Geoff Walden
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Geoff Walden
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The Third Reich in Ruins ... This page presents photos of historical sites associated with Germany’s Third Reich (1933-1945), both as they appeared while in use, and as the remains appear today. These photos give a "then and now" perspective, in many cases, a virtual tour of the sites. I was inspired to write this page by a collection of photos taken by my father, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Delbert R. Walden, when he was stationed in Germany in 1945-46. Unfortunately, many of my father's photos are unidentified ... some of these are shown on the "Lost Sites" page. If anyone can identify these locations, I'd be very grateful! (see Note below)
This page makes no political statements. Presentation of these sites here should in no way be taken as glorification, promotion, or honoring of Nazi ideals. The photos are presented here purely for historical study.
What's New? The following sites are currently featured. Others will likely be added later. Click here to see UPDATES added since 20 July 2000 (latest update 8 May 2002 - V-E Day). Page Contents Click here to visit a detailed table of contents page, set up to allow searching the entire site by keyword. Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg -- In the 1920s Adolf Hitler established a mountain retreat for himself on the Obersalzberg, above Berchtesgaden, in the southeast corner of Bavaria. Later, the Nazi hierarchy turned the Obersalzberg into a huge complex, with rustic (and not so rustic) homes for themselves, military barracks, tunnel and bunker complexes, and even the famed Kehlsteinhaus, or "Eagles Nest." Click here to read updated information on current and planned changes to the Obersalzberg, as of June 2001. Nürnberg -- Hitler turned the city into a sort of Nazi pilgrimage site, for the annual Nazi Party Day rallies in the 1930s. Berlin -- The Reich capital featured many examples of Nazi architecture - Part 2 shows the area of the site of Hitler's death and burial at his Führerbunker, sites where his body was autopsied and later buried by the Russians, and the site of Martin Bormann's death and burial. Munich -- Birthplace of the Nazi Party - features a subpage on the Nazi art exhibits at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst. Garmisch-Partenkirchen -- The 1936 winter Olympic games were held in Garmisch. Adolf Hitler Visits His Homeland -- Hitler visited Austria in March 1938, following the Anschluss; also features Hitler's visit to Vienna and Hitler's visits to Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Schweinfurt -- This industrial city was a key target for the U.S. 8th Air Force and was heavily bombed during the final 18 months of the war. Würzburg -- This Baroque city had many beautiful rococo buildings, sites for Nazi rallies and severely bombed in 1945. Buchenwald -- One of the most sinister Nazi concentration camps has been preserved as a monument to the victims of German Fascism. Nordhausen -- Underground complex for building V-1 and V-2 rockets, with the associated Mittelwerk tunnel remains and Dora concentration camp memorial site. Flossenbürg -- Concentration camp site in Bavaria - site of the execution of Wilhelm Canaris and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mauthausen -- Concentration camp site in Upper Austria - includes subcamp at Gusen and underground factory project B-8 "Bergkristall" at St. Georgen. Ebensee -- Underground factory site (codename "Dachs/Zement") and concentration camp site in Austria. Mühldorf -- Project "Weingut" underground factory site for Me 262 jet aircraft manufacture. Underground Sites in Thüringen -- The final year of the war saw increased construction of underground facilities for production of secret war materiel and for headquarters - features the REIMAHG Me 262 jet factory near Kahla and the Jonastal "Siegfried" project near Ohrdruf. End of the war for s.PzJg.Abt. 653 -- "Jagdtiger" (Hunting Tiger) vehicles where they were destroyed or immobilized in March 1945 in the Mannheim-Heidelberg area. End of the War in the Main-Spessart Region -- Heavy fighting in March-April 1945 in towns along the Main River, east of Aschaffenburg; includes a section on Hammelburg. U.S. Army Posts -- When the U.S. military occupied Germany in 1945, for the most part, they moved into existing German military posts. Many of these are still occupied and have several interesting reminders of the previous occupants. Miscellaneous -- Various other Third Reich sites (Bad Berneck, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Bamberg, Kitzingen, Ochsenfurt, Stadtilm, Rhein-Main, Saint-Marcouf (Normandy), and others). German War Memorials -- Photos of several war memorials and monuments in Germany. Cold War Sites -- In addition to the Third Reich sites, this page features some sites left over from the Cold War, including ruins of some East German and American border posts.
NOTE: My brother and I have been unable to identify the locations of several of our father's 1945-46 photos. These are shown on the "Lost Sites" page. Anyone who can identify any of these is asked to contact the page author at gwalden1864@earthlink.net. NOTE: I acknowledge some additional inspiration from similar studies in After the Battle magazine; however, I was doing such "then and now" photo studies before I ever saw a copy of After the Battle, and several of these sites have not been covered by After the Battle. For those that have been, the ATB studies are superb and highly recommended. I should say, I have the ATB issues for the Obersalzberg, Nordhausen, and Berlin, which were very useful when I visited those sites ... if any of the other sites on my page have been covered by ATB, I haven't seen those issues.
A few good links ... Places of World War II - http://geocities.com/Pentagon/7087/index.htm -- great links to photo studies of numerous Third Reich sites Tunnel and Shelter Researching - http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1325/ -- links to several sites dealing with Nazi underground construction projects Military History Museums in Germany -- http://www.militaermuseum.de/ Third Reich Factbook - http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/ -- an online encyclopedia covering many topics, with many links to lots of other good sites "Normandy News" World War II newspaper -- a novel concept in a modern webpage -- http://www.thehistoryvine.com/~Guderian_Rommel/news.htmPanzer Colors - http://www.waldenarchives.simonides.org/pz/panzercolors.htm -- color photos of original paint and camouflage schemes on surviving German armored vehicles and equipment Lost Images of World War II - http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/8605/lostimag.html -- Scott Pinkowski's page of his grandfather's World War II photos Photosammler - http://www.photosammler.de/main.htm -- great collection of period German photos World War 2 Battlefield Relics - http://www.lerenfort.fsnet.co.uk -- a fascinating site with frequent updates, showing photos of recently recovered military relics from various sites Der Freiwillige Military Antiques - http://www.derfreiwillige.com -- quality Third Reich artifacts and memorabilia
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Third Reich in Ruins, http://www.reichinruins.simonides.org/reichruins.htm
All contents copyright © 2000-2002, Geoffrey R.
Walden; all rights reserved. All photos taken by or This page is intended for historical research only,
and no political or philosophical aims should be assumed. This page initially uploaded on 20 July 2000.
This page hosted by the Simonides Site. |
Contact
page author Geoff Walden at 
