forgotten WW2 bunker (NO)

Often you don’t need to travel far to find an interesting abandoned location. This place I suddenly found in the area were I live. It is a quite large underground bunker dating back from WW2. Two long corridors and lots of rooms with storage shelves. From the main exit to the back the facility might be 100 m long. I’ve been here two times. First time alone with failing flashlights which made it impossible to go deep into the pitch black bunker, and one second time with TommyG. The most interesting object in this forgotten bunker is perhaps the milk cartoon they stopped producing in 1985. Made by paper and wax which has preserved it quite well.

The entrance to the bunker in the hillside. Actually the emergency exit in the back of the facility.

Dark hallway. As far as I went on first trip since my flashlights were failing.

There were lots of spiders in the ceiling.

A small hatch (embrasure) which was used to shoot through to defend the bunker.

Long corridor.

One of two long corridors stretching through the hill.

The rooms were mainly empty with lots of shelves.

Storage

Small find, but an interesting one. A milk carton from “Fellesmeieriet” which dates back from before 1985. That the year they stopped producing this design. Quite interesting that it is still there after at least 26 years… Made of paper and wax.

The hallway up from the main entrance. Door has been sealed with concrete.

Toilet

A very moldy alarm box.

Switches

Playing with lamps and light on second trip.

Daylight.

Kaserne Krampnitz (DE)

These are pictures from another huge abandoned place just outside Berlin – ‘Kaserne Krampnitz’. It was built in 1937 as barracks for the riding army and driving school. The architect was Robert Kish. The military grounds were abandoned at the end of WW2 in 1945. After just one day the Russian troops occupied Krampnitz. They left completely in 1994 leaving the area as a derelict ghost village.
Now and then the place has been used for movie and television production. Scenes in movies as ‘Enemy at the Gates’ and ‘Inglorious Basterds’ are shot here.

One of the buildings is called ‘the officers mess/casino’ and it’s in quite good shape after all. Some of the rooms are large halls with dark brown wood walls and fireplaces with old destroyed Nazi eagles. The yellow casino room it’s amazing lamp is quite spectacular.

The soviets destroyed all of the German symbols and swastikas so one of the large discussions going on about Krampnitz is whether the large ceiling mosaic in one of the other buildings is real or not. The mosaic shows an eagle on a German cross with swastika. Some says its put up for the movie ‘Enemy at the Gates’ but I haven’t seen it in that movie. In one of the corners some mosaic pieces has fallen out (look at the large version) and it looks quite real and too much work to put up something like that for a movie. Others claim it is real, painted over by the soviets, and restored for movie making. It is illegal to show the swastika in public in Germany today and it is even sometimes censored as decal in model kits.

We had heard this place was well guarded and was prepared to be thrown out, but didn’t encounter any problems. Wish we had more time on this fantastically large area.

Outside the officers mess. Also seen in the movie ‘Enemy at the gates’.

One of the magnificent halls in the officers mess. Used in ‘Inglorious Basterds’ and ‘Enemy at the gates’.

Large hall with view towards casino room

Hallway. Beginning of chapter four in ‘Inglorious Basterds’ is shot here

One of the fireplaces with destroyed German eagle symbol

Sovet wall decorations

The casino room with it’s incredible lamp

A tennis court between the buildings

Interesting soviet symbols

The almost famous mosaic room

Close up. Large version for detailed view.

The stair from the mosaic location

The theater in another building. Another angle.

Lots of abandoned buildings

From the heating house

Details from the heating house. Also seen in ‘Enemy at the gates’.

Exterior of the building

Krampnitz underworld

Bunker (NO)

In Drøbak, south of Oslo, are some of Norwegians most important cultural heritages located. Out in the Oslo fjord is Oscarsborg Fortress which has guarded the waterway to the Norwegian capital for 350 years. Shots from the 28 cm Krupp cannons and torpedoes from the secret underground facility, sank the German cruiser “Blücher” on April 9th 1940 and made sure it didn’t reach Oslo with around 1308 German soldiers. 1000 of them died when the cruiser sank in Drøbaksundet. The Norwegian Government, the Storting, the Royal family and some gold reserves had time to leave the country and it was important for the outcome of war. In 2004 Oscarsborg fortress was opened to the public and is now a museum. Some pictures I have taken from Oscarborg Fortress are here (Flickr).

On each land side of Oscarborg Fortress there are fortifications. The pictures below are from one of the cannon batteries which also took part in the attack on “Blücher”. This battery had three 15 cm Armstrong guns, and a shot from here destroyed the rudder of Blücher. The original guns were removed by the Germans and were subsequently replaced by four 10.5 cm SKC/32 submarine guns, which two still remain.

The interior pictures are taken from inside the terraced German command bunker built between 1940 and 1945. The place is unfortunately is in very bad shape. No one has cleared the place since the bunker was abandoned in 1974. It was used by the Norwegian Home Guard (Heimevernet) until then. Papers, manuals, maps and lots of other equipment is spread around the three floors.

Now the bunker lies in complete darkness and made it challenging to take pictures. Before we went out into the daylight again we noticed that the air inside the bunker was not of best quality. On the way up the stairs, we met some of those who had taken the bunker in use, a few frogs and a snake (Stålorm).

View to Oscarborg Fortress

Gun at Kopås battery

The terraced bunker

The entrance and stair down

Lots of chairs

Handbooks of war/defense strategies

Hand grenade handbook

Old rusty Remington typewriter

There are still papers in the archive cabinets

Handles, first one: “Charge, Fire battery 1″

Stair between floors

Some sort of un identified obejct

Reinforced cabinet

A quite messy room

Lots of books on the top floor

Time to leave

One of the frogs and the snake (Stålorm)

Around Østmarksetra (NO)

In Oslo there are still many ruins and traces of World War II. East of Oslo, under ‘Østmarksetra’, the Germans built one of Oslo’s largest bunkering facilities. It is 20 meters down the mountain and it is 70 meter long with two floors. Amenities such as a mini golf course and a cafe were made so the German soldiers could use this as a relaxation place. The bunker was also a hiding place for Reichskommissariat if the Allies invaded the country. More pictures from the inside can be seen on this forum, because I have not been there myself. You must be logged in to see the pictures.

Entrance to the mountain with Østmarksetra on top

Today the bunker is owned by the Sivilforsvaret (Civil Defence), but has been unused and empty the last 4-5 years.

‘Østmarksetra’ above the mountain halls was built already in 1926 as restaurant with great access to the forests around. It burned in 1927 but was rebuilt in 1928. In 1946 buildings were requisitioned by the German navy. Until the late 1960′s there was a sports lounge here. Today it is run as a restaurant and banquet rooms.

In the woods around there are various remnants of past activity here. A kind of bunker house with many concrete pillars around lies northwest of the place. The bunker has two rooms and was perhaps a communication bunker. The columns are remains from either demolished buildings or had the function as antenna foundations.

Concrete pillars for an antenna, a demolished building or something else

A rusty rake on the ground

Topside bunker hidden in the forrest

The door to the topside communication bunker

On a hill above there’s an eerie water tank build in stone. I do not know if this has something to do with the bunker complex. It has a hatch on top with a little rusty stair going down in the dark.

Hatch on top of the water tank

Rusty stairs all the way down

Entrance or pipe. Blocked further down.

Walls of stone reveals the old water tank

On the opposite side of the location is the main entrance to the mountain complex. Hidden slightly to the right of this door there is another entrance to an aggregate room. There is also an exterior built concrete structure with a red wooden house on top. This house is partially burned and collapsed.

The main entrance to the facility

Door to the aggregate room

I really wish is to see the inside of the bunker complex, but that has to be another time.

Red house on top og the third entrance to the bunker

The red house is partly collapsed and burned

Burnt stuff

Inside the house