Wolfschanze (Wolf’s Lair) was Hitler’s Führerhauptquartier (Führer‘s headquarters) during World War II. It is located in the Gierloż forest 8 kilometers from Kętrzyn, Poland. This compound covered 2.5 square kilometers and included the forest that surrounded it for 8 square kilometers. It boasted two airfields, power stations, a railway station, air purification systems, water supply and drainage system, heating and communications equipment. It held more than 2000 people when it was operating at its peak in 1944.

Hitler is known to have spent two and one half years at the complex when all of the days he was on site are collated. The first time he was there was in June, 1941. This coincided with the attack against the Soviet Union. The complex was destroyed by explosives in January 1945 by the Nazi’s themselves in order to deny the Soviets the use of the facility in January, 1945.

The main reason the complex was constructed was the geographical location.

• The forest was large and made it easy to hide the huge concrete bunkers that were constructed; the 8 square kilometer area was relatively easy to secure.
• The area had a small population so knowledge of the site was limited and the majority of the population were ethnic Germans.
• There are numerous lakes, swamps and hills in the area which make attacking the complex difficult.
• There were numerous other similar installations for other portions of the Nazi command in the immediate area.
• There were numerous fortifications in the area.
• The Russian border was only 80 kilometers to the east.

The bunkers that were constructed on the site were huge with bunkers being built inside bunkers. It was common for the ceilings to be 5 to 10 meters (yards) thick. The walls would be 4 to 5 meters thick for the outer bunker and the inner bunker walls would be 2 to 4 meters thick. There would be a half meter air space between the outer and inner bunker. The foundation of the bunker would be 3 to 5 meters thick with the ourter edges extending lover into the ground than the central portion of the base.

The entire 2.5 square kilometer complex was covered with camouflage netting that was changed as many as four times a year in order to maintain the necessary appearance that ensured nothing was visible from the air.

Hitler, Borman and Göring each had their own private bunker. The outer surface of Hitler’s bunker was more than 2,480 square meters. The roof was 8.5 meters thick.

Wolfschanze is famous as the location of an assassination attempt on Hitler by members of his General Staff. Colonel Claus von Staffenberg was the Chief of Staff and is considered to be the driving force behind the movement to remove Hitler from power within the military. On July 20, 1944 he and a college worked together to set off an explosion during a staff meeting. The objective of the explosion was Hitler and they wanted nothing less than his death believing that many lives could be saved if Hitler was killed and the war brought to a halt.

While four people at the meeting were killed, Hitler escaped with minor injuries. Colonel von Staffenberg and many of his allies were executed by firing squad in fewer than 24 hours.

To see our pictures from Wolfschanze click here.

If you find typographical errors or have any other problems when looking at the site please contact the Webmaster describing the problem and the page involved.