1. Die Steinmühle
Die Steinmühle wurde 1303 als Getreidemühle von den Zisterziensermönchen aus dem Kloster Zinn erbaut und von diesen betrieben. Bis 1766 wurde die Mühle als Getreidemühle genutzt, bis der damalige Mühlenmeister eine Genehmigung zur Anlegung einer Schneidemühle (Sägewerk) erhielt.
1845 wurde sie wieder abgerissen und danach als Ölmühle wiederaufgebaut. Ende 19. Jahrhunderts wurde auf Dampfkraft erweitert und die Mühle zur Strohpapierstoff-Fabrik umgebaut. Sie wurde auch weiter als Dampfmühle genutzt. 1918 firmiert die Mühle als „G. Thiele Steinmühle“. Inhaber war Emil Gericke, der Schwiegersohn von G.Thiele. 1934 wurde die Dampfmaschine durch einen Motor ersetzt und die Mühle vergrößert.
Project Riese - Führer headquarters and arms production in the Owl Mountains
Contents:
1. Object Drunkards Caves (Osowka)
4. Tannhausen Castle (Palac Jedlinka)
5. Fuhrer's headquarters at Schloss Fürstenstein ( Zamek Książ)
From 1943, the National Socialists built extensive tunnel systems in the Owl Mountains near Waldenburg (Wałbrzych) in which weapons were to be produced. The tunnel system is called the Riese complex. The tunnels under the Fürstenstein Castle in Waldenburg are also counted as part of the Riese complex. Forced laborers had to drive the tunnels into the mountains with primitive tools. Thousands did not survive the inhumane working and living conditions.
The management of the building project was initially taken over by Industriegemeinschaft AG and, in April 1944, by Organization Todt. The tunnel systems were intended to serve as an underground armaments smithy. Here should the Jäger ME 262 and the V2 are produced. The Germans stuck to their plans in the Owl Mountains. Reason: Lower Silesia was considered the "air raid shelter of the Reich" because the way to this point was too far for the Allied bombers. That changed in September 1943 when Allied troops landed in Italy. But the
The construction work carried out over 13,000 forced laborers, for whom four large and 12 small camps were set up. They were subcamps of the Groß-Rosen concentration camp. The Riese complex was not completed until the end of World War II.
The National Socialists kept what they built in the Owl Mountains strictly secret from the population. The planning documents were lost or destroyed in 1945. It was the ideal breeding ground for rumors. After the Second World War, suspicions repeatedly emerged that the Germans had hidden an armored train full of gold and stolen art treasures in a tunnel in the Owl Mountains. Most recently in 2015. A Pole and a German claimed that they had located the train with a ground penetrating radar. With official support, the treasure hunters began extensive excavations. They did not find anything and gave up the project in 2018.
We had booked the tour with WildOst Historytours from Ebersbach. Many thanks to Frank and Katrin for the pleasant care.
A touristic tunnel system with washrooms, halls and corridors with a total length of 1,600 can be found at the Säuferhöhen near the village of Wüstewaltersdorf (Walim) m, partly concreted, partly in the raw state . The lines of defense can be seen at the entrance. The barrel of a rotten German MG42 machine gun protrudes from the opening in a concrete wall. In the many tunnels you can also see the various construction phases of these rooms. In the area of the guard rooms there is a barrier caused by the collapse of the ceiling of the corridor. Here you can discover the traces of the preparatory work. It all seems scary. Many aisles are but not yet poured with concrete. The construction work must have stopped abruptly, old tools are still lying around everywhere and drill bits are in the walls. The guided tour is very interesting.
Remains of foundations and cast concrete buildings can be seen above the tunnel. The "casino" was the former planning and coordination barracks for the entire construction process above and below ground of the "SÄUFERHÖHEN". It measures a length of about 60 m and a width of 14 to 16 m. The roofs had mostly retracted ceilings in order to achieve a natural camouflage through vegetation.
A concrete slab with a side length of about 30m is particularly mysterious. This concrete slab is equipped with many complicated passages, channels and locks that lead into the depths of the earth. The underground part of the property is inaccessible. The power plant is located at the height of the shaft above the tunnels. A connection with the underground part of the complex cannot be ruled out. The outlines should resemble those of the first GDR research reactor in Dresden-Rossendorf from the 1950s. Hence, it is believed that the Nazis wanted to build the first nuclear reactor here.
A few meters further on the ridge height there is an approx. 5x5 m large hole in the earth, that is only is provisionally secured with warning tape. This ventilation and transport shaft is approx. 40 m deep. Among other things, the shaft supplied the underground tunnels with fresh air and was also used to transport materials. In earlier years it was even possible to abseil down in the tunnels here.
Einen Rundgang über das Gelände der Altstadt kann ich jedem geschichtsinteressierten Besucher empfehlen. Es hat Ähnlichkeit mit Pompeji, dass ich schon besucht habe. Parken könnte Ihr gleich am ehemaligen Grenzterminal und beginnt den Besuch durch das Berliner Tor, in dem sich auch eine Touristeninformation befindet. Die nette Dame spricht gut deutsch und erklärt kurz die Gegebenheiten. Für 50 Cent könnt Ihr einen Plan des Geländes kaufen und dann alles erkunden.
1. Festung und Altstadt Küstrin (Kostrzyn nad Odrą)
Am anderen Ende der Altstadt befindet sich die Bastion Philip, die eine kleines sehenswertes Museum (Eintritt 5 €) über Küstrin beinhaltet. Alles ist deutschsprachig beschrieben. Hinter dem Museum beginnt der Spaziergang auf den Oderterrassen. Wenn Ihr Hunger habt empfehle ich Euch das Buffetrestaurant im hinteren Bereich des benachbarten Polenmarktes. Hier gibt es schmackhafte polnische Gerichte.
Nach dem Deutsch-Französischen Krieg von 1870/1871 wurde der Festungsbau im Deutschen Reich forciert. So sollte auch die Festung Küstrin einen starken Verteidigungsring aus vier Forts erhalten. Im Jahr 1883 erließ der preußische Kriegsminister Georg von Kameke die allerhöchste Kabinettsorder zur Errichtung eines Fort-Gürtels um Küstrin herum.
2. Object Ramenberg (Soboń)
Its entrance is about a few 100 m north of the last buildings in the village of Kaltwasser. The initial part of this adit is fairly flat under the surface of the slope. This corridor collapsed over a length of almost 100 m from the entrance. At this point, a shallow crawl has emerged. At this point we had to put on chest-high waders. Feet first we squeezed through the narrow entrance and then stood in the cave in knee-deep water. Our expedition went about 300 m into the undeveloped tunnel. In the water we repeatedly encountered indefinable objects. Ulf is even propped up and was completely soaked. At some point we couldn't go any further, the tunnel in front of us had collapsed. Even in the state of a transport tunnel system, the intended labyrinth allows a later production or relocation facility to be closed. That was pure adventure, only with flashlights through the old tunnels! In the vicinity of the entrance one could still see the course of the dismantled railway line into the tunnel. In addition to foundations, it was interesting to see the remains of hundreds of hardened sacks of concrete in the forest. They looked like a memorial.
The Wolfsberg complex is located 811 meters above the village of Hausdorf-Jauernig. The facility is partly developed for tourism and can be visited . Wolfsberg is the largest currently known complex. The length of the accessible corridors is approximately 3000 meters.
It consists of 4 tunnels with a length of 180 and 240 meters. These are connected with a system of corridors and halls, which run at right angles to the tunnels. A transport shaft leads from one of the aisles to the surface. This transport shaft is 40 m deep and has a diameter of 4 meters.
Many of the tunnels are filled with water. This is where the essential part of the tour begins; A rubber dinghy tour through the flooded tunnels. A guide was in every boat, everyone got a headlamp and a paddle and off we went. Sometimes the tunnels were so narrow that we had to duck, then we rowed in halls as big as cathedrals that were even built on several floors. That was really fun.
Outside the facility, the owner of the facility has set up some military vehicles from the People's Republic for viewing. You will also find many concrete foundations, remains of concrete barracks and petrified cement sacks.
3. Object Wolfsberg (Włodarz)
Das Fort Tschernow wurde zwischen 1888 - 1890 erbaut. Die Standortwahl sowie dessen Form wurden ausgewählt, um die Hauptverkehrswege rundum die Festung Küstrin zu kontrollieren. Im Ersten Weltkrieg wurde das Fort Tschernow zu einem Stützpunkt des örtlichen Landsturms und in ein Munitionslager umfunktioniert. Nach 1945 wurde das Fort zur Baustoffgewinnung abgerissen und ist nur noch zu 30 Prozent erhalten. Das Fortgelände ist als Naturschutzgebiet ausgewiesen. Es ist bei weitem nicht mehr so viel zu sehen wie in Zorndorf.
5. Tropfsteinhöhle
We found Tannhausen Castle by chance and unplanned . The castle was from the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV) the last owner, the Böhm family, because of them bought from financial problems. In early 1944, the NVS stopped setting up hospital in the castle. The castle was confiscated by the military authorities to use it as the headquarters for the To use Schlesische Industriegemeinschaft AG. Bunkers with armored gas-proof doors were built in the basement. The palace and the nearby town of Bad Charlottenbrunn became the headquarters for the Riese project.
The castle itself is surrounded in a U-shape by several outbuildings, in which many cars were parked during our visit that were being screwed on. We parked at the castle entrance. The facility looked shabby and seedy. That was in 2008, today there is a nice hotel there. We went through the gate and saw a sign "Museum". After a while a young man came who could speak neither German nor English. But somehow we agreed, paid four zloty admission and he led us through the partly gutted castle, in which the local kolkhoz resided after the war. Suddenly he opened a dark room that we should enter. He turned on the light. We were now in a room full of Nazi votaries. The man proudly handed me a German carbine that I was asked to examine. A self-painted picture of Adolf Hitler hangs over the desk. Mannequins wore Nazi uniforms. My friend Fred should definitely wear a black Nazi leather coat. He was really proud to be able to show us that. That was surreal. It went on in the basement. There were imitation gold bars in a kind of cave illuminated. That was the missing gold treasure of the Breslau Reichsbank. There was glass and china in a cupboard. Our guide presented us with a large ashtray that read "Bremen". I showed him the super thumb.
That was my most unusual museum visit.
As part of the Riese complex, the National Socialists also planned a new Führer Headquarters (FHQ) for Adolf Hitler. They chose the mountain under the Fürstenstein Castle near Waldenburg as their location. The first planning also began in 1943. There were numerous Führer headquarters in the German Reich and in the occupied territories. They served Hitler as command posts. There was no FHQ in Lower Silesia. This is why such a system should also be created here. Another reason was added later that the eastern front was approaching the East Prussian border and the FHQ Wolfsschanze there would no longer be safe in the foreseeable future. For Hitler's living and working rooms, the Germans drove corridors into the mountain under the castle and a shaft into which an elevator for Hitler's limousine was supposed to be built. For the tunnels, the construction workers had to rebuild parts of the castle and destroy valuable baroque interior fittings. Because the corridors under the castle now house a seismological station, visitors can only visit parts of the facility as part of guided tours.
We have joined an interesting German-speaking tour. She led us to the top of the castle tower from which one has a beautiful view. The cellars and bunkers were during but not accessible to ours. Afterwards we tried to find an entrance on our own, but it didn't work. Since 2018, however, around two kilometers of the underground facilities have been made accessible to visitors.
Das einzige Außenwerk der Festung Küstrin auf deutscher Seite ist das Fort Gorgast. Es wird von einem Verein betrieben und kann besichtigt werden. Bei unseren Besuch war leider eine geschlossene Veranstaltung auf dem Gelände und keine Besichtigung möglich. Das stand leider auch nicht auf der Homepage. Hier noch einige geschichtliche Hintergründe:
Das zwischen 1883 und 1889 erbaute Fort Gorgast sollte als einziges Fort das westliche Ufer der Oder kontrollieren sowie einen Rückzugsraum für Truppen bieten. Das Fort wurde auf Ackerland aus Sichtziegeln erbaut und ist von einem 42 Meter breiten und 3 Meter tiefen Wassergraben umgeben. Beim Bau waren auch Häftlinge des Zuchthauses Sonnenburg eingesetzt. Es war ausgelegt für eine Besatzung von bis zu 310 Mann (200 bis 300 Infanteristen und 60 Artilleristen) und besteht aus eingeschossigen Sichtziegelbauten. Dazu zählen u. a. das so genannte Blockhaus (mit Waffenplatz, das Torhaus mit Hindernisgitter, Zugbrücke und Wachkasematten), das Kriegspulvermagazin (in der Mittelkaserne), Kasernen sowie eine Brunnenanlage mit artesischem Brunnen mit Tank, der heute noch funktionsfähig ist. Die Wohn- und Arbeitsräume des Fort waren mit Ofenheizung versehen. Bereits 1892 und 1893 wurden die Gewölbedecken des Pulvermagazins und der Munitionsmagazine mit einer Betonschicht verstärkt. Es diente in den folgenden Jahren und Jahrzehnten hauptsächlich als Depot und Kaserne. Die Schleifung der Festung Küstrin nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg überstand das Fort unbeschädigt. Auch am Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges wurde das zu dieser Zeit u. a. als Hilfslazarett genutzte Fort Gorgast trotz der schwersten Kämpfe um die Seelower Höhen im Frühjahr 1945 nicht zerstörten. Das Fort wurde von der Roten Armee besetzt, die Teile des Forts nach 1945 durch Sprengung zerstörte. Zunächst nutzte die Rote Armee das Fort Gorgast, bevor es später der NVA der DDR zur Nutzung überlassen wurde, die es u. a. als Munitionslager nutzte. Seit dem 9. September 1997 steht das Fort Gorgast unter Denkmalschutz.
