nationale Volksarmee (or NVA, the Armed forces of the GDR) cooperated with the Soviet Red Army and the national Armed forces of other Countries in the Warsaw Pact.
A meeting room, now employed also for small gatherings, is especially rich of interesting and diverse items, including emblems, books, memorial plates and pennants, as well as TV screens, hi-fi systems and and beamers from the era.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Another room has been set-up as a control center for the base, with an original console and regional maps.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Compared to military bases (for aircraft or tanks), the Wollenberg installation is rather compact, with a main road giving access to most of the (not many) buildings on site, as well as the bunker. Actually, the bunkerized part was built under a low-rising hill, with the antennas originally standing on top of it. Access to the bunker is possible either by climbing uphill on the main road, or through a suggestive original pedestrian tunnel. The latter starts from within the service building itself, and – somewhat unexpectedly, for an underground installation – it climbsuphill, while keeping beneath the surface of the hill side slope. The lower end is guarded by an original CCTV camera.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
At the top end of the tunnel you can find the actual access to the bunker. The design and reinforcement level conferred grade ‘D’ protection according to the military standard in use at the time, with grade ‘A’ being the strongest. Access is through an airlock, constituted by two tight doors at the opposite ends of a small vestibule built in concrete. This design allowed protection from the blast of a nuclear device.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Notably, the locking mechanism of the tight doors is Soviet military standard, which can be found in high-value installations like nuclear depots elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc (see for instance here in Poland, and here in Czechoslovakia).
To the visitor with some experience of Cold War installations, it will be apparent from the very start of the tour that the state of conservation of the bunker, including the systems in it, is exceptional, similar to the rest of the Wollenberg site. The original warning lights and the CC-TV camera for identifying people at the entrance are still in place.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Next to the entrance, a control room with technical gear for checking-in can be found – including original dosimeters for radiation and chemicals, mostly Soviet-made. Looking inside these devices is possible, and reveals a great deal of sophistication in the design and realization of the military-grade material from the time.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Showers and sinks for washing, as well as canister for disposing of contaminated clothes, are located in the same area.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Upon getting access to the sealed area of the bunker and passing by the decontamination facility, you find yourself on the top floor of the underground bunker. The high-technology gear required for the transmission/reception of data on the БАРС network, as well as the interface with other national communication systems, required for receiving data, issuing orders, etc. over the territory of the GDR, were located on this floor.
Two symmetrically placed rooms host two twin transmission centers for the БАРС system. A single manned console can be found in each of them, surrounded by electronic cabinets and switches. At a closer look, all the material herein is Soviet made, and labeled in Russian only.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
On the wall ahead of the console station is a set of cables, communicating with the antenna and allowing to set the orientation and monitoring its status.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
The actual signals transmitted to the antenna, or received from it, traveled along special hollow ducts, with an almost rectangular section. Bundles of these ducts can be found in the ‘Sender’ (which means ‘transmitter’ in English) room, immediately next to the room where the manned console is.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
The modulation and demodulation of the signals going out and coming in respectively through the antenna on top of the bunker required some special pieces of electronics, which included the Soviet-designed KY-374 klystron (codenamed ‘Viola’), a component to be found in the cabinets of the ‘Sender’ room.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Following the hollow ducts, it is possible to find where they finally exit the usually manned part of the bunker, bending into receptacles and leading outside. Piping related to other systems, including air conditioning, can be seen as well crossing or running in the same narrow technical corridors.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Beside the consoles monitoring the antenna and the data flowing through it, a kind of operative room for communication can be found, where consoles allowing to receive and forward data and communication to/from all systems are on display. This largely original room features consoles of different levels of technology.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Original explanatory schemes showing the basic features of the БАРС system are on display in that area – in Russian!
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
An adjoining room features the cabinets required for making all these system work. The cabinets are really many, with a significant share of material manufactured in the USSR. The sight of all these cabinets together is really impressive, and tangibly provides the feeling of a high technology, sophisticated and expensive design. It compares well, but in a largely up-scaled fashion, to the electronics to be found in some special communication bunkers on the western side of the Iron Curtain (see here).
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Interspersed with the original arrangement of the cabinets and consoles are some displays of original material. These include specimens of different types of cables for signal transmission – some of them hollow and pressurized, others featuring impressive bundles of thinner wires – the KY-374 klystron, and other once top-secret core components of the БАРС transmission system. Also on display is one of the few remaining parts of the original system of antennas, once on top of the bunker. The antennas were the only part to be physically torn down when the system was decommissioned, upon the demise of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold War.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
The bunker was manned by military and technical staff 24/7. Furthermore, as typical for bunkers from the Cold War era, provision was made at a design level to allow the staff to live isolated within the bunker for an extended period of time, in view of the eventuality to face a nuclear fallout scenario.
On the same floor as the technical rooms, the commander of the station had his own private room. This is still adorned with typical Soviet iconography, as well as everyday material from the age when the bunker was operative.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
A small canteen, with a kitchen and a modest living room, can be found at the same level. An original storage room has been employed to gather examples of everyday products, like soap, skin care cream, etc., as well as canned food, cocoa, and beverages of all sorts.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
This represents a very rich catalog of now largely defunct and forgotten labels, from the age and regions of the Eastern Bloc (and especially from within the GDR). Also on display are bottles of spirits, likely still very good!
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
The visit proceeds then to the lower floor, which can be reached through a flight of metal stairs.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
The lower floor host the plants required for the regular operation of the entire bunker, such to guarantee operational ability even in case of an enemy attack carried out with nuclear, chemical or biological warfare. The air filtering and conditioning system is very modern. Beside typical filtering drums for particles, to be found also in other bunkers (see for instance Podborsko here), you can see a bulky filtering and climate conditioning system, neatly arranged within two parallel square-shaped ducts. Filtering against chemicals as well as biologic agents was carried out employing special active filters.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Sensors for the level of contamination of the bunker air can be found in different rooms. Much material here is standard Soviet-made.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Systems for water pumping and compressed air can be found as well, including compressors, pumps and reservoirs. Looking at the always interesting factory labels in this area, it is easy to find export products of Bulgaria, Romania and other communist dictatorships of the era. Of course, much hardware is also manufactured in the GDR.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Electricity was supplied from the outside grid, yet capability for self-sustaining in case of a grid loss (for instance in case of war) was implemented as well. Three big German-made Diesel generators have been put in place, and are still in an apparently good condition.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Another example of the high technological standard reached in the late Cold War era is represented by the control room for the plants within the bunker. A manned control station, with a console and a direct view of lit-up cabinets, reporting the status of the various systems running in the bunker, compares well with control rooms of large industrial plants in operation today.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Carefully kept in its original status, with many of the electric links and cabinets still working, the sight of this room is especially evoking.
Also on the lower floor are the sleeping rooms for off-duty staff. Typically, this was not employed except for drills, when the bunker could be sealed to simulate operations in case of the outbreak of hostilities.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Back to the upper floor, it is possible to exit the bunker via a stairway and through a side gate. You will find yourself on top of the low-rise hill where the bunker has been dug. Here the concrete base of the crane where the БАРС antenna used to sit are still visible. Notably, these antennas were much smaller than the tropospheric antennas employed for the TROPOSCATTER system of NATO. This was the result of a different bandwidth employed for transmissions. Therefore, even in the days of operation, the antennas on top of the bunker were not as sizable as those of TROPOSCATTER installations (which were enormous in size).
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Looking closely, in the top area of the installation, the duct for supplying the Diesel oil tank of the bunker can be found, similar to sensors for radiation and other atmospheric parameters (similar to what can be found also in other nuclear-proof bases, for instance here). These allowed to monitor the conditions of the outside air, detect an attack and trigger or manage the sealing of the bunker in case of need, by locking all the tight doors.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
This access to the bunker is fenced by the original electrified fence, severing this area from the rest of the installation through a further layer of security.
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
Wollenberg БАРС Bunker 301 – GDR vs. USSR communication facility
All in all, a visit to the Wollenberg bunker offers an incredible insight in a fascinating and crucial field of warfare – data and communication exchange – as well as a lively and evocative display of a late Cold War hi-tech installation from the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain!
Getting there & Visiting
The German name of the Wollenberg bunker is ‘Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 Wollenberg’. It can be reached very easily with a car. It can be found in the open countryside along the regional road 158, driving about 35 miles (about 1 hour) northeast from downtown Berlin towards Poland. The exact location is between the small village of Höhenland (~4 miles) and the more sizable Bad Freienwalde (~6 miles). There is a large parking area immediately next to the road, giving direct pedestrian access to the premises of the former military installation. Despite being placed very conveniently, the site is rather elusive when passing by, since it is hidden in the trees and not directly visible from the road. The address corresponding to the place in Google Maps is Sternkrug 4, 16259 Höhenland. The inconspicuous village of Wollenberg, giving the name to the installation, is just nearby, but it is not crossed by the regional road, and it should not be employed for pointing this destination with a nav.
The Wollenberg bunker is a listed historical installation. It is perfectly maintained, privately managed, and it can be regularly accessed with guided tours. These are offered typically one day per week in the summer, or by prior arrangement. Possibly the best option for getting the most out of your visit is getting in contact with the group of very knowledgeable enthusiasts running the place. The official website is here (do not be discouraged by the ‘static’ appearance of the website, they are very active, and they shall typically answer your inquire).
My visit was planned by initiative of Dr. Reiner Helling (see also here), and we visited in a group of three, including the guide (Dr. Michael Schoeneck, a former engineer, with a profound knowledge of any technical aspects related to this installation), which happened to be a perfect option for touring also the narrowest receptacles of the bunker. Visiting in groups too big may be not advisable, since the rooms and corridors are rather narrow, and the place may turn overcrowded for interacting with the guide and for taking good pictures. I think the visit – including the technical content – may be tailored to the needs of the audience. For technical-minded subjects, historians and former military, a visit may take about 2-3 hours (the latter was my experience). In my case, the guide could understand but not speak fluent English, yet Dr. Helling could translate with ease all the explanations. Of course, if you have at least a basic knowledge of German and of the technical material you are looking at, this may simplify your visit, which is in any case highly advisable for those interested in military technology and the Cold War.
Heading to Berlin or the former GDR? Looking for traces of the Cold War open for a visit?
A Travel Guide to COLD WAR SITES in EAST GERMANY
Second Edition - 2024
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The central role taken by Britain in WWII, firstly containing and then countering the expansion of the Third Reich, is duly and proudly celebrated all around the Country, with memorials and thematic exhibitions, often hosted in historical locations, regularly open for a visit.
The United Kingdom joined NATO as a founding member in 1949, and had already been at the forefront of a European anti-Soviet alliance with France since 1947. The strategic political and military ties with the US, pivotal in putting and end to WWII in Europe, were kept over the following decades, against the menace constituted by the Eastern Bloc. Thanks to its geographical position, and bolstering a nuclear arsenal, strategic bombers and submarines of its own, Britain was a major player of the Cold War.
Despite that, the Cold War left behind comparatively less memories than WWII, with only a handful installations open to the public, and somewhat out of the spotlight. In this regard, this reflects an attitude generally widespread in Europe towards the traces of the second half of the 20th century.
However, for people with an interest in the Cold War age, and more in general for those with a thing for (especially nuclear) warfare technology, there are two really unmissable sights in Northern England, which make for a vivid hands-on experience of the ‘era of Soviet threat’.
One is the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, with a fascinating history starting in WWII and spanning the entire duration of the Cold War. Here one of the finest collections of nuclear-war-related material in Europe can be found, together with much additional material from the era, in a largely preserved historical site.
Another is the York Cold War Bunker, built in the Cold War age to provide protection to the staff of the Royal Observation Corps (ROC) in case of a nuclear attack, as well as the ability to help coordinating fundamental public functions – health, transportation, food and energy supply, etc. – in a post-attack nuclear fallout scenario.
Both sites are regularly open for a visit, and provide a vivid testimony of civil and military plans and facilities seriously prepared in England for a nuclear apocalypse scenario.
The Hack Green site is located deep in the Cheshire countryside, about one hour driving south of Manchester. Actually, it is in a really secluded location, far from any sizable urban center, and away from major roads. Even today, when this facility is working as a top-level museum, some attention to the signs is needed to reach the site.
Once by the gate, you are immediately driven back in time by the appearance of the tall military-style external fence with official government signs, and by the blunt and in impenetrable appearance of the big concrete bunker – what you see is only the part above ground level! – with a big antenna protruding from the top. Nearby, you can see an apparently still off-limits area, with a now-dead radar antenna and an old Jet Provost trainer in RAF colors.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
History
The history of the Hack Green site dates to as back as WWII, when it was established as one of the 12 most developed Ground Controlled Intercept (GCI) centers, out of 21 total nodes in Britain. Essentially based on the airspace scanning radar plants available at the time, the so-constituted ‘Chain Home’ surveillance system was operated by the RAF, and intended to track intruding German aircraft, thus directing air force planes against them. Radar aerials appeared on site at the time, suitable against relatively slow moving propeller-driven aircraft of those years.
With the start of the Cold War, and the need to reconfigure the defense against the USSR and Warsaw Pact forces operating with jet-powered aircraft of increasing speed, several modernization plans were started in Britain, aimed at implementing more effective detection and threat-countering radar technology, like ‘Green Garlic’, and later ROTOR. The latter called for the institution of a chain of detection nodes, not much dissimilar in concept from the older ‘Chain Home’ of WWII, but much more articulated, efficient and technologically advanced. At the time one of the most expensive government-funded operations ever, 66 installations were implemented all over Britain within ROTOR before the mid 1950s, with different roles in the network. The bunker you see today on the Hack Green site was one of them.
Keeping up with the fast-developing offensive technology of the 1950s and 1960s required a continuous update of the defensive network, in particular asking for the addition of intercontinental missiles to the enemy arsenal to counter. The US-led ‘Ballistic Missile Early Warning System’ (BMEWS) included 12 early-warning radar stations around the Atlantic, including a single station in the UK (RAF Fylingdales, Yorkshire, still in operation today). Before BMEWS went operational (early 1960s), triggering a re-organization of all other defense radar systems by the time obsolete, Hack Green took an interim role as one of only 4 radar stations operated by the RAF monitoring all military and civilian traffic through the British airspace, coping with new fast jetliners. The name of the Hack Green radar site in that stage was ‘Mersey Radar North’. Finally, in 1966 the RAF released the site to the government, which put it in mothballed status.
It was in 1976 that a new life began for Hack Green. Starting in 1958, the Home Office invested much in the preparation of an emergency structure, capable of keeping of managing a post-nuclear attack scenario, and keeping the basic public functions active. In the event of a total nuclear war, a failure of the national hierarchy and military chain of command was forecast, as a result of an extensive damage to the infrastructures and communication systems. In order to recover as fast as possible in such an emergency, the UK would split in 11 regions, each with a regional seat of government (RSG). In the region, a civil Regional Commissioner would take a leading administrative role, and would be responsible for coordinating disaster recovery operations, like supplying medical resources, food, water, and reconstructing infrastructures, while waiting for the national government to reactivate its functions. The Commissioner would be aided by the UK Warning and Monitoring Organization (UKWMO), which took over the function and organization of the older Royal Observation Corps (ROC) established during WWII. This structure was further potentiated in the 1960s and 1970s, also introducing a similar regional scheme for the military in case of a nuclear attack.
The seat of the RSG was in the Regional Government Head Quarters (RGHQ). Following some years when it was hosted in Preston, then in Southport, north of Liverpool, the RGHQ for the 10th region (then 10:2, following a split in two halves of this large region) found its home in Hack Green. The former radar facility was potentiated enormously, and set up with the ability to host 160 civil and military staff for 3 months without resupply in case of a nuclear attack on the UK.
Within the framework of the emergency plan for a nuclear attack, the RGHQs all over the UK went on operating until the demise of the USSR in December 1991, to be soon deactivated over the following years. Hack Green was scrapped of all content, and put up for sale in 1993. It was privately acquired in the mid-1990s, and carefully restored in some parts, or being stocked with interesting material from the Cold War era in some of the many rooms.
A tour of the bunker
Access to the bunker is via a concrete slide, and through a metal gate. Originally the male civil servants dorm, the first room you meet is now a kind of storage for items recently incorporated in the collection. These include a jeep, a model of an Avro Shackleton, and interestingly a nuclear warhead. The original system to activate the rooftop antenna is in a cabinet along a sidewall.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The ticket office and canteen are now in the original canteen area of the Hack Green site. Restored to a 1960s appearance, parts of the kitchen furniture are original from the site. Along the sidewalls are several memorabilia items, including some original Soviet emblems, not unusual today in museums on the other side of the Iron Curtain (see for instance here), but hard to find in the UK.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
An adjoining room reproduces the environment where the ROC would have worked in case of a drill or real nuclear attack. Among their function was the pinpointing of nuclear explosions. The forecast and monitoring of the fallout is strongly bound to the local weather and winds. This was kept under surveillance through reporting stations scattered on the UK territory (more than 1 thousand), which transmitted information to Hack Green and other RGHQ and UKWMO bunkers (see the York bunker later in this post). They could then coordinate recovery operations, avoiding extreme exposure to radiation of the emergency staff.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Monitoring was through dedicated sensors, and communication through specific transmission gear. Two display cases in the same room feature interesting instruments, training documents, and memorabilia items from the rich history of the ROC, documenting also their activities in WWII.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Ground floor
The Hack Green bunker largely retains its original arrangement. It is composed of a ground and an underground floor. Along the main corridors are interesting examples of the papers produced by the UKWMO, and by the civil defense service during the Cold War. Among them, are leaflets for the population, with best practices in case of a nuclear attack.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Also interesting are more technical posters from the era, either outlining the role of the public organizations monitoring a potential nuclear apocalypse scenario, or providing technical details on the effects of nuclear weapons – what to expect in terms of damage or health issues, depending on the type and local condition of a nuclear explosion.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
For sure a focal point in the exhibition of Hack Green today is the display of nuclear warheads, and nuclear-related material. Hosted in a room previously employed by emergency staff, the exhibition retraces with original material, mock-ups, rare pictures and videos, the history of the British nuclear arsenal, managed by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).
The WE177 was designed to constitute the backbone of the air-dropped nuclear deterrent of the UK. Examples of this bomb are on display together with technical material employed to monitor their status and manage launch or drills. In service between the 1960s and the 1990s in association with larger strategic bombers like the Vulcan, or smaller fighter-bombers like some versions of the Harrier or Jaguar, it could be assembled in some different versions, sharing the same baseline construction, but with nominal yields ranging between 10 to 450 kilotons.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Also on display are pictures and mock-ups of the old Polaris warhead, together with the original casing employed to transport this 200 kilotons item! A US design, the Polaris was acquired by the UK in 1963, to supply the Royal Navy and constitute the UK underwater deterrent. The Polaris missile featured a three-warheads fuse, bearing a total yield of 600 kilotons.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A very rare artifact is the warhead of project Chevaline, a British design to improve the potential of the Polaris, which saw limited service with the Royal Navy in the 1980s. The Polaris/Chevaline was replaced by the Trident missile system, still employed today in the nuclear deterrent role.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Besides the central exhibition of nuclear warheads, the display cases in the same room offer a wealth of super-interesting technical gear and memorabilia related to nuclear weapons. These include components and cabinets of radio and radar systems, to be transported on board aircraft or to be employed on the ground. These parts come from different ages, and from several Countries, including the Eastern Bloc – for instance, a very rare Soviet suit to work on high-power radar antennas for maintenance. Powerful radars actually emit rays with a high power-over-volume (power density) ratio especially in the vicinity of the emitting apparatus. This may even turn deadly for humans (roughly like being in a microwave oven would be!), and precautions are needed when working in such environment.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A really unique collection on display is related to Geiger counters and dosimeters. These include environmental and personal use devices, from various ages and nationality.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Two display cases are dedicated to material coming from beyond the Iron Curtain, most notably from the USSR and the GDR! It is really hard to imagine how this material could manage to come to Hack Green.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Part of the display is dedicated to the civil defense corps of different Countries, with helmets, emblems, papers and uniforms, showing how similar actions in preparations for a nuclear war were carried out in many Nations of continental Europe, also in the Eastern Bloc. Actually, a very close relative of the UKWMO RGHQ control center, with a totally similar function, can be found in a perfectly preserved condition in Poland (see this post).
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
More memorabilia items come from the history of civil defense in the UK. Among the most rare artifacts are the only surviving example of the ‘Queen’s telephone’, which was employed for enforcing the Emergency Power Act, which among other things may have transferred power to the Regional Commissioner. There used to be one such phone in each of the RGHQ, but all were destroyed for security reasons following the shut-off of the bunkers, except this one, and the one at the other end of the line – in the Royal residence.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
An adjoining room hosts a reconstruction of the radar screen room from the age Hack Green was employed as a radar station managed by the RAF. All panels are lit, providing a vivid, pure Cold War experience!
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
To the end of the main corridor, you can reach another entrance to the bunker, which is nowadays normally shut. However, this used to be the main entrance, and close to it are the control room of the bunker and the decontamination area.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The control room is not accessible, but the large windows allow to take a glance to its original appearance. It is still employed to control electric power and air conditioning. Manned nuclear-proof bunkers are customarily pressurized, sucking contaminated air from the outside, which is carefully filtered for poisons and radioactive particles, and pumping unfiltered bunker air to the outside (see this post for another example in a Soviet bunker).
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
People entering after work out in the fallout-polluted environment were decontaminated through showers, and used anti-radiation suits were left in an isolated sink still on display.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Before leaving the ground floor, you can find on the ground level the female dorm for the staff of the RGHQ bunker. In the same room, an original system for communicating on the very low frequency bandwidth has been put on display. This Cold War relic could be employed to issue orders to the strategic submarine force. This very cabinet was employed by Prime Minister Thatcher for ordering the attack against the Argentinian ship General Belgrano.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A final room on this floor is the sick bay, sized for the staff of Hack Green only, but equipped to manage health issues resulting from the exposition to a nuclear attack.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Underground floor
Descending to the underground floor is possible via the original stairs. The first room you meet features an exhibition of original Soviet uniforms, belonging to some high-ranking officials from various branches of the Red Army. Really hard to see in this part of the world, their origin is well documented.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Close by, is a small display of military material from the Soviet bloc, ranging from original weapons, to communication systems, emblems and instructional posters for the troops (similar to what you can find in dedicated museums in former Warsaw Pact Countries, like here or here).
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Nearby is a communication room originally employed by the military staff of the bunker, working in parallel with civil servants in the management of the nuclear emergency. Original radio transmission gear of military standard is still in place.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Before entering the core preserved area of the bunker, i.e. the rooms of the RGHQ, you can find the original water and air supply systems, and the corresponding technical cabinets, in a big room on the underground level.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The rooms of the RGHQ are all interconnected, and located to the side of the corridor on the underground floor. The way they look is from the days of activity of Hack Green as a RGHQ, i.e. the 1980s. Typical Cold War technology from the time is featured in this area.
Firstly, you enter the warning room, which used to be the contact point of the RGHQ with the national surveillance system. By design, the BMEWS at Fylingdales should have picked up an incoming ICBM within 30 seconds from launch, spreading an alert signal at all levels. This would have been received here and by the entire civil defense system within 90 seconds. This would leave roughly 4 minutes (out of a total of around 6 minutes for the missile to come to Britain from the Eastern Bloc) to tell the population of the incoming missile, which would happen through some thousands sirens scattered around the UK. The physical alarm signal management system was called HANDEL, and was employed from the 1960s to 1992. The apparatus on display at Hack Green, a node of HANDEL, is notably still working, albeit disconnected.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The warning room can be accessed directly from the Commissioner’s room, both an office and private room. Original maps and furniture can be found in this room, the only private one in the bunker. Immediately next to it is the cipher office, a communication office connecting – at least in non-emergency conditions – the center with the external world. Ciphered language was employed for safe communication with governmental offices, both domestic and abroad.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Next are a conference room, for meeting within the staff of the RGHQ, and a broadcast studio. The latter was focused on radio broadcast instead of TV, since the latter would not work in case of a nuclear attack. The idea was for the Commissioner to communicate directly with the administrative region, possibly repeating messages of national significance, or instructing about local disaster recovery actions, evacuation operations, etc.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The tour goes on with a very interesting area, stuffed with original electronic and communication material. Communication from the bunker to the other similar bunkers withing the UKWMO was possible through a dedicated system called Emergency Communication Network (ECN). The main function was that of constantly updating the map of the fallout and of the operations taking place at all levels, including all surviving infrastructures. Many maps and teletypewriters, original components of the system, are part of the display.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The ‘brain’ of the system was the Message Switch Exchange (MSX). A top-tier system elaborated by British Telecom in the 1980s, it looks exceptionally complex. The lit cabinets and modules provide a really vivid impression of how it should have looked like back in the Cold War years. The electronic cabinets and wiring driving to the rooftop antenna are still lit as well.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A rare, incredible portable satellite communication antenna is on display. This was employed in peacetime condition, and stored inside the bunker when under attack.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
The screens where the meteorologists and nuclear scientists displayed all the information gathered and prepared forecasts are another unusual Cold War sight.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Perhaps unexpectedly in a 1980s hi-tech environment, a purely analog, wired telephone exchange system is on display. This is original as well, and was kept in service as a ‘last line’ backup system within the ECN until 1992, should the futuristic MSX system fail under an attack.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A complement to the exhibition of the RGHQ is the fire control room, where a big screen and several communication consoles were employed for directing firefighting actions at a regional level. Following the experience of Nagasaki and the extensive nuclear tests of the 1950s, it is known that fires resulting from the extreme temperature and radiation intensity associated with a nuclear explosion are possibly even more dangerous to buildings and infrastructures than the shock-wave itself.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A display which is not original from Hack Green, but found an ideal home in this bunker, is made of a reconstructed room from the Regional Air Operation Center (UKRAOC), which would gather information from the BMEWS. The material on display used to be at RAF High Wycombe, where the UKRAOC facility was located in the Cold War years.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Fed by the BMEWS early warning station at Fylingdales, the apparatus in this room was constantly updated on the defense situation. A Soviet ICBM attack would be detected here, and from here the alarm signal to the entire national civil and military defense system would be triggered. This really one-of-a-kind reconstruction is really evoking, with the original panels all lit, and a dim light background!
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
A final room on the underground floor hosts a reconstruction of a Soviet missile launch room. Perhaps not accurate as a reconstruction, it is however centered on original material and memorabilia items from the Soviet bloc. This area has been employed as a set for movies.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
At the base of a second stair well ascending to the ground floor you can find a reconstruction of one of the more than 1 thousand peripheral posts of the ROC. Such posts, scattered on the UK territory, gathered information for the RGHQ, and constituted the ‘sensors’ of the nuclear attack detection network. The technical gear includes over-pressure and radiation intensity transducers.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Getting there and visiting
The bunker is in a very secluded location, about 25 miles west of Stoke-on-Trent, and roughly 60 miles from Liverpool and Manchester. Very little advertised in the area, and not much known to the general public even in the UK, this hidden gem can be reached very conveniently by car, not much conveniently with public transport. The exact address is French Ln, Nantwich CW5 8BL, United Kingdom.
The bunker was built far from the crowds. Do not be worried as you see the road getting narrower and you feel like your NAV is taking you to nowhere – you are probably on the right path! Once there, you will find a large inside parking, and a top-level management of the entire facility.
Hack Green – Secret Nuclear Bunker – Crisis Regional Government – Cold War – UK
Visiting is on a self-guided basis, with tons of explanatory panels and illustrations allowing to make the most out of your visit even if you have just a normal interest and preliminary knowledge of the topic. For a specialist, this super-interesting, one-of-a-kind site may require at least 2 hours for capturing the details, and possibly take pictures. Website with visiting information here.
York Cold War Bunker
Besides the impressive Minster and the beautiful historic town, York has the distinction of being the seat of one of the few Cold War bunkers preserved in the UK. Differently from Hack Green (see above), the bunker in York was installed relatively late in 1961, in the middle of the Cold War. Since then and until the collapse of the USSR, it acted as a node in the UK Warning and Monitoring Organization (UKWMO), collecting information and coordinating emergency actions around York in the event of a nuclear attack. A cluster of reporting points was linked to the bunker in York, which took the name of Headquarters of the N.20 Group within the UKWMO.
An eminently intelligence collection and information relay facility, the bunker was manned by the Royal Observation Corps (ROC), who provided voluntary civilian staff to support the monitoring and communication functions of the bunker in the UKWMO network. The bunker ceased operations and was basically sealed in 1991. Until that time, the ROC ran the facility, carrying out regularly scheduled drills and simulations. The bunker was designed and sized to offer its staff a self-support ability of a few weeks in a nuclear fallout scenario. Besides all supporting facilities, including water tanks, pumps and power generators, the facility was centered on a set of sensors for nuclear blast detection, as well as provision for fallout forecast and monitoring.
The bunker has been taken over by the English Heritage, a structured nationwide historical conservation association, which restored the site and opened it to the public.
The York Cold War Bunker is not far from the historical center, yet in a quiet residential area. Access is from a small parking area among low-rise buildings. The greenish paint of the concrete walls and the tall metal antenna on top cannot be spotted from much farther away than the parking itself. Curiously, the pedestrian door of the bunker stands some feet above the ground, and can be reached via a concrete stairway. Then once on top and inside, you need to descend some flights of stairs to get underground.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
Compared to the Hack Green bunker, the York group headquarter is more cramped, with smaller rooms, lower ceilings and narrower corridors.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
The first part of the visit covers the supporting facilities. These include a ventilation system, which as customary for nuclear-proof bunkers (but the same is true for older bunkers dating from WWII) filtered the incoming air and ejected the inside air, basically pressurizing the bunker environment with respect to the outside atmospheric pressure. This avoided passive ingestion of contaminated air from the outside.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
A power generator and a water pumping system are also visible. A control panel for all the plants has been preserved, similar to the machinery in this area, dating from the time of construction.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
The centerpiece of the visit is of course the reporting room. The reason for putting a headquarters in relatively low-sized York was the presence in the area of significant food production industries, as well as of a major railway node in Northern England. Furthermore, military facilities like the only BMEWS station in the UK happened to be in Fylingdales, northern Yorkshire. These features would make York a valuable strategic target for an attacking enemy. The main function of the bunker within the UKWMO was that of ascertaining the position and intensity of a nuclear explosion on the territory covered by its jurisdiction.
Anticipated by the early warning ballistic missile detection system protecting the UK, the hit could be recorded by the sensors available in the bunker or in other reporting points scattered around in the country. The bunker would then try to predict and follow the evolution of the fallout. This would allow coordinating emergency and recovery actions including fire suppression, medical evacuation, water and food transport and supply, etc.
The central reporting room looks mostly like an operations room in a military headquarter. It is structured on two levels, with large maps and boards for visually updating the situation and writing information. Batteries of telephones and teletypewriters allowed obtaining communications and sending updated information to allow emergency services as well as decision centers to carry out post-attack operations. This system was not dissimilar from the counterpart beyond the Iron Curtain (see for instance this center in Poland).
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
Nearby the reporting room, the components of the sensor suite allowing to detect the position and intensity of a nuclear explosion are on display.
The first is the bomb-power indicator (BPI). The working principle is that of reading the over-pressure caused by the shock-wave invariably produced by an explosion, and particularly intense for a nuclear explosion, releasing an immense amount of energy in a small volume and within a very short time. The supersonic traveling shock-wave is responsible for the mechanical breaking of building and superstructures, like antennas, suspended power lines, bridges, piers, etc. Being a wave of pressure, its intensity can be measured by pressure transducers, which for the BPI show the reading on a simple analog dial.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
The transducer, seen handing from the ceiling in the exhibition, would stand on the rooftop of the bunker, exposed to the explosion. This type of sensor was also installed in smaller reporting points scattered over the territory of the UK.
A second sensor was the ground zero indicator (GZI). Here the working principle was also very simple. The main element in the GZI is a metal drum with a small hole in the side, and a piece of photographic paper covering the inside surface of the cylinder. An explosion would send a high-energy light beam through the hole, producing an impression on a precise point on the paper. By positioning in a very accurate way the drum on its pedestal on top of the bunker, according to a precise fine-tuning, it was possible to retrieve the direction of the incoming beam. By composing the reading of more than one precisely-located drum, it was possible to pinpoint the position of the explosion by triangulation, both in terms of geographical position and altitude. The latter is a very relevant practical information, since for instance the quality and hazard of the fallout are strongly related to the proximity of the explosion to the ground.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
The GZI, a purely analog sensor, had the odd feature of requiring collection of the photographic paper by venturing outside of the bunker after and explosion, i.e. facing the fallout.
The third and most evolved system on display is an AWDREY computer. The name stands for Atomic Weapon Detection Recognition and Estimation of Yield. This artifact is very rare to see, and a quite refined piece of engineering for the time. It was supplied to 12 headquarter bunkers of the UKWMO, including York, and was operative from the early 1970s. The computer is the computational part of the system, whereas the detection system was based on a sophisticated transducer put outside, on top of the bunker. The working principle was much more sophisticated here, and related to the evolution of the intensity of the radiation coming from the core of the explosions in the first instants of the detonation process. Several stages of a nuclear explosions happen in a row on a scale of a few millionths of a second. These include a predictable oscillation of the intensity of radiation. The exact features of this oscillation are correlated to the yield of the explosion. The ability of AWDREY to collect and interpret data from the early stage of the explosion would allow it to reconstruct the position and yield of the explosion at once.
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
Tuned on experimental data from nuclear testing in the field, this system delivered good general performance, with some inaccuracy in case of intense atmospheric phenomena taking place – or during fireworks, when the York system was apparently misled in one occasion, interpreting it as a Soviet attack!
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
York Cold War Bunker – York – England
The tour is completed with a view of the dorm for the civil servants of the ROC, and with a short exhibition on some historical and political aspects of the Cold War.
Getting there and visiting
The York Cold War Bunker is professionally managed by the English Heritage. Visiting is only possible with a guide. Please note that as of 2022, pre-booking is strictly necessary, since there is no ticket office on site. The guided tour lasts about 45 minutes, including a well-crafted introductory video. At the time of writing, only the first underground floor is open for a visit, but plans for an expansion of the visible part of the facility are being drafted.
The tour is very interesting and detailed, with some educated humor to make it more enjoyable! For specialists, it will be too quick, especially if you like to take pictures. However, the site indeed deserves a careful look also for the more technically-minded people, especially considering the little number of similar facilities open in Europe – and of course in the UK, where it is a one-of-a-kind destination, and a true must for Cold War historians.
The location is about two miles west of York Minster. Convenient to reach by car, several public parking lots are available in front of the gate or in the neighborhood. The exact address is Monument Cl, Holgate, York YO24 4HT, United Kingdom. Website with full information here.
War actions in Scandinavia constitute a crucial stage in the unfolding of WWII events in Europe. The strategic position of the Scandinavian peninsula was not overlooked by strategists in the Third Reich and the USSR, and by the Western Allies. As a matter of fact, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway took place as early as the Spring of 1940, starting just weeks before the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France.
History & Remains – A Quick Summary
For Germany in WWII, the long and impervious coast of Norway constituted an ideal strong point to carry out raids over the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, the northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea, interfering with resupply convoys from Britain and the US. Especially after the start of the war against the USSR in 1941, the polar routes going to Murmansk – the only non-freezing port on the northern coast of the USSR – were within range of German warships and aircraft operating from the north of Norway. Control over Norway and Denmark meant total control on the access to the Baltic Sea, thus protecting the northern coast of Germany from direct attack by the Western Allies, allowing unimpeded action against the Soviet Union on that sea. Of the greatest importance in the northern European territory was also the abundance of raw materials – mainly metals for industrial production – so desperately needed by the Third Reich.
For the Allies, keeping Scandinavia was an objective of great relevance in the early stages of the war, since this territory could be a convenient springboard to launch attacks against the flat and easy coast of Germany. In the rapidly changing complex alliances and diplomatic relationships of the early stage of WWII (1939-40), Norway and Sweden tried to keep out of the war. Finland fought the Winter War against the USSR (itself one of the results of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, albeit not to the knowledge of the Finns), loosing part of its territory and strengthening its link with Germany for some years to come (see this post). The Third Reich attacked Norway by air and sea in April 1940, and help was sought especially in Britain. King Haakon VII of Norway left for exile in England, and the initial battles of WWII between the Reich and the UK were fought – mainly at sea – in proximity of Norwegian ports.
The Atlantic Wall
Possibly the most impressive military trace of WWII in Europe, the Atlantic Wall – a defense line stretching from France to northern Norway – was designed and built in Denmark and Germany, immediately following the successful push of the Third Reich into these Countries. Actually, those are the Countries where the most relevant remains of this interesting trace of war can be found today. A very ambitious project both in purpose and required resources, the Atlantic Wall never reached completion. Despite that, the geography of Norway, with a coastline featuring only limited access to the inland area, allowed to create an effective barrier against a potential enemy landing. Hundreds of gun batteries, complemented with anti-aircraft artillery and radars, constituted a powerful deterrent against any invasion. As a matter of fact, after the unique episode of the Battle of Narvik in the early stages of WWII, no Allied forces ever landed in Norway from the sea for the rest of the war.
A complete visit to all sites of the Atlantic Wall in Norway is a really immense task, due to the number of installations and their geographical remoteness. However, a few impressive highlights can be found in convenient locations, and can be easily visited by everybody. In this post some of them are presented – the colossal battery ‘Vara’, the southern fortified area of Lista, the forts of Fjell and Tellevik near Bergen, and the massive cannons of Austratt.
War Museums
But other fragments of the rich legacy of WWII in Norway can be retraced also away from the preserved installations of the Atlantic Wall. An interesting page is that of naval warfare deployed by the Navy of the Third Reich – the Kriegsmarine – to counter Allied shipping activities. Names like Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are frequently found in history books as well as in movies or scale model shops, and they are just a few of the mighty vessels linked to the Scandinavian war theater. Dedicated exhibitions can be found in little but impressively rich museums on these topics. In this post, the Tirpitz Museum in Alta, the War Museum of Narvik and the exhibition in the visitor center of North Cape are covered.
Special interest sites
Heroic actions involving the Norwegian resistance organization are proudly remembered all over the Nation. A particularly interesting location being the Rjukan hydroelectric power-plant, which produced heavy water, a key-component in the research leading to the preparation of fissile material. This strategic asset was highly needed by the German nuclear program. On the other hand, its possession by the Third Reich was seen as a clear and present danger by the Allies, who tried to have the plant destroyed in several instances. The Norwegian resistance was clearly much involved in sabotage missions, due to the difficulty in targeting the place through air bombing raids. The power-plant is today a nice museum, covered in this post.
Photographs in this chapter were collected on a visit in August 2022.
Sights
The map below shows the location of the sites mentioned in this chapter. Their listing in the descriptions roughly follows a clockwise sense, starting from the southernmost point of Kristiansand (Vara battery). Red items are in disrepair, whereas blue ones are official tourist destinations.
The Vara battery was built as the core of the strongly fortified area around Kristiansand. Thanks to its position close to the southernmost tip of the Norwegian territory, this port town is still today very busy with passenger and freight traffic from nearby Denmark.
The Third Reich military started to lay sea mines as soon as it gained control of both sides of the Skagerrak strait. The coast around Kristiansand was reinforced with several coastal artillery pieces, and production of a set of special 38 cm caliber guns – called Siegfried -was started by the Krupp ironworks in Essen in 1940. The aim was that of controlling access to the Baltic sea by means of two batteries of long-range naval guns, one to the south in Denmark (Hanstholm, see here), and one to the north in Kristiansand.
The cannons should be capable of revolving by 360 degrees, and special concrete rotundas were prepared for the scope in a location called Møvik, on the southwestern end of the gulf of Kristiansand. The complex morphology of the terrain in this site led to a smaller than desirable area for the battery, where all technical buildings – including ammo storages – had to be built relatively close to one another. These massive constructions alone, built by the same ‘Organisation Todt’ responsible for the implementation of the coastal defense positions all over Europe, make for a remarkable work of engineering, carried out with the help of local builders, working relentlessly around the clock to have these emplacements ready as soon as possible.
In the event, only three of the four Siegfried cannons made their way to the battery in Kristiansand, one being apparently lost when the transport ship carrying it was sunk on the Baltic Sea. Transporting these 110 ton, around 60 ft long barrels by rail from Germany into the narrow valleys of Scandinavia was not an easy task. However, two cannons were test-fired in May 1942, and the third in November the same year.
The battery received the name ‘Vara’, after a high-ranking official killed in Guernsey in 1941.
Battery Vara went through the war without seeing an involvement in any major war action, and was mainly test-fired only. The whole installation, comprising target detection points, analog computers for target aiming, ammo storages – including more than 1.400 shells! – and many other service buildings, was inherited intact by the Norwegian Armed Forces in 1945, similar to many other installations along the coast of the Skagerrak and the North Sea. It was incorporated in the Norwegian coastal artillery between 1946 and 1954, being later placed in reserve having by then become obsolete for Cold War warfare standards. Two cannons were scrapped, whereas one – the only entirely surviving battery Nr. 2 – was luckily kept. The site survived subsequent stages of demolition works over the next decades, but in the early 1990s it was finally re-opened as a museum.
Cannon Nr. 2
Today, the centerpiece of the visit is constituted by a walk around the perfectly preserved building of cannon Nr.2. This bunkerized building is composed of a set of technical rooms, for ammo assembly and storage, as well as for services like Diesel power generators, and an adjoining rotunda, where the big cannon revolved around a pinion, and could be pointed to its target, following instructions from the battery control center. The latter elaborated target data from detection, identification, measuring and range-finding positions scattered around the battery perimeter.
Access to the back of the concrete building is via the original hatch, closed by iron doors. You can see the narrow-gauge railway track leading in. This linked the cannon buildings with the ammo storages around, and allowed to supply the cannon with ammo parts (the explosive cartridge and the shell are not assembled in a single unity for larger cannons, unlike for lighter weapons). The hatch drives you into a long corridor, the backbone of the bunkerized quarters behind the cannon rotunda. Here some shells have been put on the original railway trolley for display.
The cannon building hosted a permanent watch of a few men, which manned it permanently in shifts. A living room with some berths is the only one offering some comfort in the building.
A number of rooms in the bunker are dedicated to the power generator plant. A primary and a back-up generator share the same room. Of special interest are the labels on all machines and mechanisms, proudly made in Germany – in some cases, by brands still existing today.
Electric power was required for the motion of the cannon, besides for smaller appliances like lights and radios. The cannons could make use of the regional grid, but since an unstable supply might have damaged the cannon motors, aiming operations were often carried out on the controlled internal power grid, fed by the generators, and producing an optimal output.
Beside the generator room, the air conditioning plant (not for comfort, but to slightly pressurize the bunker in order to repel and pump-out poisonous or exhaust gas), the Diesel tank and the water tank for cooling the generator can be seen in adjoining rooms.
To the far end of the corridor, a radio room was used to maintain a link with the battery command post, located more than 1 mile away from Vara battery. Actually, by design the electric signals to orient the cannon could be given by the control post, and the radio communication system was there for backup.
On the other side of the corridor with respect to the generator rooms – i.e. towards the cannon rotunda – are four adjoining rooms, used to store the components of the explosive cartridges and shells. The shells and cartridges prepared for firing were moved via a crane to a tray, and from there sent side-wards to the rotunda, where they were loaded on a trolley. The cranes, trays and slots linking these rooms to the rotunda can be found around the area of the bunker closer to the rotunda.
The cranes moved along tracks hanging from the ceiling. These tracks had some switch points, allowing to allow the crane to move across different rooms in the bunker.
Inside these rooms, today you can find much original material of special interest. Specimens of high-explosive (yellow) and armor-piercing (blue) shells are displayed. The weight of the shells was around 800 kg, where the cartridge could feature different weights, roughly from 100 to 200 kg.
The top range of these cannons and shells was around 43 km. Smaller 500 kg shells could alternatively be fired by Siegfried cannons, with a longer range of 55 km. Furthermore, the cannon could be test-fired during drills with smaller caliber shots, by reducing the bore of the cannon. This was a very useful feature, since the estimated loss of barrel metal due to attrition was a staggering 0.25 kg per shot, implying a life of the barrel of only around 250-300 shots, firing with sufficient accuracy. Shooting smaller shells allowed to spare barrel wear and extend the time between overhauls of the cannon.
The sealed canisters for the explosive cartridges, with original markings in German, can still be seen piled in a room!
More material on display includes a rare example of fire direction computer. Actually, that on display is smaller than the one originally used for the long-range cannons of Vara battery, but it provides a good idea of the level of sophistication of this mechanism. Data like target distance, velocity, orientation, wind speed and direction, etc. were set as input to this analog computer, producing fire direction variables to point the cannon. An incredible masterpiece of engineering and craftsmanship, this type of computer is difficult to find in museums, and allows to appreciate the level of development of warfare back in the 1940s.
Data including range of the target was found with the help of special instrumentation. A stereoscopic range-finder was installed in the battery command post, with an arm of 12 m, which allowed good accuracy for very distant targets – required for the long range of the cannons of Vara battery. Smaller instruments with the same principle are displayed in one of the rooms.
Among the special features of this bunkerized building are the restored, original writings from German times, as well as a one-of-a-kind painting made by a Soviet prisoner of war.
From the bunkerized room, you can get access to the rotunda. Cartridges put on trolleys moved along a circular railway track all around the rotunda. This way, cartridges could be taken to the cannon whatever the direction it was pointing. Once to the base of the cannon turret, the explosive charge and the shell were lifted separately by means of two special elevators, up to the level of the gun shutter.
An impressive feature of the rotunda is the ring cover for the circular railway. In order to protect the railway passage from above, while allowing the cannon to rotate, a roof made of thick metal scales was implemented. When revolving around the pinion, the cannon turret would automatically lift the scales on its passage. The sound of the scales being lifted and released while the cannon body was revolving must have been really an experience!
Here the back of the barrel dominates the relatively large firing chamber. The shutter has been left open, so you can see the sunlight through the barrel.
The shell and explosive charge were received from the two elevators on a special tray, and here they were finally aligned one before the other. Somewhat in contrast to the top-notch technology level of the installation, the cartridge had to be pushed from the back into the barrel by hand. A long wooden stick was used for the task. Actually, it was so long that it protruded from the back of the cannon turret, thus requiring a small hatch to be pierced in the metal armor correspondingly. On one side of the barrel, instrumentation for measuring the pointing direction is still in place.
The position of cannon Nr.1 was prepared unusually close to that of Nr.2. As said, this was due to the limited available area on the uneven coast section where the battery was put in place. However, Nr.1 never received a cannon. Conversely, it was modified later in the war, when experimenting with cannon protection from air-dropped high-yield bombs. The rotunda was capped with a very thick concrete roof, sustained by sidewalls which limited the side-wards rotation of the cannon to 120 degrees.
The rotunda can be walked freely. The central pinion is still in place. Inside, the ceiling is covered in original metal panels. The round corridor for the trolleys can still be seen, but there is no access left to the bunkerized part.
Following the railway around the site is a great way to find what remains today of the original installation. There are two bulky ammo storages. These were reportedly more thickly armored than usual, in view of a higher risk of getting hit, due to the unusual proximity with the cannons – designated targets for the enemy.
Furthermore, other smaller buildings are scattered around, which may have served as storage for lighter weapons.
The positions of cannons Nr. 3 and Nr. 4 have been largely demolished, and access is permanently shut to the bunkerized part. However, you can easily climb to the top level, to get a nice view of the rotunda.
Vara is in the top-five list of the most famous surviving installations of the Atlantic Wall in Europe, and a visit to this destination is in itself a good reason for a detour to Norway for war historians and like-minded people. Due to its proximity to the port of Kristiansand, just minutes apart by car, and the relatively easy-to-reach location in the most populated part of Norway, it is also a top destination for any tourist in the area. As a matter of fact, the place is run as a top-level museum, with great reception capability, and is visited by thousands of visitors per year.
Visiting can be performed on a self-guided basis, with an explanation leaflet which allows to get much from your visit, especially if you are not new to installations of the Atlantic Wall (which are mostly standardized, despite Vara having really oversized guns!). A tour of the main features – cannon Nr.2 and the building of Nr.1 – may take 1 hour at least, for an averagely interested person. For an in-depth visit and a quick tour of the premises including other remains, more than 2 hours are needed. Thanks to the exceptional level of conservation and the explanation of whatever is on display, the visit is not boring and may be very rewarding even for younger people.
Large parking on site, picnic tables and warm reception are available – as usual in Norway! Website with full information here.
Nordberg & Marka Batteries – Farsund
Located in the southwestern corner of the Norwegian territory, about 100 miles south of the port of Stavanger, the municipality of Farsund encompasses a number of small coastal villages, around the landmark represented by the lighthouse of Lista.
Two batteries were set up by the German occupation forces as part of the Atlantic wall, both fully operative by 1942. The northern one is called Nordberg fort, where the southern one, very close to the shore line, is known as Marka fort. Between the two, the Germans installed a full-scale airbase, with a runway of roughly 1.5 km, complemented by hangars and shelters largely standing today. Following the end of WWII and the withdrawal of the German military, all these installations were converted for military use by the Norwegian armed forces, which also developed the original airfield into a more modern airbase by stretching the runway.
Today, Nordberg fort is a museum. The German Navy was in charge of the station, which had as centerpieces three 150 mm cannons, with a range of around 23 km. The cannons have been scrapped (with the exception of a lighter piece of Russian make). However, the firing positions are still there, linked by a semi-interred trench.
You can see also the original control point for the battery, developed by the Norwegians more recently, and the concrete base for a radar antenna originally on site.
Several original buildings for services – canteen, hospital,… – are still there, making for a an interesting opportunity to see how this installation looked like back in the 1940s.
The Marka fort was assembled around six 150 mm guns, located very close to the sea, grouped in two batteries of three firing positions each. A huge bunkerized command post was built in the premises of the fort. Today, after the Norwegian military left at the end of the Cold War, the Marka battery is basically a ghost site, despite being still in a relatively good shape.
The control bunker is especially interesting, since you can access the top level and watch the sea from the very same room and windows originally used by the German Navy troops! The general arrangement of the bunker is similar to other command posts you can find on the Atlantic Wall – especially in Denmark (see here).
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
The positions for the coastal guns can be reached close to the control bunker. They are uncovered round areas, slightly below the level of the ground, framed by a circular reinforced sidewall.
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
More Atlantic Wall remains, like bunkers, foundations for radar stations, or emplacements for lighter guns, can be be found scattered in the area of Farsund – which kept its military site status well after the Germans had left.
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Marka Battery Lista Farsund – Atlantic Wall – WWII – Norway
Visiting
The museum of Nordberg keeps some of the buildings on the respective site open. However, the majority of the site is open 24 hours, and can be walked freely. A visit may take about 1 hour. A convenient parking can be found right ahead of the modern and welcoming visitor center, from where you can effortlessly reach most of the points of interest in this installation. Website with full information here.
The site of Marka – not part of any museum – can be approached at any time with some walking in the rural area along the coast line. A good starting point for an exploration is here, where you can leave your car and move along an easy trail to the command bunker and the gun rotundas about 0.5 miles west.
Fjell Fortress – Bergen
Bergen was a strategic base of the German Navy, which received a fortified submarine deck among the largest, most active and longest lasting in the history of WWII. The complex morphology of the territory around this port town allowed to effectively protect the access by means of a network of nine firing emplacements. One of them – Fjell – was of exceptional power and range.
It was built between 1942-43 diverting one of the batteries of battleship Gneisenau, which had been damaged beyond repair by an air raid while in port at Kiel (Germany). The battery was composed of three 28 cm guns in a single turret. The latter was very compact in design, a real masterpiece of naval engineering, but nonetheless it featured a rather tall substructure, with all that was needed to operate the guns – protruding from the relatively sleek top of the turret, surfacing on the ground.
Placing this special battery in Fjell required carving the rocky coast, creating a cylindrical underground pit, inside coated with concrete, to host the turret. The turret, an assembly of around 1.000 tonnes with the guns on top, was then transported up to this elevated site, and lowered into the pit. The battery was test fired in the mid of 1943. It acted as an effective deterrent, and reportedly never used in combat.
The battery was incorporated in the Norwegian coastal defense after WWII, and sadly scrapped in 1968, since by then obsolete, but not yet considered an historical landmark.
Clearly, the battery was in the middle of an off-limits military area in wartime, where bunkers for several services and for the the troops, at least two radar antennas and many emplacements for lighter defensive weapons were installed to protect the battery from ground and air attacks.
Today, the bunker-pit where the turret used to rest is the centerpiece of a visit to the site. Starting from the visitor center on top, where the guns used to be, you can descend to the base of the cylindrical pit – roughly 30 ft in diameter and 75 in depth! Here you can see the rooms originally employed for storing the explosive cartridges and the shells for the cannons. These were supplied on trolleys and slides, and sent inside the metal turret, to be lifted up to the level of the cannons for firing.
Most of the original German mechanical and electrical systems is still there to see, including wiring, phones, cranes, trolleys, and examples of shells and cartridges.
Back then, you got access to these storage areas from an entrance on the same level (i.e. not from the top of the turret, but from the base). You can see this entrance, as well as the curved corridor leading from the gate to the ammo storage area. Here, examples of sea mines and other war material can be found. The corridor has narrow-gauge railway track, which was used for resupplying the ammo storage from outside.
The corridor is curved, and firing positions are strategically placed to cover it, in order to counter enemy intrusion.
The bunker gives access to the living quarters for the troops. These are well preserved, and feature brick walls to help insulating the inside from the wet rock of the walls and ceilings.
Services, like toilets, sauna, washing machines and more, are original from the German tenancy. Especially the water basins appear very stylish, a good example of German design from the era.
Besides the main turret bunker, as said the Fjell site offers other constructions on a vast area, which can be checked out from the outside – also since the premises are at least formally military grounds still today.
The road reaching the site from the parking, gently climbing uphill, is reportedly the original main access to the Third Reich site. An interesting tank-stopping device can be seen to the lower end of the road – heavy stones on top of light pillars on the sides of the road. The pillars could be blown, and the stones would fall cutting the road, in case of a potential intrusion.
The fort of Fjell, about 15 miles west of central Bergen, is professionally run as a museum. Parking is only possible to the base of the cliff where the turret used to stand. From there, a 0.8 miles road climbs to the entrance. The scenic location and the nice rural area around make for an enjoyable walk. Visiting inside is only possibly on guided tours, offered also in English (an possibly other languages). A small restaurant can be found on top, where an observation deck has been built in place of the battery.
The location of the parking is here. A visit may take around 45 minutes, excluding the time needed to climb uphill and descend to the parking. Website with full information here.
Tellevik Fort – Bergen
The coastal fort of Tellevik, on the eastern head of the Norhordland Bridge, 15 miles north of Bergen, was part of the lighter defense artillery put in place by the German military to defend any access by water to Bergen. The battery was built by order of the Third Reich, profiting from the forced labor of Soviet prisoners of war.
Lighter howitzers were enough to cover the narrow water passages in proximity of the town. The elevation of the emplacement is low, slightly above the water surface.
The battery of Tellevik was centered on two such howitzers, placed on open-top positions. The two guns can be seen still today, on round concrete firing positions. The giant bridge today largely obstructing the field of sight was not there at the time of the German occupation.
A monument to Norwegian seamen victims to sea mines laid by the German to protect the access to Bergen is concurrently located on the site of the Tellevik battery.
Tellevik is an open air memorial, which can be walked freely 24/7. It can be reached by inputting these coordinates to a GPS navigation app.
A visit may take about 15 minutes, a nice detour from exceptionally crowded downtown Bergen.
Austrått Fortress – Austrått
Similar to Bergen, the major port of Trondheim was a strategic base for the German Navy. Protected by a long firth, the port was an ideal base for submarines and warships, to intercept convoys in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. Correspondingly, a number of coastal forts was prepared by the German occupation forces to counter any unauthorized access to the waterways leading to Trondheim.
The most powerful and impressive of these batteries is the Austratt Fort. Similar to the fortress of Fjell near Bergen (see above), Austratt received one of the turrets of the ill-fated battleship Gneisenau, damaged while moored in Kiel, in February 1942. A control and aiming position was put in place a few miles apart along the coast, whereas the battery was surrounded by an off-limits area, stuffed with bunkers for the troops, ammo storage bunkers, and lighter guns for protection against an attack by land.
A major difference between the two ‘sister sites’ of Fjell and Austratt is that in the latter the cannons are still there!
Following the installation of the turret, test fired in September 1943, the fort saw little action, acting as a deterrent, and effectively preventing any serious intrusion by the Allies towards Trondheim from the sea. After the demise of the Third Reich, the fort was taken over by the Norwegian coastal defense, stricken off in 1968, and restored as a museum in the early 1990s.
The cannons are on top of a hill. From the outside, the massive three-barreled turret is really impressive in size!
The barrels can be seen besides the original range-finder – with its impressive arm, granting good measuring accuracy even at a large distance from the target. This item, with its bell-shaped cover, was originally part of the control point, located southwest of the battery, in a location currently very close to an active base of the Norwegian Air Force (Orland).
Despite access to the the firing chamber being possible through a hatch to the back of the turret, the tour follows the way a shell would travel from storage to firing. Hence you start your tour from an entrance to the side of the hill, at the same level of the bottom of the cylindrical tower supporting the guns. This metal tower was taken from the Gneisenau together with the cannons, and put in a pit carved in the rock for the purpose in Austratt.
Access through the side of the hill is protected by a smaller gun. Once inside, you find yourself in a curvy corridor, with a narrow-gauge railway track for the trolleys needed to carry the shells and cartridges inside. A firing position behind an embrassure points against the entrance, for further protection of the site against an intrusion.
The bunker in Austratt – but the same happened to many installations of the Atlantic Wall in Norway – was plagued with severe humidity problems. Immediately besides the entrance, a room with a water basin is fed by natural water dripping from the ceiling and from the rocky walls around.
Original machines for tooling, put in place for maintenance purposes back in the Third Reich years, are still there and working. Similarly, a primary and a backup Diesel generators supplying the fort are still in place, with all ancillary plants, like big Diesel and water tanks for cooling. This is original machinery too, as witnessed by the tags of the mechanical components, all made in Germany.
Living quarters were at the bottom level too. Trying to supply some comfort, the rocky walls were covered with bricks and wood, especially against humidity. These rooms have been partly refurbished with a good resemblance to the original ones. They include the kitchen and some of the sleeping quarters for the troops. However, since humidity was really extreme, troops spent limited time here especially for sleeping, and provisional barracks were built outside of the installation instead.
Hygienic services were reportedly extremely advanced compared to Norwegian standards of the time. Fully working toilets, lavatories and showers were taken as a blueprint by the Norwegian Army after the war. The electric water heater put in place in the Austratt battery was apparently among the first installed in the whole Country – it can still be seen.
Explosive cartridges, fuses and shells arriving from the bunker entry you have walked through at the beginning of your tour would be eventually lifted upstairs. Shells, either high-yield explosive or armor-piercing, would be stored in a chamber featuring cranes hanging from the ceiling, used to put the shells on trolleys. These trolleys transported the shells to the lower level of the turret. The chamber where the shells were stored is physically separated by the turret by means of a concrete wall.
Tight compartments are often found in war bunkers of the Atlantic Wall, and this can be explained by the fact that the deadliest effect of an enemy shot (either a cannon shell from a warship, or an air-dropped bomb) would be that of an overpressure wave (shockwave), capable of killing many in just moments. Overpressure effects can be effectively reduced by putting physical obstacles on the way the shockwave would travel – walls, tight doors, etc. – or by forcing it into smaller passages, like hatches or smaller doors and windows. Therefore, bunkers like Austratt are built in rather small rooms, connected only through narrow hatches and doors.
Again in the storage chamber for the shells, extensive writing in German can be found on many of the mechanisms and electric plants. Everything is original and exceptionally well conserved, just like the Germans had just left!
The lowest level of the turret, where the shells would arrive from the storage chamber to be loaded on elevators going to the upper levels, is a masterpiece of engineering. The technical problem here was that of connecting the slides from the storage chamber, which are anchored to the ground, to the receiving slides on the turret, which could pivot around 360 degrees. The designer of the turret solved the issue by placing an intermediate ring, revolving independently, and capable of connecting the fixed slides from the storage chamber to the revolving platform on the turret. The extremely compact size of the overall design, originally prepared for fitting into a warship, and the elegance and precision of the mechanism resemble those of a pocket watch from the 1920s more than a cannon!
On the turret, you can see three elevators for the three barrels, which were therefore fed independently.
Going upstairs, you meet the storage room for the explosive cartridges. These used to be stored in sealed canisters on display, original from the time. This storage room is placed to the side of the corresponding level in the turret, in a similar fashion to the shells storage below.
Climbing up one more level inside the turret, you reach a platform with the motors for moving the battery around its vertical axis, and for lifting or lowering the three monster barrels. The motion involved high-pressure mechanisms, rather complex and requiring many valves and extensive piping.
To the back of each of the barrels, you can see a large empty volume for recoil. The battery rested on a ball bearing – one of the pretty sizable metal balls is on display.
Finally, the firing chamber can be found on the top level in the turret. Here the shells and cartridges were received, aligned and loaded from the back into the barrels by a pushing mechanical arm. Three independent mechanisms were put in place for the scope in the firing chamber.
You can exit the turret from the hatch to the back of the turret, concluding your tour. In the video below you can see a portrait of the battery from the air, made with a drone.
All in all, similar to the Vara battery (see above), Austratt is in an exceptional state of conservation in the Norwegian and European panorama of artillery engineering from WWII, and a visit may be super-interesting for any public.
Visiting
Despite being relatively close to Trondheim on a map, as usual in Norway, Austratt is a more than two hours drive from the town, and reaching requires taking at least one ferry. However, as noted, this location is a pinnacle in the Atlantic Wall, and surely deserves a visit for technicians and non-technical public as well, and of course for the kids.
Access to the exterior is possible at any time, but visiting inside is only possible on guided tours. The guide is very knowledgeable and makes the visit interesting also for a technically-minded public. The visit inside may take around 1 hour, more if you make questions and show some interest. Convenient parking by the gate of the fort, easy access to the area around the battery. Moving inside can be requiring for non-fit people.
As pointed out in the introduction to this chapter, Norway is rich of memorials from WWII. Even close to some of the attractions in this wonderful Country which are must-see stops for other reasons, features recalling memories from war actions are offered to a curious eye.
Two notable examples are the visitor center of the Arctic Circle along the E6, as well as that of North Cape.
Scandinavia has been a bloody and extremely active theater of war all along WWII, and Norway was directly involved in significant war actions since the first year of the conflict. As a matter of fact, most of the impressive line of fortifications constituting the Atlantic Wall was erected by deploying forced laborers, typically prisoners of war from the Eastern Front, primarily including Russians, other people from the USSR, and Balkan prisoners.
Soviet troops attacked the northernmost German-occupied region from the North, together with the Finns, after the latter negotiated a separate peace with the USSR in late 1944. The retreating Germans opposed a fierce resistance, and it was in this latest stage of the war that most physical damage to towns and installations was caused in Norway, since German troops were ordered to burn up all positions they had to leave.
These facts explain the many Soviet monuments and war cemeteries scattered especially in the northern part of Norway still today – commemorating Soviet soldiers fallen either in war actions or as prisoners of war in the harsh conditions of northern Norway.
One such monument, albeit overlooked, is prominently placed besides the visitor center of the Arctic Circle.
Soviet Memorial – Arctic Circle Visitor Center – WWII – Norway
Soviet Memorial – Arctic Circle Visitor Center – WWII – Norway
Soviet Memorial – Arctic Circle Visitor Center – WWII – Norway
The interest of Germany for Norway was primarily for its strategic position, which became an asset of special value after the start of the war against the USSR in mid-1941. The convoys feeding vital material to the USSR from Britain and the US had to go to Murmansk (see here) and the Kola Peninsula, i.e. over the Barents Sea. This was conveniently controlled by the German occupants, operating from the Norwegian coast.
In the visitor center of North Cape some panels are dedicated to this topic, showing an impression of the structure and routes followed by Allied convoys going to the USSR.
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Detailed panels with maps and pictures recall the last battle of the German battleship Scharnhorst, which was confronted by the group of the British battleship HMS Duke of York, in an epic battle relatively close to North Cape. The massive German battleship, deployed to Norway with Tirpitz (a sister ship of the famous Bismarck) to block the resupply traffic to the USSR, was hit several times and finally sunk in the freezing last days of 1943. The battle was posthumously named ‘Battle of North Cape’. A detailed scaled model of the German battleship is similarly on display in the visitor center.
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Polar Convoys to the USSR & Scharnhorst Exhibition – North Cape – Nordkapp – WWII – Norway
Visiting
The visitor center of the Arctic Circle on the road E6, with a small Soviet monument, can be found here. The monument is open 24/7.
The visitor center of North Cape is… at North Cape! The inside can be accessed during opening times, and the tables with information on WWII convoys and battles are on an underground mezzanine. Website with full information here.
War Museum – Narvik
The port town of Narvik was founded in the 19th century as a commercial base for exporting iron ore from Sweden. A small town by the sea, surrounded by steep-climbing mountains, and in a remote location well north of the Arctic Circle, Narvik was turned for about two months into a though theater of war for the Germans, following their occupation of Norway.
It was here that the British started a battle to stop the German push to the north, as soon as the 10th of April 1940, basically at the same time as the Germans had reached the town during their conquering campaign.
What resulted was a complex, multi-stage operation, lasting until early June 1940.
At first, the British fleet mounted a naval attack, carried out with a flotilla of five destroyers. This force clashed with the local German complement of ten destroyers. The British operation met with mixed success, and was finally repelled by the German navy operating in the narrow waters around Narvik, at the price of two destroyers on each side – plus several cargo ships destroyed in the battle. Three days later, on the 13th of April, a new force, composed of the British battleship HMS Warspite and 9 destroyers, launched another assault, resulting in the complete loss of the German destroyers fleet in the region – German warships were either sunk or scuttled.
The Germans however kept control of the town. A mixed force of British, Polish and French troops, together with the Norwegians, started an operation to conquer the town by land. The operation was successful, and the German troops had to retreat along the coast, away from Narvik. However, the start of the Battle of France – the invasion of France by the Third Reich – on the 10th of May, 1940, resulted in a rapid loss of priority of Narvik as a strategic target for the Allies. It was decided in Britain to withdraw from Norway, and to evacuate all previously landed military forces from Narvik. The town fell under German control on June 8th, basically concluding the conquer of Norway by the Third Reich.
The Allied landings around Narvik in 1940 where the first on the European continent in WWII, carried out without the participation of the US, more than three years before operations in southern Italy or Normandy.
The town of Narvik is still today an active commercial port of primary relevance in the region. The heritage of war actions is preserved in a purpose-installed museum, modernly designed and easy to visit.
On a first floor, the naval operations around Narvik are described by means of technological 3D board with virtual projections – very nice and lively. Around the board, memorabilia from the British and German warships taking part to the operations back in the Spring of 1940 have been put on display.
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
They include an original Nazi eagle from one of the ships. Since the campaign around Narvik included also air and land operations, war traces including parts of aircraft, guns, mortars, machine guns, first-aid kits and many uniforms are also on display.
Uniforms are from the many corps which took part to those actions – they are British, German, Polish and even French.
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
On a second floor, you are offered displays of artifacts retracing other aspects of WWII in Norway. These include land mines – put in place by the Germans along the coast, similar to Denmark, to impede Allied landings – an Enigma coding machine, Third Reich memorabilia, a section of the Tirpitz armored hull, radio machinery supplied to the resistance, as well as personal items belonging to former prisoners of war.
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
Finally, on the last floor heavier weapons are put on display, including torpedoes, light armored vehicles and more, even for post-WWII times.
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
War Museum Narvik – WWII – Norway
Visiting
The battle of Narvik is one of the best known from WWII in Norway, and the little museum in the town center duly retraces its timeline, through an elegant exhibition, sufficiently rich to satisfy even the most exigent experts, but not so extensive to be boring for the general public. A really well designed museum, surely worth a visit, which may last from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your level of interest.
The location is right besides the town hall, and can be found here. Parking opportunities on the street nearby. Website with information here.
Tirpitz Museum – Alta
The German battleship Tirpitz was laid down as the only sister ship to the well-known Bismark. Eventually, she underwent developments which made her the heaviest battleship built in Europe. Her actions were concentrated along a limited time frame, between January 1942 and November 1944, when she was finally sunk by British Lancaster bombers, making use of Tallboy high-yield bombs.
She spent her operative life along the coasts of Norway, where she constituted an effective deterrent against a sea-launched Allied invasion, and was employed tactically against resupply convoys going to the USSR.
Tirpitz was a strategic target for the Allies, which tried to get rid of her by no less than seven war operations, meeting with limited success until the last one.
With an armor more than 30 cm thick, Tirpitz was marginally maneuverable especially at lower speed, but the hull was very difficult to penetrate, and the four turrets and eight 38 cm barrels, plus twelve side-shooting 15 cm barrels, complemented by many more defensive weapons, made it a dangerous asset against land and sea targets.
The ship capsized and sunk in shallow water in the bay of Tromso, and following the end of the war, she was largely dismantled. Original pieces of the ship could be collected, as well as some personal belongings from the crew. Some more were taken out from the water over the years.
The museum in Alta is dedicated to the memory of the ship, and offers an extremely rich collection of items connected with Tirpitz. Furthermore, by means of memorabilia items, it retraces the history of the war years in the northernmost region of Norway – Finnmark. The reason for installing the Tirpitz Museum in Kåfjord, near Alta, is bound to the fact that the battleship was based here for a period, as witnessed by some historical pictures. The museum has a rich guestbook, which includes top-ranking military staff from several Countries.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
The small museum is home to some of the finest and largest scales models portraying Tirpitz. The level of detail and the accuracy of the reconstruction is really stunning.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Some smaller diorama models portray scenes from the life onboard, or details of special interest. An unusual one portrays the capsized hull of the ship, following the sinking!
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Besides the scale models, original instrumentation, shells, wooden slabs from the deck, and more parts of the ship are put on display.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
A room is dedicated to the operations carried out against the battleship. The ship was reportedly attacked several times without substantial damage. One of the attacks was carried out by the British, recurring to mini-submarines. Among the artifacts on display are the decorations to the men involved in these operations.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Extremely interesting artifacts in the museum include material from the crew, taken away after the sinking over the years – sometimes found in the area as recently as the year 2000.
These include typewriters, cutlery with swastika emblems, musical instruments, sport suits with prominent Third Reich insignia, and many personal belongings.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
In one case, the cabinet or wallet of a crewman revealed cash and stamps from the time.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Among the countless items in this exhibition are original material – including radio stations – employed by the resistance movements in Norway, as well as light weapons, uniforms and decorations of the Soviet troops who operated in the Finnmark region, helping in repelling the Germans in the last stages of WWII.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
On the outside, the anchor and parts of the armor of Tirpitz can be seen, together with an official memorial stone.
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Tirpitz Battleship Museum Alta – WWII – Norway
Visiting
The museum is located some five miles from Alta, in the small settlement of Kåfjord. It is hosted in a single, small wooden building – possibly a former canteen – to be found here, with a small parking nearby. A website with full visiting information is here.
Visiting the museum may take from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your level of interest.
Vemork Hydroelectric Power Plant & Heavy Water Facility – Rjukan
The nuclear program of the Third Reich is still today a matter for researchers, since – mysteriously enough – most documentation disappeared by the end of the war. Among the ascertained facts were the excellence of nuclear scientist in Germany at the time on the one hand, and the total lack of adequate quantities of raw material, or plants for processing it, to actually build real nuclear weapons on the other.
The latter is witnessed by the great strategic value attributed to the plant in Rjukan, hidden in a scenic deep valley in the region of Telemark, in southern Norway, about three hours by car from Oslo. A hydroelectric plant there – the exact name is Vemork power-plant – was employed to produce heavy water through a dedicated electrolysis separation process, which requires huge amounts of energy. Heavy water is a key component for the production of Plutonium – in turn required for atomic weapons – in heavy-water reactors.
Also the Norwegians understood the value of the plant. As soon as the winds of war started blowing from Germany in early 1940, heavy water then in storage was taken away to France, and later to Britain following the invasion of France by the Third Reich.
After Norway had been occupied by the Reich, the plant was at the center of three sabotage operations. Extremely risky and partly ending in disaster, these operations were carried out both by Norwegian and British staff, parachuted from Britain.
It took until 1944 to mortally hit the plant, well protected by its own natural setting. Two dedicated bombing raids carried out by US bombers damaged the plant beyond repair – at least in the late war scenario, when the Third Reich reaction capacity was weakening every day. The final act in the Norwegian heavy water saga was the sinking of the small boat – named Hydro – loaded with the reserve of heavy water from Vemork, having just started its trip to Germany on Lake Tinn.
The plant was again in business in the years after the war, and remained operative until the early 1990s, involved in production of various chemicals.
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Today, it is a much visited museum. Actually, the most impressive part of the plant is that of the hydroelectric turbines. Aligned in a single immense hangar, these now silent giant machinery send glimpses of the original, fashionable early-1900 industrial style.
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Some of the turbines and generator assemblies – manufactured by AEG, as witnessed by the labels – are really huge.
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
A suspended platform allows to capture with a bird’s eye the entire hall. Here you can see also completely analog control panels, again in a very elegant style from the era.
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Vemork Power Plant Heavy Water Rjukan – WWII – Norway
Visiting
The museum in Vemork can be reached in less than 3 hours driving from central Oslo. The power-plant can be approached walking from the parking (here) over a suspended bridge crossing the deep valley. The area is very scenic. The highlight of the show is the hall with the power turbines. A visit may take from a few minutes to more than 1 hour for more interested subjects.
A website with full information can be found here.
Belgrade, the capital city of today’s Serbia, with a population of 1.3 millions, boasts traces of dating back to the Roman Empire. Strategically located on the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, through the ages it grew to become a major military and trading post.
A city at war – brief historical perspective
In the 19th century, with the foundation of a Kingdom of Serbia free from the Ottoman rule, Belgrade became a capital city of an independent power, right at the geographical center of the Balkan region.
In 1914, tense relations with the better established and more powerful Austrian Empire triggered WWI, where Serbia fought on the side of the winners, gaining territories extending to the Adriatic Sea from the dismembered Austrian empire. These regions were encapsulated in an unprecedented entity, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where Belgrade played again as capital city.
Soon after, WWII saw a bloody and rather unsung front opening in the Balkans, conquered from the north by Hitler’s Wehrmacht, and from the south by fascist Italy. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ceased to exist, and Belgrade – initially the target of massive air attacks by Germany – was made for a while the capital of a kind of German protectorate. It was in the final years of WWII that communist-led resistance para-military corps led by Marshal Tito, secretly supported by the Western Allies, started operating massively against the Axis. Tito was backed especially by the British, who provided war materiel, staff for tactical decisions and political support.
When Serbia was liberated, with the help of the Red Army attacking from southern Ukraine through today’s Romania on Serbia’s eastern border, Tito raised to power, re-founding Yugoslavia as a communist country extending from Greece to Austria and Italy, and with borders with Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – all the latter three being communist countries, deeply entangled with the Soviet Union. Belgrade was again the capital city of a powerful and strategically relevant state.
Quite oddly from Stalin’s perspective, Tito did not capitulate the sovereignty of Yugoslavia to the USSR – unlike most states in Eastern Europe. This again was possible likely through the support of the West, in the quickly evolving geo-political situation soon after WWII leading to the Cold War, where former allies split on the two sides of the Iron Curtain. As a matter of fact, no Soviet military bases were ever placed in Yugoslavia, a communist country which until the Fifties even obtained war material from the West!
Tito managed to keep his post on the international scene and internally until his death in 1980. Soon after, the artificial ties between the many nations united in Yugoslavia began to crack, and almost at the same time of the end of communism in Eastern Europe, the country literally fell apart. As of now the bloodiest conflicts in post-WWII Europe, the Yugoslavian Wars saw the secession of several new national entities from one another and from Serbia. Belgrade is now the capital city of the Republic of Serbia.
War heritage in Belgrade – What is covered in this chapter
The troubled history of Belgrade as a capital city has left permanent traces in the fort, one of the oldest and most prominent highlights in town. The foundations bear traces of the ancient Roman fort, but a defense bunker dug underground within its premises is a witness of the role of this old part of the town in more recent years.
An ideal setting for a weapons display, the fort is also where the museum of military history can be found. Dating from Tito’s era, this place boasts a remarkable collection of war material from all ages, including WWII, the Cold War and the 1990s. It stands as a perfect counterpart for the air museum, covered in this chapter. Further items of interest include one-of-a-kind memorabilia items belonging to Marshal Tito.
Being Tito’s Yugoslavia capital city, it is no surprise the founder of postwar Yugoslavia was buried here. An extremely interesting purpose-built museum – a major relic of the Cold War era – surrounds the mausoleum. There you can find a massive documentation on the dictator, including signed photographs and gifts from prominent western political leaders – including virtually every US President in office during Tito’s many decades in charge! This witnesses the special status of Marshal Tito in the eyes of western powers.
Another characteristic sight is the ‘Genex Tower’, a unique skyscraper of American size, with a style resembling ‘Blade Runner’ motion picture’s set. A real punch in the eye in the landscape, this is tower is of course another witness of how private enterprises – this time, the Yugoslavian tourism group Genex – could get a prominent status in communist Yugoslavia, differently from Soviet-style fully centralized economies. It is also an example of an original architectural style from the Cold War era, showing the great care given to art and architecture by the communist party of Yugoslavia – another prominent example being ‘spomeniks’, monuments scattered over the entire former territory of the country (see this dedicated chapter).
Similarly interesting is ‘Avala Tower’, a TV tower with an elevated panorama platform from the 1960s. Besides the architectural interest, it is worth mentioning this tower was targeted by NATO air raids in 1999, and completely demolished. It was rebuilt in an identical shape and re-opened only recently.
The oddest among war-connected items in town is the former building of the ministry of defense, close to today’s capital directional center. Having being targeted by NATO bombing raids in 1999 and severely damaged, it was left for years damaged and derelict, a memento for the attack by NATO forces, and the focus of much controversy.
Photographs of these sites are from a visit in Spring 2019.
Map
The sites covered in this chapter can be found on the map below.
When getting access to the beautiful historical fort of Belgrade, a vantage point to watch the oldest districts and the rivers, you will hardly miss an impressive array of cannons, howitzers, tanks and missile batteries from earlier than Napoleon to the Cold War.
This rich collection is the outside part of the Military Museum of Belgrade. Founded back in Tito’s era, this museums offers an overview of the war history of this war-battered part of the world, since ancient times to the latest Yugoslavian Wars of the 1990s.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
The collection features interesting items especially from WWII, including pieces of German make, as well as from the Cold War period, like Soviet-made ‘Katyusha’ launchers and SAM batteries.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Despite the initial struggle with Stalin, after the latter’s death, relations with the USSR improved. Since then, military supply for Yugoslavia mainly came from the USSR, flanked by a non-negligible domestic production.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
The indoor collection starts from much back in time, with weapons dating from the centuries of the struggle against the Ottoman rule. A major section is dedicated to the 19th century, when the Kingdom of Serbia was founded. As known, the spark for WWI came from the Balkans. Serbia took part to the war on the side of the Entente. As a result, after WWI the Kingdom of Serbia increased its territory and became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia since the late 1920s.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Resulting from the political union of peoples of diverse ethnicity, religion, language and commercial vocation, this kingdom never experienced much stability. As a matter of fact, king Alexander I was murdered on a visit to France by Macedonian fighters for independence. The blood stained shirt of the king following the assassination – notably the first such event to be video recorded, albeit in 1934 quality – is preserved in the museum.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Like elsewhere in Europe, WWII years saw the suppression of the existing institutions. In 1941 Yugoslavia was invaded by neighboring Hitler’s Germany (which at that time was a single entity with Austria). The Nazi rule was implemented in the region of today’s Serbia, administrated by a German-backed local government. Items from this era are abundant, and include maps, weaponry and uniforms.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Of special interest are also the double-language notices – in German and Serbian – produced by Nazi Germany, with the distinctive eagle and swastika (similar to what you can find in the occupied territories of the USSR, see for instance here).
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Also interesting are the bounty signs about Tito and other ‘comrades’ – the resistance movements were well organized and supplied, with the backing of Western Allies operating from Greece and southern Italy in the latter years of the war, thus creating real troubles to the invading powers.
Despite that, also improvised weapons were used, presented in the museum. Being an installation from Tito’s time, the operations of the communist-led resistance para-military units is showcased with flags, banners, uniforms and weapons.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
A true relic in the museum is made of a small collection of Marshal Tito’s own uniforms and everyday items. These include some field items – torchlight, map magnifier – as well as more personal belongings – glasses, a USSR souvenir, apparently a pencil case, and more.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Some interesting photographs include portraits of US staff and aircraft operating from Yugoslavia, as well as a copy of the declaration of support to Tito’s army from the participants to the Tehran conference – Churchill, Stalin and president Roosevelt.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
A very Soviet-style part of the museum is a kind of memorial, with a statue of Tito and a myriad of banners from various military groups – a kind of homage – completed by a massive engraved metal map of communist Yugoslavia.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
A significant part of the museum deals with the 1990s wars. These include the early secession war mainly opposing Croatia, but deeply involving Bosnia-Herzegovina. Weapons of the Croatian army are on display.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
A latter part is devoted to the war with Kosovo, which resulted in an open, mainly air-fought conflict against overwhelming NATO forces. From the fierce and polemical titles of the display cases in this latest part of the museum, it is clear that this fragment of history is still an open wound in the collective memory of Serbia. Maps of NATO bombing incursions have been created, and curiously translated into English, for the eyes of western visitors.
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
Military Museum Belgrade Serbia
More substantial remains from this relatively recent struggle can be found at the air museum of Belgrade, covered in this post, in the form of wrecks of downed aircraft and western missile bodies.
Visiting
The museum is a major attraction among those scattered over the premises of the fort. Access to the outdoor part, surely deserving a walk-through also for those not particularly interested in history, is free of charge, and may be very appealing for the kids. The indoor collection is extremely interesting for war historians or history-minded people, but the exhibition may be hard for children. Most items are labeled also in English, making the visit interesting. Visiting the inside part may take from .5 to more than 1 hour, depending on your level of interest. A photo permit is required to take pictures inside. Website with info here.
Mystery Bunker in the Fort of Belgrade
This bunker is poorly advertised, and only scarce on-site descriptions are provided. It is basically made of a tunnel built close to a the most panoramic corner of the fortress. Access is via a narrow stair, giving access to a U-shaped corridor, connecting two double-floor underground circular towers.
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
On the lower floor of the towers, sleeping rooms for troops can be found, together with water tanks. On the upper floor what appears as an unfinished or lately interred firing position for high-caliber artillery can be found.
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Blegrade WWII Bunker Fort Serbia
Construction is similar to some installations of the Atlantic Wall (see for instance here and here), hence it may date from WWII or soon after.
Due to the (strangely) scant description, it is hard to tell the history of this mystery bunker, and I am only guessing its function.
Visiting
The site can be visited with an inexpensive ticket, to be purchased (cash only) by the entrance to the helical pit, a much more advertised attraction nearby. To be honest, nobody checked my ticket once by the entrance to the bunker, which at a first glance can be confused with a backyard deposit (it is really not much celebrated as an attraction). Anyway, I came across a Serbian-speaking small guided group on my visit, so there must be chance of getting inside like that, enjoying some better explanation. Visiting alone may take 15 minutes. A little info on the site of the Fortress, here.
Marshal Tito’s Mausoleum and Memorabilia Museum
This installation lies to the back of the older building of the Museum of Yugoslavia, dating from Tito’s era and currently closed for renovation (2020). The neighborhood is very nice, with buildings of many embassies. The mausoleum and the annexed museum are part of a nice ensemble, surrounded by a garden. A very modern entrance hall with shop and services has been prepared at the entrance.
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
The burial place of Marshal Tito is in a greenhouse-like building, pretty nice and peaceful. The tomb is definitely plain and not bombastic, nothing you would expect from a dictator. Tito’s wife is buried nearby.
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
To the sides of the building you can find a well designed exhibition including personal belongings of Tito, parts of his office furniture, as well as pictures – including a magnified one with dignitaries attending his funeral ceremony in 1980.
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
A small excerpt of the huge collection of scepters, a traditional gift offered to Tito by every group or local society on his domestic visits, can be visioned here. Some of these are really nicely crafted, some are funny – some are really kitschy and caricatural.
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
A second part of the installation is hosted in a small, separate building. Here an incredible collection of gifts, personal belongings, photographs, authentic papers from the fund of the Museum of History about momentous events in Yugoslavian history, autographs and scepters can be found.
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Of special interest are the official portraits – often signed – of presidents, dignitaries, kings and queens from various ages and from all over the world. This collection witnesses the relative popularity of Marshal Tito in the West, even though NATO forces never trusted him fully – the missile defense system placed in northeastern Italy in the 1960s and 1970s is a clear memory of that (see this post).
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Similar to Ceausescu’s house in Bucharest (see here), the items on display make for a very vivid memory of Marshal Tito life and actions, and really bring back the man from history. Really an evoking place those interested in the Cold War can’t miss out!
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Tito Museum and Mausoleum Belgrade Serbia
Visiting
This attraction can be easily reached by car, a few minutes from central Belgrade, in a nice and safe neighborhood (see map). The local name is ‘Kuca Cveca’. As a branch of the Museum of Yugoslavia, it is modernly managed and has been recently revamped, making the visit enjoyable and interesting. For those with an interest in the Cold War era or Tito’s life and legacy, a visit to this site may easily take 1-1.5 hours on a self-guided basis, despite the place being relatively small and easy to tour. Guided tours are possible as well, info on the official website (in English) here.
Genex Tower
An internationally known piece of contemporary architecture, this strange looking massive skyscraper can be clearly spotted from the fortressof Belgrade, looking west towards ‘Nikola Tesla’ airport. It was built between 1977 and 1980, and is made of two bodies connected at the top through an elevated platform.
The name Genex Tower comes from the legacy Genex company, a large tour operator from the Yugoslavian era, operating even an independent airline, Aviogenex, flying mainly touristic routes conveying visitors from western Europe to the beautiful coast of Dalmatia. This openness of Yugoslavia to western tourism has been an uncommon characteristic in the panorama of communist-led countries. Overt trade relations with the West contributed to a higher standard of living of Yugoslav population, compared to the USSR-controlled Eastern Bloc neighbors.
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
The tower is today partly a relic. The half once hosting the offices of Genex and its subsidiaries is mostly empty, even though not abandoned – there is a porter apparently living there, and willing to answer your questions on the history of the place! Going beyond the entry hall is not possible, but the hall itself deserves a glance – built with style, it is much more pleasant than the outside of the building!
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
The atmosphere is really evocative of the Cold War era. Like other buildings – mainly hotels – in former Yugoslavia, the style of the interior somehow recalls the old-fashioned luxury of some older James Bond movie setting!
The residential part is still inhabited as a high-rise condominium. The entrance is via a small door, but despite the derelict appearance of the small square ahead of the building, it looks normally cared for.
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
The circular platform on top of the tower used to host a panorama restaurant, today long gone.
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
Genex Tower Communist Skyscraper Belgrade Serbia
The view of the platform from between the two main bodies from the base makes for a peculiar photographic set – as a matter of fact, professional photographers were taking pictures from that spot for a fashion review!
Visiting
The tower can be reached by car, a few minutes north of the city center. This is basically a non-public building, so while visiting is not possible, the open, unfenced premises at the base of the tower allow walking freely around the tower. The neighborhood is densely populated and safe, despite the base of the tower not looking good, due to disrepair. Parking opportunities all around. A walk around the base may take 15 minutes. If you like to get inside the hall of the largely unused (as of 2020) commercial building, you may also have a chat with the porter about the history of the place. The visit won’t be much longer, anyway.
Avala Tower
This tower is located south of Belgrade, and is a vantage point for observing the town and the countryside around. The original tower was completed between 1961 and 1964, entering the world’s top-ten list of tallest buildings at the height of the Cold War era. That tower was targeted by NATO bombing in 1999 and destroyed. It was rebuilt between 2007 and 2009, mostly identical to the original design.
It is today a renowned tourist attraction. A remarkable engineering and design masterpiece, the tower boasts an uncommon three-leg base, giving a shape well fitting in the years of the space age when it was designed – despite the inspiration being reportedly from a three-legged Serbian traditional chair.
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
The platform on top can be reached via a fast elevator. Strange massive condominiums in the southern outskirts of Belgrade can be clearly spotted from here, but the most striking feature is the wild countryside surrounding Belgrade, really a spot in the green.
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Not far from the tower, the interesting Monument to the Unknown Soldier from the 1930s is a remarkable national shrine from the years of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Avala Tower and Unknown Soldier Monument Belgrade Serbia
Visiting
The Avala Tower can be reached by car in about 45 minutes from central Belgrade – mainly due to traffic, since it is not geographically far (see map). Parking on site. The place is managed as a modern large scale attraction, website here.
The Monument to the Unknown Soldier is open 24/7, a quick and interesting detour from the tower, with a dedicated small parking close to a fashionable ‘old-Europe’ vintage hotel. Explanatory panels nearby.
Ruins of the Ministry of Defense
The building of the ministry of defense was targeted during a bombing raid in April 1999, and severely damaged. An administrative building right in today’s administrative district of downtown Belgrade, it has been left mostly untouched for years now, as a memento of the war against the NATO alliance.
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Damaged bombarded buildings central Belgrade Serbia
Two buildings can be seen cross the street. Part of the corresponding blocks are still in use, and for safety reasons portions of the damaged buildings have been finally demolished in recent years. More and more plans to convert this very central area to something else have been elaborated, as memory of the troubled 1990s is slowly fading.
Visiting
The place can be reached easily with a walk from the historical and shopping districts of Belgrade (see map). The buildings are inaccessible, and can be seen from the outside. A 5 minutes stop along your walk may suffice to check this item.
With a few parallels in aviation history, especially in the years immediately following WWII, former Yugoslavia benefited from supplies by a great number of countries. As a matter of fact, the air force of this newborn communist republic was formed at first from leftovers of retreating Germany and conquering Britain, followed by the establishment of a supply line initially from the USSR, and later the US and again Britain.
The special political ability of marshal Tito, who ruled uncontested as a communist dictator since the foundation of Yugoslavia in 1945 until his death in 1980, and the credit he benefited from especially in Britain, allowed him to keep out of the sphere of influence of the USSR since 1948. In a strategic position on the border with NATO countries like Italy and Greece, Tito adopted a detente policy of ‘equal-distance’ between the two opposing blocs over the Cold War period (even though NATO did not trust him fully, as testified by the deployment of a SAM defense line in northeastern Italy, see this post).
Of course, most of the military supply was of Soviet make, especially after the death of Stalin and well until the end of communism in Europe and the bloody fragmentation of the Yugoslav state. However, concerning civil aviation, autonomy from Moscow allowed the adoption of western aircraft, like the French Aerospatiale Caravelle and much of the Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas inventory, in the major national airline JAT – something which happened very rarely anywhere in the communist bloc over the years of the Cold War, another notable instance being Romania, again a ‘semi-autonomous’ communist dictatorship, who refused the Soviet Tupolev Tu-134 in favor of license-built British BAC 1-11s.
Another effect of the autonomy from the USSR was the creation of a national aviation industry, which especially in the case of SOKO, produced military trainers and light attack aircraft of good success, which despite ageing, are still flying today.
More recently, the fierce conflicts raging over the Balkans in the 1990s have created a major active front for modern aviation, where the air force of Serbia – which inherited the geographically central part of Yugoslavia and its capital city, Belgrade – confronted the NATO alliance in an open conflict. The unbalance of forces allowed the western coalition to quickly establish air superiority, which did not come without a few notable material losses however.
A rich display of this peculiar aviation history, actually tracing back to WWI and the early years of aviation, can be found in the Aeronautical Museum of Belgrade, which despite being in today’s Serbia, acts as a kind of Yugoslav Aviation Museum. As a matter of fact, it was founded as such back in the years of Tito, and opened in its current building nearby ‘Nikola Tesla’ civil airport of Belgrade in 1989, when Yugoslavia was still a reality.
This short post provides an outline of what you can find in this museum, with photographs taken on a visit in April 2019.
Sights
The museum occupies a relatively large area in the vicinity of the airport of Belgrade, and is made of an open-air exhibition, open-air storage area, and big mushroom-shaped building hosting an indoor exhibition.
The ‘gate guardian’ is a SOKO J-21 Jastreb, a nice light multi-role aircraft from the 1960s, powered by a British Rolls-Royce Viper jet engine.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Indoor exhibition
The entry hall of the mushroom-shaped building features is a good example of the architectural style from the late communist era. The ground floor hosts a small exhibition about the early days of aviation in the former region of the Balkans, with documents from WWI years. Among the items on display, you can find early pilot’s licenses from notable war pilots, likely granted after training abroad, and actually written in French.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
The main hall of the museum can be found upstairs. This large can be walked on two levels. Most aircraft are to be found on the lower level, but a few are suspended to the glassy circular sidewall of the mushroom, lighted from behind by the sunlight – so that taking pictures is just a nightmare!
The centerpiece of the collection is an exemplar of the SOKO J-22 Orao, a twin-engined – two Rolls-Royce Viper turbofans – light ground-attack and trainer aircraft from the 1970s. Designed jointly by Yugoslavia and Romania, this model equipped the Yugoslav (then Serbian) air force during the 1990s, where a handful exemplars are still flying today.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Indeed a clean design with an interesting performance, this aircraft was possibly the last heir of the Ikarus-then-SOKO lineage, originated back in the years before WWII. In this respect, some unique exemplars of aircraft are preserved in this museum, witnessing the existence of a school of skilled aircraft designers in Serbia, not much known in the western world.
A key figure of the Ikarus design bureau, Dragoljub Beslin led the design of Ikarus S-451, a nice, very small, twin-prop attack aircraft flown in 1951, especially designed to sustain high load factors in maneuvers at high speed.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Another unique specimen is the twin-jet Ikarus 451M, the first jet aircraft built by Yugoslavia. Same designer as the S-451, this unusual jet-engined taildragger flew in 1952, but was soon superseded by more modern models, in those years of quick-paced development of aviation technology. Again, the engines were from the West, in the form of two French Turbomeca Palas turbojets.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Another member of the ‘Ikarus 451’ family – it must be said this Yugoslav one is likely the oddest model numbering systems ever created… – the T 451 MM Strsljen (Hornet) features a more convincing configuration, resembling the single-engined British BAC Jet Provost and the Italian Macchi MB 326, both rather successful trainers from the late 1950s. On display is actually the ‘Strsljen II’ version, which is a attack/training version with more thrust than the first series aircraft. This model was conceived to operate from unprepared runways, and featured two Turbomeca Marbore II French turbojets. The aircraft flew in 1958, but an air force contract was not granted.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Some functional wind tunnel models of other aircraft, actually never reaching the 1:1 prototype stage, are on display. These include a rare ekranoplane design, the UTVA 754. With a mechanic-monster-like appearance like all ekranoplanes (the most famous being probably the Bertini-Beriev preserved at the Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, see here), this machine was designed in 1982 in the then-Yugoslav town of Zagreb, today the capital city of Croatia.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
A medevac aircraft conceived for easy conversion between floats and wheels, the UTVA 66H can be visited also inside. The indigenous SOKO is represented by a number of models. These include the SOKO G-2 Galeb, a successful trainer/light attack aircraft from the 1950s, built around a single Rolls-Royce Viper turbofan. During its long history it was exported to several international operators, and gave birth to the more recent SOKO J-21 Jastreb. The Galeb was in service with Serbia until 1999.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Another section of the museum features aircraft of foreign make which witness the intricate history of alliances of both the pre-WWII Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the post-WWII communist Yugoslavia. Most remarkably, these include a Messerschmitt Bf-109-G! The history of this particular aircraft is not very clear, some sources stating it was captured from Bulgarian air force. As a matter of fact, Yugoslavia acquired about 70 Bf-109-E from Germany in 1940, which in turn furiously invaded from north in a quick an violent campaign in spring 1941.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Next in line is nothing less than a British Hawker Hurricane! A group of Hurricanes were acquired from Britain in the immediate pre-war years, and even license-built in Belgrade in a small number – Yugoslavia apparently purchased aircraft seamlessly from both opponents at the outbreak of WWII. Later on, Hurricane-equipped squadrons of Yugoslavia fought back on the side of the Allies from bases in southern Italy, finally regaining control over the Balkans.
In a similar fashion, a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V witnesses the involvement of British-supplied national air force squadrons in the liberation of Yugoslavia from the German invaders.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
In the closing years of WWII, Yugoslavia benefited also from the help of the USSR. This is witnessed by a massive – and pretty rare, out of former soviet republics! – Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik. This big attack aircraft, possibly the most famous Soviet aircraft of WWII, equipped three squadrons in the Yugoslav air force, and helped in the fight on the so-called ‘Srem front’ north of Belgrade. An often overlooked sector of the European front, substantial operations were carried out since late 1944 until April 1945, with the forces of Nazi Germany slowly retreating under the offensive of the Red Army (including Bulgarian divisions) and of Yugoslavia from the south. These operations involved 250’000 troops on either side, thus engaging the Germans and draining resources from mainland defense. At that time, an entire division of the Yugoslav air force were equipped with this aircraft type, kept in service until the 1950s.
Similarly, an elegant WWII Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter of Soviet make can be found nearby in the colors of Yugoslavia.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
After the end of WWII, Tito was determined not to surrender his political and economic independence to Stalin. In this high-stake gamble, he made no secret of his thoughts, and sought international recognition from the west. As expected, Stalin showed no sense of humor in that matter, and as the USSR broke relationships with Yugoslavia, this country faced the risk of isolation and of Soviet invasion in the early stage of the Cold War (late 1940s).
Over the years, the good relationship established with the western Allies during WWII were strengthened further, and most incredibly for a communist country, the US provided aircraft and helicopters, in the form of Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, Republic F-84G Thunderjet and (much later, in the early 1960s) North American F-86D ‘long-nosed’ Sabre.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
The years of Kennedy administration saw a significant improvement of the relationship between Tito and Khrushchev, and this led to a switch to Soviet aircraft in the form of the supersonic MiG-21, which equipped the Yugoslav air force in substantial numbers over the following two decades. An exemplar of this iconic and ubiquitous aircraft, an unquestionably well-performing aircraft in his age, is preserved in the museum. By the way, the early 1960s saw also the widespread adoption of SOKO Galeb trainers and the phase out of older British/US models.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Other peculiar exhibits in the indoor part of the museum are the wrecks resulting from air fight operations during the Yugoslavian wars of the 1990s. On the national (Yugoslav) side, the tail cone of a SOKO G-4 Super Galeb – a totally different design from the quasi-homonym G-2 – damaged by a shoulder-launched Stinger missile in 1991.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
But much more material is from NATO countries, resulting from combat during operation ‘Allied Force’ against Serbia in 1999. Most notably, you can see a substantial part of the wing of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the famous stealth aircraft downed by a vintage Soviet SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missile in March 1999, as well as a landing gear, ejection seat, pilot’s helmet, Vulcan cannon and some smaller parts of a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon downed the following May, again due to an SA-3 missile. The first stage of the missile which hit the Nighthawk is on display too.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
These are basically the only aircraft lost in action over enemy territory during that operation.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
An apparently easier prey, General Atomics RQ-1 Predator UAVs were used in great numbers, some twenty of them being downed. One wrecked example is put on display.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
More items of the kind include parts of NATO missiles, including HARM anti-radiation missiles and cluster-bombs containers.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
On the upper level, you can find a mostly photographic exhibition mainly about the national carrier JAT. Interestingly, not a single Soviet-made model appears in the pictures, whereas you can find Boeing 707s, 727s, 737s, Douglas DC-9s, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s, Aerospatiale Caravelles and ATR-42/72s – clearly a strong commercial bound with the West, pretty unusual for a communist country!
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Another Yugoslav airline started operations to a later date – Aviogenex. This apparently did use aircraft from the USSR, in particular Tupolev Tu-134s, later flanked by Boeing 737s. Aviogenex ceased operations much later than the end of Yugoslavia, and operated as a Serbian company for some years.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
One of the most iconic brutalist monstrosities in northern Belgrade is the skyscraper which used to host the headquarters of this airline – it looks like a good setting for some ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Judge Dredd’ movie…
Some more panels include descriptions of airport history and modern operations in the nearby airport of Belgrade. The history line of the national aviation industry is also presented in detail through historical pictures.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Some more aircraft can be found on this level, as well as a SA-3 Goa missile in a non-operative paint scheme, likely for training or telemetry tuning purposes.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Outdoor exhibition
The large area around the building is split between a small outdoor exhibition prepared for the public, and a larger storage area with many more aircraft which can not be neared nor walked around.
The displayed aircraft include an Aerospatiale Caravelle in the colors of JAT. This exemplar was one of three operated by this airline, and was active between 1963 and 1976.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
A much elder transport, a German (French license-built) Junkers 52 with P&W engines represents a fleet of four such aircraft operated by the Yugoslav air force, complementing another group of originally German aircraft captured during the war.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
An aircraft of historical significance is an Ilyushin Il-14 twin-prop transport. This aircraft was a personal goodwill gift from Khrushchev to marshal Tito, and the founding member of Yugoslav presidential fleet.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
A couple of Lisunov Li-2 and some original Douglas C-47 Skytrain, of which the former is a license-built Soviet version, are on display, albeit not all complete. A MiG-21 Fishbed and a Kamov twin-rotor helicopter are also on display.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Another extremely rare item from the post-WWII years, a Short SA.6 Sealand amphibious aircraft of British make has made its way to Belgrade, after years as a transport aircraft in the Yugoslav air force.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
The non-visible part of the museum features a rather impressive collection of MiG-21 in several versions, SOKO J-21 Jastreb and SOKO J-20 Kraguj in a large number, a SA-2 Guideline soviet-made SAM launcher with two missiles, and a number of partly assembled aircraft and wrecks.
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
A mystery item is a part of an allegedly US aircraft, apparently a part of the tail empennage of a bigger transport – any suggestion about this item welcome!
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Aeronautical Museum Belgrade Serbia Aviation
Visiting
The museum is located to the northwest of the airport of Belgrade. It can be easily reached by car from the access road going to the main terminal area. Website with info in English here. Parking ahead of the entrance.
The museum can be visited in about 2 hours by an interested subject, much less if you have just a mild interest in aviation. Much paneling is in double Serbian and English language, allowing to get the most from your visit.
Despite being fully operative, the place has a somewhat rotting appearance especially from the outside, as mostly typical to former state-run institutions in former Yugoslavia. Furthermore, some form of protection for the aircraft in the outside exhibition is hopefully to be considered by the management, otherwise the aircraft with literally disintegrate to the action of the elements in a matter of some years.
A pleasant country in northern Europe, Denmark is geographically surrounded by the North and Baltic seas, and shares its only land border with Germany. In the late 1930s, this meant having a very dangerous dictatorship as the only neighbor, and no possible direct help coming by land from other allies. Without natural defenses against and attack from the south, the Kingdom of Denmark was militarily occupied basically in one day, on April 9th, 1940. This happened through a joint operation carried out by the land, air and naval forces of Nazi Germany.
A quick historical overview
The interest of Germany in controlling Danish territory was mainly strategic. It served as a springboard to attack Norway further north. The latter was in itself more interesting to the economy of the Third Reich, as it was rich of natural resources, including raw materials not available in Germany. These were so needed by the Führer, who was dreaming of making Germany independent from international supply trade.
Furthermore, controlling both Denmark and Norway meant control over the eastern coast of the North Sea, and a chance to control the only access to the Baltic Sea. The USSR was not a declared enemy before 1941, but withdrawing from the mutual cooperation pact with Stalin – signed in a hurry just days before the invasion of Poland in September 1939 – at some point, and openly attacking Russia, had been in the mind of the Führer since he first put on paper his worrying geopolitical thoughts. By controlling the Baltic, Hitler could control sea trade to non-freezing ports of the USSR, which in 1940 had already taken over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in agreement with Germany.
As a matter of fact, the conquer of Norway was not without significant losses for Germany. This was also the result of Britain starting to militarily oppose Germany. The two countries had been already at war since September 1939, but without any serious confrontation having taken place for months.
Since then, the British – and later also the American – threat from the west had to be faced through the fortification of the western coast of the Third Reich, which by the end of the summer of 1940 extended roughly from the Pyrenees in southern France to Kirkenes in northern Norway. This highly visionary task was taken up very seriously by the German military-economic machine, and produced the ‘Atlantikwall’ – which translates pretty obviously into the ‘Atlantic Wall’. This long defensive line had to be built all along the coast, and was mainly based on a catalog of standardized reinforced concrete constructions, to be reproduced in great numbers. Construction was coordinated by the main contractor, the German ‘Organization Todt’, which made extensive use of subcontracted local companies in the various occupied states where construction had to take place.
Despite the majority of the elements in the line were reinforced barracks for troops watching the coastline, ammo and supply storages, command and communication bunkers, canteens, and other service buildings, there were of course also a number of heavier constructions. These included coastal gun batteries, to counter attacking ships, lighter gun batteries, to stop troops attempting a beach landing, aiming stations, to adjust the line of fire of gun batteries, anti-aircraft guns to defend the line from air attacks, and some technical buildings serving as bases for advanced radar systems. The latter were among the most useful and widespread items along the line, as German technology developed fast during the war, to produce powerful detection systems against air and sea menaces.
Needless to remember, similar to many pharaonic works conceived by the Führer and his entourage, the Atlantic Wall was never completed, and it failed to spare the Third Reich from total annihilation. The once-modern military installations along the western coast of Europe soon became obsolete, as war changed face at a quick pace following WWII, with new weapons and techniques. Furthermore, the front line of the new Cold War shifted geographically to the middle of Europe. A tangible sign of enemy occupation, the massive bunkers of the Atlantic Wall met different destinies depending on the country. However, albeit only rarely preserved, thanks to their bulkiness and sturdy make, they are in most cases still visible.
About this post
Being the first land along the western coast to fall under German control, work on the Atlantic Wall started in Denmark earlier than anywhere else. Today extensive traces of the line are still pointing the shores of the North Sea.
A few focal points are preserved as first-class museums. These include the strongholds of Hirtsthals and the huge battery at Hanstholm, in Northern Jutland. The latter had been designed around a cluster of four monster coastal guns, to the aim of controlling the passage through the Skagerrak channel, providing access to the Baltic Sea. A twin battery – Vara – was built to the north of the strait in Norway.
Closer to the German border, the area of Blavand – featuring also the famous ‘Tirpitz battery’ in its arsenal – is another example of a partly preserved portion of the line. Bangsbo fort in Frederikshaven has been partly refurbished and opened as a museum, after being used by the Danish military for a while. There you can find one of the few remaining examples of an Atlantic Wall installation with its original guns still in place.
Smaller strongholds, opened as smaller scale museums or left to more adventurous explorers, often feature unique special constructions, which justify a detour at least for more committed war historians. These include the Skagen battery, the disguised bunkers in Thyboron, and the complicated Stauning battery, built on two opposite coasts of a closed firth.
All these sites – and a few more – are covered in this post, which is based on photographs taken in August 2019. Denmark is officially protecting the installations of the Atlantic Wall as historical buildings – unlike France, for instance – so visiting even abandoned sites maybe rewarding, especially if they are out of the mainstream touristic routes. Unfortunately, many bunkers now closer to crowded touristic areas have been damaged by vandals.
Sights
Map
The sites covered in this post are listed on the following map. Sites opened as museums are pinpointed in red, wild sites are marked in blue.
The sites are listed in the post following the coastline of Jutland from its southwestern end.
Located about 50 miles north of the German border along the coast of the North Sea, the small town of Blavand sits on a promontory protruding towards the sea, and protecting the access to the port town of Esbjerg – still today a major commercial port of Denmark.
The area of Blavand saw the construction of an incredible number of Atlantic Wall elements, which grew up in more instances during the war years.
Close by the parking ahead of the lighthouse on the very tip of the promontory, you can find trailheads leading to the southern and western shores of the promontory.
The southern shore makes for a typical North Sea landscape – an endless sand beach. What makes it different from others is the number of light bunkers placed along the shoreline. Despite little imposing, this model – type ‘F’ – was purpose built for the wide shores of Denmark in 1944, in view of a potential enemy beach landing. These firing positions were armed with machine guns, and placed at pre-determined intervals – about 1’500 ft – matching their accuracy range.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Many bunkers are slowly sinking in the sand, and only small parts of them can be seen emerging from the ground.
Others have been turned into strange sculptures, adding a horse head and tail.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Under favorable tide conditions, you may enter some of the bunkers. There you can appreciate their simple structure, with a defensive embrasure by the entrance (looking towards the coast) and loopholes to the sides of the firing chamber.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
On the beach close to the lighthouse you can find a very big bunker with a wide hollow cave on the inland side, which used to support a searchlight.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Along the western shore you can find more massive bunkers. These include four former coastal gun batteries. These heavier constructions have assumed strange attitudes, after sinking in the sand somewhat irregularly over the years.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Looking towards the inland from the beach, you can spot an aiming/fire control positions, with a distinctive bulbous roof and a long curved slot on the facade.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Your walk along the northern shore may be interrupted by safety warnings concerning mine threat. As a complement to the defensive potential of the Atlantic Wall, extensive minefields were set up on most of the Danish beaches. This turned into a big issue soon after WWII, when an extensive demining action had to be carried out.
Furthermore, part of the Blavand promontory is occupied by a military firing range. When training exercises are taking place, special warning lights are lit and flags are raised, to delimit the territory where you should not venture.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
In the dunes slightly inland from the shoreline, it is possible to find another big number of bunkers. They are not always visible from the distance, and entrance is in most cases from one side only – the only side emerging from the sand.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
A very distinctive item is the colossal platform for a ‘Mammut’ type long-range anti-aircraft radar. This used to be operated by the Luftwaffe, whereas other bunkers in Blavand – like elsewhere along the Atlantic Wall – used to be run by other branches of the Germany military.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
The base for the radar is in itself a rather complex bunker, with several cavities and extensive piping, once needed for power cables feeding the antenna, as well as other wiring.
Close by, a smaller radar base bunker used to be operated by the German Navy. Also here, holes and passages for cables can be found in the walls and roof.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
It is noteworthy how many bunkers feature traces of original decorations, like painted walls, fake wallpaper, frescoes and small frieze lines. This is typical to many other installations of the Atlantic Wall.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Metal hardware can be found in the form of a bulky aiming turret emerging from a bunker.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
In another instance, a mortar mouth pops out from the ground.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
The underground bunker underneath the latter can be explored with some difficulty – there are also quite annoying bats inside -, but it reveals an aiming wheel with original markings in a reinforced concrete dome!
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
An interesting sight nearby the lighthouse is the tower once supporting a ‘See Riese’ radar. The protruding arms once sustained a wooden platform for military operators.
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stronghold Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Getting there and moving around
The area of Blavand is rather extensive and rich of diverse installations, so notwithstanding the general bad shape of most of the bunkers, visiting may easily take 3-4 hours for a committed tourist, getting inside most of the items. A good starting point is the free parking by the lighthouse, provided you come early especially in summer, cause it tends to get more and more crowded along the day.
Blavand – ‘Tirpitz’ Coastal Guns
Despite at least some of the bunkers on the shores of Blavand being in a relatively good shape, there is a part of the Atlantic Wall which is officially preserved as a museum. This is one of the two unfinished bunkers intended to support a set of massive 38 cm coastal guns.
These guns – four, two for each bunker – were originally intended to be put on board battleship Gneisenau. The latter got damaged in port, and the guns were diverted to coastal use. The decision to build the Tirpitz battery to protect the port of Esbjerg came relatively late during the war, in 1944. As a result, construction of the battery supporting structures was not completed when the war ended, and the four never installed guns were scrapped – except one, which can be admired in Hanstholm (see below).
The name ‘Tirpitz’ attributed to this battery is of uncertain origin, and sometimes this installation is also referred to as ‘Vogelnest’.
The museum has been built only in the southernmost bunker. The installation is very modern (and crowded), and it has been designed as a thematic museum in five sections. Two of the most interesting are about the Atlantic Wall and its impact on local life, and on the extensive mining and demining operations on the shores of Denmark.
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Other sections are related to amber trade and local seamen activities.
Finally, you can get access to the base of the gun turret. Photographs are bad here, due to very poor lighting and limitations on camera use.
You can see a central round dome, surrounded by an external corridor. Traces of a post-war explosion can be noticed looking at the metal part of the construction.
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Outside of the museum you can find a cannon cut in pieces, plus rigs used for construction. The bulky concrete arms protruding from the roof were meant to support the crane for mounting the cannons.
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
With a five minutes walk from this bunker, you can get to the northern battery. This is not preserved, and the entrances have been bricked up. Yet you may better appreciate the size of the bunker from this exemplar than from the one turned into a museum.
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Tirpitz Battery Blaavand (Blåvand) Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Getting there and moving around
The museum is located east of Oksby along Tane Hedevey, a local road connecting Blavand to Esbjerg. There are signs along the road, and a large parking ahead of the entrance. The museum is very modern, and may turn very crowded in summer. Website with full information here. You can visit on your own with an audio-guide. The visit to the military-related sections may take about 1 hour.
Adding a walk to the northern battery will take further 20 minutes at most, as there is no chance to step in.
Stauning Battery
Construction of this battery started in the second half of 1944, and consequently it was only partially completed before the end of the war. The geography of the Stauning battery is rather peculiar. The intended design was based on four coastal guns to be placed on the inland side of the Ringkobing firth – basically a lake with a channel-like small mouth connecting it to the sea. On the other coast of the firth, i.e. very close to the North Sea in Hvide Sande, the aiming station for the battery was finally built.
In the event, only one of the reinforced concrete gun positions reached completion, whereas the other three cannons were kept on basic, not reinforced aprons. The gun bunker is the only exemplar of this model built along the Atlantic Wall, and was designed around a 19,4 cm gun manufactured in France.
Located far from the shore in a secluded area of the countryside, this battery is in a relatively good shape, and thanks to the hard soil its position has not drifted since it was installed. You can even walk on top.
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
Atlantic Wall Stauning Battery Denmark Nazi Defense Line Atlantikwall
