Peenemünde (, en, " Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

island of

Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczeci ...

in the

Vorpommern-Greifswald Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland ( West Pomeranian Voivo ...

district in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is part of the ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The community is known for the Peenemünde Army Research Center, where the world's first functional large-scale

liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant ta ...

, the

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

, was developed.

Geography

The village with its seaport is located on the westernmost extremity of a long sand-spit, where the Peene empties into the Baltic Sea, in the northwestern part of Usedom Island. To the southeast it borders on the sea resort of Karlshagen. Peenemünde harbour can be reached by ferry boat across the Peene from

Kröslin Kröslin is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It consists of the villages *Freest *Hollendorf *Karrin *Kröslin *Spandowerhagen and the islands * Greifswalder Oie * Ruden *Dänholm Dän ...

, liners also run along the Baltic coast to

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

Island. The local railway station is the northern terminus of the ''

Usedomer Bäderbahn The Usedomer Bäderbahn (UBB) with its head office in Heringsdorf, northeastern Germany, is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the German national railway, Deutsche Bahn and the owner and operator of the railway network on the island of Usedom U ...

'' line to Zinnowitz. Air service for the village is available at the

Peenemünde Airfield Peenemünde Airfield is an airfield along the Baltic Sea north of Peenemünde, Germany. Today round trips in light aircraft take place from Peenemünde Airfield. Bus tours are also available, on which one can visit the former shelters of the NVA ...

History

During the 10th and 11th centuries, Peenemünde was part of the region of

Circipania Circipania (german: Circipanien, Zirzipanien) was a medieval territory in what is now northeastern Germany. The name derives from Latin ''circum'' (around) and ''Pane'' (the Peene River). The region was enclosed roughly by the upper Recknitz, Tr ...

, an area settled by the Circipanes, a West Slavic tribe constituent of the

Lutici federation The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: t ...

. Circipania was incorporated into the Billung March of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

in 936, but the Empire's influence in the region decayed by the end of that century after a successful Slavic uprising. During the late 12th century, in the aftermath of the Wendish Crusade, the region fell under the rule of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

. After the

Treaty of Kremmen The Treaty of Kremmen was signed on 20 June 1236 by Duke Wartislaw III of Pomerania, recognizing the seigniory of the Brandenburg margraves over his Duchy of Pomerania-Demmin, and ceding the terrae Stargard, Wustrow and Beseritz to Brandenburg ...

in 1236, most of Circipania was transferred to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

. In

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the area was highly involved in the development and production of the V-1 and V-2 rockets, until the production's relocation to Nordhausen. The village's docks were used for the ships which recovered

wreckage from test launches over the

. German scientists such as

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

, who worked at the V-2 facility, were known as "Peenemünders". The resistance group around the priest Heinrich Maier passed on plans for the V-1,

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

s, and the Peenemünde research station to the Allies. The resistance group, later discovered by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

, was in contact with

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ov ...

, the head of the US secret service OSS in Switzerland. The allied bombers were able to carry out precise air attacks with the sketches of the production facilities. The information was important for Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra, both pre-missions for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. During Operation Hydra, the research facility was badly hit by the attack by the RAF bomber command on Peenemünde on the night of August 17–18, 1943. The attack was carried out by a total of 596 bombers (324 Avro Lancaster, 218 Handley Page Halifax, 54 Short Stirling). There was extensive destruction and the rocket launch of the prototype V-2 was delayed by about two months. 123 people died, including the scientist Walter Thiel. Wernher von Braun was able to save himself in a bunker. The entire island was captured by the Soviet Red Army on 5 May 1945. The gas plant for the production of

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an app ...

still lies in ruins at the entrance to Peenemünde. The

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

port was a Soviet

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

until turned over to the armed forces of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

in 1952. The seaport facilities were used at first by the East German ''Seepolizei'' (sea police) after new facilities for police motorboats had been built. On 1 December 1956 the headquarters of the First Fleet of the East German People's Navy was established at Peenemünde. The birthplace of modern rocket science is today displayed at the Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum, a

museum on the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...

opened in 1992 in the power station of the former Army Testing Site and the area of the World War II

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

(now part of the village). Exhibits include a V-1 and a

References

External links

Official website of Peenemünde and the Historical Technical Museum (English)

V2 Rocket site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peenemunde Vorpommern-Greifswald Populated coastal places in Germany (Baltic Sea) Port cities and towns in Germany Seaside resorts in Germany Peenemünde Army Research Center and Airfield Military facilities of the Soviet Union in Germany Russian and Soviet Navy bases Volksmarine V-2 missile launch sites