The Wolf's Lair

KTravelled : 286km from Warsaw to the Wolf's Lair
Stay : Wolf's Lair,  Gieloz Forest, Ketrzyn - N54.07974 E21.4944
50 zloty/€12 incl 15 zloty each entrance fee, 10 zloty parking and 10 zloty overnight stay. Phew! Make your choice. Includes power and water. Donation for toilet and shower.

So off we were again on the road just after 7. Our destination the Wolf's Lair. This was Hitler's first Eastern front military headquarters in WWII. To get here we travelled on smaller  country roads which were very picturesque. 

There were many stork nests along the way.

Blessings for the each village.

Interesting wood carvings.

 We arrived just after 12 and after a bite to eat we went to explore. 

The complex was completed in 1941 and used for 3 1/2 years.  It was then demolished by retreating Germans  on 25 January 1945. It was here that an assassination attempt against Hitler was made on 20th July 1944 by Colonel Stauffenberg.  There were 3 security zones. Zone 1 was Hitler's bunker and his inner circle. Zone 2 was the Reich ministers and zone 3 was where the defensive land mines were laid. It was due to the Russian army approaching that the order was given to destroy the complex.  One bunker required 8 tons of explosive. It was not until the 1990s that the area was developed into a tourist site.

This area is a part of the Compostella walking trail