The rich military tradition of Sweden can be retraced by means of many interesting dedicated collections. Many of them are scattered in the nice southernmost country regions of the Scandinavian peninsula, and make for an interesting detour from the most popular touristic destinations.
As reported in the previous two chapters on the topic (see here and here), the neutrality of Sweden in the major confrontations taking place during the 20th century allowed this northern Country to operate in a unique and original way, especially in terms of military procurement. Besides picking what was actually deemed suitable for their internal needs especially from the West, Sweden managed develop a strong domestic design and manufacturing capability, such to fulfill its own self-defense role in a cost-effective and credible way.
The defense of neutrality was carried out in the air by a strong Air Force, often updated over the years. With the end of communism in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the major threat in the Baltic area came to an end as well, resulting in a major scale-down of this defense force and the disbandment of many military organizations. Correspondingly, memorial museums can be found often close to former airbases. One of them, dedicated to the ‘Scania’ wing F10, in operation since WWII to the early 2000s, is covered in this chapter.
A rather complete collection of aircraft from the entire span of the Cold War can be found in the unusual frame of a private museum, established in the 1960s from the will of the founder to display primarily his own collection of cars. The mix is particularly interesting, witnessing also the close link between Sweden and the vehicle industry of the US, possibly the tightest among all Countries in Europe.
Of course, in the theater of WWII Sweden was politically and geographically in an interesting position as well as later in the Cold War. Its relative proximity to the Third Reich meant it was often overflown by bombers on their way back from missions over mainland Germany. Dogfights and bomber chase missions reached the airspace of Sweden, sometimes ending with either German or Allied aircraft crashing on Swedish territory. An interesting museum covered in this chapter is fully dedicated to the topic.
Photographs in this chapter were taken in the summer of 2024.
This nice collection of military aviation can be found on the former premises of the air base of Barkåkra (today Helsingborg airport), which has been the home of the 10th Wing ‘Scania’ (aka. F10 or ‘Ängelholm Wing’) between 1945 until the disbandment of the latter in 2002. Established during WWII, the illustrious history of the F10 wing spanned the entire Cold War, reaching into the 21st century. Correspondingly, the Scania Wing was supplied over the years with a rich inventory of aircraft models, ranging from classic fighters of WWII to the more recent SAAB Viggen and Gripen.
The structure of the exhibition, rather compact in size, is composed of two major areas.
In the first, the history of F10 is retraced especially by means of interesting photographs and memorabilia items. Among the pictures, some portray American bomber crews as well as German fighters landed on Swedish territory, which remained neutral during WWII.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
In this area are also a few dioramas and reconstructions of typical military scenes, including a medical room, from the earlier days of operation of the Scania Wing. Everyday items, as well as military training and illustrative material, is presented in display cases.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
The second major area is where most hardware of the collection can be found – aircraft, engines, vehicles, and much gear from the days of operation of the F10 wing. Among the earliest models acquired by F10 back in the WWII years was – rather interestingly – an Italian fighter, the Reggiane Re-2000 Falco, a batch of which was obtained from Italy in a supply shortage scenario, where especially the US had halted material export to non-allied countries. Pressed into service with the Air Force of Sweden (and specifically also with the F10 wing) as an interceptor with the locally attributed code of J20, this generally adequate machine was powered by a Piaggio P.XI 14-cylinders radial engine (which according to Roman numbering then often employed in Italy translates into P.11), a 1.040 hp model license-made in Italy, and originally a French design by Gnome-Rhone. A Re-2000 is not on display, but a Piaggio P.XI is! This engine has been quite popular in those years in Sweden, ending up also as an interim power plant for the Swedish own SAAB B17C single-engine light bomber/diver (not to be confounded with the homonym American Flying Fortress).
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Close by the P.XI is the oldest aircraft on display belonging to the F10, in the form of a FFVS J22. The company FFVS was actually a Swedish state-managed entity, borne in the years of WWII to cope with the wartime supply requirements on one side and the overbooking of the SAAB plants on the other. Introduced during WWII, this rugged fighter was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830, the ubiquitous Twin Wasp, license-built in Sweden by Svenska Flygmotor. The Scania Wing received the J22 model only in 1945, the last propeller-driven aircraft in its inventory. The exemplar on display looks under maintenance, and is possibly in airworthy conditions.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Next on display is a SAAB J29 Tunnan, with its distinctive barrel-shaped fuselage enshrouding the single, centrifugal flow jet engine. The F10 wing transitioned to jets in 1946 with the early SAAB J21R and the British-supplied DeHavilland DH100 Vampire (named J28R in Sweden). The Tunnan was provided to the F10 wing in 1953, and there it remained until 1963, while more advanced models were becoming available. The engine of the J29 was a DeHavilland Ghost, manufactured under licence in Sweden by Svenska Flygmotor under the name RM2B – an example is on display.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Close to the tail cone of the Tunnan is also a DeHavilland Goblin engine, originally employed on the Vampire.
The longest-lasting workhorse in F10 service has been the SAAB J35 Draken. An exemplar of the J version, the most updated and last (with the actual modification taking place in the late 1980s), is on display. The distinctive bulge for the IR seeker under the fuselage, appearing from the modern F version on, can be checked out from very close.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Interestingly, the Draken is presented with an exemplar of the Rb-28 missile hanging from an underwing pylon. This is a SAAB-modified version of the US-designed Hughes AIM-4D Falcon, an air-to-air missile conceived as an anti-bomber weapon, but hastily pressed into service against Vietnamese MiGs during the Vietnam war, under the wings of the Phantom, and proving very ineffective in the dogfighting role. For the Soviet bomber interdiction role of the Draken, this missile platform was deemed more effective, and it was retained for service for decades in Sweden.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Other missiles, rockets and guns (including a dismounted Aden 30 mm cannon) pertaining to the warload of the Draken are on display as well, together with an interesting console for missile signal testing.
Ahead of the Draken is a memorial wall, and ahead of it is a Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine, displayed as an instructional cutaway – including both the turbomachinery and the afterburning component. License-built in Sweden by Svenska Flygmotor as RM6C, this was the engine of the Draken.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
The F10 wing received the SAAB J37 Viggen only after the collapse of the USSR in 1993, marking the beginning of the last, post-Cold War chapter in the history of the unit. Quite elusive due to its adoption only by Sweden, albeit rather successful in its intended roles, an exemplar of this machine can be found in this collection. Specifically, this is a photo reconnaissance version named SF37. Lacking a radar, this model typically operated on reconnaissance missions in a flight of two, together with a radar-supplied SH37 variant.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
The Viggen can be neared and checked out entirely with ease, thanks to its positioning on a pedestal. The photo-reconnaissance payload is on display. Under the left wing is a SAAB Rb-04 anti-ship missile. This Swedish own design was conceived for countering invasion starting from the sea. With a radius of 25 km and active radar homing, its warhead was sufficient for knocking out an enemy cruiser with a single hit.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
The collection of the Scania Wing also includes the SAAB SK60 trainer, a successful trainer employed for decades, and inducted into the F10 inventory during the 1990s, when the wing took over the basic training role from the F5 wing. Similarly, an ubiquitous Bell 204 (Hkp 3B according to Swedish naming) can be found on display, as it was employed within the F10 for rescue and logistics/transport duties.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Close to the Viggen are further interesting exhibits. One is on the wartime bases (krigsflygbaser, see this post), with models and original signs from one of them.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Another is about weather forecasting within F10. It includes electronic hardware, an entire room with original consoles, and weather balloons, still today employed to carry atmospheric sounds.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
A display is dedicated to pilot’s protection helmets, survival kits and ejection seats. Not only in Sweden, the latter have been in the focus of a major technological development over the years of the Cold War. Ejecting from a fast jet in the 1950s was reportedly a highly-risky business, since even when the maneuver was technically successful – i.e. such to take the pilot out of the aircraft alive – the ejection-induced acceleration alone was more than enough to cause serious injury, usually to the spine. Over the years, multi-stage ejection was implemented, allowing for a more gradual maneuver, which albeit remaining lightning-fast, does not inflict so harsh a treatment to the pilot’s body as in the past.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
A top exhibit on display is an original cockpit from a SAAB J35 Draken, employed for training purposes. The cockpit is very well preserved, thoroughly described by explanatory panels nearby, and it can be boarded to give you a feeling of the functionality of the onboard systems, as well as of the ergonomics of the cockpit.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Two more training aircraft are included in the exhibition, a SK61 and SK50, both single-propeller machines employed for basic training.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Additionally, the last type in service with the F10 has been the SAAB JAS39 Gripen (from 1999 until disbandment), which is here represented by means of the first serial production machine of the first version (‘A’). This exemplar was actually never pressed in air force service, but it was employed as a test bed for multiple operations, including test firing of missile ordnance in the early 2000s.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Additional dioramas in this compact but rich collection include op-rooms from various ages.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
An interesting exhibit is a relatively well-preserved Rolls-Royce Merlin piston enigine, originally powering a British Avro Lancaster bomber which sank south of Trelleborg in the Baltic Sea, presumably early in 1945 after a bombing run over Germany.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Finally, on the outside it is possible to find a British Bristol Bloodhound Mk II missile. This SAM supplied a squadron of F10 wing, complementing the air defense role in proximity to the airbase.
Ängelholms Flight Museum – F10 Wing Scania – Helsingborg, Sweden
Getting there and visiting
The name of the museum in the local language is Ängelholms Flygmuseum, which translates into Ängelholm Flight Museum. It is located on the southwestern border of the former airbase of Ängelholm, easily reachable at the address Drakenvägen 5, 26274 Ängelholm. This town is 15 mi north of Helsingborg along the E6 highway.
Large parking ahead of the entrance. Nice shop with books, toys and gadgets by the ticket office. The museum facility is rather compact, yet a visit may easily take 1.5 hours for an interested subject, when carefully checking out all items on display and taking pictures. Descriptions are in double language, Swedish/English, allowing for an informative visit even if you are from abroad.
The Museum of Forced Landings (in Swedish language the museum is named in a rather different way, ‘Morups Samtidsmuseum’) is a one-of-a-kind collection of remains and traces from air crashes or forced landings taking place during WWII in Sweden. Run by a lively group of dedicated enthusiasts, the display is extremely well-crafted, offering not just an array of many and diverse relics from aircraft wrecks, but for each of them a complete synopsis of the story behind that specific flight – and the crewmen who were on board.
Furthermore, in my case I was accompanied by a very knowledgeable English-speaking gentleman for the entire duration of my visit, making the experience even more engaging.
The exhibition starts with a display of general maps of the crash or forced landing sites. A sharp increase towards the end of the war is evident, due to the increase in the number of bombing raids over the center of the Third Reich. The crashed aircraft are mostly from the US and Britain. When hit over Germany but still airworthy, Allied crews attempted an escape to neutral Sweden, to avoid capture by the Germans.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Of course, Sweden was a neutral country, hence all grounded crews, irrespective of their nationality, were interned, albeit in more than decent conditions, especially compared to German or Soviet prison camps.
A map of the internment location in Sweden is presented as well. Clearly, also German aircraft crash-landed in Sweden. Crews of opposing nationalities were interned in totally different locations. Rare photographs from these sites are on display.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Then, one by one, the display cases describe each a notable forced landing, retracing its timeline, and showing some relics from the wreckage, as well as personal items belonging to the crew. Nice detailed scaled models and dioramas of the accident complete the reconstruction.
Among them are a German Messerschmitt Bf110 attack aircraft, with a fragment of the canopy as well as other parts on display, Norwegian training aircraft, a German Junkers Ju-52 transport, with an entire control column put as an exhibit.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
The bombsight, radio and other instrument goggles belong to a German Heinkel He-111 bomber landed on ice.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
One of the plots documented in the deepest detail is that involving Lt Edward E. Phillips, of USAAF 354th fighter group, which flew escort missions over Germany from Baxton, England, with North American P-51 Mustang fighters. On the 15th of April 1944, on return from a mostly failed bombing mission over Germany in bad weather, Lt. Phillips aircraft was chased north by a Bf109. He was hit over southern Sweden, bailed out but the parachute failed to deploy. He was killed instantly, and his aircraft impacted soft terrain and sank so deeply due to its own energy that it almost disappeared into the ground – and there it remained for 40 years. In the 1990s an excavation attempt was carried out by the future crew of the museum, uncovering substantial remains of the aircraft, including many parts, cockpit gauges, machine guns, an entire landing gear leg, and more.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
A link was established by the local crew with the former wife of the man in the US, and the story hit the news. A memorial was inaugurated on the location of the crash.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Another American aircraft with a story to tell is a Consolidated B-24 Liberator. This time the aircraft managed to crash land under control, and the entire crew of 10 was saved and interned. Sgt Robert C. Birmingham, part of the crew, visited the locations of his adventure in Sweden more than once with his family.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
More accidents described in the display involve British and German aircraft.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
In an adjoining room, an impressive collection of quality scale models reconstruct many of the aircraft in service within the Air Force in Sweden, including details such as different celebration markings and camo coats. Among the artifacts and memorabilia items on display in this part is an autographed photo of WWII German ace Günther Rall.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
In another small hangar is an interesting addition to the collection, mostly centered on aircraft engines. Engines from crash-landed aircraft, significantly damaged but undergoing a display-oriented cleaning and refurbishment, make for an unusual and interesting sight.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Outside is also a small collection of classic cars in pristine conditions.
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Museum of Forced Landings – Morup – WWII Aircraft Relics – Sweden
Getting there and visiting
The museum is called ‘Morups Samtidsmuseum’ in Swedish language. It can be found right along the road N.768 about 6 miles north of the coastal town of Falkenberg, 0.25 miles north of the small town of Morup. The exact address is X9MP+84 Morup.
A visit may take about 1 hour, more when stimulating further telling by the very enthusiastic crew of the association running the museum.
Please note that no credit cards are accepted, only cash is – unless you are entitled to employ electronic payment methods allowed for citizens or residents of Sweden.
The website, partially under construction as of spring 2025, can be found here.
Credit for directing me to this hidden gem goes to Martin Steffen, from Sweden.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum, Ugglarp
This unusual exhibition originates from the own collection of Lennart Svedfelt, a prominent Swedish stage and TV entertainer borne in 1924 and known as ‘Svedino’. The man started purchasing cars and planes for the purpose of collecting them, in an era when a similar activity was hardly heard of. In 1961 he opened his collection as a permanent display, the first museum dedicated to cars in Sweden. Over the years, and even following his passing, the museum continued to grow, reaching more than 100 cars and 40 aircraft on display today!
Even though this is not an eminently military museum, despite the cars being beautiful civilian cars, most aircraft on display are military machines, including some remarkable items – therefore, Svedino’s perfectly fits within this chapter!
The cars on display make for a really unique collection, in and out of Sweden. A remarkable feature is especially the number and uniqueness of US-made cars from the inter-war period between WWI and WWII. In a first building, these include models by Chevrolet, Buick, Dodge, Nash, Oldsmobile, and more!
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Also some classic models from European manufacturers, like Opel, are on display. A special rarity is an Adler Trumpf from 1934. Adler, a German company from the 19th century active in the manufacture of petrol engines, operated in the car market for a relatively short time, roughly coincident with the Third Reich period. They made cars in the intermediate price segment, with good success. The company changed business following WWII, making Adler cars interesting collectible items representing car-making from a specific era.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
As expected from a Swedish museum, a full array of classic Volvo is on display! These include small trucks and saloons, and interesting models like the PV36 from the inter-war period. Similar to the PV830 and the iconic PV444 from the immediate post-WWII years, an influence of the contemporary American designs is undeniable in all these models.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Also on display are more modern vehicles employed as state cars. An interesting item is a very old Gräf & Stift, an Austrian luxury sedan from before WWI, salvaged from the bottom of a Swedish lake after spending there more than 40 years, and acquired by the museum.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Two interesting cars on display are personal designs from the early 1950s. In Sweden it was possible at that time to introduce privately-built cars, provided they could sustain a compliance check. An example of a fantasy car, with a rather aggressive design and physically assembled from parts of other cars, is on display. It was never completed nor allowed on the road. Another example, designed and made by the son of the industrialist Wennberg, reportedly roamed around all over the 1950s! This unique exemplar is on display with ‘factory markings’ HW.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
In a second adjoining building, a really valuable collection of even older cars, dating from earlier than 1930, is on display. Also here most items in the collection are from the US, a really rare sight on this side of the ocean! Looking at the elaborated labels of these oldies, made by Ford, Anderson, Seneca, and thinking of the craftsmen who personally assembled them back in the America of the early 1900s is really thought-provoking!
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Among the most unique cars on display is a Pierce-Arrow from 1918, sitting alongside a Haynes from the same year.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Moving on to another adjoining hall, here cars are on display alongside a few classic planes from the first half of the 20th century. A DeHavilland Moth, a Götaverken GV-38 seaplane (a licence-built Rearwin Sportster, a US design), as well as a German Klemm Kl-35 and a Focke-Wulf FW-44 designs, are on the list together with more light airplanes and a few engines.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
The latter include an original Rolls-Royce Goblin and Avon, respectively from a DeHavilland Vampire and a SAAB Draken, both in service with the Air Force of Sweden during the Cold War.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
A focus of the exhibition is on the memory of a pioneer of Swedish aviation industry, Enoch Tulin, who is the author of many ‘firsts’ in the aeronautical history of this Country – the largest aviation workshop to date before WWI (with 900 employees), the first air mail service, the first air rescue mission, and more. A graduated engineer, flight instructor and early aerobatic pilot, Tulin died in an airplane crash in 1919, after gaining unquestioned prominence in many fields of aeronautical industry and operation in his era.
A final adjoining hall concludes the oldest part of the exhibition premises. Here the spotlight is on a few fighters from the Cold War era, namely a SAAB J29 Tunnan, two DeHavilland Vampire, and even a SAAB J35 Draken.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
The latter is really a unique exemplar. As can be guessed by the monstrous red and white spine on the nose cone, typical to experimental aircraft and not a feature of the production machine, the one on display is actually the first prototype!
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Another curious item is a Soviet-made Kamov Ka-26 helicopter. Alongside the helicopter is a vintage advertisement from 1975, written in Swedish, and made by Aviaexport, a Soviet agency for the commercialization of Soviet aeronautical products abroad. Borne as an import-export, Aviaexport acted also as a recipient of foreign certification rules, spreading the growing body of western aeronautical regulation within the Soviet design bureaus, to the aim of keeping the quality standard to a level sufficient for commercialization in foreign countries. Actually, thanks to Aviaexport the Kamov Ka-26 received a type certification in Sweden, which allowed its commercialization and regular employment there. Aviaexport is still existent in today’s Russia.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Interspersed between closely-packed aircraft are more cars, including a beautiful Jaguar Mk V and an East-German Trabant, as well as aircraft engines.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
A massive Wright Cyclone R-3350 is among them – the power plant of the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7, often considered the pinnacle and swansong of American piston power, this massive 1.2 tons, 18 cylinders engine produced 3.700 hp of shaft power!
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s aircraft collection is mostly hosted in a modern hall added more recently beside the original museum’s building. The first item on display is an original Junkers Ju-52! This aircraft is among those license-built in Spain. It operated for some time as far as in California in the 1970s, being later transferred to Ireland, and finally here. The camouflage and markings reenact those of a Third Reich’s Luftwaffe machine force-landed in Sweden during WWII. The cockpit of the Ju-52 has been reproduced separately, to allow checking it without boarding this precious aircraft.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
As expected for a Swedish aircraft collection, the most prominent models which have served in the local Air Force are represented. These include a SAAB J32B Lansen, a Cold War attack aircraft from the 1950s, a SAAB SK60 trainer, and a SAAB J35 Draken – a production machine, not a prototype like in the previous hall.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
These aircraft are presented alongside their engines. The Swedish licence-built version of the Rolls-Royce Avon, named RM6A, powered the Lansen and later the Draken.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
The latest addition to the SAAB heritage on display is the J37 Viggen, here presented in the nice and distinctive camo coat of the Air Force of Sweden. This is presented alongside its mighty engine, the RM8A, a modified version of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Additionally, a display of an open nose cone allows to see the arrangement of the radar antenna of the Viggen.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
An interesting display case hosts the instrument panels, radar and reconnaissance gear of the Lansen, Draken and Viggen, as well as a collection of flight helmets and pilot’s gear, showing the evolution of this technical material over time.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
But the collection of Svedino’s is not limited to aircraft in service in Sweden. A Lockheed F-104 Starfighter from the Air Force of Denmark is on display, next to a Gloster Meteor early twin jet. The blue exemplar on display is a former factory demonstrator originally employed by Gloster, and later sold to Sweden for target towing (in a batch of seven aircraft).
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
A rarity to be found close by is a Percival P.66 Pembroke, a twin-engined multi-purpose transport from the early 1950s, employed for training and passenger transport within the Air Force. Manufactured in Britain in just 128 exemplars, this type was mostly sold abroad to Western-European Countries and in Africa. Sweden originally got a batch of 16.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Another British type on display is a Hawker Hunter, which was actually employed by Sweden as a stop-gap model in the late 1950s, waiting for the completion of the design and the entrance into service of the J35 Draken.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Another Soviet addition to the collection is a MiG-21. A Cold War veteran, this exemplar is Soviet-built, and served in Hungary until 1982 and later in the Latvian SSR.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
A recent addition to the exhibition is a Douglas Skyraider! Possibly overshadowed by the illustrious career the type enjoyed in the US Armed Forces, a part of the history of this massive attack aircraft is about Sweden. Some 13 exemplars were actually purchased by Sweden for target towing in the mid 1960 from Britain, which had got a larger batch from the US. The exemplar on display is an AD-4W, the early warning version of the Skyraider. It is currently (2024) being refurbished.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Among the biggest additions to the aircraft collection is actually an English Electric Canberra. As typical to this type, employed by the British for the first, high risk overflights of the Countries of the Soviet bloc before the high-performing Skunk Works aircraft became available, the Canberra (including its modified Martin version in the US) was employed for quintessentially Cold War signal intelligence missions opposite the Soviet Union. Two exemplars were employed also in Sweden from the early 1960s until the mid-1970s, and one of them is that on display.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
A curious item also on display is a one-off design which won a competitive call of the Aviation Engineering Association in Stockholm in 1988, and which was later actually built by its designers. Unfortunately, it was eventually never tested due to one of the owners need to quit for health issues when the aircraft was undergoing a certification test for obtaining airworthiness. The name of the prototype is LLS-1.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Scattered among the aircraft are more engines, radars, consoles, simulators, and more aircraft than described, making for an overall very rich and interesting visit.
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Svedino’s Automobile and Aviation Museum – Ugglarp – Sweden
Getting there and visiting
Svedinos Bil & Flygmuseum – this is the name of the museum in the local language – can be found in a nice countryside 15 miles north of the port town of Halmstad. The exact address is SE-311 69 Ugglarp.
The premises are rather compact, with a large parking ahead of the entrance. Fresh cookies, homemade sandwiches and cakes are available for a light lunch in the exotic lobby, matching in style with this unusual collection.
A visit may take 2 hours for an interested subject. Most items are described with modern panels in double language Swedish/English, making the visit very informative. The website with logistical information is 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.
The area around Jüterbog, about 1 hour and 15 minutes south of Berlin by car, has enjoyed a long military tradition, dating from the years of the Kaiser and WWI, through the Third Reich and all the more than four decades of the Cold War, until the departure of the Soviet Army in the early 1990s.
Almost for the entire duration of the 20th century, the area has been scattered with barracks, immense training grounds, shooting ranges, officer’s houses, army administration buildings, technical depots, airports and military academies.
The town of Jüterbog is actually much older than the 20th century, but the Soviets, who grew to a much greater population than the Germans in town after 1945, did not pay much attention to this nice medieval town. Following their withdrawal and the end of all military operations around, the town center received substantial money for restoration from the Government of reunified Germany, and the result is really remarkable – Jüterbog is today possibly one of the most lively and nice-looking centers in the region, with medieval towers, gates and churches, hotels, restaurants and bright-painted houses all around.
However, one hundred years of military activities in this province could not be wiped out at once, and despite nature is now invading the old army premises after operations ceased, to a careful eye the heritage of the German and Soviet Armies stationed there can be spotted quite easily, immediately out the lovely historical town.
Perhaps the most prominent witnesses of the past activities are the old flight academy, installed in the Third Reich years and later employed also by the Soviets, who got control of the area after they arrived in 1945, and kept it even after the foundation of the GDR and the corresponding Armed Forces (i.e. the Nationale Volksarmee, or NVA). The flight academy is today a listed building, despite in a state of partial disrepair. Another example is the big airbase of Jüterbog/Altes Lager, which went on operating as an NVA and Soviet airbase until the very end of the Cold War, and is now being used as a sport airfield, a kart circuit track, an event venue and a solar power plant.
In the following report, more locations in and around Jüterbog are pinpointed, photographed during two visits, partly guided by the knowledgeable Dr. Reiner Helling, in the Summer seasons of 2021 and 2022.
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The material in this post covers ‘Shelter Albrecht’, a one-of-a-kind private collection of items from WWII and especially from Soviet times, more views of the former airfield of Altes Lager, with a Granit bunker still in very good conditions, an abandoned military hospital with evident traces of Soviet operations, a Soviet cemetery, and a few more items, silent and overlooked witnesses of a recently bygone era.
The airbase of Jüterbog/Altes Lager was selected by the Soviets for further development with the arrival of jets in the late 1940s-early 1950s, and grew to be a prominent attack aircraft and helicopter base in the territory of the GDR. Now reduced in size to the point that some taxiways have been turned into public roads, some of the incredibly many aircraft shelters originally in place in the peripheral parts of the base – mostly AU-16 – have been wiped out. However, a set of two to the east of the runway have been spared this fate, and have been redeemed by a private business. One has been turned into a venue for events, whereas the other has been employed to showcase a great collection of WWII and Cold War memorabilia. Actually, the two hangars are located inside a somewhat larger perimeter, with an original technical building and room for even more exhibits.
A first impressive sight is the original Soviet scheme of the base. Similar signs were typically put close to the gate of any Soviet base (as seen for instance here in Ribnitz/Damgarten), and with their Russian writings today they witness the Soviet tenancy of the base.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
On the apron, an original military version of the ubiquitous Trabant, in army green color, is on display together with a field kitchen and a gigantic roadwork machine. The latter is Russian made, with tank tracks, and powered by a 12-cylinder Diesel engine.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
A Mil Mi-2 helicopter, which for some hard-to-imagine reason had ended up on the Adriatic coast of Italy in a private collection, where it sat almost derelict, has been brought back to the other side of the Iron Curtain, and restored in a camo coat and placed in a prominent position. Not far, a wing from an old Lavochin La-5 Soviet aircraft can be found.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Still on the open air exhibition are a decorated panel once gracing a Soviet hospital – possibly the one described later (here) – and another celebrating the Warsaw Pact. But the exhibits are really countless, and include propaganda posters, and canisters for ordnance.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
To the side of the main exhibition hangar, in the area of an interred fuel tank once serving the base, is an incredible set of Soviet panels, originally from this or other Soviet bases around. These panels are partly decoration/celebration signs, with portraits of Soviet soldiers and emblems.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Other are technically-themed, with explanations concerning driving habits and rules, hand-to-hand combat, and more. Similar items, including fake targets for assault training, can be found for instance in Forst Zinna, an abandoned Soviet base not far from Jüterbog (covered here).
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Also part of the collection is a rare mural, apparently retracing the push to the west of a Soviet division (?) during the Great Patriotic War.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Inside, the aircraft shelter is stuffed with interesting memorabilia. From WWII, exhibits include remains of downed aircraft, including damaged engines, propellers and canopies. Among them are remains of an Avro Lancaster, a Focke-Wulf 190, a Junkers Ju-87 and the canopy of a pretty rare training (two-seats) version of the Messerschmitt Bf-109.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Four large scale models cover as many interesting sights around. The first is the former flight academy of the Third Reich (mentioned above and covered here), north of the Altes Lager airbase premises. Also on display are books and furniture originally from the library of the academy.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
A second model portrays the entire area between the academy (north) and the airfield (south), including the latter. This area, now largely shrouded in the trees and partially in private hands, used to host technical installations and even factories connected with warfare business – all linked by an extensive network of roads and railways.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Another model is that of two airship hangars from the years of German tenancy. These had to be really huge, but are today completely gone. Among the factories in place in the area, were those for supplying gas for the airships.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Finally, a fourth scale model represents the older airfield of Jüterbog/Damm. The latter is not far from Altes Lager, and is today in private hands for some cattle breeding business. It features very peculiar concrete hangars, an interesting specimen of Third Reich construction engineering. Some aerial pictures can be found here. That airfield was not selected for further development by the Soviets, due to the limited potential for runway lengthening, in turn due to the proximity with Jüterbog town.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Soviet-related items on display range from painted tables, originally gracing the walls of the base, to technical signs in Russian, to a full array of personal and military items, all belonging to the Soviet staff stationed in Jüterbog. These include an interesting overall map of the Soviet airfields on GDR territory, with basic technical data.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Among the highlights, an official printed portrait of Stalin, and one of Brezhnev in a military uniform, parachutes and parts from attack aircraft, many direction signs and instructional panels for low-ranking military staff. Also very interesting is a radar scope with the three air corridors to West-Berlin and the position of Altes Lager printed on it!
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Of special interest for aircraft enthusiasts are many pictures from the days of operation of the airbase, with many exotic Soviet aircraft seen landing, departing or taxiing around.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Other panels tells about the presence of rocket forces in the area of Jüterbog – in particular the 27th R.Br. of the NVA. They operated the SCUD-B system.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Back outside, the exhibition is completed by an original monument from Altes Lager, often employed as a background for official ceremonies, and more personal memorabilia of the owner of the museum, formerly serving within a tank division of the NVA.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Reconstructed shops and schools are on display, with much original furniture and everyday items of Soviet make.
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Shelter Albrecht – Jüterbog – Altes Lager – Soviet Cold War and WWII memorabilia collection
Getting there and Visiting
The place is really worth a visit for everybody interested in memorabilia items from Soviet times, or for those looking for tangible traces of the military past of Jüterbog. The location is easy to reach by car, with a convenient internal parking. The address is Niedergörsdorfer Allee 4, 14913 Niedergörsdorf, Germany.
An updated official website with opening times is apparently not available. However, Mr. Helmut Stark, the owner of the place, may be contacted beforehand (in German only) to inquire about opening times and plan a visit – try Googling his name and that of the site for updated contacts. The place is regularly open at least in the weekends in the warm season. A visit to this site will be likely with Mr. Stark following you and giving explanations in German. This will take about 45 minutes.
Granit Bunker and Hangars in Jüterbog/Altes Lager
Some views of the Altes Lager airbase are provided in this chapter, and some aerial views can be seen here. The huge, flat-top hangars date from the Third Reich era, and similarly the control tower with its annexes. Some of the hangars were reportedly dismounted by the Soviets and taken to the Soviet Union soon after the end of WWII.
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Besides all the aircraft shelters scattered all around the runway, a relevant and pretty secluded Soviet addition north of the airfield is a Soviet Granit-type bunker. This type of bunker was among the lightest in Soviet inventory, and could serve multiple purposes, e.g. storing movable radar trucks, tanks, other machinery, or weapons. Actually, its presence on an airfield may suggest the purpose of storing special air-dropped weapons, maybe tactical nuclear, high-explosive or chemical ordnance.
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Jüterbog Altes Lager Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit Cold War Nuclear Warheads
Bunkers of Granit-type are possibly the most frequent special constructions in former Soviet bases (see for instance here or here), but the one in Jüterbog is interesting since it is very well conserved, and its massive metal doors are still perfectly in place, providing a nice impression of how this technical item should have looked like in the days of operation.
Getting there and Visiting
The airport of Altes Lager is today pretty busy, with several companies having taken over much of its original premises now open for business. Multiple access points are available, and chances of looking inside the original installations are many. Given the still exceptional state of conservation of the Granit bunker, in order to protect this rare historical artifact from the impressive hordes of catatonic idiot spoilers and writers out there, no indication is provided on its exact location.
Military Hospital
Among the buildings now shrouded by the overgrown vegetation in the area between Jüterbog/Altes Lager airfield and the town of Jüterbog is a sizable military hospital. Totally invisible from the road, the hospital is basically made of a single, building featuring three long interconnected rows.
It is made of the typical German dark-red brick, a design which is way too elegant for Soviet occupants. The arrangement of the facade and the nice railings suggest a construction date from the years of the Kaiser and the German Empire, maybe early 20th century.
However, the years of Soviet use are witnessed by a big mural, portraying Lenin with some Soviet soldiers in the background, with a black and yellow striped ribbon and a red star, emblems of the Red Army.
The aura is very silent and mysterious, and as such, this location is a mecca for urban explorers. Actually, the only noise came from a fast spinning ventilation fan in a window frame! This was pushed by an air stream however, not likely by a motor…
Some more buildings complete this complex, and original GDR-style lamps can still be seen around – the tall trees now surrounding the building were likely not in place when the hospital was closed, presumably in the early 1990s.
Not difficult to find in the trees between Jüterbog and the airfield of Altes Lager, there is no clear interdiction sign to access this complex from behind, yet vibration sensors planted in the ground can be spotted around, and some security cars can be seen sometimes parked on the main road. A walk around the hospital is not especially dangerous nor difficult, and may take about 25 minutes taking all the pictures. The building is architecturally nice and possibly listed. Yet it is in partial disrepair and largely sealed, and getting in is obviously not advisable.
Soviet Cemetery
The only relic of the years of Soviet occupation which is immediately visible to the general public in Jüterbog is the Soviet military cemetery. This is located to the back of the Liebfrauenkirche, in the historical center of Jüterbog.
Actually, a monumental part, with railings embellished with hammer and sickle emblems and a monument with writings in German and Russian to the back, is detached from the church yard.
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
However, possibly in later times, the limited space available in the lot originally planned for the monument meant some graves were dug right in the church graveyard, side by side – but not mixed – with German graves.
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Jüterbog Soviet Cemetery Friedhof
Getting there and Visiting
The exact address is Am Dammtor, 14913 Jüterbog, Germany. The place is well-kept, being part of the historical city center of Jüterbog. Parking opportunities all around on the street. A visit may take 10 minutes.
Railway Yard, School and Command Building
The town of Jüterbog acted as a ‘local capital’ for the many Soviet troops and their families scattered in the corresponding district. The hospital (see above) was not the only large installation in place. A district school was also installed, which served not only the very town of Jüterbog – with a Russian-speaking population of more than 70.000, greater than the German nationals – but also the residing Soviet population of smaller technical installations in the area. A notable example is the impressive nuclear depot in Stolzenhain (see here), where a dedicated staff and their families occupied four residential blocks now gone. Their children reportedly attended school in Jüterbog.
The school is today largely abandoned, and a quick tour around reveals typical Soviet decorations in the large sporting hall.
Jüterbog Soviet School Abandoned Cold War Relic
Jüterbog Soviet School Abandoned Cold War Relic
Jüterbog Soviet School Abandoned Cold War Relic
Jüterbog Soviet School Abandoned Cold War Relic
The school building is geographically close to the railway station. The latter had a passenger terminal dedicated to the Soviet population, which was completely segregated from the German one.
Furthermore, the railway in Jüterbog had also a primary logistic function, connected with the military activities going on in the area. Besides transporting tanks, vehicles and other material, also nuclear warheads arrived by rail from Belarus or Ukraine (both in the USSR at the time), for storage in the Stolzenhain Monolith-type bunkers (see here). A special railway track with a dead end in the trees featured a special interchange platform, allowing to move the sensitive warheads in their controlled canisters to trucks, and by road to Stolzenhain – usually at night. Since warheads were also sent back for maintenance or overhaul, the transport operated also in the opposite direction.
Jüterbog Railway Track Station
Jüterbog Railway Track Station
Very close to the railway station and the school is also a large grassy area, surrounded by a nice, old-style metal fence. This area is that of an older training ground, dating to the years of the Kaiser. A command building, now in disrepair, betrays the same origin, featuring decorations in a typical old-German style.
Jüterbog Command Building Abandoned Relic
Jüterbog Command Building Abandoned Relic
Jüterbog Command Building Abandoned Relic
Getting there and Moving around
The school can be found in Jüterbog here. Cross the street from the school, the old training grounds and command building are immediately spotted. Walking north past the command building, you get access to a pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks, with a nice view of the station. An exploration of the railway tracks has to be considered extremely dangerous, since the railway line there is today a high-speed one, with bullet-fast trains appearing in just seconds. A walk around this spot in Jüterbog may take 15 minutes. Parking opportunities ahead of the command building.
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Romania has been ruled by a communist dictatorship since the early Cold War period until the fall of Ceausescu in December 1989. The monarchy had been basically put aside by a military authoritarian government in the 1930s. The latter took the side of Hitler’s Third Reich during WWII. Eventually, towards the closing of the war, Stalin’s Red Army irresistibly wiped out all opponents in Eastern Europe, including Romania. A Stalinist regime, characterized by forced collectivization, mass arrest and persecution of many social categories, as well as political opponents, was put in place soon after the end of WWII, with the backing of the invading Soviet forces. A similar scenario was encountered in almost every Nation captured by the Soviet Union after WWII.
Following a struggle between rival exponents of the Communist Party of Romania, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej emerged as a dictator in those early years, and managed to stay in the pilot’s seat until his death in 1965, thus surviving the confusion in the USSR following the death of Stalin in 1953, and for the full length of weather-cocking Khrushchev’s tenancy of power. Among the most infamous creations of this period was the Securitate, the equivalent of USSR KGB, or the East-German Stasi (or the Third Reich’s Gestapo…). Actually, publications by the former Romanian Securitate official Ion Pacepa, who defected to the US in the late 1970s, have documented the intimate relationship of the Securitate with KGB, in some of the most delicate and long-reaching disinformation operations carried out in the West.
Besides that, in order to preserve the statu quo, political opponents, non-communist scientists, artists, exponents of the Romanian Christian churches, and many other target categories and individuals were subject to attentive and constant controls within Romanian borders. These controls were often followed by arrest, long detention in labor camps and prisons, and in several instances by execution, or mysterious ‘deaths in prison’, cowardly attributed to fancy causes.
A surviving tangible symbol of what is possibly the darkest chapter of the monstrous communist dictatorship in Romania is represented by the Sighet Prison, in the northern region of Targu Mures, on todays border with the Ukraine. Turned into a memorial, this is much visited by Romanians and foreign visitors as well. This is described in this chapter.
A big country with vast natural resources and access to the Black Sea, Romania had the potential of a big economy. But as Sir Winston Churchill once said, communists would run quickly out of sand in the Sahara. Industrialization and mass production was carried out at the price of an increasing international debt. The state was everywhere, it employed every worker, but the state had debts. As a result, wages, services and living conditions started to decline significantly with respect to free economies over the years.
Following the death of Gheorghiu-Dej, the relatively young and energetic Nicolae Ceausescu conquered power. He would reign over Romania together with his wife Elena, until the demise of communism in Romania and in Europe. For Romania, the Ceausescu era differed to some extent from the previous chapter of the Cold War. Profiting from the struggle for supremacy in the communist universe between China and the USSR, Romania escaped the orbit of any major communist state, and tried a new way on his own, establishing tight economic and political links with the West. This was somewhat similar to what Tito had tried in Yugoslavia.
Sealing the renovated international image of the Romanian ‘People’s Republic’, president Nixon and Ford payed a visit to Ceausescu in the 1970s, the first and last US presidents to do so, and Ceausescu’s ride on Queen Elizabeth II’s golden coach in London is a popular image even today. The Romanian dictator visited the White House. However, in a move to balance international debt, a growing share of the Romanian rich domestic production was sold to foreign countries. Correspondingly, life conditions in Romania went lower and lower.
Two interesting collections exist in Romania offering a glimpse on the everyday life of the Romanian people, the ‘Museum of the Communist Consumer’ in Timisoara, and the ‘Museum of Communism’ in Hunedoara. Both are covered in this post.
The situation spiraled at the beginning of the 1980s, when the Ceausescus started to behave more like Olympic gods than ‘usual’ communist dictators. The growing cult of personality of Nicolae and Elena as geniuses in economics, politics, science, art, … is witnessed by statues, emblems with the faces of the ‘royal couple’, kitschy communist paraphernalia which were more typical to Stalin’s last years, and not to other countries in the Eastern Bloc – there were no statues of Honecker in the DDR, nor of Kadar in Hungary, despite the hardcore communist regime affecting both countries. Meanwhile, the living conditions in the country hit an all-time low, with a real famine hitting large shares of the population. The sharp contrast with the Hollywood living style exhibited by the Ceausescus widened the distance between the autocratic government and the Romanian people. Strict control and intrusion in private life by the state, increased all along Ceausescu’s era, became even more paranoid, to try preventing any subversive action by the population.
Triggered by the surprise fall of the wall in Berlin, an inevitable eruption started with riots in Timisoara, and quickly spread in other large towns of the Country, in the fall of 1989. This culminated in the first and last public mass opposition to Ceausescu in Bucharest, just days before Christmas 1989. A full-scale revolution was started, with people shooting in the streets, casualties and deaths. The Ceausescus fled the palace of the government in Bucharest by helicopter. They landed in Targoviste, some tens of miles north, only to be captured by the local military. They were summarily trialed an executed shortly after, on Christmas day 1989, putting and end to the communist rule in Romania.
The trial and death of the Ceausescus have been captured on a video, broadcast worldwide in many occasions as a historical document since then. Possibly less known is the fact that the location where the Ceausescus were shortly detained, trialed and executed is today a monument, which has been preserved since those days with its original 1989 appearance, and can be easily visited. A report is displayed in this post.
Photographs were taken during a visit in the summer of 2021.
The Sighet Prison is located in the town of Sighetu Marmatiei, in the hilly region of Targu Mures, northern Romania, on the border with Ukraine (i.e. the USSR). The prison was built in the 19th century when this territory was part of the Austrian Empire.
Following the end of WWII, the Soviet-controlled territory of defeated Romania, just like any other future Soviet satellite country, was object of roundups against some groups, like former men from the military, religious ministers, politicians,… who amidst the lack of an established law system were arbitrarily deported to the Soviet Union. At this time, Sighet was used as a kind of transit camp for people on their way to deportation. This was mostly similar to what happened in Hohenschönhausen in Berlin (see here).
The prison then took over the primary role of a detention center for people opposing the new communist regime, and it was used as such at least until the death of Stalin in 1953. In 1955 it was converted into a standard prison for common criminals, despite only a general amnesty in the mid 1960s meant the liberation of the last political prisoners – quite similarly, the Gulag prison camp system in the USSR was dismantled by around the end of the 1950s.
In the years of Stalin, who backed a hardcore communist government in Romania, the Sighet Prison was therefore an instrument of repression, arbitrarily used against very high-profile people opposing communism, like former top members of the pre-WWII government, non-communist party leaders, professors and scientists, bishops and ministers of various Christian faiths. But also anti-communist students and less prominent figures went through this deadly installation.
The inmates in Sighet were mistreated to the point that many died there, including some prominent figures in the history of Romania.
The prison was closed in the late 1970s, to be duly re-opened as a memorial the early 1990s. The former prison building – not very big, similar to an average high-school building – has been almost totally taken over by a very rich and interesting exhibition. Today, this is a major destination for both Romanian and international visitors.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Starting from the entrance hall, you are provided with information on the detention system put in place by the communists in Romania. This was pretty extensive, with labor camps (to be found also elsewhere in central Europe, from the same Stalinist era, see here), prisons with various ‘targets’ – including the in-famous Pitesti prison, made specifically for religious people, and remarkably demolished still in the communist era, soon after the conclusion of the homonym ‘experiment’ – psychiatric hospitals used for confinement of mentally healthy people, etc.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
The original gates, grates and fences, dividing the halls of the prison, are still there. The main row is on two floors, with cells aligned along both sides. Most of the cells now host informative displays, covering several specific themes.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
The exhibits range from copies of documents witnessing the arbitrary arrest of many people, fake death reports with fancy causes, to collection of articles showing the careful use of the press to build up a ‘parallel reality’, in support of the moves of the government. Lists of inmates by category are also presented.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Extorted confessions of absurd crimes were among the goals of the detention of political inmates. These were obtained with torture and violence (typical to the every communist dictatorship, as accurately shown in Budapest, see here).
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Some of the cells, including those where some particularly famous people died, have been preserved with their original appearance.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
A rigor cell, with shackles anchored to the floor and no windows, has been left as it was. Artifacts made by the inmates are also on display.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Several cells on the top floor cover the history of communism in Europe and in Romania, with some artifacts, copies of pictures and documents.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
The prison features a double courtyard, where memorial installations have been placed – a sculpture, a memorial wall, and a nice modern chapel.
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
Sighet Prison Memorial Museum – Communist Dictatorship Political Prisoners – Sighetu Marmatiei – Maramures – Romania
All in all, a sober place, which preserves and relives sad memories, quintessential to the communist experience of this fierce country.
Visiting
The town of Sighetu Marmatiei is a major center in Targu Mures, but is nothing special in itself. However, due to its strategic position, it is likely you will have chance to pass by. Access to the memorial is from a walking area in the town center. A signaled parking can be found immediately nearby, providing easy access to the site. Entrance is at a small fee. The exhibition is modern, detailed and catchy. Most explanations are in Romanian only, but free detailed booklets in several languages are included in the entrance fee. Therefore, even for non-Romanian speakers, visiting may be rewarding, and a visit may easily take 1-2 hours.
Museum of the Communist Consumer, Timisoara
This collection is really unusual, in both its setting and arrangement. It is located in the basement and ground floor of a pub, in what appears to be a former apartment. Especially the basement – which however gets some sunlight – features some rooms like a kitchenette, a living room, a corridor, a small studio.
The content is partly the result of – possibly – the original furniture of this apartment, or a similar one, as well as – literally – thousands of everyday items, everything from the communist age.
Furthermore, the museum is ‘interactive’, meaning that you can touch everything, take items in your hands, move around everywhere, as if you were at home!
Licenses and personal documents from Romanian authorities, product labels, books, LPs, … you might spend hours digging in this incredible mass of original material.
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Postcards from the communist age are especially interesting, showing popular locations in Romania, portrayed sometimes from… a different perspective. Differently from today, the subject of postcards was typically a monster apartment block in pure socialist brutalism style, newly built in the peripheral surroundings, rather than some castle or graceful Orthodox monastery in the historical district! But these were the triumphs of communism to show off…
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Some souvenirs from the USSR are also on display, similar to many ‘Made in CCCP’ technology items – from a vacuum cleaner loosely resembling a rocket, to LP record players.
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
There are gas masks, maps of Romania – possibly from a school or public office? – and a few remarkable official emblems of the Communist Party of Romania, including an embroidered red banner, and a few big portraits of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. These also might result from the dismantlement of a public office, school, communist workers group, or similar.
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
The upper floor is partly a collection, partly a pub, with a nice ‘exotic’ atmosphere.
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Museum of Communist Consumers – Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist – Timisoara – Romania
Definitely a pick for a full immersion in the everyday life in the communist age of Romania.
Visiting
The location of the museum (‘Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist’ in Romanian) is slightly peripheral with respect to the large historical district of Timisoara. The location is in Strada Arhitect Laszlo Szekely 1, Timișoara. It is convenient to reach with a car, parking is possible almost everywhere around, as usual in Romania. Entrance is free. They have a Facebook page with some information here. Do not be discouraged by the front appearance, which may look sealed. Entrance is possible from the little pergola to the back of the building. Visiting may take from 30 minutes to much more, in case you decide to dig into this impressive collection.
Museum of Communism, Hunedoara
This remarkable collection has been put in place privately by a Romanian now living mostly in Germany. The exhibition is articulated in four halls.
A first one showcases original reviews and newspapers from the communist era. Official portraits of Gheorghiu-Dej and Ceausescu can be seen hanging on the walls, similar to official material from the Romanian communist party (the acronym ‘PCR’).
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
The main hall has on display reconstructions of two rooms, one from a railway workers building, and another from a general grocery store. Both have been created based on original emblems, instructional posters, propaganda posters, and various celebration items.
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
A third hall hosts the reconstruction of an elementary classroom. Everything original also here, and the atmosphere which has been recreated is particularly exotic and authentic – see for instance the similarity of the items on display with respect to an original Soviet school ‘preserved’ in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, here and here.
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Further display cases are stuffed with original items, from medals and decorations to propaganda material.
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
The last room in this museum hosts a collection of uniforms, from the communist age down to the post-communist years. The change is reflected mainly in a different emblem on the official’s hats.
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
Museum of Communism – Permanent Exhibition of the Steps of Romania from Socialism to Democracy -Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație – Hunedoara – Romania
This collection is very well preserved, and makes for an interesting complement to a visit to Hunedoara, a popular destination thanks to the Corvins’ Castle.
Visiting
The museum is located in central Hunedoara, Strada Cloșca Nr 2. A small parking can be found ahead, plenty of parking opportunities around. The rather articulated full name in Romanian is ‘Muzeul Comunismului – Expoziție Permanentă Pașii României prin Socialism și Democrație’, but the first part is basically ‘Museum of Communism’. There is a Facebook page with some information here. The owner is very friendly, and the place is well maintained and presented. Please note that only cash is accepted. The exhibition is rather compact, and visiting may take about 30 minutes.
Ceausescu Trial and Shooting Place, Targoviste
In December 1989 things degenerated rapidly for the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Starting from Timisoara, riots became more violent and focused, asking for the deposition of Ceausescu from power. In a desperate move to induce the general public and the international press to believe he still retained control, a mass demonstration was set up in Bucharest on December 21st by the communist leader. Despite a huge crowd – mass-infiltrated by the Securitate – was ahead of the palace of the government to listen to the Ceausescus (see this post), a genuine counter-demonstration fueled by the population of Bucharest soon took control of the show. The incredible scene which resulted, with Ceausescu trying to silence the protesters and visibly loosing credit and power second after second at an impressive rate, has become a historical document and a symbol of the demise of communism dictatorship in Europe.
The following day (22nd), the Ceausescus, trapped in the Palace of the Government now besieged, escaped from the roof with a helicopter in the early afternoon. In the meanwhile, revolutionaries faced the governmental militia, and shots were fired in the streets, with many victims and wounded. But the revolutionary wave continued to grow and spread very rapidly all over the country, with branches of the public administration and military abandoning the ‘sinking ship’ of Ceausescu, and openly taking the side of the protesters in several districts of the Country.
The helicopter with the Ceausescus landed in Targoviste, and by the evening they were under arrest there, in the Army Barrack 01417. There they were confined and kept under strict armed surveillance, in a decent, albeit essential room, together. Finally, on December 25th, they were summoned in an adjoining room, where they were trialed by an improvised court, mainly composed of military staff. The couple was charged with very general imputations, including genocide of some tens of thousands people, as well as destroying the economy of the state. They were found guilty, sentenced to death and executed soon after in the courtyard of the barrack.
Both the trial and (the last part of) the execution by firing squad were filmed and broadcast, and this too is a well-known historical document.
Maybe the fact that you have seen this on TV makes a visit to Barrack 01417 particularly impressive. The former barrack, now a rather understated memorial, can be approached through the small front courtyard, where you can read a detailed description in multiple languages (including English) of the facts briefly outlined above.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The entry hall of the barrack is painted in an unusual vivid blue, and clearly dates from before the communist age – maybe from the early 20th century. Three rooms are accessible from the hall. One is the ticket office. A second one is a preserved office of an officer of the barrack. Telephone connections, maps and a cabinet with original communist propaganda material are on display.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The last room accessible from the hall is the one where the trial took place. This has been preserved exactly as it looked like in the video, with the same arrangement of the tables and chairs. A massive stove is still there. The positions of the defendants is marked with labels. Everything is very shabby here. An adjoining room was used by the court for the quick discussion and decision on the fate of the Ceausescus.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The aura of this semi-dark room is still today rather gloomy, and somewhat disturbing.
From the main hall, you can access a corridor. A door on the side is the entrance to the room where the Ceausescus were kept in custody from the 22nd until their death on the 25th of December. Three berths can be seen – one possibly for a guard – a front desk facing the door, and in a corner a small table with two chairs for meals, once protected by a curtain.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The toilet to the dead end of the corridor is possibly also original from the time.
Finally, you may step outside in the backyard, to the place were the two were actually shot. The door giving access to the courtyard is close to the trial room, and cannot be opened.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The wall behind the Ceausescus where they were shot is still marked by bullet pierces. Based on the video, automatic rifles were used, therefore really many bullets were shot at the two targets.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
The places of the dead corpses of Elena (to the left) and Nicolae are marked on the ground.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
A plaque on the wall remembers the shooting. With respect to the video, the area immediately ahead of the shooting place, i.e. where the firing squad should have been standing, is now covered by some bushes. However, apart from that, the setting looks mostly like what you see in the historical records from that moment.
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Ceausescu’s Detention and Execution Place – Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu – Targoviste – Romania
Clearly connected with a rapid sequence of undoubtedly tragic moments, the Targoviste memorial stands out as a symbol of the – this time, violent – end of communism in Europe, like the memorials of the wall in Berlin, and a few more locations in former communist countries in the Old Continent.
Visiting
The memorial is not much visited nor crowded these days – more than 30 years have elapsed since that fateful day in 1989. However, the place is indeed a museum open to the general public for visits. The name of the place in Romanian is ‘Locul executiei cuplului Ceausescu’. The exact location is Bulevardul Carol I 68, Târgoviște. You may find a public parking on the street in the immediate vicinity of the boulevard where the barrack is. Unfortunately, opening times are not officially published (even on site, they were not clear), but those you can find on Google Maps were correct in the summer high season. Visiting is on a self-guided basis, and may take from 10 to 45 minutes, for a quick visit or in case you want to take pictures.
A visit to the three Caucasian republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – today offers much to virtually any type of traveler. An incredible range of sceneries can be found there, from beaches to mountain ridges, from abundant traces of a multi-millennial civilization to futuristic skyscrapers and oil rigs.
As recent history has dramatically shown, these countries are inhabited by markedly different, deeply divided populations. Furthermore, all three of course still have a complicated relationship with their gigantic neighbor, Russia, which shares a border with both Georgia and Azerbaijan – with some unsolved uncertainties especially with the former, as shown in the cases of the contended territories of Abkhazia and Ossetia. On the other hand, Armenia is historically at loggerheads with Turkey, with which it shares a long – and impenetrable – border.
The three Caucasian nations have suffered the influence of stronger powers for ages. Constant clashes between Czar’s Russia and the Turks meant the loss of independence for long. As a matter of fact, both today’s Georgia and Azerbaijan where under Russia, and Armenia under the Turks, when WWI broke out. Soon after the war, short-lived independent nations were extirpated by the deadly action of the communist Bolsheviks, invading from Russia. The three Caucasian nations were forcibly incorporated in the Soviet Union, creating an artificial, uncomfortable friendship between each other and with Russia.
For roughly seven decades the three nations were on the southern border of the USSR, sharing a frontier with Turkey and Persia (later Iran). Turkey collaborated with the Third Reich in WWII, and later joined NATO, hosting – as it still does today – Western military forces on its territory. That border with the USSR was very active in the Cold War years. Aerial espionage missions were flown by the US from Turkey, ballistic missiles were installed, gigantic radar plants were put in place by the Soviets, who also manufactured MiGs in the outskirts of the Georgian capital – really a hot region in the Cold War!
As soon as the Soviet power started to creak at the very end of the 1980s, national movements faced again, eventually leading to the birth of independent nations as we know them today. This was not without a deadly struggle however, as for the case of Azerbaijan, mostly relevant for its oil reserves and the border with Iran. Furthermore, religious and cultural differences and unsolved disputes over the actual borders among each other meant that these three nations were never friends over the last three decades.
Besides this complicated geopolitical inheritance, the long-lasting Soviet tenancy of the three Caucasian Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) left traces, of course. Some highlights among the architectural leftovers of Soviet times are presented in this post, from all three Republics. Monuments, from Soviet times, or celebrating independence from the Soviets, are similarly included. Further traces are preserved in museums – military museums dating from the Soviet era, like in Gori (Stalin’s birth town in Georgia, see this post) and Yerevan, history museums like in Baku and Tbilisi, or collections of artifacts from Soviet times, like the world-class Auto-Museum next to the airport in Tbilisi.
Photographs are from a long visit to the Caucasus in summer 2019.
A fine example of Soviet-times architecture, Republic Square – originally named Lenin’s Square – was designed in the mid-1920s, soon after the creation of the USSR, and was actually built little by little, reaching completion in the 1970s. It is a great example of Soviet-classicism, contaminated by some Armenian motifs – Armenia boasts an original architectural school originating several centuries ago, and particularly evident in medieval Armenian churches.
The focal point, once a statue of Lenin at the center of the square and pulled down in the 1990s, is possibly the front facade of the rich History Museum of Armenia, in a pale color and openly recalling the lines of the beautiful monasteries to be found in the country.
Besides the museum building, fronted by a huge fountain, the oval shaped square is defined by four more buildings, coordinated in terms of volumes and colors. The frieze on some of the buildings is centered on the usual Soviet iconography – five-pointed stars, sickles, harvest, …
The easternmost building with a clock tower used to be the seat of the government of the Armenian SSR, and is now the palace of the Armenian Government.
Centrally located in Yerevan, you can reach this place in several ways. You probably won’t miss it if traveling to the Armenian capital city. Just note that parking is not possible on the square.
Cascade, Yerevan
A large – better, a monster-size… – stairway, climbing uphill from central Yerevan to a residential uptown neighborhood, was designed in the early 1970s and built in two stages, both in the 1970s and in the 2000s.
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
The stairway is interrupted by platforms, with sculptures and fountains, which make it look pretty irregular and full of details to discover.
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Access to the famous Cafesjian Museum is along the stairway.
As of 2021, the complex is unfinished, still missing a planned building on top. The stairway offers a beautiful view of Yerevan, basically in its entirety. The panorama reaches to Turkey and mount Ararat.
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Yerevan weird architecture – Armenia
Visiting
This is a highlight in town you won’t probably miss. A climb with a taxi to the top is recommended, descending the stairway instead of climbing it, especially on torrid summer days.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park, Yerevan
A unique sight in the former SSRs of the Caucasian area, the Mother Armenia statute is a typical relic of the Cold War, like you can find elsewhere in Russia or more rarely in the Soviet satellite countries of Eastern Europe.
The statue was born as a commemorative monument for the effort of the Armenian SSR in the Great Patriotic War. Having been designed soon after WWII, when Stalin was still the leader of the USSR, the monument was pretty different from now – a huge statue of Stalin used to stand on top of the huge pillar! This was removed in the early 1960s, being swapped with a nicer statue resembling an Armenian young woman, and titled ‘Mother Armenia’.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
The base of the monument features a few decorations, based on typical Soviet iconography.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Around the monument, in what is called Victory Park, a few specimens of Soviet military technology are there to see. These include a few tanks, missiles and aircraft.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Ahead of the monument, an eternal flame is still lighted today (invisible in the pics due to the extreme sunlight). A majestic perspective leads to a balcony, from where you can enjoy a nice view of the Armenian capital city.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Armenia & Yerevan
Armenia & Yerevan
Armenia & Yerevan
Armenia & Yerevan
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
The base of the statue is home to a war museum, conceived in Soviet times, and later updated with documents over the most recent Armenian war actions.
The latter, including the countless clashes with Azerbaijan and Turkey, are documented on the much visited ground floor, besides the main hall.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
A part on the same floor is dedicated to the actions of soldiers from the Armenian SSR in Soviet times, and more generally to the Cold War period.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Little or no attention is devoted by visitors to the rich collection on the underground floor, mostly centered on the actions of the Red Army against Hitler’s Wehrmacht in WWII.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Here the exhibition is very rich of relics from both the German and Russian sides, including weapons, papers, uniforms, … Several maps retrace the epic battles and actions, leading to the defeat of the German military machine.
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Portraits of generals, insignia and mottoes in Russians, not limited to the actions in WWII, relive the genuine ‘Soviet remembrance’ feeling, to be appreciated also in similar museums like in Kiev (see here) or Moscow (see here).
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Mother Armenia & Victory Park – Soviet Military Museum, Yerevan, Armenia
Visiting
Reaching Victory Park, where the monument is immersed, is easy with a taxi, or climbing uphill from downtown on top of the Cascade described previously. Visiting inside the monument is totally recommended for curious visitors, war history enthusiast and similar folks. Nothing can be found in a western language. A visit of about 45 minutes may suffice for a rich overview of the inside exhibition.
Railway Station, Matenadaran, Opera Theater & Other buildings in town, Yerevan
Soon after its annexation to the USSR, Armenia started receiving many prototypical items of Soviet architecture. However, like in the case of Republic Square (see above), some buildings were designed by local architects, including elements of traditional Armenian style.
A typically Soviet building in Yerevan is the Railway Station, dating from the 1950s, still featuring the emblem of the Armenian SSR on top of a tall spine, and double Russian/Armenian signs on top.
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
Erevan Soviet-style stalinist railway station with emblem – Armenia
An example of a blend between Armenian architecture and Soviet ‘magnificence’ is constituted by the Matenadaran, designed soon after WWII (Stalin’s era), to host a unique world-class collection of ancient books and papers.
This enigmatic building, despite of course imposing, is definitely not the usual Soviet ‘monster block’ like other museums elsewhere in Soviet capital cities.
Similarly peculiar is the Opera Theater, dating back again to the years of Stalin. Soviet pomp is scaled down to Armenian proportions, and the color of local stone makes the outcome different from buildings with a similar function in other communist capital cities.
Other examples of Soviet buildings can be found scattered in downtown Yerevan, which is generally speaking a nice-looking, neat city center. These include residential buildings, as well as hotels and more.
With the exception of the railway station, located south of the city center, all sights just cited can be found in the very center of Yerevan, at a walking distance from one another, highlights along a nice stroll in the area.
Mikoyan Brothers Museum, Alaverdi
Besides the gorgeous monasteries gracing the area of Sanahin, in the northernmost part of Armenia, an unmissable destination in the area for seekers of Soviet relics and aviation enthusiasts is the home of the two Mikoyan brothers.
For aviation connoisseurs, the name ‘Mikoyan’ is one of the most prominent – the ‘M’ in the acronym ‘MiG’ being borrowed from the surname of Artem Mikoyan. This marvelous aircraft designer, whose design bureau grew to top fame in the Cold War period, created with his designs the backbone of the fighter force of the USSR and all its Eastern Bloc satellites. Some of his models have been manufactured in the highest numbers in aviation history, and have served in the Air Forces of the world for several decades. The firm remained alive well after the collapse of the USSR, until the (Russian) state-imposed incorporation of several aircraft design bureaus in a single conglomerate, in the early 2000s.
Possibly less-known today, but a really prominent personality in his era, and perhaps even more influential in recent history than his brother, was Anastas Mikoyan. This was a member of the Soviet Politburo since its foundation in the years of the civil war following the communist revolution in 1917, until 1965 – i.e. managing to stay on top for the entire length of Stalin’s and Khrushchev’s reigns, and resigning only some time after Brezhnev had taken the lead. He over-viewed production in the USSR, acted as an emissary to the US and Cuba in the years of the Kennedy administration, and especially during the missile crisis in 1962.
The two Mikoyan brothers were born in the small mountainous town of Alaverdi, Armenia, where a monument and museum was created back in Soviet times to commemorate their achievements.
The most notable feature, really an unexpected view in this mountain town, is a MiG-21 placed under a concrete canopy, with inscriptions nearby. This supersonic fighter is a true icon of the Cold War, and of course a good way to commemorate Artem Mikoyan’s contribution to aviation history.
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
The museum is housed in a small building, where visiting is with a guide (English speaking) and photography forbidden and impossible. Several artifacts, pictures and papers unfold the life of the two brothers, since their birth in this village until their respective rise to prominence and success.
An old Soviet car, likely belonging to one of the two (unclear), can be found in an adjoining building.
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Despite a primary touristic destination, the area around Alaverdi and the town itself is (as of 2019) a prototype of post-Soviet decay, with a monster-size, partly abandoned factory building dominating the valley, and old-fashioned, shabby working-class blocks scattered along a road in poor conditions, where buses dating back to the Soviet middle-ages move people around.
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Mikoyan MiG memorial – Alaverdi, Armenia
Visiting
Visiting the museum is recommended for all aviation enthusiasts and for those interested in the Cold War. The town is a tourist destination thanks to the beautiful monasteries. The museum and monument can be visited in less than 1 hour by a committed visitor.
Sights in Azerbaijan
Museum Center, Baku
One of the few prominent remains of Soviet Baku, the Museum Center has taken over the former building of the Lenin Museum, born in the the early 1960s to celebrate the achievements of communism in the USSR (?).
Today this relatively small building hosts several institutions, including a museum on the history of Azerbaijan. The latter includes many pics and smaller artifacts from older and more recent history. Among them, mock-ups of the famous statues in Berlin-Treptow (see here) as well as the one in Volgograd can be found. The museum covers also the contribution to the history of the country made by the influential Heydar Aliyev, a former member of the Soviet Politburo and first president of newborn Azerbaijan.
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
However, the Soviet roots of the building are clearly visible in the details of parts of the decoration, which include hammer and sickles on the facade as well as inside. The Soviet-neoclassic architecture of the exterior, and some evident miscalculations in the size of the stairs inside (the ceiling is embarrassingly low!), are other distinctive features of communist design.
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku Museum Center Lenin Soviet Communist architecture, Azerbaijan
Visiting
Centrally located along the nice seaside park, this museum is worth a visit for the small art collection and for the history exhibit. Visiting may take about 45 minutes for the committed visitor.
Martyrs’ Lane and Shehidlar Monument, Baku
Despite not dating to the Cold War, this monument is strongly bound to the Soviet impact on the history of Azerbaijan – in particular, to the victims of Soviet military actions.
The annexation of Azerbaijan by hand of the Bolsheviks was fiercely opposed by the population, and many lost their lives trying to stop the attack of the communists. A first memorial for them was erected here, wiped out soon after when the Bolsheviks finally gained control of the area.
A small monument from Soviet time can be seen in the area, from the time of WWII.
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
A more recent episode in the closing stages of the Cold war, largely forgotten in the West, was the brief but bloody war fought by Azerbaijan against the agonizing USSR, which militarily invaded the region of Baku to prevent secession. Many were killed in the so-called Black January of 1990.
Today’s monument, made of an alley with graves and an eternal flame, is rather scenic but not excessively pompous.
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
The location is really gorgeous, with a stunning view of Baku and the gulf in the Caspian Sea, as well as of the iconic Flame Towers.
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Visiting
Reaching is easy with the funicular starting from downtown Baku. Highly recommended for both the significance of the place and for the panorama.
House of Soviets & Other buildings
The government of the Azerbaijan SSR operated from a stately building, designed in a purely Soviet formal style, and completed under Stalin after WWII. A statue of Lenin originally ahead of the building was demolished following the independence war in 1990 and the secession from the USSR. The building still retains an official role, hosting some ministries of Azerbaijan.
In the peripheries of the pretty big town of Baku, more typically Soviet alleys, architectures… and cars can be easily found. These are in striking contrast with the hyper-futuristic architectures of the big central district, dominated by the iconic Flame Towers.
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Shahidlar monument, Baku, Azerbaijan
Visiting
The House of the Soviets, now Government House, can be found in central Baku, along the nice seashore garden. For touring the outskirts of Baku, rich of interesting touristic destinations, a full-service taxi or a car rental are advised.
Sights in Georgia
Georgian Parliament Building, Tbilisi
The Parliament of Georgia was designed and built under Stalin, starting in the 1930s, as the seat of the government of the Georgian SSR. The formal appearance of the front facade is typically Soviet. A now empty medallion on top of the facade used to display the emblem of the SSR. This was destroyed following the clashes against the agonizing USSR which led to the independence of Georgia in 1991-92.
Visiting
A look to the outside is easy to take walking along very popular Shota Rustaveli avenue, a short walk from Liberty Square (formerly Lenin’s Square).
Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi
This world-class museum is dedicated to the history of the Georgian culture, and displays invaluable artifacts dating from all ages.
A small but pretty rich hall is dedicated to the bloody invasion of the Bolsheviks in 1921, which quickly destroyed the short-lived independent Georgian state. This had been created following the collapse of the Czarist empire as a result of WWI and the ensuing revolution/civil war in Russia.
The communist invaders did not waste any time, and openly persecuted all political opponents, quickly imprisoning and killing many in more instances.
The exhibition is centered on documents on both the sides of the independence movement and the invading communists.
Artifacts from the quick and bloody war of 1921 are on display, including guns, insignia, and more. The setting of the shooting of political opponents in a prison (similar to the one you can see in the KGB house in Riga, Latvia, see here) is reconstructed.
A particularly striking memorial is constituted by a train truck used for mass execution – bullet holes are clearly visible.
Visiting
Anybody with an interest in Georgian culture will hardly miss this wonderful museum. Visiting the hall dedicated to the communist attack and the installation of a Soviet dictatorship will take just a part of the overall time devoted to the visit. The place is centrally located in front of the Parliament Building.
Mother of Georgia Statue & More buildings, Tbilisi
Georgia has got rid of most Soviet relics as quickly as possible. Elusive traces of Soviet architecture remain especially in Tbilisi. This gracious town is not dominated by any Soviet monstrosity, and with the exception of the Parliament Building (see above), buildings dating to the years of Soviet tenancy are blended among older and more modern ones, luckily sparing the town from the typical post-Soviet ghost aura.
The very central Lenin Square has been renamed into Independence Square, when the statue of Lenin gave way to that of St. George.
A nice addition from Soviet times is the Statue of Mother Georgia, from the late 1950s. The idea of gigantic statues was pretty popular in the Soviet Union and other communist countries, like Yugoslavia (see here). However, the nationalistic inspiration of Mother Georgia meant it was not torn down when the Nation gained independence.
A few buildings and decorations from Soviet times can still be found in Tbilisi – side by side with futuristic ones – as well as many cars from the Cold War era!
Batumi
A thriving holiday destination on the Black Sea, closely resembling Miami Beach, the contrast between old-Soviet and novel American-style buildings is sometimes striking in Batumi. International hotels are there side-by-side with old monster apartment blocks from Soviet times, now less visible thanks to the application of some architectural cosmetics.
The town is very lively and enjoyable, as a result of a serious effort to make it an international-level seashore location. Even Donald Trump has been reportedly involved for a while in the construction of a resort on site!
Besides older buildings, some from before the Soviet era, as well as some small-scale Soviet-style monuments are still there. Only rare examples of really shabby Brezhneva (‘Brezhnev-era housing’) can be found in more peripheral areas.
A former port town of the Czar, Batumi was the target of the young communist Stalin, who preached to the workers of the port, spreading the word of Marx in the early 1900s.
Visiting
A visit to Batumi may be for the nightlife, for the sea, or for the Gonio Fortress nearby. The place can be reached directly by plane, car or train.
Kutaisi
The central square of Kutaisi, the second largest town in Georgia and the seat of the Parliament, is centered around the Colchis Fountain, designed in a style similar to that of Mother of Georgia in Tbilisi (see above).
Around the square, the Drama Theater and an adjoining building are clearly built in a Soviet formal style.
Visiting
Easily reachable, the ancient town of Kutaisi may be visited for the many historical and natural attractions in town and around. It is totally easy to reach by plane, train or car.
Borjomi
The name ‘Borjomi’ is known everywhere in the territory of the former USSR, thanks to the water springs in town. The water label ‘Borjomi’ is still today the perfect analogous of ‘Perrier’ or ‘San Pellegrino’ for the western world, meaning a top-quality sparkling water.
Actually, this natural spring was discovered when Georgia was part of the Russian Empire, when Russian soldiers fighting against the Turks were mysteriously healed from some belly sickness while stationed in the area. The place became famous all over Russia for the its springs. A railway was put in place to connect Borjomi to the rest of the Empire, and famous personalities like Tchaikovsky are celebrated among the illustrious visitors to this nice location in the mountains. This town is still today a popular destination for vacation, with top-level hotels, a theme park, and much nature around to be explored.
Besides some older buildings, dating from before the Soviet era, some others are typically Russian style, like the railway station. Original timetables in Russian are still on display.
Look at this pic from an old Soviet base in the former DDR, to see the name ‘Borjomi’ among the railway stops in Soviet times!
Visiting
Reaching secluded Borjomi is not difficult by train or car from Tbilisi, or from nearby Gori.
Great Patriotic War Museum, Gori
Besides Stalin’s birthplace and the corresponding museum (see this dedicated post), for more curious visitors many memorabilia items, documents and artifacts can be found in Gori, in a museum dedicated to the Great Patriotic War (i.e. WWII for the Soviets). A scaled-down museum totally like the one in Kiev or Moscow (see here and here respectively), this exhibition is centered on the role of the Georgian SSR in the fight against Hitler’s Wehrmacht during WWII.
Many documents and photographs make this exhibition very lively.
Rare German relics are displayed in dedicated cases.
Similarly interesting are various artifacts from WWII and the Cold War.
The local hero – Stalin – is of course celebrated with a dedicated wall sculpture, photographs, and more.
A part of the museum is actually a memorial.
The museum has been more recently updated, with some displays concerning the most recent actions of the Georgian Army.
A large commemoration monument from Soviet times, slightly modified after independence, can be found outside the museum, making it noticeable when passing by.
Visiting
This small but interesting museum is located at a minimal walking distance from Stalin’s birth house, but it is a separate entity from it. It can be easily found at the southern tip of the garden leading to Stalin’s house. The entrance can be spotted thanks to the wall monument ahead of it.
Tbilisi Automuseum, Tbilisi
A full immersion in the history of automobiles of the Eastern Bloc! This museum is a true must for 4-wheels enthusiasts. The collection is hosted in two hangars.
The larger one is stuffed with cars from several decades of the Cold War timeline.
Older Soviet cars from Stalin’s era sit side-by-side with more modern Chaikas.
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Not only stately ‘official’ cars, unreachable for the general public, are on display.
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Smaller Ladas and Zil, often license-built Russian versions of Italian FIAT cars, can be found – some in the colors of the Police or other services.
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
At the time of visiting (2019) at least one original Soviet Pobeda car could be boarded!
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
The second hangar hosts a few light military vehicles, and some motorcycles.
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Tbilisi AutoMuseum Georgia Soviet Cars Collection
Visiting
Visiting this museum is definitely recommended for car enthusiast, Cold War fanatics and alike. Easy to reach with a car or by taxi, moving from downtown in the direction of the airport. Totally worth a detour from Tbilisi city center. Don’t be discouraged by the ‘industrial’ setting around when approaching this elusive location. The place is polished, and managed like a regular museum. Website here.