July 4, 2025

Tour Report: Soviet Tank Army Headquarters

Only about 200 meters away from the stone bust of Lenin you can discover another relic of the Soviet occupation, and Lenin has a place there too. It is the headquarters of a Soviet tank army, which was located in a luxurious housing estate during the Cold War. The officers' mess was housed in a former rest home, while other departments were housed in buildings in the surrounding park.
Due to the short distance, we didn't even have to go back to the car, we could go straight there. The grounds were densely overgrown with trees and bushes, but were not cordoned off, so we could simply walk from the road to the mansion-like building that was once the officers' mess. It was here that we crossed paths with Lenin again. A statue of the revolutionary stood in the middle of the thicket, as if he was still watching over the grounds 30 years after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops - his gaze stoically fixed straight ahead.
At first we couldn't find an entrance to the building. At the back, however, we discovered two entrances: an air-raid tunnel that led via a staircase into the bunkered basement of the building, and a direct entrance via a staircase into the said basement.
The listed former rest home is architecturally really beautiful to look at - the Soviet officers probably had a very good time here. However, with the exception of the bunkered cellar, there aren't really many relics of the Soviet army left to discover in the building. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed exploring it, as it is a really beautiful place.
From the officers' mess, we explored the rest of the grounds. The other buildings were not nearly as beautiful; they were brick-built and plastered office barracks like those found in many Soviet bases and garrisons.
However, there were still a few relics to discover in these office buildings: a few pieces of furniture, maps, the classic newspapers on the walls and even some clothes had been left behind by the Soviets.
We hadn't expected the area behind the officers' mess to be so large. It was probably bigger, but part of the area is already being reused.
All in all, it was a very exciting exploration in beautiful weather and with some great surprises!

To find out a bit more about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

































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