Construction Site
At the beginning of 1944 the Walpersberg turned into a gigantic construction site. Under the direction of the Gustloff Foundation and numerous construction companies the old sandpit system was converted for aircraft production. Access roads, rail links and kilometres of tunnels were completed within months. Thousands of forced labourers, specialists and members of the Hitler Youth toiled under brutal conditions to meet the REIMAHG minimum construction programme. Walpersberg thus became one of the largest underground building projects in the German Reich.
Eyewitness accounts about the construction site
Involved companies
More than 120 companies, workshops and craftsmen worked on the construction of the Nazi armaments plant REIMAHG on the Walpersberg near Kahla. The following list shows the businesses confirmed so far. Some of them had their own foremen and gang leaders and even provided daytime guards for the forced labourers.
Construction activities were coordinated by REIMAHG Bau GmbH, a subsidiary founded specifically for this purpose by the GUSTLOFF works in Weimar. The chief architect was Ernst Flemming, also from Weimar. This alone illustrates how closely Thuringia’s Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel was linked to the project.
| Company | Location | Task |
|---|---|---|
| Adolf Somlitz, Spreng-Tech. Büro | — | — |
| Adolf Vonderheid, Malermeister | — | Bau des Lagers 2, 3, E |
| AEG | — | Flugzeugteile FW 190 |
| AGO | — | Verlagerung von Maschinen und Arbeitskräften |
| Anton Seelmann, Baumaschinenfabrik | — | — |
| ARADO Flugzeugwerke GmbH | — | ARADO Fertigung Krölpa |
| Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bauinnung Weimar, Einsatzleiter: Hermann Hoser; Betriebsbüro: Willy Tänser | — | Stollenbau, Siedlung in Kleindembach |
| Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Zimmereiinnung des Branchenhandwerks Weimar, Leiter: Hermann Kölner | — | Holzbarackenlieferant |
| Arbeitsgemeinschaft des Zimmerreihandwerks Jena und Umgebung z. Hd. v. Zibelius Walter Zimmereimeister | — | Bau der Lager 1, 3, 5, 8 |
| Arbeitsgemeinschaft Eisschaf-Fischer-Kölditz-Taudke, Baumeister Fischer | — | — |
Surface facilities & tunnel system
Expanding the Walpersberg for REIMAHG required massive interventions in both landscape and mountain. On the surface roads, rail sidings, storage areas and barrack settlements for thousands of workers were created.
Inside the mountain the existing sandpit network was extended into a vast tunnel system where aircraft components were to be produced and assembled.
The combination of surface infrastructure and underground production turned the Walpersberg into one of the largest armament projects of its time.
baustelle
Museum objects from the construction site
Photos, tools and artefacts in our documentation centre reveal the chaotic reality on the REIMAHG construction site: improvised halls, unfinished tunnels and traces of forced labour can still be traced today.