Heimat Artillerie Park 11

Location:

In the north part of Germany, near a small fischerman place called Peenemünde on the Island of Wolgast.

History:

In the period 1936 to 1942 the Germans build a large rocket research centre in a place called Peenemünde. The complete installation got the codename "Heimat Artillerie Park 11" ("Home Artillery Park 11" in English). On this place German rocket scientist like Wernher von Braun, Walter Dornberger and Arthur Rudolf developed the V2 rocket. On August 3rd, 1942 the first successful V2 rocket was launched from the launching platform 7 in Peenemünde research centre.

Map of the complete Peenemünde research centre The red squares mark some of the Peenemünde places: Liquid Oxygen plant Powerplant Launching Platform 7 Trassenheide camp The blue dash marks the "Historisch Technischen Informationszentrum". A centre that describes the history of the Peenemünde facilities.

After the successful launch of the first V2 rocket, a special experimental factory ("Versuchsserienwerk") was build. Most of the people who worked in that factory were prisoners, who came from a nearby subcamp of the concentrationcamp Ravensbrück.

On the night of 17/18 of August 1943, RAF planes bombed Peenemünde. Most of the facilities were destroyed and a over 700 people were killed. 500 of them were prisoners and forced laborers.

Peenemünde after the bombardment in 1943.

After the bombardment the Germans decided to decentralize their rocket development and production activities. A part was transferred to the "Ni 109"-complex near Nordhausen.

		Launching platforms:
One of the launching platforms in 1941/1942.		Remains of Launching Platform number 7 after the bombardment.

This is all that's left of Launching Platform 7 in 1991.

Current status:

Most of the former facilities were destroyed during the bombardment. After the war the Russians took all valuable things out of Peenemünde for their own rocket program. Between 1948 and 1991, the whole area of Peenemünde was a sealed off area. Currently (1993) most of the grounds are forbidden because of the presence of old ammunition in the area.

		The former Liquid Oxygen Plant (1993)
		The inside of the Liquid Oxygen Plant (1993).

The powerplant for Peenemünde facilities. It is still in use (1991)

References:

• After the Battle magazine 74 (Dutch), page 1-27.
• Waffen und Geheimwaffen des Deutschen Heeres 1933-1945, page 150
• Hitlers Geheimobjecten in Thüringen, page 148
• Militär Museen in Deutschland, page 8
• Historisch Technischen Informationszentrum