War Museums in Western Poland

Similar to other Countries around the Baltic Sea, Poland has a positive attitude towards its military past. Beside castles, barracks and traces of war from older ages, remarkably also some war material from the 20th century, and especially from WWII and the Cold War, has been in the focus of conservation activities.

The mystery bunkers in the southwest of the Country dating from the years of the Third Reich (see here), or the Soviet Monolith-type bunker in Podborsko (see here) and the impressive fallout monitoring center in Kalisz (see here), stand out as major remains from WWII and the Cold War for everybody to check out – and they are just examples.

Along those sites with a history of their own, Poland has many war museums, thematic collections and exhibitions to offer, retracing the evolution of its rich and extremely complex military history.

Looking at the 20th century, it is apparent that Poland has been swept violently and insistently by the winds of war. At the start of WWII, it was surrounded by the Third Reich on two sides, something that contributed to its quick invasion and defeat at the beginning of the conflict. A special relationship with the British meant some from the Polish military ended up directly in the British ranks in exile, whereas others were incorporated in a pro-German Army. However, in the closing stage of the war, when the unfriendly Soviets invaded from the East on their run to Berlin, some from Poland entered the ranks of a pro-Soviet, anti-German army.

Following WWII, Poland was re-founded with new borders, basically those we know today, and due to the presence of the Soviet Army on their territory, they quickly fell under communist control. The relationship between the USSR and Poland military was strong during the Cold War, and the military assets of the Polish Army were massive. The Red Army was also physically stationed in the Western part of the Country, in preparation to a much planned full-scale ‘atomic-supported blitz’ to the Atlantic coast, which luckily never materialized.

The many collections to check out in Poland these days are especially rich in Cold War era supply, and therefore they are tremendous resources for finding many examples of Soviet technology from the Cold War era. However, in most cases also highly valuable material from WWII and from the fierce battles fought on Polish territory mainly between the Germans and the Soviets can be checked out.

This post presents a quick, mainly pictorial description with excerpts from several collections open for a visit in Western Poland. Photographs were taken in the summer of 2020.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

The sites presented in this chapter are all in the Western part of Poland, i.e. west of Gdynia and Poznan. They are listed here below, basically from south to north on a map.

Sights

Museum of Military History, Jelenia Gora

The collection of the Museum of Military History in Jelenia Gora is arranged on an open-air apron. Here you can find several items mainly from the Soviet inventory – albeit in several instances physically manufactured in Poland – and once adopted by the Polish Armed Forces.

In the area closer to the ticket office, possibly the most exotic – or harder to find – items include transportable radar antennas. Items like these are still today the backbone of anti-aircraft defense, and are employed to either detect enemy aircraft or to guide surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) against this type of target. Differences among antennas reflect their actual purpose, as well as different range, intended target level (close to the ground, higher layers of the atmosphere, …) and ease of deployment. The latter is clearly inversely proportional to the bulkiness and weight of the antenna.

Truck-mounted antennas on display include an RW-31 and JAWOR-M2, both from the 1970s, respectively with a vertically- and horizontally-mounted antenna on top.

Exemplars of more modern RT-17 (on top of a taller tower) and PRW-17 models from the 1980s, the latter manufactured in the USSR, feature a somewhat larger size. Despite movable, these antennas are mounted on more articulated trailers.

Many more trailers and trucks are on display as well.

Further on, a few tanks and armored vehicles can be found. These include a well preserved Soviet T34-85, a modernized version from the early 1950s of the original homonym design, which gained fame with the Red Army in the closing stages of WWII against Hitler’s Wehrmacht.

Similarly interesting are a BTR-152, a troop transportation armored truck of Soviet make, and a launcher for a triplet of SA-6 Gainful SAM. The latter, namely a 2K12M, is an interesting and pretty widespread Soviet-made item from the early 1970s, with very good tactical deployment capability granted by its tracks. Also on display is a classical BM-13 Katyuscha rocket launcher, again a workhorse of the Red Army in Stalin’s era.

The latter part of the museum hosts a number of artillery pieces of various size, ranging from ship-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns, to field cannons, anti-tank cannons, etc. These are mostly from WWII, but reaching to the early Cold War period, and invariably share a Soviet design.

An especially interesting design is a recoilless B-11 cannon, designed against light armored vehicles. Of lighter design with respect to other guns of the same bore, it was pretty widespread as a tactical weapon in the early Cold War stage in countries of the Warsaw Pact.

A Mil helicopter, warship guns and some water mines complete this compact yet rich and well-maintained collection.

Getting there & Visiting

The museum is called ‘Muzeum Historii i Militariów’ in Polish. It can be found less than 1 mile southeast of the city center, to the east of the road 367 going south to the border with the Czech Republic. It can be reached easily with a walk from the city center, or by car. Free parking on site (limited capacity, but properly sized for the place). The exact address is Sudecka 83, 58-500 Jelenia Góra.

The museum is made of an open-air exhibition only (no inside display), where all artifacts can be checked out on a self-guided basis once past the ticket office. Plates with basic data and information in double language Polish-English are available ahead of most of the items on display.

The site is rich in material, yet not too big or extensive in size, hence easily digestible even for those without a special interest in military technology. Very convenient to reach and walk. Most artifacts are in a good to very good general condition. A visit taking many good pictures may take up to 1 hour for an interested subject, 15 minutes may be enough for a quick walk. Website with many detailed information, including an inventory of the weapons on display (also in English) here.

Lubuskie Museum of Military History, Zielona Gora

The prominent collection of the Lubuskie Museum of Military History is composed of an inside exhibition, hosted in a converted villa from the 19th century, and a major open-air display in the garden, where some of the items are protected under light structures.

Inside the museum building, a few rooms witness the involvement of Poland in several wars over the centuries. Beautifully crafted weapons from the 17th century, including both firearms and edged weapons, can be found in a number.

Several display cases are related to the involvement of Poland in WWII. The articulated history of the Polish Armed Forces in WWII is witnessed by the number of uniforms, medals and papers resulting from actions of Polish corps within the ranks of foreign Armed Forces – especially British.

Light weapons and technical gear from the time is abundant, including genuine material from the Armed Forces of the Third Reich, which occupied substantial parts of the Polish territory for almost the entire duration of WWII.

A historically interesting item is the headdress of a Polish officer killed in the Soviet town of Katyn, in the homonym massacre ordered by Stalin against the the ranks of the the Polish Armed Forces, soon after portions of the Country had been taken over by the Soviets upon agreement with Hitler. This was an unprecedented move to devitalize the Polish military structure by killing all key-figures in it. A pistol employed for executions and a few more memorabilia items from this awful chapter of Polish history are similarly on display.

Other rooms cover the technological evolution of military gear during the Cold War. Here, items on display range from air-to-air missiles – partly dismounted to allow looking at the electronics inside – tactical weapons, aircraft-mounted guns (always with impressively sized cartridges!), as well as anti-radiation suits with protection masks, flight suits, helmets, visors, and much more. Most of the material from those years obviously comes from the Soviet inventory.

In the outside exhibition a few thematic areas can be found. Possibly the richest among them is that of armored vehicles and artillery pieces. A major highlight is a couple of exemplars of the Soviet SU-152 self-propelled gun from WWII, made of an impressive 152 mm gun on a tracked vehicle. One of the exemplars has been recently refurbished and looks mint.

More Soviet tanks include some versions of the T-34 – a classic combatant of WWII – a T-55, and a more recent fully-working T-72, an icon of the Cold War in the 1970s. This is sometimes moved around in the apron.

A long array of guns, mostly field cannons, can be found on the border of the museum garden.

An impressive sight is the gigantic 2S7, a 207 mm self-propelled cannon manufactured in the Soviet Union from the 1970s, and still employed today by both Russia and Ukraine. Side by side with its ‘little cousins’, the monster size of this asset from the Eastern Bloc is readily apparent.

A second thematic area is centered around SAM missiles and their launchers, as well as theater missiles. Also radar antennas for aerial target tracking or missile guidance are on display.

Some major SAM Soviet systems are on the list, including the SA-2 Guideline, the SA-3 Goa and the SA-4 Ganef. The latter is present with the corresponding deployable radar (model code SNR 1S32M1), together composing the 2K11M1 SAM system, codenamed ‘Krug’ in Russian.

Theater missiles include the so-called Luna-M system (model code 9K52), composed of a wheeled transport truck and a missile (9M21), as well as an original transport trailer with a Scud missile! (See this and this chapter for dedicated information on Soviet-designed theater missiles)

Aircraft on display range from the early Cold War period – end of the 1940s – to the more hi-tech stage of the 1980s. Early jets include MiG-15 and MiG-17, and a pretty rare Jak-23, all in the colors of the Polish Air Force. Propeller aircraft include an Il-14 transport and a license-built Douglas C-47, aka. Lisunov Li-2 in the USSR.

Notably, the first defection to the West of a pilot from the Eastern Bloc on a Soviet-made jet fighter happened from Poland. A Polish pilot flew a MiG-15 to the Danish island of Bornholm, having departed from the Baltic coast of Poland. This was immediately after the death of Stalin, in March 1953. The controversial diplomatic case that ensued from this action was settled returning the aircraft to Poland, obviously after a secret and thorough inspection. The pilot moved to Britain and the US. His flight suit is in the Smithsonian collection in Washington, DC.

More recent aircraft include two MiG-21, a Su-20 and a Su-22. The latter is still operated by the Polish Air Force, and is presented in the museum with an underwing cannon pod for strafing. Also on display is a larger Il-28 light bomber.

Massive technical trucks, like movable pontoons, amphibious vehicles, etc. can be found in yet another thematic area, together with a small WWII diorama. The latter features a possibly original Third Reich emblem.

Finally, a small hangar to the far end of the exhibition area has on display a range of restored items of special interest. A didactically disassembled SA-4 Ganef missile allows to see the inner structure of this modern machine, still in use today.

Several field rocket launchers, including a Katyuscha, as well as field cannons and shells, make for a comparative display.

Interestingly, also a full array of air-to-air missiles, and aircraft components including almost complete engines can be checked out in this display.

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of the museum is Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe. It is located southeast of the small village of Drzonow, just west of Zielona Gora. The exact address is  Drzonów 54, 66-008 Świdnica. Easy parking possible along the little-trafficked road ahead of the entrance.

Rather unapparent until you get very close to it, the museum hosts a very rich collection, with a long list of artifacts to check out in an open-air exhibition, as well as really interesting and well-presented thematic rooms in the classical building – once a private residence – employed as ticket office and museum.

Despite the understated appearance, the museum is really worth visiting for everybody with an interest in weapons, especially field artillery and air defense. The physical extension of the site is relatively small especially for the content, hence the display is very dense and easy to tour. A complete visit may easily take 2 hours or more for an interested subject, and when visiting with kids or uninterested subjects the site offers plenty of intriguing sights as well, so it may take at least 1 hour.

The organization is really active, with a very rich website and many temporary war-themed exhibitions and events. Unfortunately, all plates and descriptions are in Polish only. Yet the collection is in a generally very good state of conservation (with the exception of some of the aircraft exposed to the elements in the courtyard), and offers a very rich insight in the past assets of the Polish Armed Forces, including literally tons of Soviet-made gear.

Armored Weaponry Museum, Poznan

For those visiting Europe with a specific interest to armored vehicles and tanks, the Armored Weaponry Museum of Poznan is a must-see. Besides an extensive collection with some tens of tanks and vehicles mainly from WWII onward, all preserved in mint condition (many of them still running!), the museum has been carefully and modernly designed, making for a very enjoyable visiting experience.

The exhibition is hosted in a few adjoining hangars, where vehicles are grouped based on technology, provenience, intended role, etc. The following pictures provide only an excerpt from this great collection. Tanks from different Countries are well represented. Starting from WWII, a British Centaur tank and an Achilles anti-tank self-propelled gun are displayed side by side with lighter vehicles.

A very rare Sturmgeschütz-IV, a self-propelled assault cannon from the Third Reich Wehrmacht, has been carefully restored and colored in an impressive camouflage. A SU-76 and ISU-152 self-propelled cannons of Soviet make are also on display.

Battle tanks include an ubiquitous Soviet T-34, and comparatively less common IS-2 and IS-3 Soviet designs. Both conceived amidst the battles of WWII based on experience against the technologically impressive German armored machines, the IS-3 entered production too late for WWII, and was instead rather widespread among the Countries falling in the Soviet orbit during the Cold War, to see action in the Cold War era.

Tracked missile launchers as well as cut-out engines are on display.

Among the most iconic tanks from the early Cold War period are the Soviet T-54 and T-55. The exemplars on display are movie stars, having been featured in ‘The bridge of spies’ by Steven Spielberg, who also left an autograph signature on the huge turret of one. From the same period is a PT-76 Soviet amphibious tank.

NATO counterparts from the early 1950s include the US-made M47 and M60 Patton.

Many more vehicles are on display from the Cold War, mostly from the Soviet galaxy, and covering several functions from carrying troops to vehicle recovery and repair. Also modern self-propelled guns like the 2S1, another Soviet model, are on display.

A small collection of parade cars, once employed by high-ranking military or governmental staff from the USSR, is on display.

An interesting addition is a couple of PT-91, which is a Polish-designed development of the highly-successful Soviet T-72 design, currently manufactured and employed by Poland, and exported to several Armies in the world.

Outside, a WWI scene is reproduced with a steam railway engine carrying a WWI fighter replica on a trailer!

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of this world-class museum is ‘Muzeum Broni Pancernej’, and it is located in the western outskirts of Poznan, one of the largest cities in Poland. The exact address is 3 Pułku Lotniczego 4, 60-421 Poznań. Large parking inside, flat access, totally easy to tour.

The collection has been transferred to its current purpose-built location in 2019-20, therefore it is totally modern and exceptionally well presented. The collection is completely indoor and away from the elements, with a suggestive low-light atmosphere, and tons of information for every single tank or vehicle on display, in double language – Polish and English.

A primary destination in Europe for everybody with an interest in tanks and armored vehicles, visiting may easily take more than 2 hours for an interested subject. Due to the number and attractive good condition of the items on display, not less than 1 hour is advised also for those with a less specialized interest.

Museum of Armaments, Poznan

Conveniently located in a nice park, which lies in the area formerly belonging to a Prussian fortress from the 19th century, this museum is a branch of a larger entity, which manages several war-themed exhibitions in town. The museum is composed of an inside display and an open-air area, where larger items like tanks, cannons and aircraft have been placed for display.

Due to an unforeseen closure on the day of my visit (2020) I could only access the outside part of the exhibition.

The most prominent asset is an Il-28 twin-jet light bomber. This is flanked by a Su-22 fighter-bomber, as well as a MiG-21 and a MiG-17 fighters, all Soviet designs adopted by the Polish Air Force over the years of the Cold War.

A beautifully restored An-2 biplane, an ubiquitous workhorse in the USSR, the Eastern Bloc and exported to many clients around the world still operating it today, can be found to complement this heterogeneous collection.

A display of transport vehicles include both vans and transports from the Eastern Bloc, and a US-made 4×4 vehicle.

An SA-2 Guideline SAM is presented on its launcher in a ready-for-launch attitude.

A big collection of field cannons, anti-tank guns and lighter pieces of artillery from various ages starting from WWII is aligned on a side of the exhibition, where you can spot also a MiG-15 fighter from the late 1940s.

Armored vehicles include some armored transports for tactical deployment, self-propelled cannons and tanks.

Getting there & Visiting

The museum in Polish bears the name ‘Muzeum Uzbrojenia’. Among the many war-related museum in Poznan, which also cover conflicts from various ages in history, this can be found easily in the middle of the Citadel, north of downtown Poznan. Access to the old Citadel fortress – now a park – is not possible by car, but parking for accessing the park by walk is abundant all around. I would suggest parking on the southern side of the citadel, for instance in the public parking area located at Al. Niepodległości, 61-001 Poznań, for easily accessing also other monuments of interest, like the war cemetery and the Soviet commemoration monument from the Great Patriotic War (described here).

The exhibition is convenient to reach, and located in a very nice and relaxing park, ideal also for taking a breath from the crowded historical city center of popular Poznan.

As noted above, I could not visit the inside exhibition on the underground level, due to an unforeseen closure. The outside part can be walked in 20-30 minutes, since it is arranged on a relatively compact apron. Most exhibits feature a modern explanatory panel in double language, including English. An institutional website with visiting info (in Polish) is here.

Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz

The collection of the Land Force Museum branch in Bydgoszcz is displayed in two parts. A large purpose-built – and recently renovated – building hosts temporary exhibitions, as well as a number of thematic rooms, with high-quality dioramas flanked by display cases with material ranging from weapons and technical gear to uniforms and memorabilia.

The thematic rooms cover the history of land armed forces in Poland over the ages. Among the most striking war material from before the 20th century are authentic pieces of armories, swords and edged weapons from the 16th and 17th centuries. In those years, the Polish Army was pivotal in helping the Empire to fight against the invading Islamic Ottomans, who had conquered the eastern-European territories up north to today’s Hungary, and had reached the gates of Vienna. Some material, including uniforms, maps and firearms, dates back to the 19th century, including the Napoleonic Wars and the German Second Reich period.

Of course, most of the items on display date from the 20th century. Especially nice dioramas include a setting in WWI and the inter-war period.

The evolution of the war material, including the appearance of automatic firearms, is readily apparent following the display cases, which of course include much gear from WWII.

Looking at the uniforms on display, you can note the number of unusual affiliations of the Polish ranks, who due to the complex evolution of the occupation of their national territory, had to deal with several allies and invading forces, who were enemies to one another. Thus the original Polish Army survived a kind of incorporation within the British Army in exile, but also within the Third Reich, the Red Army, and tried also to act independently at home. It is hard not to get confused, and possibly the best way to get the hang of this fascinating plot is by following the display in a museum like this one!

Dioramas from the Cold War are particularly interesting, and perfectly recognizable by the distinctive anti-radiation or chemical warfare suits worn by the models. Also the firearms and the technical gear on display is in line with the evolution of the tactical hazards faced on the front.

Much of the material on display from this age is clearly of Soviet make. The inside exhibition ends with the most modern engagements of the Polish Army in recent conflicts.

Outside, a nice array of perfectly preserved field guns, anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns can be found on the platform ahead of the front entrance.

Also mortars and tactical rocket launchers are on display.

Possibly even more captivating for the eye are a T-34 tank in a rampant position, and a the sheer beauty of a T-72 tank. Both iconic Soviet-designed models, these tanks were supplied to most Countries in the Soviet orbit over various stages of the Cold War.

Another massive tracked object is a 2S1 self-propelled cannon, looking mint like the T-72!

Finally, also two missiles can be found, an SA-2 Guideline SAM, and the Scud, a tactical nuclear-capable missile which became a widespread asset in Eastern Europe over the years of the Cold War (see this post).

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish name of this very nice museum is ‘Muzeum Wojsk Ladowych’, which includes also other branches in Torun (see here) and Wroclaw. The location of this major branch is in the northern outskirts of the town of Bydgoszcz, at the address Czerkaska 2, 85-641 Bydgoszcz.

The museum does not feature a private parking, but good parking opportunities can be found for free on most of the quiet residential streets around (for instance, I found a number of free lots on Świerkowa, 85-632 Bydgoszcz).

The collection is interesting and generally attractive both inside and outside, with high-quality dioramas with much original material, as well as ‘big items’ like guns, tanks and missiles outside. Its size and level of detail are well balanced for both the more committed technically-minded subjects and those with only a general interest in the topic, especially kids. Visiting may require 1 hour for the permanent exhibition, more including the always interesting temporary exhibitions.

Some paneling with double language explanations including English can be found along the visit. The official website with access information in English is here.

Museum of Coastal Defense – Fort Gerharda, Swinoujscie

The collection of the Museum of Coastal Defense is reportedly one of the largest private military collections in Poland. It is hosted in the evocative frame of an original Prussian fort from the 19th century, Fort Gerharda. Originally designed to guarantee free access to trade ships entering the Szczecin Lagoon and going to the major inner port of Szczecin, the fort was potentiated in more instances, but basically never saw war action. It was later employed as a reserve fort by the German Kriegsmarine, and by the Soviets as a depot for a while after WWII (similar to Komarom in Hungary, see here). Over the last two decades the fort was substantially restored, and opened to the public as a major attraction.

Access to the fort, rather compact in size, is through a drawbridge. The inner courtyards are the setting for bulkier collection items, including original cannons from the 19th century, as well as anti-tank cannons from WWII!

Range-finding gear, half-dismantled torpedoes, machine gun turrets and more can be found in the recesses of the articulated geometry of the low-rise constructions inside the fort.

Some of the ammo storage bunkers in the fort can be seen inside.

The core of the collection of the Museum is inside the central building in the fort, an interesting multi-level construction. Older items date from the 19th century or earlier. Reconstructed scenes from the life in the fort at the time include men working around a heavy piece of artillery, a communication office with a telegraph and the nicely reconstructed kitchen of the fort.

Other scenes are from WWI and WWII, including men around a howitzer and a German soldier hiding in an apartment!

Interesting memorabilia items range from larger ones, like original flags from warships, to smaller personal items for everyday use, like canned food or table games employed by the troops.

The collection of weapons and technical gear is really rich and interesting, and mostly centered on material from the inter-war period onward. Racks of rifles an light arms of various makes are on display.

A part of the collection is especially focused on weapons by the marvelous Soviet/Russian weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Of major interest are also special military suits, against poisonous agents, gas, etc. dating from the Third Reich and Soviet era.

Some of the displays of foreign origin are really unique – and unexpected on the northern boundary of Poland! Others bear Cyrillic-written tags, witnessing their Soviet origin.

Many artillery range finders are on display, of different make and level of complexity. They include a rare Cold War computer-assisted model.

Getting there & Visiting

Fort Gerharda is right in the northwestern corner of Poland, on the Baltic Coast less than 1.5 miles from the German border. The reference town of Swinoujscie (Swinemünde in Prussian times) is located on the western bank of the water access from the Baltic to the Szczecin Lagoon. The fort is instead on the eastern bank. The waterway can be crossed via a quick ferry. Access from mainland Poland is seamless along the E65.

Fort Gerharda is a bit hidden in the trees, despite in a rather urbanized area, and therefore not easy to spot even from close apart. However, a fence with a small parking clearly mark the entrance. The address is Ku Morzu 5, 72-602 Świnoujście. More parking spots can be found along the same road.

The ensemble of the fort plus the collections in the museum make for a very interesting and rich visit for everybody, including families. For the more technically-minded subjects, the military collection, despite compactly presented, is rich of very interesting items. A visit of 1-1.5 hours to the complex is likely, depending on the level of interest.

A website with many updated information is here (in Polish, with a rich downloadable leaflet in English).

This area is rich of interesting sights for those with an interest in military history, including the ‘Vineta Battery’ WWII/Cold War fort (see here), and a prototype of Hitler’s V-3 multi-stage cannon, actually built in northern France (see here).

Polish Arms Museum & Navy Museum, Kolobrzeg

Kolobrzeg is the Polish name for Kolberg, a town belonging to Prussia (then Germany) at the times of the two World Wars of the 20th century. The place was a theater of war, in the focus of a fierce battle in the March of 1945. The Polish Army and the Soviet Red Army, along their march to Berlin, isolated the town from the south, triggering a massive evacuation of German military forces and civilian population by sea, to further west along the Baltic coast in Germany. It is estimated that more than 100’000 people were evacuated in less than a week. In the attack, the town was almost completely destroyed. As a matter of fact, most residential housing today clearly dates from the communist era.

The Polish Arms Museum is the ideal location to see memories from this great battle, as well as for retracing the military history of the Polish Armed Forces more at large. The collection on display is composed of an inside display and an outdoor exhibition.

Inside, the items on display, mainly preserved weapons, armories, but also parts of ships, date to as far back as the 16th century. The role of the Poles in countering the Ottoman Islamic domination in Europe is retraced through precious weapons from the time. Clearly more abundant are the items from the interwar and WWII period. An organic display of uniforms is featured, witnessing the many affiliations of the Polish troops during WWII.

Uniforms and light weapons belonging to the Western Allies, the USSR and of course the Third Reich are on display in this nice collection.

A small diorama with a painting related to the conquer of Kolobrzeg in WWII is clearly part of the show.

In a hall immediately ahead of the open air exhibition, some restored light transport vehicles are on display, including jeeps and trucks, as well as a light plane.

The outdoor exhibition features an array of heavy armored vehicles. These range from Soviet-made tanks – including a T-34 and IS-2 – and self-propelled cannons – for instance a massive ISU-122 – and armored vehicles, to a tracked Scud missile launcher, in very good general conditions.

A well-stocked array of field guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns is aligned along a side of the exhibition court.

Aircraft on display include Soviet-made material which saw service with the Polish Air Force, in particular an Il-28 Beagle, as well as a Su-22.

A rather unusual item on display is a railway carriage, in the colors of the USSR railway service, the same model employed for the deportation of people from Europe to the gulag system in the USSR at the time of Stalin, and later – in some cases – to return them to their home Countries. A vivid exhibition on this terrible part of WWII and early Cold War history is narrated inside the carriage, through maps, photographs and other memorabilia items (unfortunately only in Polish, but many of the artifacts are almost self-explanatory).

A Soviet SAM, an SA-2 Guideline, is on display on its pivoting launch platform.

The Navy Museum in the same town is an outdoor-only exhibition, mostly made of two well-preserved warships, namely the anti-submarine patrol ‘Fala’, from 1965, and the missile launcher ‘Wladyslawowo’ (NATO class Osa-I) from 1975. The former was laid down in Poland (Gdynia), and withdrawn from service in the 1990s, whereas the latter was manufactured in the USSR and saw service until the 2000s.

Both are interesting examples of Cold War warships. The armament of the ‘Fala’ was mainly composed of depth charges. Many of the original rooms are preserved in good conditions, showing some of the most interesting technical gear installed on this type of warship.

This includes the navigation room and the deck, with the helm and engine controls on top. The canteen, cabins and official quarters are on display, with a depressing – likely original – Soviet-style upholstery and furniture. Interestingly, despite being a Polish warship, most of the labels, including explanatory ones intended for use by the hands on board, is in Russian.

Technical gear include an inertial system, and acoustic sensors to find and track enemy submarines.

The engine compartment hosts two big 2.500 hp Diesel engines, plus three Diesel generators for electric energy supply. The control room for the electric and propulsion system is inside a dedicated cabin. Again, writing is almost invariably in Cyrillic only.

The Osa-I class ‘Wladyslawowo’ was designed around four P-15 (SS-N-2 Styx) surface-to-surface passive-active homing anti-shipping missiles. The mission of this very fast warship, capable of a peak speed of 40 knots, was that of hitting surface shipping. For self-defense, the ship was equipped with two AK-230 turrets, served by an automatic aiming system, as well as a rack of four Strela-2 light surface-to-air missiles. The overstructure of the ship is very limited, the upper deck being mostly taken by the Styx missile hangars. Inside, the technical rooms – still in very good condition – include sensors, inertial navigation gear, as well as compartments for the troops.

Also visible are the engine rooms. Three bulky 4.000 hp Diesel engines provided power to as many propellers, producing the power needed for the high speed of the warship.

The deck (GSD) is stocked with yellow cabinets, allowing to monitor virtually all plants on board. As expected on a Soviet-made warship all writing is in Cyrillic.

All in all, a visit to the Navy Museum is really evocative especially for those with a fascination for the Cold War. The Osa-I class saw extensive service in the cold waters of the Baltic, including with the GDR, and this exemplar represents an easy-to-reach specimen offering a rare glimpse in Soviet marine technology from the time (similar to the K-24 Juliet-class submarine in Usedom, not too far from this location, see here).

Getting there & Visiting

The Polish Arms Museum, named ‘Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu’ in Polish, is located in the city center of the coastal town of Kolobrzeg. The exact address is Gierczak 5, 78-100 Kołobrzeg. The open-air part can be clearly spotted from outside – like a fenced city park – when walking the (really) crowded pedestrian area. Due to the totally central location of the museum, right in the most touristic area of this small town, parking in the vicinity may be not the easiest task, but many parking lots are theoretically available in this district. Another option is parking out of the city center at all, and enjoy a pleasant walk to the museum and other attractions in its vicinity.

The Museum is rather compact in size, and a popular destination. It offers many interesting items, including less obvious ones for more technically-minded visitors, as well as well as heavier armored vehicles, artillery pieces and planes which will appeal to everybody. A visit of about 45 minutes to 1 hour may be fine for a complete tour.

The open-air Navy Museum, aka. ‘Kołobrzeski Skansen Morski’ in Polish, is located beside the marina. A convenient public parking just 150 ft from the museum entrance is here, 54.175972, 15.559315. The two warships can be boarded and visited thoroughly on your own, making for an interesting and rewarding visit for everybody. A time of 45 minutes to 1.25 hours may be adequate depending on your level of interest.

Walking between the two destinations in town is an easy stretch of about 20 minutes one way.

The two locations are brilliantly administrated by the same subject, the ‘Muzeum Oreza Polskiego’, which also has under its umbrella other sites of great interest in the vicinity of Kolobrzeg, including the world-class exhibition of one of only two preserved and accessible Monolith-type Soviet bunkers for nuclear warheads in Europe (Podborsko, see here). The website – unfortunately only in Polish – covering all the sites managed by this association, with many details on the exhibits beside logistical information, is here.

Museum of Air Defense, Koszalin

The Museum of the Air Defense in Koszalin offers an exceptional insight in the capacity and evolution of the anti-aircraft defense systems deployed in Poland. The collection in this hidden gem, relatively far from the tourist path (especially from abroad), is based on the heritage of a similar initiative from the Cold War years, when Poland was a satellite of the USSR especially in terms of weapons supply. As a result, the display allows to get a detailed overview of the Cold War anti-aircraft technology of the Soviet Union, with examples of material (especially surface-to-air missiles) still in use today in many Countries.

The collection is located close to an active military academy, in a quiet and secluded neighborhood of the town. The exhibits are partly inside, partly outside on a small apron around the museum building.

Some initial dioramas are focused on range-finding gear, with material dating from WWII and the Cold War era. Anti-aircraft machine gun  batteries are also on display.

A centerpiece of the exhibition is a didactic cutout of an SA-2 Guideline (aka. S-75 Dvina) SAM, an early anti-aircraft missile from the 1950s, which was however rather effective. The propulsion system, guidance mechanisms and warhead are on display. The latter appears relatively small compared to the overall size of the missile, but it is actually rather powerful. This system was not intended to physically touch the target, but an explosion of the warhead in proximity to the target could be enough to irrecoverably damage an aircraft.

A super-interesting sight is the array of cabinets employed for the launch of the SA-3 Goa (or S-125 Neva). An example of the corresponding battery of missiles is located outside. This suite, was called Karat-2 in Soviet standard, allowed for TV-guidance of the SAM system. This incredible piece of technology from the time of the Iron Curtain – and from the early age of miniaturized electronics – is presented partly lit-up, revealing the colors of the buttons, and making it even more captivating – you would like to try all its functions like in a new video game! Needless to mention, all writing on the labels is in Russian.

Another unusual sight in the collection is a static example of the still widespread SA-6 Gainful (or 2K12 Kub). Further material on display include instrumentation and cabinets for launch control and guidance of other missiles, or for managing radar-gathered information.

Smaller anti-aircraft weapons are also represented, like the Strela-2 shoulder launched missiles.

On display in the outside exhibition are very interesting items, starting from a battery of two SA-3 Goa, side by side with their corresponding target tracking antenna. The latter, pretty rare to see in museums, is actually composed of a suite of antennas, and is designed to track smaller and low-flying targets, against which the relatively small SA-3 missile is particularly effective.

Close by are an SA-2 Guideline in an upright ready-for-launch attitude, as well as a SA-4 Ganef, sitting horizontally.

Another radar antenna is the truck-mounted PRW-9 altitude finder, complementing the guidance suites of the SA-2 and SA-3 as well.

Armored anti-aircraft vehicles are also on display, similar to anti-aircraft guns, trailers, SAM missile canisters and field range finders. An interesting item is a searchlight (model APM-90), which unexpectedly does not come from WWII, but was instead put in production in the early 1950s, well in the turbojet era and atomic age. It was a handy item mostly for helping aircraft in homing on obscured airbases in case of war. It was truck-mounted, and could employ the same engine of the truck for power production – ingesting up to 17.5 kW, thus remaining visible from a distance of 80 miles!

As a bonus, two aircraft are on display in the museum, a PZL TS-11 Iskra trainer, and a Yakovlev Yak-40 three-jet small transport, employed for state flights. The latter, a Soviet aircraft from deep in the Cold War era, was withdrawn from service apparently in the 2000s. Manufactured in more than 1.000 exemplars, this type was rather widespread in the USSR and its satellites.

The aircraft can be accessed – through the unusual back door! – revealing a neat interior, and a captivating purely analog cockpit. The typically Soviet black rubber ventilation fan for the pilot is prominently hanging from the ceiling!

Getting there & Visiting

The name of this exhibition in Polish is ‘Muzeum Obrony Przeciwlotniczej’, and its location is in the southeastern suburbs of the northern town of Koszalin, itself less than 5 miles from the Baltic coast. The exact address is Wojska Polskiego 70, 75-903 Koszalin. The place is surrounded by neat, active military facilities (academy). The museum is easily noticed from the road, thanks to the bulky and unusual items on display in the outdoor exhibition! A small parking area can be found cross the road with respect to the gate.

The display is gathered in a single building, surrounded by a small yard. Visiting is totally easy, and the collection is not too big, yet extremely interesting and well preserved. A visit of at least 1 hour will be needed for technically-minded subjects, whereas for the general public 30 minutes may suffice for a quick look at everything. The place is managed and frequented by former men from the military, who will likely offer you further insight if you ask. Some information is in double language (Polish and English) in any case.

The museum is currently a branch of the bigger Museum of the Air Force located southeast of Warsaw (Deblin). The website of the latter provides information also on the Koszalin site (see here).

Naval Museum, Gdynia

The port town of Gdynia, since long the major industrial port of Poland, is also home to the collection of the Naval Museum, an eminently military collection, with some unique items on display from various ages, making it a primary addition to the panorama of naval museums in Europe.

This museum is composed of two parts, namely an exhibition building, located right ahead of the nice touristic waterside and featuring an indoor and outdoor exhibition, as well as nothing less than an original destroyer from the 1930s, the venerable ORP ‘Blyskawica’, a true WWII veteran!

The indoor exhibition has been refurbished recently, making the visit light and enjoyable. Among the artifacts on display are original anti-aircraft guns, previously installed on warships, of diverse size and provenience.

Torpedoes, including old German designs from before WWI, are on display together with rare examples of sea mines. Some of them are cut to ease looking inside.

The Soviet anti-shipping missile P-15 (SS-N-2 Styx) and its evolution P-21/22 are on display as well, with photographs witnessing their deployment on board Polish warships.

Interestingly, also aircraft-carried missiles and rocket pods, of Soviet make, are on display. Everything comes with a technical description in double language, allowing to obtain many information on the exhibits on site.

A rare artifact is an experimental weapon from the Third Reich, a rocket-torpedo. Valuable memorabilia items include many documents and papers, as well as uniforms, from ages before the 20th century. A fragment of the flag of the ill-fated ORP ‘Gryf’, a massive mine-layer from WWII sunk by the German forces at the beginning of WWII, is prominently on display.

The outdoor exhibition is hosted in a small yard to the side of the museum building. Bulkier artifacts have been put here, including cannons from the ORP ‘Gryf’, several torpedoes and torpedo-launching tubes, depth-charge launchers, older cannons from the age of sailing ships, weapons, propellers (of downed aircraft and ships) and even a helicopter!

Perfectly visible for everybody passing by, a major focal point of the museum is the ORP ‘Blyskawica’. This destroyer was laid down in Britain, together with a twin ship, for the Polish Navy in the mid-1930s. Unfortunately, Poland was among the first Countries to fall under the attack of Hitler’s Third Reich. The Polish Government and a good part of the Armed Forces were evacuated to Britain. In particular, the troops and much of the savaged war material was incorporated in the ranks of the British, with a special agreement which kept the two formally independent, and defined a scheme of mutual anti-German cooperation.

A very modern ship for the time, well armed and propelled by steam turbines granting a speed nearing 40 kn, the ‘Blyskawica’ fought for the entire duration of the war, with key roles in several war actions. After the war, the ship was reclaimed by communist Poland. Following an accident to the propulsion system, it was never fully repaired, and it was converted to a marginal role before retirement and re-opening as a museum ship in the 1970s.

Today, this perfectly preserved warship makes for a really captivating sight. The naval guns and much of the machinery on board clearly bear British markings.

The engine room can be visited, and offers an exciting view of the mighty boilers an steam turbines allowing the destroyer to reach its incredible top speed.

Beside this warship, even though not part of the museum, chance is to see the ‘Dar Pomorza’, a splendid sailing ship from 1909, employed as a training ship between the 1930s and the 1980s.

Getting there & Visiting

The museum, called ‘Muzeum Marynarki Vojennej w Gdyni’ in the local idiom, is located in a prominent location in the most touristic part of the port town of Gdynia. The building of the museum is separated from the destroyer ORP ‘Blyskawica’, which can be reached with a 3 minutes walk from the museum. The address of the museum building (hard to miss) is ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1B, 81-374 Gdynia. Parking lots are available around the building and in public parking. However, please note that this totally central area may be very crowded in the high season, so be prepared to some traffic congestion.

The inside collection is very interesting and valuable, yet not disproportionately big. Therefore visiting can be enjoyable for the committed military minded subjects and for the general public as well. A visit to the building may take 30-45 minutes. A visit to the glorious destroyer Blyskawica may take as much, depending on what parts of the ship are actually visible – thanks to the prominent position and historical value, ceremonies and cultural events or visit sometimes take place, therefore the ship is at times only partially open.

The museum is very modern, boasting a well-designed, up-to-date website in double language (here). A smartphone app can be employed to take you along the museum historical path.

Museum of Military Technology ‘Gryf’, Dabrowka

This impressive collection was created through a private initiative after 2010. It bolsters two equally interesting and fascinating sections, one devoted to shells and bombs, the other to vehicles – either armored, transport or civilian. The collection is very rich and exceptionally well presented.

The shells and bombs display is one of the largest collections of shells, cartridges, shoulder-launched rockets, air-dropped bombs, land mines, etc. to be seen in Europe. The presentation follows a thematic-chronological order, therefore you will start with cannon balls, walk through shells from field cannons from the 19th century and WWI, and end up with a plethora of WWII and Cold War items.

To the inexpert eye, a cannon or mortar shell may look like a dull piece of metal. Looking closer, you notice that most of the shells are actually rather complex pieces of machinery, with mechanisms inside them to regulate the behavior of the shell after fire.

Furthermore, many types of shells exist, engineered to maximize the damage against some type of target or another – armored vehicles, buildings, ships, troops, deposits of explosives, wooden constructions, metal constructions, etc.

Extremely interesting is the collection of WWII air-dropped bombs. As known, the accuracy of bombing raids left much to be desired during WWII. Furthermore, as you can clearly see here, bombs from the time were relatively small, with a limited yield. These factors in turn forced bombing groups to carry out massive attacks, with many aircraft involved, to maximize the effectiveness of the mission.

Mortar shells take several dedicated display cases. Represented are many and diverse models from different provenience.

A similar impression as with shells you get looking at land mines – so many different designs, corresponding to different targets, and of course resulting from engineering efforts carried out in different Countries, and over several ages. These include material from WWII, like explosives put on railway tracks, glass mines or air-launched land-mines.

Original explosives from the Third Reich are on display, with clear swastika and eagle insignia on them!

An incredible and unique display is related to triggered explosive devices. This includes several original triggers, from the US, Soviet Union or Third Reich, and from various ages.

Shoulder-launched rockets include the pretty famous RPG from the Soviet Union – displayed together with original instructional panels! But also more technically evolved rockets are on display – or parts of them, like what appears to be the homing system of a SAM missile!

Demining gear follows suit – a rich collection also in this respect – together with grenades, both hand-launched or rifle-mounted.

A collection of purely Cold War gear is that of anti-radiation suits, measurement gear, and instructions for emergency in case of a nuclear bombing raid. These are very similar to their Western counterparts (see this post).

A few dioramas are build including original material from WWII, including Third Reich uniforms, and the Cold War.

This really impressive collection is just a part of this great museum. The second part is composed of a series of vehicles, ranging from cars and buses, to military trucks and, of course, armored vehicles and tanks. Similar to the previous part, the appearance of this component of the museum is exceptional. It is no surprise that all the vehicles here are working, or undergoing restoration to a working condition!

A first display is related to civilian vehicles from the communist era, some from the Soviet union – like a GAZ car – or from Poland – like interesting license-built Italian cars, labeled as ‘Polish-FIAT’!

A second hangar has on display a set of wonderful trucks, including German Mercedes-Benz trucks from WWII – similar to the one featured in the Indiana Jones movie ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’! – and massive Soviet designs, like ZIL and more modern KRAZ.

A separated hangar hosts a number of US-made trucks and jeeps, and a nice collection of rare OPEL light trucks from Germany. Also on display are a glider and a few side-cars.

A focus of the visit is of course the hangar dedicated to armored vehicles. These include Soviet designs, like the iconic T-34 and T-54, and  working replicas of German vehicles – in particular a Panther. Even an original Gepard moving light artillery battery from West Germany is part of this collection!

Even on standard days when non special events are planned, it is likely you will see some of this massive vehicles moving around, on the apron and along a small circuit to the back of the museum!

Also field cannons and other artillery pieces – including anti-aircraft guns – are on display.

Leaving the museum, you may notice a Guideline and a Ganef SAM from the USSR, as well as a static T-54 in a desert camo.

Getting there & Visiting

The location of this impressive collection (‘Muzeum Techniki Wojskowej ‘Gryf” in Polish) is somewhat secluded in the trees, close to the small village of Dabrowka. The address is ul. Ppłk. Ryszarda Lubowiedzkiego 2, 84-242 Dąbrówka, and the coordinates to the entrance are 54.55185, 18.17217. The place is in the countryside, some 20 miles west of the major port town of Gdynia.

The museum is compact to tour, but the exhibits are many, extremely interesting and nice to check out, especially thanks to the exceptional state of preservation. This is true for both the many vehicles and for the exhibition on artillery inside, one of the most impressive of the kind to be seen in Europe – and one of the most neatly presented!

The collection may require 1.5-2 hours at least for a technically minded person. A 1 hour visit is advised for the general public. Time may vary, however, in case live exhibitions are taking place – usually involving tanks performing some acrobatic maneuver!

A small restaurant is open inside for lunch around midday.

Their very good website, with full information for a visit and also about the collection, in both Polish and English, is here.

Herdla Torpedo Battery – Defending Bergen in WWII and the Cold War

Despite overshadowed by the natural beauties of Norway, the heritage of the rich war history of this Country would really deserve a dedicated trip. Thanks to its geographical location, this Scandinavian Nation had a primary strategic role both in WWII and the Cold War.

Hitler’s Third Reich military forces conquered Norway early in WWII (Spring 1940), gaining an effective stronghold for launching sea and air patrolling missions over the Norwegian Sea and the northern Atlantic. The long coastline stretching from the Skagerrak strait up to North Cape was made impenetrable to enemy invasion, building anew a capillary network of fortifications – the Atlantic Wall. This masterpiece of military engineering was based on an extensive catalog of reinforced concrete standard elements (Regelbau in German), ranging from fortified casemates to radar towers, to observation and target range finding stations, to bunkerized gun batteries, etc. These elements were assembled in larger fortified compounds, placed in key strategic locations along the coast or in the narrow firths reaching to major ports and towns, like Bergen or Trondheim.

Typically run by the Kriegsmarine (Navy) or Luftwaffe (Air Force), these forts may comprise measuring stations, anti-shipping guns, anti-aircraft cannons, plus barracks, services, ammo storages, and even airfields in some cases. They were built not only in Norway, but having been originally planned by the Third Reich to protect the entire coast of conquered continental Europe, they were erected along the shoreline also from Denmark down to France.

As a matter of fact, many of the Norwegian fortresses of the Atlantic Wall rank today among the most massive and well-preserved of the entire line (see here for some highlights).

But the war history of Norway, and of its mighty military infrastructure, didn’t stop with the end of WWII. With the start of the Cold War, Norway became a NATO founding member, and once again of great strategic value. It found itself in close proximity to the USSR, and with a long coastline facing the sea corridor taking from the highly-militarized Murmansk and Kola Peninsula (see here) to the northern Atlantic.

Most of the Atlantic Wall forts, especially anti-shipping and anti-aircraft gun batteries, were obsolete by the 1950s, and were soon deactivated. Some were abandoned or, when retained by the Norwegian military, they were modified to cover new functions.

In a few cases, the original mission of the site by the Third Reich was retained by NATO forces in the Cold War. This is the case of the torpedo battery in Herdla.

The fortress of Herdla was a major strategic fort in the Atlantic Wall, allowing to keep a watch on the entry point to the inner waters leading to the large industrial and military port of Bergen. Thanks to the morphology of the area, featuring a rare spot of flat land nearby a steep and rocky cliff, an airfield was installed by the Third Reich besides a set of bunkers, effectively hidden in the rocks. A land-based torpedo battery, consisting of a range-finding and aiming station and torpedo-firing tubes, was part of the fort.

During the Cold War, it was decided that the torpedo battery could be still a valuable asset, and Herdla was retained by the Norwegian military – by comparison, the airfield, too short for the requirements of the jet-era, was not. Over the years, the torpedo battery was potentiated to keep up-to-date against the technological offensive capabilities of the Eastern Bloc, and to exploit the most modern identification and surveillance techniques.

The torpedo battery was part of a larger naval fort, which controlled also the barrier of sea mines implemented to stop a sea-based intrusion towards Bergen.

As a matter of fact, the area control functions and the offensive capability of Herdla were retained until the early-2000s, when the fortress was deactivated following the end of the Cold War and defense budget cuts.

Luckily however, the often neglected Cold War chapter of warfare history has in Herdla a valuable asset – an accurately preserved fortress regularly open for a visit. A modern visitor center welcomes the more curious travelers, leaving Bergen towards the remoteness of the coast. It retraces the WWII heritage of the Herdla site, thanks to an exhibition centered around an original Focke-Wulf FW190, recently salvaged from the bottom of the sea, and with a special history to tell. Then a visit to the battery, looking like it had just been left by the military staff, is a unique emotion for both the specialized war technology enthusiasts and the general public as well.

The following report and photos is from a visit taken in Summer 2022.

Sights

As outlined in the overview, the Herdla site today is centered on two major highlights. One is the visitor center, with the preserved relic of a unique Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf FW190. The other is the former torpedo battery and Navy area command bunker, Norwegian facilities installed during the Cold War in bunkers dating to the Third Reich era.

Visitor center & Focke-Wulf FW190 exhibition

The relic of a Focke-Wulf FW190 A-3 German fighter from WWII is hosted in a dedicated room, where a scenic lighting makes this impressive exhibit literally shine.

This exemplar of the iconic Third Reich fighter, produced in some thousands examples, and now almost impossible to find especially in Europe, is ‘Gelbe 16’ (which can be translated in ‘Yellow 16’) of 12./JG5, and its history is deeply related to Herdla.

It took off on December 15th, 1943, from the airfield the Luftwaffe had established on the flat area now lying ahead of the visitor center, at the time a very active German airbase.

Following troubles with the engine, it ditched in the cold inner water near the island of Misje, some ten miles south of Herdla, the pilot being able to abandon the doomed aircraft, and being saved by local fishermen – and returned to the Luftwaffe, who had a Norwegian resistance prisoner released in acknowledgment.

The aircraft sank to the bottom of the sea, but its memory was not lost by some of the locals, who clearly remembered the events. The Focke-Wulf remained there for 63 years, but it was finally located and pinpointed by the Norwegian Navy, instigated by local interest, in 2005. After preparatory work – including exploration dives, to assess the condition and to set-up recovery operations – the fairly well-preserved wreck was lifted to the surface on November 1st, 2006, and loaded on a tug. Conservative restoration work then took place in Bergen.

Instrumentation and the machine guns were all recovered, together with many further fragments of equipment. Interestingly, evidence of repaint was found during conservation, retracing some previous assignments. Yet the history of this very exemplar remains difficult to write in its entirety.

Finally, following completion of conservation works, a new home for the aircraft was prepared in Herdla, where a hangar was built anew – and this is where you can see it today.

The aircraft is in an exceptional state of conservation, considering it spent 63 years in sea water. The fuselage, wings and tail are not significantly damaged, with just some paneling having disappeared on tail control surfaces, due to corrosion. The swastika on the vertical stabilizer is still perfectly evident, like other painted details.

The propeller blades are all bent downstream, as typical for an emergency landing carried out without the landing gear and the engine still running. The tail wheel is there with its original tire, the emblem of the German brand ‘Continental’, still in business today, being clearly noticeable.

The instrumentation from the pilot’s control panel has been put on display separately. Also a gyroscope has been found. Everything is only slightly damaged. Similarly, the two machine guns, dismounted prior to lifting the aircraft from the sea, are little damaged, and displayed with some ammo.

Complementing the exhibition are a few other pieces from other wrecks, as well as some quality scale models and dioramas portraying Herdla in the days of Third Reich tenancy.

Torpedo Battery

Access to the torpedo battery, which was built in WWII just above sea level, is from a gate on the land side. From outside, the bunkers in the fortress of Herdla appear especially well-deceived in the rocks of the cliff.

What is seen today inside, however, dates to the years of Norwegian tenancy. The facility was updated in several instances during the Cold War, the last in the 1990s. Immediately past the gate, you get access to a modern and neat mechanics shop, where a partly dismounted torpedo allows to have a suggestive look inside this marvelous weapon.

Interestingly, Norway inherited and went on operating a significant number of German G7a (TI) torpedoes. This was the standard torpedo employed by the Kriegsmarine since 1934, and with some modifications (‘TI’ standing for ‘first variant’, the later variants bearing other codes), for the full span of WWII.

Propulsion power for this torpedo was from a piston engine, fed by high-pressure vapor obtained by the combustion of Decaline with compressed air stored onboard, mixed in a heater (i.e. a combustion chamber) with fresh water, similarly stored in a tank. The resulting mixture fed a 4-cylinder radial piston engine, driving two counter-rotating propellers. The exhaust in the water produced a distinctive contrail of bubbles, and the presence of a high-frequency moving mechanism had the side-effect of a significant noise emission. The head of the cylinders can be clearly seen in the dismounted exemplar.

Guidance was provided by rudder steering controlled with the help of gyros, whereas depth was controlled via a mechanical depth sensor. The torpedo could stay close to the surface or keep an assigned depth. In WWII the torpedo had no homing device – i.e. it was ‘blind’, thus requiring carefully putting it on a target-intercept trajectory. It could however cover pre-determined trajectories of some sophistication. The set-point selection for guidance and the yaw regulation gyro assembly have been taken out of the torpedo, and can be checked out in detail.

The range could be selected before launching, and was traded off with speed. It could be between 5.500 and 13.200 yards, and the speed ranged between 44 kn and 30 kn correspondingly. The German origin of the torpedo on display is betrayed by the writings in German on some parts.

Leaving the workshop through a gate towards the inner part of the bunker, a roomy supply storage area can be found, with some interesting material including torpedo parts, as well as a torpedo launching cannon.

This item represents the primary way of launching torpedoes in the early Cold War from land-based batteries or ship decks. This was a technology inherited from WWII, when coastal batteries of the Atlantic Wall ejected torpedoes from slots in the bunker wall, shortly above the surface of the water, employing cannons similar to this one (which dates from the Cold War period), thanks to a burst of compressed air. This cheaper, but less ‘stealthy’ and accurate launching procedure, was replaced by underwater launching tubes only over the years of the Cold War, featuring an increase in the level of sophistication of warfare. Correspondingly, the slots in the side of the torpedo battery bunker facing the water were bricked up, and torpedo cannons were retained mostly for use from the deck of warships.

From the storage room you get access to the core area of the battery. This is through a decontamination lock, with gear for anti-contamination testing, including paper strips for checking contamination from poisonous gas.

The battery features two diesel generators for electric power, employed in case of disconnection from the regional grid.

Less usual – for a military facility – is the presence of two air compressors. Compressed air is relevant for torpedo operation, being employed for the launch burst from the torpedo tube, as well as for propulsion and gyros in the G7a torpedo. The air compressors in Herdla are made by Junkers, solid German technology from 1961!

A few bunkerized resting rooms for the staff manning the battery can be found in the same area, besides the power/compressed air supply room and the torpedo room. The resting rooms are minimal as usual, with suspended berths, and much personal military equipment on display – coats, blankets, medical kits, and more technical material.

Finally, the core of the battery is the torpedo room. This is much longer than wider, access is via the short side. In the Third Reich years, the launching slot was on the short side to the opposite end of the room, right above the water. Today, this slot has been bricked up, and there is no window at all.

The torpedoes are aligned on racks along the long sides of the room. The launching system is via two underwater tubes, which are accessed via obliquely mounted hatches, one to each side of the room at the level of the floor. The section of the racks closer to the entrance door is actually a pivoting slide. The slide could be pitched down, thus allowing the torpedo to slip through the hatch in the firing tube. The original launch control console can be found to the right of the access door – in a mint condition, it looks really like it had just been put in standby following a drill!

Over the years, the stockpile of G7a TI torpedoes was upgraded especially in terms of guidance. The major modification was the adoption of wired control. This is based on a thin electric cable unwinding as the torpedo proceeds along its trajectory, keeping it linked with the launching battery. This upgraded model is called G7a TI mod 1. Control via a steering joystick and trajectory monitoring system could provide manual guidance to the torpedo, thus sharply increasing the chance of target interception. This technology is still in use today. Wire tubes can be found on top of the rudder of torpedoes.

Besides the G7a, Herdla battery received the TP613 torpedo, a weapon developed in Sweden in the early 1980s from previous designs. Exemplars of this torpedo, still in use, are visible in the torpedo room. In terms of mechanics, the piston engine of this torpedo is powered by the reaction of alcohol and Hydrogen-peroxide. In terms of guidance, this torpedo features improved wired communication for guidance and power setting (i.e. changing torpedo speed during the run), as well as passive sonar homing. A dismounted section exposing the engine can be found on display.

The wire tube installation on top of the rudder is featured also on this model, and examples of the wire are on display.

The original guidance console, made by Decca, with a prominent joystick on it, is on display as well!

Training and proficiency checks are typically carried out without a warhead, but with an instructional head. Distinctively painted in shocking red, and with powerful lights in them – to show their position to simulated targets during training exercises, when needed – these are on display in a number. Since the torpedoes, just like missiles, are very expensive, a way of recovering them after instructional use has been envisioned, in the form of inflating bags coming out of the head, increasing the buoyancy of the emptied torpedo and forcing it to surface when reactants tanks are empty and power is off.

Offensive warheads can be exchanged with dummy ones for training, bolting them to the body of the torpedo, which remains totally unchanged. A warhead with a 600 lbs explosive load, triggered by a proximity pistol, was typically put on G7a torpedoes. The proximity pistol was made of four petals, which on contact with the target were bent towards a conductive metal ring around the nose cone of the torpedo, closing an electric circuit and triggering the explosion.

Leaving the torpedo room and the bunker is via the same way you came in.

Sea Mines & Area Control Center

But your visit is not over. As mentioned, the Herdla coastal battery hosts an area control center, with provision to manage target detection facilities and the minefields in the waters around Bergen.

This part was built in a facility strongly potentiated with tight doors, typical to the shockwave-proof military construction syllabus of the Cold War. A sequence of roomy vaults carved in the rock hides a number of containerized modules, together with an exhibition of sea mines and related apparatus.

Most notably, an L-type Mk 2 moored mine and a Mk 51 bottom mine are on display, with a understated control panel. The latter is actually a portable controller for triggering the mines. Already before WWII, sea mines were often put on the bottom of the sea in shallow waters, or moored in deeper waters, to control access inner waters, firths, ports, etc. The Germans made extensive use of this technique in Norway, and following WWII this strategy was inherited by Norway to protect its waters from (primarily) Soviet intrusion.

Despite contact mines were still popular in WWII, they have been surpassed and gradually replaced already in that age by proximity mines, based on noise and – especially – magnetic sensors. Today, proximity fuses activated by the magnetic field of ships or submarines passing nearby are standard technology. Onboard electronics allows to distinguish between the magnetic signature (i.e. fingerprint) of different ships, thus avoiding any issue for civilian or friendly traffic, and activating only against enemy shipping. Degaussing techniques – i.e. the ability of military ships to hide their signature – have forced to improve detection technology, which is today extremely sophisticated.

Furthermore, for the protection of ports and friendly waters, sea mines are typically controlled and triggered by hand, upon detection and localization of enemy shipping, by means of dedicated detection facilities on land or water. This improves precision and allows more flexible defensive-offensive tactics, since a human chain of command has control on the minefield, instead of a pre-determined computer program.

To trigger the mines, consoles like that on display are employed, where a trigger for each mine allows precise control over the minefield.

The first containerized control center hosts a similar, yet much more modern, dedicated console. Everything in this movable control center is very neat, and really looking like reactivation might take place in just moments! Of interest is also the situation map, covering the area around Herdla and the water inlet to Bergen.

A nearby container reveals berths and a small living area for stationing staff.

Yet another container hosts a complete situation room covering the area. Similar to the coastal battery in Stevnsfort, Denmark (see here), a careful eye was constantly overlooking the shipping in the area.

In the same container, a console for steering torpedoes, more modern than that previously seen in the torpedo battery, is on display.

All in all, Herdla is a one-of-a-kind destination, of primary interest for those interested in Cold War military history, enjoyable and easy to visit. Totally recommended for everybody with an interest in history, with much to see and learn for the kids as well.

Getting there & Visiting

Herdla fortress features an official visitor center with a large parking area, and amenities including a small restaurant and a shop. The official website is here. It can be reached about 27 miles north of central Bergen, roughly 45 minutes by car. The address is Herdla Museum, Herdla Fort, 5315 Herdla.

The torpedo battery and control bunker can be visited only on a guided tour. Visiting from abroad, we scheduled an appointment, and were shown around by the very knowledgeable guide Lars Ågren, a retired officer of the Royal Norwegian Navy. He joined the Navy in the late 1970s, in time to gain a substantial, hands-on Cold War experience during the final, high-tech part of that confrontation. He was promoted to tasks in the NATO headquarters in Belgium, later returning to Norway, and totaling more than 37 years in service. He is strongly involved in the management of the Herdla site. Chance is for you to embark on a visit with this guide, or other very competent guides who will satisfy the appetites of more committed war technicians and engineers, being capable of entertaining also the younger public as well.

A visit to the torpedo battery and control center may last about 1 hour. Seasonal changes to opening times may apply, as common in Northern Countries, therefore carefully check the website.

Communist Relics in Bucharest

Most travel agencies selling trips to Romania agree on the fact that Bucharest is surely not the best this big Country in the easternmost part of Europe has to offer in terms of archaeological or historical significance, nature or art.

Actually the town, originally founded in the 15th century, is today mostly made of modern buildings – meaning it was extensively redesigned and rebuilt in the 1980s. This happened as a result of a huge earthquake in 1977, killing thousands in Bucharest and destroying or damaging many buildings. The earthquake, and the will of the most famous Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, triggered the realization of an incredible architectural master plan, centered on the huge House of the Republic – the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon – which in turn called for the demolition of a good 30% of the existing buildings in Bucharest, including churches and many historical highlights.

This conspicuous palace stands out as one of the world’s most imposing examples of communist architecture, thus making for an interesting destination for those interested in the ‘heritage of Communism’ in Europe. Well, the Palace of the Parliament – as it is called today – is so imposing that everybody coming to Bucharest will probably spot it and pay a visit.

But Bucharest has more to offer for those interested in the traces of the luckily bygone era of communist leadership.

Opened to the public in 2016, the private residence of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Helena, both executed on Christmas day in 1989 during the quick but very violent revolution which led to the end of communism in Romania, can be fully visited today as a museum. Built soon after Ceausescu took control of the already established communist regime in 1965, it is an interesting example of eclectic architecture from the 1960s, designed by the Israeli architect Aron Grimberg-Solari. All the original furniture is on display, and many items belonging to the most hated couple in Romanian history can be admired as well.

As usual in communist Countries in Europe, before 1989 the National Military Museum received much attention, growing up to host a collection of weapons, tanks and aircraft of considerable size. The place, located close to central Bucharest, is surely worth a visit especially for those looking for unusual Soviet weaponry!

Another easy-to-find communist-themed site is the Palace of the Free Press, the only imposing building in Stalinist style in Bucharest, built in the early 1950s for the propaganda-press. A big statue of Lenin used to seat prominently ahead of the façade. It was removed in 1990, to celebrate the end of the dictatorship. Many emblems of communism – hammers, sickles and stars – decorate the walls of this now mostly unused relic.

Finally, the very central palace of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which since the 1950s until 1989 was occupied by the Romanian Communist Party, is a distinctive example of rationalist architecture from the late 1930s, with much to tell about Cold War history. It was from a balcony of this palace that Nicolae Ceausescu gave his famous last speech, just days before he was arrested and shot (see this post).

This post is about all these sights. Photographs were taken in June 2017.

Navigate this post – Click on links to scroll

Sights

House of the Republic – now Palace of the Parliament

No words can describe the size and bulkiness of this building. Together with the Bulevardul Unirii – the boulevard leading to the front façade – with its residential and ancillary office buildings clustered around the palace, each the size of a big shopping mall,  the ensemble is really unique even for the usual pomp of communist Countries. Everything here was built in the 1980s on the design of the young Anca Petrescu, who at that time was in her thirties.

From the boulevard to the square ahead of the façade you can easily spend some time trying to find a good way to photograph this building.

The façade is not flat, and this makes it not excessively imposing inspite of the real width and height. Furthermore, a terraced garden, gently ascending from the street level to that of the front entrance above, somewhat reduces the perceived height of the building.

Access for the public is from the northern side. From there the palace is possibly more imposing, for the façade comes down abruptly to the street level, differently from the front.

The inside is by far the least convincing part of the design. Here you clearly perceive the ‘megalomaniac’ attitude of the Ceausescu, who asked for a building with more than 600 rooms, for which no realistic function could be imagined at that time – nor can be guessed today. You can see a succession of halls in diverse styles, some of which may find a place in an old railway station, some in a congress center, others in a luxury hotel, some in Buckingham Palace, a few in a church, and so on… A collection of stately rooms, some of them really immense, all lacking any focal point – a throne, a dinner table, a work of art. As a matter of fact, this severely oversized building is used today only for a minimal part as a governmental building. Most of the rooms are used for congresses, marriages, company meetings and international summits. But you clearly feel the place is basically uninhabited, and except for the crowds of tourists, mostly unused.

As a part of the tour you can get access to the balcony on the front façade, from which you can enjoy a nice view of the city, and in particular of the perspective created by the boulevard ahead of the palace.

All in all, in my view this palace is much more interesting from the outside, where you can appreciate the size and good proportion of the master plan, and the interesting particulars of the late-classicist communist style. The inside is where you perceive most the unsuitability of the palace for any practical function. You may be stricken by the number and proportion of the rooms and the plenty of high quality materials used for construction and decoration, but you may also get bored soon by the endless sequence of unused – and unusable – halls, corridors and flights of stairs.

Getting there and moving around

For a western tourist taxi is the most efficient and cost-effective way for moving around in Bucharest. Depending on where you are taken first – the north entrance or the front façade – you may choose to take a walk around the building, or a part of it, before or after your tour of the inside. Visiting inside is only possible through a guided tour. Reservation is totally recommended, for this is probably the most visited attraction in town. Furthermore, if you are put in a waiting list you may be forced to stay close to the ticket office in the basement for more than you might want, with nothing to see and do. You can make a reservation through their website or ask your hotel to do it for you. A day in advance may be enough, for entries are at high frequency. Security with metal detector is part of the treatment. For taking pictures inside you need to buy a permit at a small fee. The visit inside takes really long – more than an hour – and it may turn out very boring especially for children, for there are no ‘highlights’ inside.

Palatul Primaverii – The Private Residence of the Ceausescu in Bucharest

The name of the residence translates into ‘Spring Palace’. It was built in the mid-1960s when Nicolae Ceausescu came to power. It was intended from the beginning as a private residence for the dictator, his wife and their three children. Differently from the Palace of the Republic, it is not absurdly sized especially for todays standard, about the size of an average Hollywood villa.

From a historical standpoint this place is very interesting, for as an official residence of the president of Romania, it hosted meetings with leaders and politicians of many foreign Countries, most notably Richard Nixon, the first American president to pay a state visit to Romania. Furthermore, this house has a lot of typical ‘Cold War style’ features. It was not publicized at all inside Romania, where only a restricted group knew of its existence before the revolution in 1989-90. Coming close was made impossible by a guarded perimeter with a few checkpoints all around a large area of the town, where embassies and notable members of the Communist Party had their residences. Inside there are an underground bunker for protection and an access to a network of tunnels leading to the palace of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and other decision centers in Bucharest. The villa was taken during the revolution, but anything was left basically as it was – the intruders, who in 1989 were suffering from a famine plus from heat, electricity and water starvation, took away all the food.

The eclectic style of the building, integrally designed by the same architect, is also an interesting specimen of luxury architecture from the 1960s.

On the ground floor, the first rooms are the studio of the dictator, where most important meetings were held, with the walls covered with wooden panels. Then an ancillary room with a chess table, a central lobby with a fountain and stairs leading to the upper floor and to the basement, a large drawing room and a dining room can be visited close by. On the same floor are also the private rooms of one of the two sons of the Ceausescu couple. From the main drawing room it is possible to reach an inner garden with peacocks – not the original exemplars, but Nicolae loved these birds, which used to live here also before 1990.

In the basement it is possible to find a winery and a nice middle-ages-themed, count-Dracula-style canteen with a fireplace. A private movie theater seating about 30 is part of this area. The projectors in the back – Philips, not from the Eastern Bloc… – together with an archive of rare movies have been carefully cataloged, and are now part of the inventory, similarly to every item in the house.

Nicolae Ceausescu was born to a family of workers, and was a shoemaker in his youth. After he came to power he progressively adopted a more and more luxurious lifestyle, but he could never relinquish his very humble origins. The room he reportedly favored most in his fancy villa, and where he liked to spend most of the time, was a passage in the basement, with some simple chairs, a small table, and a very small light close to the roof. Some speculate this was the setting which mostly resembled the house he had lived in as a kid. Another explanation may be a secret armored door in this room, giving direct access to the bunker…

The bunker with a crisis room is where Ceausescu operated in the tumultuous days of December 1989. He finally decided to try to reestablish power with a speech which turned out to be his famous last public appearance, a few days before he was arrested and executed. Here was the entrance to the network of tunnels leading to other palaces in Bucharest – today it has been bricked up. A walk along a service corridor in the underground allows to have a glance to the many service rooms in this area – including a laundry, a room for an independent power supply system and much more.

Another strange ‘private passage’ is where a gallery of many portraits of the Ceausescu can be found, together with hunt trophies and hunt-related gifts from some African leaders and close friends of the Romanian dictator. Nicolae was reportedly not good as a hunter, but he liked to nourish the idea of being so, and he was often photographed with trophies he rarely caught himself. Paintings portraying the couple were already there when the Ceausescu used to live in the house.

In a wing on the top floor are the private rooms of the two other children of the Ceausescu.

In another wing are the apartments of Helena and Nicolae, with a bedroom, study, bathroom and dressing room for each of them.

The separate bedrooms were not used much, for they used to sleep in a common bedroom with a nice balcony and a view of the front garden.

There was also another common bathroom, lavishly decorated, which was reportedly used more often by the couple. The same is true for a smaller dressing room with wardrobes for both, which was typically used by the couple. Here and in the main wardrobe close by it is possible to find the many dresses belonging to the Ceausescu. The smell of old fabric here is really horrible, but the sight of their clothes adds much to the perception of this place as the ‘lion’s lair’.

In a third wing of the top floor it is possible to find possibly the most beautiful room of the house, which is basically a ‘garden-room’, with plants and a nice peacock-themed mosaic wall and fountain – a nice example of decoration from the 1960s.

Descending again to the ground floor you can continue your visit with the huge wellness area, with a sauna, Turkish bath, infra-red lamp, equipment for various wellness and beauty treatments – some of them were probably fancy in those years, but now they seem exotic and more like old-style medical stuff… There is also a barber shop.

Finally, the indoor swimming pool. This is very big and deep even for todays standard, and the zodiac-themed mosaic decoration of the walls is luminous and really gorgeous. There is direct access to the garden through a porch.

You can access the inner garden and reach the front entrance of the property walking along a nice covered passage.

All in all, this is possibly the site I liked most during my stay in Bucharest. I would surely recommend a visit for the great historical and architectural significance of the place. The place is very authentic, and you can perceive it distinctly from the many personal items scattered around the house and from the appearance of the rooms, which have come almost unaltered from the end of the 1980s.

Getting there and moving around

The Spring Palace is in the northeastern quarter of central Bucharest, in what is probably one of the nicest parts of the town, with high-level residential buildings, most of them built very recently, foreign embassies, well-kept parks and schools. If you are visiting the area of Parcul Herastrau or Parcul Bordei you may choose to come to the mansion with a nice walk. Otherwise the best way to come here is with the usual taxi. Visiting is possible only with a guide. You can opt for a regular group tour or a personal tour. The latter was my choice. You can book it in advance (one day in advance in my case) through their website. The guide was very kind and knowledgeable, and the 1.5 hour visit really interesting and full of details.

National Military Museum

This museum is composed of two main parts. The permanent exhibition in the main building covers the military history of Romania from the first settlements to the present day. For those with an interest for the complicated history of this Country, the relationship with the Ottoman and Russian Empires, the foundation of the Kingdom of Romania in the 19th century, its role in both World Wars and the advent of communism, this museum offers much valuable information. Little is said of what happened during and after the 1989 revolution. There are just scant signs in English, and the Soviet-style of the exhibition is a bit outdated. Anyway there is much stuff of interest to be checked up.

Outside to the back of this building it is possible to visit a rich collection of weapons, ranging in time, type and size. A conspicuous part is composed by cannons and howitzers, some of them mounted on railway trolleys.

There are of course more ancient cannons, from the 18th and early 19th centuries, stored very close to some torpedoes and naval mines.

A focal point of the exhibition is a 2P16 Soviet tactical missile system with movable launcher. Also on display there is what appears to be a version of a SCUD-A system in fully erected position.

On the outside there is also a collection of tanks, radio equipment, a Soviet SA-2 anti-aircraft missile and a MiG-15. Some of the cannons are ‘made in Germany’.

The ancillary buildings host a collection of uniforms, coaches and a small collection of aircraft and engines for aviation, including the reentry vehicle of the only Soyuz mission flown by a Romanian astronaut.

Taken alone, this outdoor collection is much interesting for everybody, and especially for the kids. I would recommend also a visit to the inside for more history-minded people.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is located less than a mile from the Palace of the Parliament. The neighborhood, while totally central and safe, is nothing special, so I suggest going there by taxi for saving time. Visiting of the entire complex may take 1-1.5 hours on a self-guided basis.

Casa Scinteii – now House of the Free Press

This is the only building designed in the style of Stalin’s classicism in Bucharest, and it looks like a cousin of the skyscrapers in Moscow and other similar towers in Europe (see this post). The name refers to ‘Scinteia’ – meaning ‘spark’ – the official propaganda newspaper of the Romanian Communist Party, which had its headquarter here. Ready by the mid-1950s, the building was placed at the end of a majestic perspective going from the triumphal arch through a park directly to the statue of Lenin – removed in 1990 – and to this building.

Today a nice modern monument has replaced Lenin, and the area, quickly reachable from the airport, is among the most sought after by international companies. Many new buildings have been built in the neighborhood, making the contrast with this partly abandoned Soviet relic even more striking.

From a distance the building looks imposing but well proportioned. At a closer look, it reveals its communist soul through many hammer and sickle insignia, together with some stars in the decoration.

Getting closer you realize that there are bushes on the roof, many shutters are stuck halfway down, the windows are covered in dust, everything indicating a state of partial disrepair. The building is probably looking for a new owner, but the excessive size and the inconvenient heritage it bears perhaps are making things more difficult.

Getting there and moving around

Located to the north of the city center, close to the expo and on the northwestern corner of Parcul Herastrau. You can reach the area with a pleasant walk from the triumphal arch of WWI (Arcul de Triumf) or through the park, or you can get directly to it with a taxi. The place is mainly closed and anyway not open to the public, but you can have a walk around freely.

Palace of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

This palace, completed in the early 1940s, hosted many institutions during its history, including the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, with the executive office of the leader of the Party. It is located in the totally central Piata Revolutiei – Revolution Square – in front of the former royal palace, now hosting the museum of fine arts.

The place was the central stage of the revolution in late 1989. The balcony on the front façade of the building is where Nicolae and Helena Ceausescu tried a final move to regain control over the Romanian people. Here they faced the public for the last time, and for the first time they were openly contested. The video recordings of that historical moment, together with the similarly famous videos of the Berlin Wall torn down, stand out as vivid symbols of the end of the communist era in Europe.

What followed the last speech was a short period of confusion, with the armed forces and the revolutionary faction shooting in the streets. The Ceausescu fled the building by helicopter, only to be arrested the following day, rapidly put on trial and executed soon after. More than one thousand lost their lives struggling to definitively push dictatorship to an end. Vivid traces of the fight can be seen on the façade of this building, in the form of bullet holes above some of the windows.

Getting there and moving around

The place is totally central, and easy to reach by walk if you are staying in one of the many international hotels in central Bucharest. Visiting inside is not possible, but you can come very close to all sides of the palace.