"Wünsdorf-Waldstadt" a Zossen Travel Page by alancollins

I have used the location of Zossen but the former 590 hectare military base was located halfway along the Zossen to Wünsdorf road at the now called Wünsdorf-Waldstadt.

A Military base has existed at Wünsdorf-Waldstadt for 100 years. It started life as a training base and during WW1 housed 15,000 soldiers and had 2 prisoner of war camps. After WW1 it was again used for training soldiers and for the tank training. In 1937 the bunkers of Maybach I & II were completed together with the massive underground communications centre of Zeppelin. The complex was taken undamaged by the Soviets. As agreed between the Allies all former military buildings were to be destroyed and this happened to Maybach 1 & II as well as Zeppelin. In the case of Zeppelin not much damage occurred and it was later reused by the Soviets. In 1953 the whole area was sealed off by the Soviets and 40,000 troops stationed in the area. This caused considerable traffic problems for the local population, who were required to make a long detour if they wished to travel to Berlin. A large bunker was constructed at the complex by the soviets and named UK20 and was used as part of their air defence. The area was like a mini Moscow with a direct railway line from the base to the Soviet Capital. The Soviets remained until the 8th September 1994 before the area was handed back.