Wolf's Lair
The Wolf's Lair - former military headquarters of Hitler
“Among the 25 most attractive places to visit in Eastern Europe in 2017, The Telegraph listed The Wolf's Lair - the former military headquarters of Hitler in Gierłoża. [...] In the past tourist season, nearly 300,000 visitors came to the site, averaging 2,000 daily. Among the visitors, over 20% were foreigners.”
(State Forests)
In the Gierłoża forest, 8 kilometers east of Kętrzyn, from 1941 to 1944, was the main headquarters of Adolf Hitler and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.
On July 20, 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and Werner von Haeften attempted to assassinate Hitler here.
The "Wolf's Lair" - a massive military complex, located away from cities, within a large forested area, surrounded by lakes and marshes, which facilitated concealment from the eyes of pilots and nearly impossible access by land. Around 2,000 people could be here at the same time. Currently, the ruins of the headquarters are overgrown with forest. The whole complex used to be a camouflaged town in the woods, which included:
- 200 buildings,
- shelters,
- barracks,
- an airport in Wilamowo,
- a train station,
- a power plant,
- water supply systems,
- air conditioning units,
- heating plants,
- two headquarters.
Photo and text author:
Katarzyna Krajewska
Author's website - www.fotofiszka.eu
