A trip into history: Lonely beaches, rusty rockets


More than a million guests a year, nightmarishly full beaches, a construction boom and long traffic jams on arrival and departure evrey day. The german island of Usedom is the Germans' favorite sunny island. The beautiful side of a cruel island.The beautiful side of a cruel island.

Nevertheless, the other side of Usedom is still there: lonely beaches, endless summer meadows full of animals and the starry sky above the bright sand. And it has secrets too: Here are the places where mankind starts the storm to the stars, the space race and the invention of the first misslies.

Deep in the wood are remainings of terrirble times.Deep in the wood are remainings of terrirble times.

Wandering on the beaches of Usedom like we do is not only a of a trip with no hotel, no campground, no guesthouse and no Airbnb room. It's  a kind of time travelling - just nature, tent on the beach or in the forest and the burden of history for your eyes. 

Barbed wire fences, rusty now.Barbed wire fences, rusty now.

We are still in Peenemünde, the place, where Wernher von Braun, later invertor of the first american rockets, has it's home base while the WW2.

The door into hell.The door into hell.

From 1936 to 1943, about 70 large buildings were erected in the Usedom forest and meadow area, as well as a housing estate for scientists, an own water and power plant, and an electrically operated factory railroad. Furthermore, camp buildings were built as mass accommodations for soldiers, forced laborers and concentration camp inmates.

One building of the socialist army of eastern germany is still here.One building of the socialist army of eastern germany is still here.

Wernher von Braun and General Walter Dornberger, as leaders in the development of a long-range rocket that would transport 750 kilograms of explosives over a distance of 250 kilometers, neither envisioned nor imagined that this would one day become a magical, mysterious place that tons of tourists attracts, while the remains of water cisterns, underpasses and disused railroad tracks hint at how gigantic these facilities once were, of which nothing has been completely preserved except for the ruins of the power plant.

You can see until now the main guardhouse that was located at the entrance of the site towards the

Nobody knows what this was, because it was always forbidden to see it while the communist era.Nobody knows what this was, because it was always forbidden to see it while the communist era.

Army Experimental Station and the Air Force Test Site. All road trafflc in and out of the plants was checked there. Due to the high security regulations in the Third Reich, the restricted areas could only be entered with appropriate authorization.

A monment from the communist era - three marines of VolksmarineA monment from the communist era - three marines of Volksmarine

The main guardhouse consisted of a guard building with rooms for the guards and a post office. ln a flat on the first floor, the head of the intelligence service lived with his family. Connected to this was a space for a car and a garage.

Terrible wood.Terrible wood.

The importance of the main guardhouse diminished in the course of the expansion of the experimental site, as further access control was set up. After the end of the war, the main guardhouse was removed in compliance with the Potsdam Agreement, except for the remains that still exist today.

Remainings of the bunkersRemainings of the bunkers

The breath of history, here it blows quietly, but clearly musty smelling. Less than ten kilometers away, there are the remains of a forced labor camp to visit; in the museum, you can read that the first Royal Air Force air raid on Peenemünde in August 1943 alone killed about 750 people, including probably 500 foreign prisoners of war and forced laborers. After that, the bunker remains at LPG-Weg were no longer sufficient for the Nazis to keep their wonder weapons safe.

A tree and Hitlers concreteA tree and Hitlers concrete

Production was relocated to Nordhausen in Thuringia. There, prisoners from Buchenwald concentration camp had to hew underground tunnels into the rocks for the Buchenwald subcamp Mittelbau-Dora, where rocket production began in January 1944. During the construction of the facilities as well as during production, more than 20,000 prisoners died until the end of the war - the V2 thus claimed more victims among those who had to build it than among those it was supposed to kill.

So, and now we urgently need to get out of here....

Outside is nothingOutside is nothing

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A few more pictures for you:

Hitlers power stationHitlers power station End of experimental area.End of experimental area. Russian captures some of the missilesRussian captures some of the missiles Inside the power plant.Inside the power plant. The evening over the isleThe evening over the isle Hitlers port now is a yacht port for rich peopleHitlers port now is a yacht port for rich people They never notice the neighborhoodThey never notice the neighborhood Attention, amunition!Attention, amunition! Concrete at the surface.Concrete at the surface.
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