Also built here have been several shelter houses, connected via a network of bunker corridors, which looked from the outside like country homes including flower boxes in the windows and wooden doors, covering the huge bomb-safe steel doors inside.
These safe houses, called "Maybach I and II", had been used as offices for the German army high command during the war, before they where evacuated in April 1945, just before the Russian army went in. The fake look seems to have worked well, only one allied bombing raid was conducted weeks before the evacuation of the building which is rather surprising in relation to the importance of this military command center for the German war efforts.
The Russian army not just went in but stayed for another 60 years, keeping the military tradition of the area going and even increased the area. Inhabitants of surrounding houses where told by letter that they had to leave their homes within two weeks.
First they tried to remove the German buildings which was found impossible since the explosives of the time weren't able to destroy it seriously. So they decided to use it instead, the cold war era made them feel a necessity of having a bunker. Later all the West-European air traffic was monitored from here. Eventually the Russians left after the German re-union about 1994.
However, we were taken on a 5-hour guided tour over and under the ground, including passages barely accessible and very damp, dark and dangerous because of the rotten junk. It was very impressive and I took some pictures, but only of sufficient illuminated places. The weather and the wood which has overtaken much of the ground were very nice too, so it always was a pleasure to climb out of the holes into the warming sun.
In the end we had discovered no treasures or secrets and, to be honest, had not much been reminded of the actual purpose of these buildings since the interior was completely gone. Anyway, after all we had fun and only very small bruises :-)
