Tour Report: Anti-Aircraft Missile Site FRA-134

As the last location on our tour of various Cold War relics in northeastern Germany in October 2020, my buddy Andreas and I explored the remains of an anti-aircraft missile unit of the National People's Army of the GDR.

From the abandoned maintenance unit at the former Soviet air base, it was just over 30 kilometers to the former site of the GDR air defense.

The site is located a good distance outside the nearest town and can be reached via an old paved road. We found a parking spot right at the entrance and set out to explore the grounds.

First, we reached the accommodation area and the service and utility buildings. Unfortunately, we discovered that cable thieves and local vandals had done a thorough job – it really wasn't a pretty sight, so I didn't even bother taking any photos inside these buildings.

Passing a large vehicle hall, we made our way through the now heavily overgrown grounds to the command post. This consists of a garage bunker with six garages built next to each other, connected at the rear by a cross corridor, as well as two smaller annexes.

Here, too, we were confronted with a scene of destruction: the exterior is covered in graffiti, the garage doors have been torn out, as has the electrical installation inside the bunker.

On the bunker hill, we discovered the location of the “PW cabin,” the missile guidance radar of the S-75 “Volchov” anti-aircraft missile complex.

It was getting late, so we decided not to search the heavily wooded area for further relics and headed back.

On the way to the car, our assumption that the area was used by local youths as a party location was confirmed: a group of young people with mopeds and cars had gathered in the parking lot and were ending the weekend with music and drinks. It didn't look like they planned to take their trash with them...

To find out more about the history and to check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: Soviet Maintenance Unit P.

And so we continue with our travelogue of our little excursion to some relics of the Cold War in eastern Germany. After exploring the command bunker at the airfield, we only had to walk a few meters east to reach our next location. Right next to the command bunker site are the remains of a Soviet maintenance unit. There is very little information about the site, but it can be assumed that, among other things, weapons for the Soviet Air Force units stationed at the airfield were maintained and prepared here.

I assume that the two areas used to be strictly separated, as I had seen in many Soviet properties—but almost 30 years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, this separation is no longer taken so seriously ;)

The grounds were easy to access, and we were able to move around freely.

We looked around the residential and service buildings and then explored the halls and garages. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much to see apart from a few Cyrillic inscriptions (“Pyrotechnician's workplace,” “Workplace for the installation, dismantling, and storage of the product”) that gave some indication of how the site was used.

As I said, there wasn't much left to see, so we set off again relatively quickly to take a look at another location.

To find out more about the history and to check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: Soviet Command Bunker 172 ОБВП

For our trip in early October 2020, my friend Andreas and I had put several Cold War relics in northeastern Germany on our list. After taking the opportunity to photograph an old mausoleum along the way, we headed straight for our first planned location.

Our destination was a former command bunker of the Soviet Air Forces. Originally, it had been constructed as the operations center of the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in Parchim, before later being repurposed as the command post of the 172nd Combat Helicopter Regiment - a small but telling example of how military infrastructure was adapted during the Cold War.

After roughly 45 minutes of driving, we reached the former Soviet military compound. It was easy to identify: a classic guardhouse at the entrance and a solid concrete perimeter wall left little doubt about the site’s past.

Parking directly in front of the main gate felt like a bad idea, so we left the car a bit farther away along a dirt road. According to our plan, this path should lead us around to the rear of the compound, from where we hoped to make our way inside and search for the bunker.

The plan worked out perfectly. The dirt road ran surprisingly close to the site, and before long we discovered a breach in the wall - part of it had collapsed, leaving a hole just large enough to climb through.

Since we had no precise information about the bunker’s location within the compound, we expected a lengthy search. That fear turned out to be unfounded: after only a short walk, we had already spotted the entrance.

With a floor area of roughly 150 square meters, the bunker itself is fairly unremarkable from an architectural point of view. It closely resembles other Cold War-era structures we’ve explored at former airfields. As was often the case when Soviet forces withdrew from East Germany, very few original items were left behind. This site was no exception. A handful of pieces of furniture were scattered around, though it’s hard to say whether they actually belonged to the bunker’s original equipment—at least the armchair struck me as rather doubtful.

After completing our exploration, we stepped back outside into the daylight.

There were several more abandoned buildings on the site waiting to be explored, so stay tuned - and look forward to the next post.

To find out more about the history and to check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.