Hitler's Bunker

Mongoose · Post by **Mongoose** » 04 Sep 2003 00:08

Does anyone know how much of Hitler's Berlin bunker is still left? According to:http://www.historyquestvideo.com/Fall.htm it seems only a small portion remains. But how big is this portion? I know a lot of it has just been filled in with rubble, so these parts still really exist.

I am especially interested in knowing if Hitler's quaters are still there. Are they?

Thanks.

Reg

nondescript handle · Post by **nondescript handle** » 04 Sep 2003 01:39

The "Führerbunker" in the garden of the "old chancery" (Wilhelmstraße/Voßstraße) has two parts the "Vorbunker" (build 1936) and the "Führerbunker" in the narrow sense (build 1943).
The Vorbunker was demolished in 1988, and apartment buildings were build over it.
The Führerbunker was damaged by the red army after the war, in 1988 East Germany tried to demolish it too, but failed to do so.
The "Führerbunker" was again digged up 1999, and was considered save to overbuild. It was then buried again and asphalted. It is now under a connecting path/parking lot (between Kolmerstraße and Behernstraße).

See also: http://www.thirdreichruins.com/berlin2.htm

Regards
Mark

hajo · Post by **hajo** » 04 Sep 2003 10:56

Are there any pictures of the Führerbunker inside???

Mich · Post by **Mich** » 04 Sep 2003 18:02

Yes, I also would like to know that.

I know that there has been filmed inside the bunker, but I don't know if any pictures were taken.

Mongoose · Post by **Mongoose** » 04 Sep 2003 20:29

nondescript handle wrote:The "Führerbunker" was again digged up 1999, and was considered save to overbuild. It was then buried again and asphalted. It is now under a connecting path/parking lot (between Kolmerstraße and Behernstraße).
Regards
Mark

Thanks Mark. Has the Fuhrerbunker just been filled in with rubble? Or has it been filled in with cement or something. Does it still exist, intact?

nondescript handle · Post by **nondescript handle** » 04 Sep 2003 21:02

Mongoose wrote: Thanks Mark. Has the Fuhrerbunker just been filled in with rubble? Or has it been filled in with cement or something. Does it still exist, intact?

You're very welcome.
As a little disclaimer: the stuff I know about the procedure in 1999, is what I remember of the media coverage in the local news. So possibly it dosen't hold up to the high standard of reliability of this forum.

In 1999 the city authorities digged it up to answer two questions:
1)is the bunker worth to preserve as an artifact of history?
")if not is it safe to left it there?

According to the press releases, the answers were:
1)No, the inerior is heavyly damaged, and there are cracks in the walls and water in the interior etc. so to make it "presentable" isn't worth the cost. So the owners of the land are allowed to destroy it.
2)But it is in a good enough shape to be overbuild, so the owner isn't obligated to remove it.
IIRC there were small patches of concrete placed over places were the steel was exposed. I don't know with what they filled the bunker though.

Regards
Mark

Director · Post by **Director** » 05 Sep 2003 01:15

It's ad that has been destroyed, I'm no Nazi, but it was a part of history. I would have loved to have seen it. A fellow student of mine, who live not far from Nuremberg, said the opening to the bunker was visable up until not long ago, but it was cordoned off.

g.l.s.h · Post by **g.l.s.h** » 07 Sep 2003 06:54

hajo wrote:Are there any pictures of the Führerbunker inside???

I remember seeing a short film in the news showing dark passges with schematical drawings of Nazi uniformed man on the walles, and rusted pipes that gave the impression of a sunken submarine look.

Mongoose · Post by **Mongoose** » 07 Sep 2003 14:19

Here's a short clip of the bunker taken in the late 1990's I think. You need Quicktime to play it.

Mongoose · Post by **Mongoose** » 07 Sep 2003 14:24

Hmm, that didn't work. Let me try again....

Hey, it says 'The extension mov is not allowed'.

Note to moderator: Is there a way to upload this???

Marcus · Post by **Marcus** » 07 Sep 2003 14:37

Mongoose wrote:Hmm, that didn't work. Let me try again....
Hey, it says 'The extension mov is not allowed'.
Note to moderator: Is there a way to upload this???

No, you can't upload such files here in the forum.

/Marcus

Tholzel · Post by **Tholzel** » 10 Sep 2003 02:58

<<A fellow student of mine, who live not far from Nuremberg, said the opening to the bunker was visable up until not long ago, but it was cordoned off.>>

He might have made the same mistake I made, when I"discovered" the entrance to what I instantly assumed was the Hitler Bunker just this side of the Brandenburg Gate in an open field (in 1956). It was obviously the entrance to a bunker, but it could not have been the Hitler Bunker. When I went back in 1961, the spot had been raised and was just a filled-in rubble mound.

Geoff Walden · Post by **Geoff Walden** » 11 Sep 2003 20:28

g.l.s.h wrote:
hajo wrote:Are there any pictures of the Führerbunker inside???
I remember seeing a short film in the news showing dark passges with schematical drawings of Nazi uniformed man on the walles, and rusted pipes that gave the impression of a sunken submarine look.

This was not the Fuehrerbunker, but the so-called Fahrerbunker, or SS Drivers Bunker. It was one of the many bunkers in that general area, some of which still exist. I believe this Drivers Bunker still exists (that is, still open and accessible, *IF* one could get into it), but it is in the area where that Holocaust Memorial is being built, so it wouldn't be open to the public.

I remember the media attention in 1999 about the Fuehrerbunker being dug up again. I think this was an example of something one sees a lot - people *think* they know where the FB was, but they really don't. For example, some of the local tour guides can be seen sitting on benches and such in that childrens playground right behind the newer apartment buildings, telling tourists that the FB was/is under their feet, but that's not really the exact location (it's farther out from the buildings - under the parking lot (partially), not the playground).

I was there several times from 1999-2001, and I don't think the excavations in that area ever during that time actually touched the remains of the FB - they were farther back than that. Granted, they probably *did* dig up some underground concrete, and maybe even opened up some rooms/bunkers, but I really don't think this was the FB. As far as I can find out from lots of research in that area, the Vorbunker was removed before the construction of those apartment buildings ca. 1989, and the roof of the FB was broken up and allowed to fall down inside its rooms, effectively (or mostly) filling the FB up with rubble. I have not read or seen any reliable account that the FB has been opened or entered since. If it *has* been, I'd sure like to read all about it.

The bunker display in the Anhalterbahnhof Bunker (go down to the lowest open floor - do not waste your time in the "haunted house" on the upper floors) has some photos that are labeled as showing the inside of the FB. It is implied these were taken ca. 1988, during the initial construction for the apartment buildings. I really can't say whether these really show the FB or not. The After the Battle folks apparently always found the FB to be full of water (although they went inside the VB). Maybe these photos show the VB, but maybe they show something else entirely.

Maybe I'm just a Doubting Thomas ...

Geoff Walden

nondescript handle · Post by **nondescript handle** » 11 Sep 2003 23:39

Hi Geoff,

Your're absolutely right, there were well over 1000 Bunkers in Berlin during the TR (between 1940 and 1942 alone there were ~400 build).
Of course not all survived till today, but one has indeed to know the exact location of a bunker to identify it.

Geoff Walden wrote: I believe this Drivers Bunker still exists (that is, still open and accessible, *IF* one could get into it), but it is in the area where that Holocaust Memorial is being built, so it wouldn't be open to the public.

In the area of the Holocaust Memorial are actually two bunkers: the "Fahrerbunker" (at the corner Voßstraße and Ebertstraße) and the "Göbbels-Bunker" which is actually under the Memorial.

Regards
Mark

Hasso · Post by **Hasso** » 13 Sep 2003 02:49

It was also explored shortly after the wall fell in 1989. When I visited the location in 1991 (I believe), I found pieces of the red marble and an older gentleman who showed me articles with pictures from the exploration. There are pictures of the inside from that period somewhere in existence.

I took the red marble to the Soviet Cemetary at Treptow to compare, and it's the real deal. I still have it somewhere in the closet.

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Hitler's Bunker

Hitler's Bunker

Here's a clip of the bunker

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