Atlantikwall in Denmark

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by alberk, Jun 25, 2021.

  1. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I am on holiday in Denmark at the moment - the last time I visited Jutland`s west coast was in 1977. Back then, as a boy, I was fascinated with the bunkers on that coast line. Coming back now I realize how late in the war the Germans continued their bunker building efforts on this stretch of the Artlantikwall. Take a look at this: The "Tirpitz-Stellung" in Blavand - it was started in July 1944. It was supposed to accomodate 38 cm guns in twin turrets of the disused battleship "Gneisenau" to protect the harbour of Esbjerg. Apparently two of these emplacements were planned - only one is visible and accessible because it houses a museum nowadays. The emplacement was never equipped with the guns - the barrels had been delivered but remained on a train in a nearby train station.

    Tirpitz-Stellung_(10583821524).jpg

    R9bf26ff152a8c5a63ff58fcde93c8309.jpg

    HA88545.jpg

    Turm Tirpitz.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2021
  2. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    In book by a Danish author I found out more about the Atlantikwall in Denmark. All in all 7000 concrtee structures were built after 1942 - the Dieppe raid had left an impression on the Germans. Major construction work was undertaken 1943/44, with many bunkers built after D-Day in Normandy.

    The bunkers - all along the Atlantikwall - were built after standard designs, the German term was "Regelbau". Standard pattern bunkers were built relatively quickly, the drawings were standardized and readily available, the amount of material was known and could be planned ahead. So what looks a bit haphazard when you see it in the field or along the coastlines is actually something "off the shelf".

    Take this one, for example: My "pet bunker" in Denmark. I discovered it in 1974 on a hill in the woods near the holiday apartment we had rented back then. I came back to check just a few days ago - it is still there and unchanged.
    This, I found out, is a "Regelbau 58c". I believe you would call it a "Tobruk"... The opening on top (here on the left of the top) was closed after the war and could - in its original form - accomodate a machine gun.

    20210622_140428.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2021
    jonheyworth, CL1 and JimHerriot like this.
  3. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I took this picture yesterday, on Houved Strand near Ringkjobing. On the left is a "Regelbau" R 636 - a bunker used for observation and command.
    20210624_115724.jpg
    It was heavily affected by floods over the decades. Originally it would have been integrated into the first row of dunes - but the North Sea is gnawing at the Danish coastline. So the bunker is in rather bad shape now - below an impresssion of what a R636 would have looked like while still in use:
    23299m.jpg
     
    jonheyworth, ltdan, CL1 and 2 others like this.
  4. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    cache_2471757218.jpg Some years ago the one near Ringkjobing still looked like this:
     
    jonheyworth, ltdan, CL1 and 1 other person like this.
  5. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    CL1 and JimHerriot like this.
  6. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    By the way, being stationed in Denmark was the best thing that could happen to a German soldier in WW2. Not too much danger - plus: Denmark was the land of butter and cheese, good beer and pretty girls. Butter was a rare commodity in Germany during WW2. The Germans saw having plenty of butter on your bread as a sign that life was good. So, no real butter on your bread indicated that not all was great in Germany. I read many accounts about German soldiers sending butter from Normandy or Denmark to their families in Germany. Valuing butter continued well into the 1960s... it was in the 70s that butter became a dangerous enemy to be held in check..:D
     
  7. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Here`s another model - a "Regelbau L 409A", built near Nymindegab/Denmark.
    "L" stands for Luftwaffe, the "409" was designed to accomodate the German 37mm AA-gun, the concrete walls had a thickness of 2 metres - the actual bunker with strong walls was underneath, these pictures only show the open gun pit on top. I don't quite get the idea - the crew is only protected when hiding below, the gun is unprotected and so is the crew when it is operating the gun.... :peepwalla:
    20210626_102335.jpg

    20210626_102251.jpg

    20210626_102457.jpg
     
    jonheyworth and CL1 like this.
  8. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Curious coincidence: I know exactly this beach, when we were there in 1980 on family vacation - and especially the R636 :D

    light flak needs an open field of fire - there are not so many possibilities of placement
    However, I find 2m thick underground bunker walls rather over-engineering.
    I wonder if they served more as a load-bearing foundation?
     
  9. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I agree, but then this whole idea of bunkering it seems stupid. As you say: "over engineering"...
     
  10. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    ...

    Actually it is Houvig strand, not Houved as I wrote. Wonderful beaches on this coastline ... in the 1970s we spent holidays a bit further to the south, in the Nymindegab area ... my trip this year had nostalgic overtones, coming back after 44 years.
     
    ltdan likes this.
  11. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    This is a drawing for a L 409 bunker:

    346.png
     
  12. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    I have rummaged a bit:
    Due to a shortage of steel, there was a switch to tamped concrete (Stampfbeton) without reinforcement, which offered good to even better protection than reinforced concrete, albeit with considerable wall thicknesses.

    According to the (unavoidable) building regulations*, Regelbau 409A was a "staendige Anlage (St)/permanent facility" for which a wall thickness of 2 m was prescribed.
    * D. 570/1+ Vorschrift für den Bau ständiger Befestigungsanlagen (B.st.B.)

    see also: Ausbaustärken
     
    alberk likes this.

Share This Page