Maybach I and II
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Maybach I and II were a series of above and underground bunkers built 20 kilometres south of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
in Wünsdorf near
Zossen Zossen (; hsb, Sosny) is a German town in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, about south of Berlin, and next to the Bundesstraße 96, B96 highway. Zossen consists of several smaller municipalities, which were grouped together in 200 ...
,
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
, to house the High Command of the Army (in Maybach I) and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (in Maybach II) during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Along with the military fortress complex Zossen, Maybach I and II were instrumental locations from which central planning for field operations of the ''Wehrmacht'' took place, and they provided a key connection between Berlin’s military and civilian leadership to the front lines of battle. The complex was named after the
Maybach Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and ...
automobile engine. *Location of Maybach I: *Location of Maybach II:


Zeppelin

The Zeppelin
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
was erected by the
Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...
on the orders of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht at the end of the 1930s. The bunker was built between 1937 and 1939 in the area of the so-called Stalag (german: Stammlager) as a signal intelligence centre. The code name for the bunker was ''Amt 500'', i.e., (Postal) Office 500. The structure consisted of a two-lane longitudinal building with measurements of 117m × 22m with an associated three-storey annex measuring 57m × 40m. After several project changes, a third entrance was added in 1938. Called the ''Reich Post Building'' (german: Reichspostgebäude), it could be accessed by light trucks, directly above the extension with a stairwell and an elevator. A south tunnel (german: Südstollen) connected the bunker with Maybach I and II to the southwest.


Maybach I

Maybach I was built starting in 1937. In December 1939, it was fully operational. The complex consisted of twelve three-storey buildings above ground designed to look from the air like local housing, and two floors of interlinked bunkers with two-foot thick walls below. Deeper in the subterranean levels of Maybach I, there were wells for drinking water and plumbing, air-filter systems for protection against gas attacks, and diesel engines to keep the system operational. Later the site was further camouflaged by the use of netting.


Maybach II

Maybach II was completed in 1940 and was of the same design with eleven surface buildings. Incriminating evidence left by the conspirators of the 20 July plot against Hitler was discovered at Maybach II in a safe at
Zossen Zossen (; hsb, Sosny) is a German town in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, about south of Berlin, and next to the Bundesstraße 96, B96 highway. Zossen consists of several smaller municipalities, which were grouped together in 200 ...
. Among the documents reportedly uncovered were excerpts from the diary of
Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...
, conspiratorial correspondence between ''Abwehr'' agents, information on the secret negotiations between the Vatican and members of the originally planned coup d’état of 1938, the Oster conspiracy, and data on the resistance activities of Lutheran minister
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
.


World War II

Between 15 and 17 January 1945, ''
Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...
'' (Supreme High Command of the German Army - OKH) moved into Maybach I. The army general staff moved their quarters into Maybach II. During 1945 the site was heavily bombed by both the British and Americans, including a raid on 15 March that injured Chief of the Army General Staff Hans Krebs. On 20 April the Soviet 3rd Armoured Guard Army threatened the HQ near Zossen. Gen. Krebs asked Hitler for permission to leave and destroy the important items. By the time Krebs received permission, it was too late to destroy anything.Joachimsthaler (1999). ''The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth'', p. 79. Midday 20 April the OKH evacuated to Eiche near
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...
and OKW to Krampnitz, and the Russians arrived in the afternoon, finding the site empty apart from four German soldiers.


Cold War era

The two Maybach bunkers were largely destroyed by the
Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
in late 1946, according to the stipulations of the four-power agreement on the occupation of Germany and an Allied Control Council order, although some buildings survived, including the almost entirely intact separate communications bunker ''Zeppelin''. The ''Zeppelin'' bunker later formed part of the Soviet Cold war era installations in Wünsdorf under the name ''Ranet''. Further bunker installations were subsequently added to house the central command and communications functions of the Soviet Army in the GDR. The area was demilitarised in 1994 when the last Russian troops left Germany.


Present day remains and exhibition

The ruins of the above-ground bunker entrance houses remain. The area can be accessed by guided tours, and a museum in the Wünsdorf Book Town houses exhibits on the military history of the town and the bunker complexes. Some parts of the underground complex of Maybach I remain accessible through the ruins of the entrance buildings, together with the neighbouring communications bunker ''Zeppelin,'' while Maybach II has been nearly obliterated.


References

Notes {{reflist Bibliography * Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945''. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. * Joachimsthaler, Anton. ''The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth''. London: Brockhampton Press, 1999. * Kaiser, Gerhard. ''Vom Sperrgebiet zur Waldstadt: die Geschichte der geheimen Kommandozentralen in Wünsdorf und Umgebung''. Berlin: Links Verlag, 2007. * Kaufmann, E., H. W. Kaufmann, and Robert M. Jurga. ''Fortress Third Reich: German Fortifications and Defense Systems in World War II''. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003. * Le Tissier, Tony. ''Zhukov at the Oder: The Decisive Battle for Berlin''. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. * Von Hassell, Agostino, Sigrid von Hoyningen-Huene MacRae, & Simone Ameskamp. ''Alliance of Enemies: The Untold Story of the Secret American and German Collaboration to End World War II''. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006.


External links


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Buildings and structures in Teltow-Fläming Military units and formations established in 1938 Wehrmacht German High Command during World War II World War II sites in Germany Nazi architecture Forts in Germany Bunkers in Germany