Wolfsschanze

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Remains of largest bunker (Adolf Hitler's) at Wolfsschanze. Its height may be gauged by doorway at lower left.

Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (English: Wolf's Lair, Polish: Wilczy Szaniec) was the codename for Adolf Hitler's World War II Eastern Front military headquarters. It was one of several other Führer Headquarters throughout Europe.

1 Details
2 Origin of the name
3 See also

[edit] Details

The remains of the complex are located in Poland at the hamlet of Gierłoż (German: Forst Görlitz) near Kętrzyn (German: Rastenburg), although at the time of operation this area was part of the German province of East Prussia, the southern part of which was assigned to the People's Republic of Poland after 1945. It consisted of a group of bunkers and fortified buildings in a thickly wooded area, surrounded by several rings of barbed wire and defensive positions. The complex was served by a nearby airfield. It was built for the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed 'Operation Barbarossa' (22 June 1941), and abandoned on 25 January 1945 as the Soviet army front line troops approached Wegorzewo (German: Angerburg) located only 15 km away. Hitler arrived on the night of 21 June 1941, and departed for the last time on 20 November 1944. He spent over 800 days there, off and on, during World War II.

The original bunker system was constructed by Organisation Todt, but the enlargement of Wolfsschanze was never finished; the expansion work was stopped only a few days before the Russian advance to Wegorzewo pressured German forces to blow up the entire Wolfsschanze bunker complex just prior to the Wehrmacht retreat westward.

Wolf's Lair's location in former East Prussia (present national borders shown).

The Wolfsschanze was the location of the failed assassination plot which was attempted by Claus von Stauffenberg on 20 July 1944.

The whole complex was severely damaged by the demolitions carried out during the German retreat because Hitler thought it was too valuable to allow the Soviets to use. Clearance of the large minefields around the site set up by the Germans was carried out from 1945 to 1956 by the Polish Army. Today the complex is a museum, open all year long. Despite the damage, the site remains to this day a notable tourist attraction. A monument to the July 20 plotters can also be found on the site.

[edit] Origin of the name

A self-adopted nickname of Hitler's was "Wolf," likely suggested by the derivation of his given name Adolf from the Old High German "adal" and "wolf" ("noble wolf"). Hitler began using the nickname in the early 1920s and was so addressed only by those in his intimate circle. The nickname is reflected in the names of his various headquarters scattered throughout continental Europe (Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Wolfsschlucht in Belgium, Wehrwolf in Ukraine).

Enormous amounts of explosives were used to destroy the Wolfsschanze bunkers. Here the explosion has lifted a bunker's roof — 2-meter-thick solid ferro-concrete.