In Concrete Heaven

After our whistle stop tour of downtown Berlin, Don and I decided to go a bit further afield and see what we could find. OUr first stop was a bit out of town and after much searching, we came to what has to be one of the most fascinating sites I have ever been to. Just on chance I found a reference to a place that has preserved one of the largest, and most important, German bunker complexes in Europe. THe site is great, and in addition to the bunkers, there are a lot of book stores and antique stores around so, as is to be expected, my book bag is overflowing again and I'm going to be leaving more clothes with Steph. Anyway the bunker complex consists of several buildings that were disguised by the Germans as ordinary houses but were where Operation Barbarossam, the invasion of Poland, France and the low countries were planned and commanded. Connnected to this was the largest wartime bunker I've ever seen. Seven stories of Wehrmacht command central and it is all still there. It is also pretty neat that it is out of the way and much of the tour was with flashights-I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie or something. Much to my surprise, after doing some poking around with the help of a local guide, we discovered even more-a huge Soviet bunker complex that was at the heart of the Soviet air defense system in Europe. THink of the USSR's version of NORAD. IT was all very spooky. When the RUssians pulled out, they took most of the machinery and stuff with them, but they left all sorts of personal effects, papers, grafittim etc. As we poked around flashlights in hand we came across rooms with all sorts of RUssian paperwork on the floor, empty Vodka bottles, etc. etc. It was really one of the coolest things I can remember doing for a long time. After we finished up at this complex-we spent about three hours but you could easily spend the day, we passed through an area that had been used to test and train Panzers.

We headed back toward the city after that, stopping at Karlsehorst, where the final surrender of the Germans was held, and then to the Olympic Stadium. I'd seen all this before, but never spent so much time at the stadium, which is awesome to say the least. They have a great inside tour that I plan on including in the Poland trip. We still had a bit of daylight, so decided to see what we could find of the old Olympic Village. After a bit of poking around, we stumbled upon it. Unfortunately there was a fence around the complex, but we could walk around and see inside. First, it is much bigger than I ever imagined. Second, most of it is still there, but in terrible condition. As is so often the case, somebody decided far to late to save the historic complex and then turned over the keys to a private group who has the interest in preserving the buildings, but little or no money. It was sad, but interesting in a way as well, set amidst a very modern German village, was a Ghost Town. Through the fence we could see the Olympic Pool, Commander's House, Athletes Housing and most inspiring for me, the track where Jesse Owens trained. THis will most definately be on any future travels.

Just to finish off the day on an appropriately historical note, after the Olympic Village we stopped at the nearby barracks complex that, alas, is now abandoned, but in its heyday was the home of the Condor Legion, the Richtofen Squadron and several Wehrmacht Cavalry and Panzer units. THe buildings are all still there, as are the training fields, etc., etc.

It was a really super day. There was more to see, but after some discussion, Don and I thought we'd jump at the chance to have a couple of days to check out some new stuff. After a late dinner it was off to bed for a 5 a.m. wake up call and a trip to the airport .