Bunker Harnekop
Lying to the north east of Berlin and extending over an enormous area, only the initiated knew the way to the best-kept state secret of the former GDR. The bunker, a 3-storey structure, 30m deep, was constructed between 1971 and 1976 for the Ministry of Defence and is open to visitors as a relic of the Cold War.
http://www.atombunker-harnekop.de/Fuchsbau FürstenwaldeFrom 1942 onwards prisoners in an outpost of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in the former mining facility between Rauen and Petersdorf near Fürstenwalde were forced to build the concrete tunnels of the so-called “Fuchsbau” for the Waffen-SS. It was here that the most important intelligence centre of the Waffen-SS security service was to take shape. The GDR used the structure as its main underground aerial defence administration centre with the tactical designation of “Central Command Post 14”. It was one of two central aerial surveillance posts within the area of the Warsaw Pact. Its staff was made up of more than 350 civil servants who worked here in 24 hour shifts. On Reunification on 3rd October 1990, the Federal Armed Forces took over the installation until their withdrawal in 1995 when the bunker was sealed. A syndicate has been offering guided tours since 2006.
http://www.bunker-fuchsbau.de/ Wollenberg Bunker Wollenberg near Bad Freienwalde was the site for one of 26 tropospheric radio transmission centres operating under the code name “TUSHURKA“ within the Eastern Military Bloc. In 1984 work commenced on the construction of a 2-storey edifice to house the radio and transmission technology in the Semmelberg – at 158 metres the highest point of elevation to the east of Berlin. This was intended to enable communications to be maintained even in the wake of an atomic attack. Mobile communications technology was also used for this purpose. When it was completed in 1987 the installation was surrounded by a high voltage fence. In 1990 the Federal Armed Forces briefly took over the site, which, from 1992 onwards, was variously used as a centre for asylum seekers, a disaster control centre and an industrial site. It stood empty from 1999 onwards until the “Special Site 301Wollenberg” with its significance in terms of military history was acquired by a society. Since 2004 this society has been organising guided tours of the facilities featuring old-style technical equipment as well as the collection of military vehicles.
http://www.bunker-wollenberg.de/.
Ladeburg BunkerThe bunker at Ladeburg bei Bernau to the north east of Berlin, which was constructed between 1982 and 1985, housed the command post of the 41st Anti-aircraft Rocket Brigade “Hermann Duncker“. The two-storey structure complete with garage extensions was built between 1982 and 1985 and commissioned in December 1986 following appropriate functional trials. In an emergency, it was possible to control up to 10 anti-aircraft rocket divisions from here. Taken over by the Federal Armed Forces in 1990, the bunker continued to be used until 1991; after that it was dismantled and then sealed. Since May 2002 guided tours of the site, which has been purchased by the Ladeburg Animal Sanctuary, have been available.
http://www.bunker-ladeburg.de/
Site 16/(5)206, Garzau
In Garzau, in the vicinity of Strausberg, there is a bunker that formerly housed the Organisational and Computer Centre of the National People’s Army. The site is a genuine memorial to the computer technology of the more recent past, now consigned to the status of a museum exhibit. It was here, several metres under the ground, that the heart of an internal GDR precursor of the Internet used to beat. Cabinet-sized computers with enormous magnetic memories were used to collect messages via remote data lines from all units of the National People’s Army. A 170-strong team would prepare the data and forward it on-line to the Ministry of Defence. However, Garzau would only have become really important in the event of war or a crisis, which is the reason why the bunker was designed so as to withstand a medium-sized nuclear weapon explosion even from a distance as close as 1200 metres.
http://www.bunker-garzau.de/.
Bunkers and the Book Town of Wünsdorf
An extensive area in Wünsdorf invites the visitor to take a peek into the military past, from the German Emperor right through to the Third Reich and the Supreme Command of the Soviet military forces. In addition to visiting the bunkers of Maybach1 and Zeppelin, the former General Staff and Intelligence bunker for the German army, there are also guided tours of the bunkers and military installations of the Soviet Supreme Command, with clear evidence of the existence of instructions from Moscow for the construction as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall.
http://www.buecherstadt.com/
Watchtower at Lenzen an der Elbe
The internal German border used to run along the banks of the Elbe in Lenzen. Only the solitary watchtower along the Elbe Cycleway is now left as a reminder of the old border installations.
http://www.lenzenelbe.de/
Hohen Neuendorf Watchtower
The former watchtower used by the GDR border troops between Berlin-Frohnau and Hohen Neuendorf/Bergfelde on the north-western edge of the city of Berlin is used as a “green classroom” for nature conservation. There is a seminar room with a small library and features in the surrounding area include planted beds and wetlands.
http://www.naturschutzturm.de/
