The German Historical Museum in Berlin has recreated part of the so-called Führerbunker, where Hitler spent the last months of his life and committed suicide in 1945.
In truth, this is not Hitler’s real bunker. It was located near the Reich Chancellery and was almost completely destroyed in 1989. Now there is a parking lot in that place. There is no memorial, only a small plaque informs about the Fuhrer’s refuge that was once located here. This was done to avoid neo-Nazi pilgrimages. However, public interest is so great and has not subsided for such a long time that the museum decided to reconstruct the bunker. As stated on the museum’s website, for educational purposes and as a tribute to memory. Reconstruct, but place it in a different location – in a nearby bomb shelter, also from World War II, on Schöneberger Street, a 10-minute walk from Potsdamer Plaz.
Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP
The exposition of the recreated Führerbunker is dedicated to its history: here is a model of the winding network of underground rooms and halls of the real bunker (on a scale of 1:25),
original photographs of the demolished shelter and information about the history of its construction and operation. You can see a recreated interior of Hitler’s office, as well as footage from the 2004 German film “The Bunker”, dedicated to his last days. The issue of recreating other bunker interiors is still being discussed. To avoid possible violent reactions from visitors, the exhibition can only be viewed with a guide. The excursions, lasting an hour and a half, begin in a bomb shelter for the civilian population of Berlin, designed for 3.5 thousand people, although in the last days of the war 12 thousand people took refuge in it. This, according to the museum staff, will allow visitors to compare the conditions of stay and the situation in Hitler’s bunker and that of ordinary Germans. Tours are conducted in German and English. Photography is prohibited.
Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP
In general, this topic – even if not the creation of a memorial dedicated to Hitler, but the historical reconstruction associated with it – causes great controversy in Germany. The website of the German Historical Museum speaks several times about the millions of victims of World War II, the Holocaust, and genocide. However, the management of another Berlin museum, the Topography of Terror, which tells about the crimes of the Nazis and is located next to the replica of the bunker, accused the creators of the replica of trying to organize a spectacular show in a situation where it was inappropriate. Seven years ago, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum tried to exhibit in
Berlin, the figure of Hitler, but the second visitor decapitated the exhibit shouting “No to war!” And in October the Austrian authorities promised to demolish the house in the city of Braunau am Inn, in one of the rooms of which the dictator was born.
You can sign up for a tour on the museum’s website.
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