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Wolf's Lair

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one of Nazi Germany's military headquarters during WW2, now in Gierłoż, Kętrzyn, Poland

Key facts

Type
Camouflaged concrete bunkers
Owner
Polish Government
Open to the public
Yes
Condition
Mostly destroyed
Built
1941 ; 85 years ago ( 1941 )
Built by
Hochtief AG , Organisation Todt
In use
June 1941 – January 1945
Materials
2 m (6 ft 7 in) steel-reinforced concrete
Fate
Partially demolished by retreating German forces
Events
20 July Plot
Past commanders
Johann Rattenhuber
Garrison
Reichssicherheitsdienst Führerbegleitbrigade
Occupants
Adolf Hitler Government of Nazi Germany Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

via Wikipedia infobox

~22 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Wolf's Lair (German: Wolfsschanze; Polish: Wilczy Szaniec) was Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. Currently, it is a museum open to the public, as well as a hotel, conference room and restaurant.

The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz (now Gierłoż), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the town of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn), in present-day Poland. The central complex and the Führer's bunker were surrounded by three security zones guarded by two Schutzstaffel (SS) units: the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers and the Reichssicherheitsdienst.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wolf's Lair” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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