Bunker Wollenberg

Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 Wollenberg

Useful Information

Location:	Sternkrug 4, 16259 Höhenland, Ortsteil Wölsickendorf-Wollenberg. A10 exit Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, B158 towards Bad Freienwalde, turn left after Wollenberg. (52.740431, 13.960283)
Open:	All year after appointment. [2025]
Fee:	Adults EUR 15, Children (0-14) EUR 8. [2025]
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=8-10 °C.
Guided tours:	D=2,5 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Joachim Kampe (2013): Das Troposphären-Nachrichtensystem "BARS" und die Bunkeranlage Wollenberg ISBN 978-3-932566-90-5. Hans-Werner Deim (2008): Die militärische Sicherheit der DDR im Kalten Krieg ISBN 978-3-932566-80-6. Götz Thomas Wenzel (2006): Geheimobjekt Atombunker - Die Troposphären-Funkstation Eichenthal ISBN 3-86153-388-X.
Address:	Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 Wollenberg e.V., Sternkrug 4, 16259 Höhenland OT Wölsickendorf-Wollenberg, Tel: +49-33454-49865. E-mail: Anmeldung: +49-177-3486887.
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

1980	establishment of the strategic tropospheric scatter system decided in Moscow.
1982-1987	system realised.
01-DEC-1987	system officially goes into operation.
14-AUG-1990	system decommissioned and prepared for handover to the Bundeswehr.
1992	site closed, used as a centre for asylum seekers, disaster control warehouse and industrial area.
1999	vacant and looted.
2002	association "Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 e.V. Wollenberg" founded, restoration.
2004	site opened to the public.
2005	inscribed on the list of monuments of the state of Brandenburg.

Description

The Militärhistorische Sonderobjekt 301 Wollenberg (special military-historical object 301 Wollenberg) is a military site with an area of 100,000 m² in the forest of Märkisches Oderland. It is located north-east of Berlin near Bad Freienwalde. The site has various buildings, guard, staff and farm buildings, a waterworks and garages. The site was an NVA property, built and operated during the existence of the GDR.

The special feature of this facility is the militärische Troposphärenfunkzentrale 301 (military Tropospheric Radio Centre 301), one of three identical facilities built in the GDR in the mid-1980s. These were part of the Troposphären-Nachrichtensystems Bars (Bars tropospheric communications system), in which all Warsaw Pact countries except Romania were involved. A comparable system also existed in NATO under the name ACE High. The background to this was the special conditions of a nuclear war, in which the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) would have destroyed electrical systems and, above all, electronics over a large area. In order to maintain communication even under these conditions, the system was housed in bunkers, which were nuclear bunkers. The control centres were protected by the bunkers and communication took place using radio technology that had a long range and was difficult to disrupt.

The facility is normally simply called Bunker Wollenberg, but during the Cold War it had a code name, TUSHURKA. It was also known as the Berlin station because it was the radio centre near Berlin. Another cover name was Stütznachrichtenzentrale 301, under which it was known to military and postal authorities. Although this name was correct, it disguised the fact that it was a very specialised communications centre. However, it required three 27 metre high steel lattice masts, each with two working levels, which were visible from afar. For this reason, the facility was built here, as there was already a radio relay station of the air force that was used as camouflage. The bunker had protection class "D", which meant that it was equipped for the event of a nuclear war. It measures 30 by 30 metres and has two floors, the upper one for the radio equipment and the lower one for the bunker’s operation. It has diesel generators that supply it with electricity, life-support technology such as an air filtration system, water and waste water. In the event of nuclear, biological or chemical contamination, it would have gone into "hermetic" mode and been completely self-sufficient.

It is quite interesting that this facility is relatively new, as it was only built in the 1980s. Most of the Cold War bunkers had already been built in the 1950s and 1960s. At the end of the Cold War and after reunification, it was handed over to the Bundeswehr. The army naturally had little interest and closed the facility in 1992, whereupon the buildings on the surface were used as a home for asylum seekers, a civil defence camp and an industrial estate. Although this use was not aimed at preservation, it at least prevented vandalism. Unfortunately, after the site stood empty from 1999 onwards, looting and arson very quickly occurred. In 2002, the association "Militärhistorisches Sonderobjekt 301 e.V. Wollenberg" was founded, which restored the bunker complex and all its outbuildings. The site has been open to visitors since 2004.

The technical monument is still looked after by the association. Unfortunately, air dehumidification is necessary to preserve the bunker and cannot be switched off without causing irreparable damage to the structure. The problem is the rise in energy prices, which are now around €600 per month [2020].