Wolf’s Lair (Part 2)

Poland Day 22. I explored the less visited parts of Wolf’s Lair and, being as I was in the lakes district, went looking for a lake.

After giving up on being able to do anything substantially productive with the available wifi, I went off to complete a second circuit of zone one before the masses arrived. I also wanted to avoid being in the same airspace as a horrible loud-mouthed guide I’d had a mild run-in with the previous day.

Outside the restaurant after breakfast chasing wifi signals

For a change of scene from concrete ruins for a while I did something a bit strange and went off down the road with a vague plan to find a lake. Wolf’s Lair is located in the Masurian district, well-known in Poland for its lakes and all the activities one associates with such environs. While I wasn’t super-close to any major places I could see a couple of lakes in walking proximity.

For a distance on both sides of the road hidden in the forest were more ruins: Wolf’s Lair zone two on the left, and the old train station somewhere on the right. I would investigate on the way back. The road isn’t set up for pedestrians so it wasn’t exactly relaxed going with the occasional bus blasting through but I did have fleeting success in my quest.

I found a lake down a side-road – no sign of walruses though as the sign suggested (see below; unless that was a reference to human clientele). Did however acquaint myself with small flying bugs, lots of small flying bugs

The Google instant text translate function proved useful during the trip and an occasional source of humour

Signs of critters but none made an appearance

On my return I wasn’t sure where the station was but figured I could either get to and then follow the railway line, or keep an eye out for the faint trails I had seen earlier leading off from the road which I figured probably had something to do with the station. It was a bit of both.

The now defunct line from Kętrzyn past Wolf’s Lair

What’s left of the station near Wolf’s Lair. The existence of the station in a large woodland area as well as the close proximity to Russian territory were reasons why Hitler chose the area for his headquarters

Back out on the road I could see the forms of Wolf’s Lair structures set back in the forest on the other side. These ruins are in a more natural (for want of a word) state as the buildings aren’t numbered and there’s no trail. By all accounts this area is scarcely visited and feeling a touch anxious I nonetheless ventured in.

I continued further back and came across one of the sealed roads constructed by the Germans. Following this around I had still not seen anyone else but was surprised to come across a small logging operation with loaded truck and a couple of blokes. Shortly after there the numbered section of zone two kicked in and I started seeing a few more people.

Twin air raid shelters for workers in the area

Barracks for Hitler’s escort battalion

Office of the Foreign Ministry

Quarters for Reich ministers Fritz Todt until his death, then Albert Speer

In a place where the ruins are predominantly concrete and steel rods, the tiles visible in a couple of buildings in this zone seemed to make it come slightly more to life

The damage to the structures here was all part of the demolition in 1945 initiated by the fleeing Germans

This unidentified building was unusual in that it had remnants of wooden window frames

On the edge of zone 2 is a small cemetery for the nearby village of Parcz. It was allowed to remain there throughout the war. Behind was the premises for Luftwaffe command staff and liaison officers

That brought my explorations here to an end. The third security zone of Wolf’s Lair can’t really be visited since it was essentially a heavily fortified outer ring surrounding zones one and two. Those defenses included more than 50,000 land mines which took about 10 years to clear and is in an area fenced off to the public.

Happy with what I’d been able to see I returned to base to make sure I could have a meal before the restaurant closed at 5pm. Then it was a case of readying myself for another quiet night in my small room. This was the most remote destination of my time in Poland and in the evenings it definitely felt like it!

Distance walked: 14.92km

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Real-time update: I got back to NZ two days ago so my journeying has come to an end and normal life now resumes. I’m just over a week behind so I’ll finish the final few posts as soon as I can.