Hello, this is my first post on the forums. I have been looking all over the internet and become very interested in this subject. I'm currently in a german class and was looking over some german wwii history (being that I'm from german descent). I was very interested in their secret "Projekts". I've been looking specifically in the "Projekt: Der Riese", why would they blow the higher levels of the mountain but not the main entrance? I was watching another video in one of the smallest factories in the mountain, I can't recall the name at this exact point. But a man put a tissue in a pipe leading upwards towards the top of the mountain. He then lit it, knowing hot air is less dense than cold air it rose. Explaining that there was a large cavity of cold air above them. But it doesn't lead outside of the mountain. My question is, why did the Nazis only blow the entrances to specific mountains? Also if the Nazis were 25 years ahead of us scientifically, why don't we make an effort to gain access to those complexes? In these pictures below you can see where they blew up some entrances. But why not all of them? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Książ Castle is located near the city of Wałbrzych. The castle’s last owner in the inter-war period was the Hochberg family, one of the wealthiest baronial dynasties in Prussia, Hans Heinrich XV, Prince of Plessand his English wife Mary-Theresa Olivia Cornwallis-West (Princess Daisy). In 1941 the Nazis confiscated the castle. At that time the sons of Daisy and Hans Heinrich fought against Hitler’s army - one in the British Army and one in the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The works in Książ Castle led to the destruction of some chambers, in particular the decorative elements of the ceilings and floors suffered. The most serious work however took place below the castle. There are two levels of corridors and chambers. The first level is 15 m underground, accessible from the castle by a lift and a staircase and also by two entrances from the gardens. It is reinforced by concrete (80 m long, 180 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 400 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). The second level is 53 m under the courtyard. It contains four entrances, the network of wide tunnels (5 m high and 5.5 m wide) and four chambers. Most of the underground is reinforced by concrete. There are three shafts leading to the surface with diameters: 5 m (presently filled with rubble), 3.5 m and 0.7 m. The total length of the complex is 950 m (3,200 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 13,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]).[SUP][16][/SUP] Presently it contains seismological measuring equipment belonging to the Polish Academy of Sciences; only the first level of the underground is open to visitors. Above ground are foundations for machinery, a series of buildings and storehouses and two reservoirs of water. There are remains of a sewage treatment plant and a narrow gauge railway. The forced laborers camp of AL Fürstenstein was built near the castle. - [Książ Castle picture] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Complex Rzeczka -The complex is located on a borderline between the villages of Rzeczka and Walim, inside Ostra Mountain. There are three entrances leading to parallel tunnels about 45 m away from each other. Between them are large halls (up to 10 m in height), one is reinforced by concrete, two are collapsed. The tunnel number 1 is 100 m long and has an almost finished guardroom. There is one shaft leading to the surface (depth 30 m, diameter 5 m), presently filled with rubble. The length of the complex of tunnels is 500 m (2,500 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 14,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Built above ground was the main telephone exchange, capable of serving a few hundred phone numbers - [Complex Rzeczka picture] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Complex Włodarz The complex is located near the village of Walim, inside Włodarz Mountain . There are four entrances 80 m - 160 m away from each other leading to tunnels (180 m - 240 m long) containing guardrooms. The entire complex is a large amount of corridors intersecting at right angles and forming a grid. It contains one of the biggest unfinished halls (10 m high). There is a shaft leading to the surface (depth 40 m, diameter 4 m). Some of the corridors have higher second levels connected by small shafts (depth 3 m - 5 m, diameter 1.5 m). This is a stage of creating big halls. Two tunnels were bored, one over the other and then the ceiling was collapsed to create a large space. Approximately 30% of the complex is flooded and can only be accessed by boat. The total length of the tunnels is 3,100 m (10,700 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 42,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Above ground are foundations for machinery and buildings, the reservoir of water and storehouses with thousands of fossilized bags of cement. The forced laborers camp of AL Wolfsberg was built near the complex. The network of narrow gauge railways, existing here after the war, was disassembled and scrapped. - [Complex Włodarz picture] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complex Osówka -The complex is located near the villages of Kolce and Sierpnica, inside Osówka Mountain. It has two entrances and one tunnel not connected to the main underground, all on different levels. There is a shaft leading to the surface (depth 48 m, diameter 5 m). The tunnel number 1 (150 m long) has chambers created for a guardroom. The tunnel number 2 (450 m long) begins on the level 15 m below the main underground. It has a guardroom reinforced by concrete and behind it there is the so-called "fault". It is a connection of two levels created by the collapse of the ceiling. The tunnel number 3 (120 m long) is not connected to the main underground. It is 450 m away from the entrance number 2 and 45 m below the level of the main underground. The tunnel contains two dams and hydraulic equipment of unknown purpose. The total length of the tunnels is 1,700 m (6,700 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 30,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Above ground are foundations for machinery and buildings, the depots of building materials and the reservoir of water. The network of narrow gauge railway existed here after the war. The forced laborers camp of AL Sauferwasser was built near the complex. Two objects are particularly interesting, the so-called "officers' mess" (679 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 2,300 m[SUP]3[/SUP]) and the "power station" (894 m[SUP]2[/SUP]). The "officers' mess" is a building with walls 0.5 m thick and a roof adapted for a camouflage by vegetation. An unfinished subway (30 m long) connects it with the shaft. The "power station" is a concrete monolith (30 m x 30 m) with tens of pipes, drains, culverts and equipment of unknown purpose. - [Complex Osowka picture] ============================================================================================================================================================================ Complex Sokolec -The complex is located near the villages of Sokolec and Sowina, inside Gontowa Mountain. It consists of two independent undergrounds 1 km apart on different levels. The underground 640 m has two entrances 100 m apart leading to tunnels containing chambers for guardrooms. The tunnel number 1 is 130 m long and the tunnel number 2 is 150 m long. The underground is collapsed in many places because the complex was bored in soft rock of sandstone. The underground 580 m has two independent tunnels 200 m apart. The tunnel number 3 was opened in 2011. The tunnel number 4 (100 m long) was opened in 1994, the only one which was found with mining equipment from 1945. The total length of the known tunnels is 850 m (2,400 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 7,100 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Above ground are remains of building and storage infrastructure and a narrow gauge railway. The forced laborers camp of AL Falkenberg was built near the complex. [Solkolec complex picture] ============================================================================================================================================================================ Complex Jugowice -The complex is located in the village of Jugowice Górne (Jawornik), inside Dział Jawornicki Mountain. It has seven entrances leading to six independent tunnels. The tunnel number 1 is 10 m long. The tunnels number 2 (115 m long) and number 4 lead to an underground of the total length of 450 m. There is a shaft leading from the surface (depth 16 m, diameter 0.5 - 0.6 m) near the underground but not connected to it.[SUP][18][/SUP] The tunnel number 3 is 15 m long. The tunnel number 5 is 5 m long. The tunnel number 6 is collapsed 30 m from the entrance and has not been explored yet. It has double armoured doors, one at the entrance and one behind the collapse. The tunnel number 7 has length of 40 m with concrete reinforcement 10 m long. The identified tunnels of the complex have length of 550 m (1,400 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 3,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Above ground are remains of building and storage infrastructure and a narrow gauge railway. The forced laborers camp of AL Wüstewaltersdorf was built near the complex.- [Complex Jugowice picture] ============================================================================================================================================================================ Complex Soboń The complex is located near the hamlet of Zimna Woda and the town of Głuszyca, inside Soboń Mountain. It contains three tunnels running from three directions to one point. The tunnel number 1 is 216 m long, number 2 is 250 m long. The tunnel number 3 is not connected to the main underground. It is collapsed 83 m from the entrance and has not been explored yet. The total length of tunnels is 700 m (1,900 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 4,000 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). Above ground are several buildings, a bunker and traces of earthworks carried out on a massive scale. A narrow gauge railway was used for transportation. The forced laborers camp of AL Lärche was built near the complex. - [Complex Soboń picture] ============================================================================================================================================================================ Głuszyca The town of Głuszyca was in the centre of activity connected to Project Riese. Many camps of forced laborers were located in this area. It was a reloading place for the majority of supplies due to existence of a railway junction. In autumn 1943 the factory of Maschinenbau F. Krupp was relocated here from Essen.[SUP][4][/SUP] It took over local industry, mostly textile factories and adapted them to armaments production. As a preparation for the war an air raid shelter was built inside a hill near the factory of Mayer-Kauffmann Textilwerke. It has two entrances and is reinforced by bricks and concrete. The total length of tunnels is 240 m (600 m[SUP]2[/SUP], 1,800 m[SUP]3[/SUP]). - [Głuszyca picture] ============================================================================================================================================================================ Complex Miłków The complex is located in the village of Ludwikowice Kłodzkie, the hamlet of Miłków and inside Włodyka Mountain. It is not classified as one of the complexes of Riese. It consisted of the ammunition and explosives factory Dynamit Nobel AG (code name: Mölke-Werke) which was located around the unused coalmine of Wenceslaus. The explosives from Dynamit Nobel AG were used to blast the tunnels of Riese, and the power station located here supplied the project with electricity. The coalmine was closed and flooded in 1939 because of frequent methane explosions. 191 miners lost their lives in one such explosion in 1930. When adaptation works started in 1942 numerous buildings and bunkers were built for the production and storage of ammunition and explosives. They were connected by the network of concrete roads and protected by anti-aircraft artillery. The forced laborers camps of AL Ludwigsdorf I and AL Ludwigsdorf II were built nearby. Presently the complex is in a state of ruin. The coalmine is still flooded and inaccessible, except for small sections. A large quantity of ammunition has been found hidden in the area of the complex. - Thank you for taking the time to read and respond! P.S- Could someone point me towards some german documents about Der Riese?
Welcome to the forum. Be very careful about what sites you get information off of. When it comes to Nazi 'Secret Projects' there is a lot of interesting information, but there are also a lot of complete nuts. There is nothing in those excerpts that say anything about 'wunderwaffe' or 'secret projects' being affiliated with the site. There are dozens of sites across Europe that people tend to associate with 'secret nazi developments' with very little evidence -- and this seems to be one of them. During the war hundreds of factories were relocated underground to keep them safe from allied bombing. Most of these 'wunderwaffe' sites have their origins here. A large amount of these sites were sealed-up either shortly before the war ended or in the years following. I recall watching a History Channel 'documentary' on the Wenceslas mine a few years ago. It made major assumptions (something about a nazi 'doomsday machine' being buried there, among others) and presented nothing of substance. To answer your questions: 1. Why not explore it? The sealed sites are likely a factories. As such they would contain little of interest. Furthermore, exploration would be costly and risky -- it isn't just a matter of getting a shovel and digging though the rubble -- you could very well be killed trying to gain access to these sites. As a side note, if these sealed mines did contain secret weapons, why wouldn't high level Nazis use them as 'bargaining chips' to gain favour with the Allies? Von Braun turned over tons of Peenemunde documents to the Americans, and several German intelligence officers (notably Reinhard Gehlen) turned over classified documents to strengthen their positions in the post-war period.What would make the 'secret weapons' allegedly buried here any different? 2. Why did the Germans only destroy specific sites? It may be as simple as a shortage of explosives or manpower (a common problem by 1945). First of all, not all factories were operational and not all were of the same importance. With limited supplies, you would only destroy the important operational factories, not the minor ones.
Some of your answers may well be in the book T-Force...Suggest you get a copy...Welcome to the forum...and yes it is full of energy and full of knowledge waiting to be passed on...Exuberance of youth is acceptable.
Yet, the problem I see with answer 2. is from seeing what areas were destroyed they had more than enough to blow all the entrances themselves.
It appears that the castle and its immediate surroundings were prepared as one of Hitler's main headquarters,[SUP][8][/SUP][SUP][9][/SUP] although there is no direct evidence in documents. The purpose of the underground complexes in the mountains has not been determined. The opinions of experts incline towards the assumption that they were shelters for war production.[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP] None of the underground workings are finished; all are in different states of completion with only a small percentage of tunnels reinforced by concrete, except for complex Książ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Riese It's more like a myth than anything else, due to confiscation of documetns by the poles and machines by the Russians. Apparently they were nothing but future underground factories.
I was stationed in Germany with the Army in the 80's. Legend has it that one of our subordinate units were stationed at a kaserne that sat atop a large cache of German equipment from the war. Problem was, the underground facility was booby trapped heavily. Story goes that American engineers had attempted to disarm some of those but some got killed and the Army called it off and just sealed the thing up. This was 181st Transportation Battalion in Mannheim. Could be purely apocryphal story though. Anyone got a clue?
I doubt there was anything related to Riese in Mannheim. You'd expect facilities in the countryside mountains, not in the middle of the Ruhr, near the border and close to priority targets like I.G. Farben (Mannheim, Ludwigshafen etc..).Of course booby trapped caves are possible , but only with some local "treasures" , amno etc...
But it was at the end of the war. They couldn't risk the core being destroyed while they were attempting to get back the countrysides.
