27. There Passed a Weary Time: Demolition and the Fahrerbunker

Between 1947 and 1949, the destruction of the NRK began in earnest. Here the Soviets and their running dog minions of the DDR have demolished the West Wing:

The Mittelbau follows:

… although to be fair, I think the previous two photos were taken at roughly the same time. Next is the destruction of the Mittelbau: the following photo shows (on the right) that Hitler’s study, its columns and the terrace have already been demolished. The remaining structure in the photo on the right is the last element of the Mittelbau – compare the square windows with the windows at the far left of the photo on the left.

And obviously the Ehrenhof had to go. What a pity from an historical perspective although it does improve our view of our old friend the Ritterschaftsdirektion:

And through it all, like a little brother watching his big brother get spanked, sits the lonely Ministry of Transport building (notice the emergency exit block still lies on its side):

In 1987, photographer Robert Conrad got inside the NRK as it was being demolished and a secretly took a great series of photos. These are – if you’re into this stuff like I am – sensational:

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-sneaking-into-hitler-s-bunker-fotostrecke-97539-21.html

and also here:

https://vimudeap.info/de/atlas/bunker-neue-reichskanzlei-berlin-fuehrerbunker-hitlerbunker/images/#image-6136

Equally exciting, IMO, was the discovery in 1990 of the Fahrerbunker (Drivers’ Bunker). This bunker – for the drivers of Hitler’s fleet of vehicles (well, derrr…) – lay undiscovered until 1990 when it was uncovered during clearance operations for the Pink Floyd concert “The Wall” which was to be held after the Berlin Wall came down. Who knew Prog Rock bands could be good for something? Apparently there was worldwide shaking of heads, waggling of fingers and groans of anguish when it was discovered that the Nazis had drawn on the walls of their bunker, if you believe  some sources. Here are some examples of the cause of this hand-wringing:

That dunny looks to me to be very much like the one in “Trainspotters”. And that last photo indicates a function of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler of which I was previously unaware: they were to offer heroic protection to any blokes who felt like enjoying a quiet ale or two.

Anyway, AFAIK, the garage was sealed up again so that the Free World would not be morally corrupted by murals.

An excellent article on the Fahrerbunker can be found at the Britlink site here:

http://www.britlink.org/berlin/fahrerbunker/.

More on this as it comes to light.