"Little Moscow" recalls a century of military history (Feature)

By Clive Freeman Jul 13, 2009, 10:45 GMT

Wuensdorf, Germany - For decades after World War II Wuensdorf, south of Berlin, was known as 'Little Moscow,' with up to 60,000 Russian soldiers, wives and children living in a sealed off 'town within a town' forbidden to local Germans.

It served for 40 years as the seat of the Soviet Supreme Command's western group of forces in the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany, but throughout that time remained a 'forbidden town' for the villagers living in the surrounding communities.

Not until after reunification of Germany did all Russian troops finally withdraw from the the eastern half of the country in 1994. Waldstadt, as it is also known, was 'free' again.

Soon former Russian army buildings were being converted into modern housing and offices. By 1996, the first administrative facilities were opened there, providing job opportunities.

Today, Wuensdorf is a peaceful town with an infrastructure tailored for the needs of families. Its kindergartens, elementary and intermediate schools, sport and leisure facilities are predominantly situated in the residential northern part of town where several thousand people live.

Not that Wuensdorf's 100-year military tradition gets forgotten.

Every year tourists descend on the village, eager to be taken on guided tours of the once enclosed military site which still today is riddled with underground bunkers. The Marbach 1 and Zeppelin bunkers, constructed during the Nazi era, are the biggest.

It was German emperor Wilhilem II who first initiated the era of German militarism in Wuensdorf in 1872 by founding a huge artillery range there. That was followed in 1910 by an extensive troop training area and, in 1924, by the construction of a military sports school, later requisitioned by the Nazis.

The Marburg 1 bunker was the seat of the German Supreme Command in World World War 11, while the Nazi-era Zeppelin bunker served as a secret war-time communications centre, covering an area, below ground, the size of three soccer pitches.

Hundreds of technicians and Wehrmacht (German army) officers were employed there during the 1939-45 conflict. Three houses stood above the northern entry to the Zeppelin bunker which was reached via a cellar in one of the buildings.

'The houses gave every appearance of being normal, but in reality the men living in them with their families were fully aware of what was going on inside the bunker below,' explains Werner Borchert, a local business manager, when conducting a group of foreign journalists around the site recently.

Borchert said towards the end of the war it became clear that the bunker network, a military and technical facility of considerable significance, was going to fall into the hands of the Russians, a prospect which concerned the western allies, Britain, France and the US.

This may have accounted for the massive allied air attack launched on Wuensdorf on the night of March 15, 1944. 'Some 120 villagers were killed during the raid, which destroyed barracks and other surface buildings,' said Borchert.

'But the bunkers themselves were left unscathed by the raid, with only two Wehrmacht soldiers being injured.'

Under the terms of the post-war Potsdam Agreement in 1945-46, the Russians were ordered to blow up what remained of the 'Nazi presence' in Wuensdorf.

But the houses of the Nazi military elite tucked away in the woods were powerfully constructed, and attempts to destroy them only partially succeeded. Today, the ruined structures remain, edifices and walls at crazy angles; roofs and windows blown off.

It was a different story with the bunkers. Recognising the value of the huge Zeppelin bunker facility in particular, the Russians retained and modernised it for their own purposes.

From the 1950s onwards it was turned into what was probably the world's largest communications centre by the Russians, and used for transmitting military secrets home to Moscow at the height of the Cold War.

'There were no antennas on the site. All information gathered was transmitted back to the Soviet Union via cable,' said Borchert.

When the time came for 'Ivan' to return home to Moscow in 1994 the bunker was stripped of all sensitive equipment, but the Russians left furnishings, tables, chairs and posters in some rooms, along with phones and a motley collection of other items.

'What they left behind was a veritable museum of the Soviet military presence in Germany,' claimed Borchert.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Russian military withdrawal from the eastern half of Germany. It is also the year when the world recalls the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII.

Against that background Borchert talks of plans in Wuensdorf later this year to create a 'Red Star' Museum dealing with the 40-year history of Soviet military presence in the GDR.

'Britain, France and the US already have such a Museum in Berlin-Dahlem relating to the post-war presence of its troops in Germany. Now, we desire a similar style museum in Wuensdorf, focussing on the role of Russian servicemen in that period in the former GDR,' he said.

Funds for the project have already been raised from several sources, including the Russian energy concern Gazprom, but not from the Brandenburg State authorities. 'They have rejected our request for a 25,000-euro subsidy over a three-year period,' said Borchert.