Wolf's Lair

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Wilcze Gniazdo j.v. Sp. z o.o., Poland, Europe 11-400+48 (89) 752 44 29

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The model of the headquarters Photo - Wolf's Lair, Poland, Europe

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Hitler's Forest Hideaway

by MagdaDH_AlexH

Perth, Scotland, United Kingdom

October 3, 2009

Best of IgoUgo The small hamlet of Gierloz in eastern Poland (5 miles east of Ketrzyn) is a witness to a stream of visitors – a huge proportion of them German, as generally is the case with foreign tourists in this area – flocking to see Hitler's secret military ...Read more The small hamlet of Gierloz in eastern Poland (5 miles east of Ketrzyn) is a witness to a stream of visitors – a huge proportion of them German, as generally is the case with foreign tourists in this area – flocking to see Hitler's secret military headquarters from the time of WW2.

Named Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze, or Wilczy Szaniec in Polish), it was a huge complex of bunkers, including private ones for Hitler himself and the highest Nazi functionaries. It was originally built for Operation Barbarossa (invasion of the USSR) and Hitler arrived here in June 1941 and altogether spent over 800 days in Wolf's Lair. By 1944, over two thousand people inhabited the site. In November of 1944, the headquarters were moved because of approaching Red Army, and in January 1945 the buildings of Wolfsschanze were blown up – but bunkers made of reinforced concrete with walls several metres thick don't get blown up that easily and there is still surprising amount to see, in various stages of ruination.

Due to a swampy character of the area, the bunkers were built above ground and various camouflage techniques were used to conceal them – an odd remains of the original masking nets can be still seen, floating eerily in the woods that still cover the site.

The Wolf's Lair is now indelibly associated with the failed 1944 attempt at assassinating Hitler, known as the July Bomb Plot or the Stauffenberg plot.

In addition to more or less complete large bunkers, there are also (mostly ruined) remains of several other buildings, including the barracks where the assassination attempt took place. One of the remaining buildings houses a small exhibition, with information about the site, the plot and a particularly interesting model of the site, giving a good idea of the layout and the sheer scale of the place.

You need to at least two hours to have a good look around and hiring a guide (there are several English – and of course German - speaking ones, and a few with other languages, though standards do vary) is not a bad idea. Although there is some information available on-site and the walking routes are signposted, anybody with more than minimal interest will find the guide's input invaluable.

The site is overgrown with trees and bushes taking over the ruins of the buildings. Huge slabs of ferroconcrete that had been blown off during the attempt to destroy the site are lying about in the forest: all bunkers have lost the roofs,(one bunker needed about 8 tons of TNT to be destroyed) but the walls still mostly stand, and it's possible to clamber into some of bunkers, and peek inside the incredibly thick walls of others.

In the summer it's busy but the large area allows for the groups and individual wanderers to get somehow lost in the woods; out of season the main traffic is groups on school trips, and the somehow empty site is even more eerie.

All in all, Wolf's Lair is worth a visit: a unique reminder of terrible time, and an evocative one at that.

The site is open from 8am to 8pm in the summer and from 9am to 2pm in the winter. Call +48 (0) 89 7524294 for details. Close

From journal Lakes, woods and a cultural melting pot

Wolf's Lair

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Hitler's Forest Hideaway