As of: March 11, 2024, 7:56 a.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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The “Valentin” bunker in Bremen was built during the Second World War.
Many forced laborers lost their lives.
Bremen – There are memorials to the Second World War all over Germany – including in Bremen.
During the last years of the war, the German Reich was heavily bombed, which is why the need for bunkers was high.
This was particularly true for the cities in northern Germany, as many attacks were launched from Great Britain.
The largest free-standing bunker complex in Germany still stands in Bremen today: the submarine bunker “Valentin”.
1,600 forced laborers died during construction work on the “Valentin” bunker
Strictly speaking, the facility is a ruin of a German Navy submarine shipyard.
During the last two years of the war, civilian forced laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war were used here, and according to the bunker's memorial website, 1,600 of them died during construction work.
Most died from indiscriminate killings, disease or malnutrition.
Today you can remember the fate of the workers back then when you visit the documentation and remembrance site “Denkort Bunker Valentin”, which was newly opened in 2015.
Surname |
Submarine bunker Valentin |
Federal State |
Bremen |
Location |
City of Bremen |
district |
Recrum |
building area |
35,375 square meters |
construction time |
1943 to 1945 |
Monument protection |
Since 2005 |
The National Socialists brought huge quantities of machines and building materials to the Lower Weser region for three major construction sites.
For this purpose, railway lines, transshipment facilities and camps for forced laborers were built.
Planning for a secret submarine dockyard in the “Valentin” bunker began in 1935
As early as 1935, a front company of the Reich Ministry of Economics, the Economic Research Society (Wifo), began building tank farms in the north of Bremen, more precisely in the Rekrumer and Farger Heide, to covertly prepare for the planned war.
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The “Valentin” bunker in Bremen.
© IMAGO/Arnaud Beinat
Because the war of aggression on Europe had already been specifically planned, the location seemed favorable for storing fuel and oil.
For the first time in 1938, foreign workers were used for the construction work.
In addition, 1.7 billion liters were to be stored in underground storage bunkers in the Navy's warehouses in several locations in the north of Bremen.
“Valentin” bunker: seven meter thick ceilings and walls
But that was just appearances: a bunkered shipyard for Type XXI submarines was actually supposed to be built.
This should take less than two years of construction time.
The first submarines were to be launched as early as March 1945, and from autumn onwards one boat every two days.
So that boats could continue to be produced, the bunker had to be able to withstand all bombing attacks.
Seven meter thick ceilings and walls were intended to ensure this.
The “tank farm” became a submarine bunker that the forced laborers had to build.
Bunker construction was 90 percent completed - then the bombs fell
There are only a few traces of the tank farm projects left, but the “Valentin” bunker stands out on the Weser.
At 419 meters long (sometimes say 426 meters), it is the longest building in the city of Bremen, even ahead of Speicher XI in Überseestadt at 403 meters.
Bunker “Valentin”: This is where submarines were supposed to be launched.
© IMAGO/Volker Preusser
After the submarine repair yard in Brest, France, “Valentin” is the second largest free-standing bunker in Europe, for which one million tons of gravel and sand, 132,000 tons of cement and 20,000 tons of steel were used.
When the bombing began, construction was 90 percent complete.
The bunker withstood attacks in 1945, but construction work was no longer continued.
Allies dismantle the “Valentin” bunker – the Bundeswehr used it for decades
After the end of the war, the bunker was partially dismantled by the Allies.
Part of the building was used by the Bundeswehr as a material depot from 1960 to 2010.
In 2011 it was converted into a memorial, which was opened in 2015.
Only the part used by the Bundeswehr is accessible.
In a report in 2008, the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation also demonstrated that the bunker had developed into an important wintering quarters for bats over the years.
The largest free-standing bunker in the country is in Bremen - but the highest lighthouse in Germany is in Lower Saxony.
(cgsc)