They never had to surrender their weapons and were never searched whereas the RSD were required to remain at positions some distance away from Hitler. These were the only armed guards Hitler allowed to be near him. Within the compound, security was managed by Dienststelle I (command I) from the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers (FBK) which operated under the auspices of Obersturmbannführer Bruno Gesche. Sperrkreis 1 (Security Zone 1) was located at the heart of the Wolf's Lair, the perimeter was ringed by steel fencing and guarded by the SS Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD).Buildings within the complex were camouflaged with bushes, grass, and artificial trees on the flat roofs netting was also erected between buildings and the surrounding forest so that the installation looked like unbroken dense woodland from the air. The installations were served by a nearby airfield and railway line. Hitler moved into the base on 24 June 1941 after launching Barbarossa two days before. About two thousand people lived and worked at Wolf's Lair at its peak, among them twenty women, some of whom were required to sample Hitler's food to test for poison. The 6.5 km 2 ( 2 + 1⁄ 2 sq mi) complex was completed by 21 June 1941 and consisted of three concentric security zones. The Wolf's Lair was located in the middle of a forest, far from major roads and urban areas, and accessible only by a single railway and small airstrip. "Wolf" was used in several titles of Hitler's headquarters throughout occupied Europe, such as Wolfsschlucht I and II in Belgium and France and Werwolf in Ukraine.Īlthough the standard translation in English is "Wolf's Lair," a Schanze in German denotes a sconce, redoubt or temporary fieldwork.Īs part of the preparations for the coming Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the decision was made in late 1940 to build a military headquarters for Hitler close to the front, similar in concept to the Felsennest in Western Europe. He began using the nickname in the early 1930s and it was often how he was addressed by those in his intimate circle. Wolfsschanze is derived from "Wolf", a self-adopted nickname of Hitler. On 25 January 1945, the complex was partially destroyed by the SS and Wehrmacht prior to their retreat and abandonment of the site 48 hours before the arrival of Soviet forces. The work was never completed because of the rapid advance of the Red Army during the Baltic Offensive in late 1944. In mid-1944 work began to enlarge and reinforce many of the Wolf's Lair original buildings. In total, he spent more than 800 days at the Wolfsschanze during a 3 + 1⁄ 2-year period until his final departure on 20 November 1944. Hitler first arrived at the headquarters on 23 June 1941.
Despite the security, the most notable assassination attempt against Hitler took place at the Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944.
These were guarded by personnel from two SS divisions: the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers, Reichssicherheitsdienst and the Wehrmacht 's armoured Führerbegleitbrigade. Three security zones surrounded the central complex where the Führer's bunker was located. The top-secret, high-security site lay in the Masurian woods about eight kilometres (five miles) east of the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg ( Polish: Kętrzyn), in present-day Poland. The Organisation Todt constructed the complex, which became one of several Führerhauptquartiere ( Führer Headquarters) in various parts of Central and Eastern Europe, for the start of Operation Barbarossa-the invasion of the Soviet Union-in 1941. The Wolf's Lair (German: Wolfsschanze Polish: Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
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