Our recent trip to Germany: Colditz, Torgau, Dresden Bundeswehr museum, etc.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, most of you will know that Lez and I recently travelled to Germany to stay with friends and to visit several museums.

I thought that I would share our photos of the trip with you. This is going to be a farily long thread, as I took plenty of pics.

We flew out to Leipzig and our friends picked us up and we then traveled out to their small farm or Hof, where we would be staying. The Hof dates from 1802 and has some interesting features such as rifle slits built into the house. Bear in mind it was bulit during the Napleononic Wars. One of the slits can be seen to the left of the front door. The firer would have sat on the stairs. It is a "listed building" some any work must be done sympathetically.

Those of you that are into vehicles will notice the 1983 Trabant in the barn.

Cheers, Ade

[bigmacglenn]

I have a feeling this is going to be good!

[Adrian Stevenson]

I hope so!

[Adrian Stevenson]

A few more views of the farm, Willy the Dog and the locallity of Penig.

Their home is known as the Waliserhof.

http://mediengefickt.de.business-04....tpage&Itemid=1

Our friends, Bee and Tim, are members of WWOOF:

http://www.wwoof.de/index.php?article_id=1&clang=1

[Adrian Stevenson]

Our first trip was to the former East German bunker complex at Kossa.

Prior to the war, the Germans built a munitions works here, hidden in the forest. It was never discovered by the Allies and so escaped bombing. Soviet forces were left to destroy it after the war. As usual, it relied on forced labour during the war. It was a huge site.

The bunker complex is now a museum and costs 10 euros to enter. You are free to wander around un-escorted.

http://www.bunker-kossa.de/

[Adrian Stevenson]

You enter the gate and pay the entrance fee at the former NVA barracks block. After going through the wire fence you head down the concrete road, and follow the sign to each of the bunkers. All appear like this. Just what looks like an entrance to a shed in a wood.

[Adrian Stevenson]

The complex is now believed to have been built as a command and control centre for WW3! Had the Warsaw Pact launched a strike into West Germany, NVA Forces would have been commanded from here. Large computors and secured telecomms links were provided to link them to Moscow.

So the shed like entrance actually leads you into this! A series of de-contamination chambers which everyone had to pass in the event of NBC warfare. At each stage you would bag up your kit and clothing and eventually shower. The stairs lead down in the bunker proper.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Instructions were in German and Russian.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Once down the stairs there were lockers for all the NBC kit. Nearly all of this is in place and you can touch it. Very little in the museum is under glass.

[Adrian Stevenson]

We were interested in the (Soviet made we think) boxes which were in most rooms. At first we did not realise what they were. Turns out these are dehumidifiers.