Westwallmuseum Bunker 20

Useful Information

Location:	Annastraße, 67763 Dillingen/Saar. (49.3497385, 6.7115892)
Open:	APR to OCT 1st and 3rd Sun 14-18. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, School Pupils EUR 2.50, Students EUR 2.50, Disabled EUR 2.50. [2023]
Classification:	World War II Bunker Westwall
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Westwallmuseum Bunker 20, Verein „Projekt Westwall“, Annastraße, 67763 Dillingen/Saar.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2004	a newspaper hoax leads to the restoration of the bunker by a non-profit association.
2006	as an "individual monument" in the list of monuments.
01-JUN-2008	Bunkermuseum opened to the public.

Description

The Westwallmuseum Bunker 20 is located in a preserved and restored bunker of type 114 b with the designation WH no. 20, hence the name. It is also known as the Westwallbunker (Pachten) because it is located in Annastrasse in the Pachten district of Dillingen/Saar. The reason for the restoration was its imminent demolition. Like most bunkers, it was managed by the Federal Real Estate Agency (BIMA). The Dillinger Geschichtswerkstatt (Dillingen History Workshop) then initiated the restoration of the bunker in the form of a museum. An association, Projekt Westwall, was eventually founded for this purpose. In reality, however, the imminent demolition had been a newspaper hoax, but the museum was set up nonetheless.

The bunker is located not far from the Saar river, and was therefore provided with an additional staircase as a flood protection measure. It is completely underground, with only the so-called 6-slot tower (type: 20P7), a dome with six embrasures, protruding above the ground. Construction thickness A means that the walls and ceiling are made of 3.50 metres of high-quality reinforced concrete. The bunker entrance can be protected by a rifle embrasure located opposite. The first heavy armoured door leads into the bunker's gas lock. The gas protection sliding door leads to the ready room for the 12-man crew.

This bunker facility was gas-proof, it could be sealed airtight and supplied with purified outside air via a ventilation system. A constant overpressure prevented the ingress of gases in the event of small leaks. This also forced the toxic ammunition vapours from the weapons out of the fighting positions. The outside air sucked in was cleaned of dust and water vapour in a pre-filter, then combat gases were filtered out in room filters using activated carbon inserts. However, the fans had to be operated manually. The bunker had a connection to the fortress telephone network via an underground cable.

The tower area was separated from the ready room by an armoured door (Pz 431P01) weighing 1,150 kg. The fighting compartment is located 5.60 metres higher and is accessed via a ladder. On the lowest floor, there are two ventilators with which the fumes produced by the machine guns were manually extracted and channelled out of the building via pipes. The fired shell casings from the machine guns were collected on the intermediate level. The fighting compartment above has a hatch and two MG34s mounted on a carriage.