Führerbunker
The Führerbunker (German, literally meaning "shelter for the leader" or "the Führer's shelter") was an underground bunker in the New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany.
Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun spent the last weeks of World War II hiding in the Führerbunker. On April 30, 1945, they killed themselves inside the bunker.
Construction
[change | change source]The Führerbunker was a large, elaborate complex. It was built in two phases, one part in 1936 and the other in 1943.
The 1943 development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive program of underground construction in Berlin that began in 1940.
Location
[change | change source]The Führerbunker was about 8.2 meters beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery building at Wilhelmstraße 77 in Berlin.
Structure
[change | change source]The Führerbunker had two levels: the "Vorbunker" (the upper bunker or "forward bunker") and the newer Führerbunker one level below. They were connected by a stairway set at right angles.
About 30 small rooms were distributed over the complex's two levels, with exits into the main buildings and an emergency exit into the garden. Hitler's rooms were in the newer, lower section.
By February 1945, the Führerbunker had high-quality furniture (taken from the Chancellery) along with several framed oil paintings.
The complex was protected by about four meters of concrete.
Related pages
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