Führerbunker

An empire in collapse

The Führerbunker is a subterranean bunker, an air-raid shelter which was built from in 1936 to 1944. It was the last of Hitler’s Headquarters during the Second World War - where he married Eva Braun, and where he committed suicide.

Today, you need to arrive with an imagination, as little remains to mark the site but a plan of the underground complex. The area has been regenerated, and it is not possible to visit what remains of the bunker underground, which was largely destroyed in 1947. However, for those willing to cast their minds back to the final days of World War II, it is a powerful place.

Hitler’s last days

Here, during the morning of 30 April 1945, SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, commander of the central government of Berlin, informed Hitler that the army would be able to hold out for less than two days. Later that morning Weidling informed Hitler that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition that night.

In the Führerbunker that afternoon, Hitler shot himself and Eva Braun took a cyanide capsule. In accordance with Hitler's instructions, their bodies were burned in the garden behind the Reich Chancellery nearby. In accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Goebbels became the new Head of Government, but followed suit in suicide the next day, having poisoned his children first.

Little sign of these momentous moments are to be found at the site. There’s a play-park and the area is surrounded by flats. Just a plaque, with the plans of the bunker, serves to mark the profound events of April 1945. The bunker has in fact now been partially reconstructed in Oberhausen, 300 miles from the site, and is due to open in the summer of 2015 to tourists.