Assistance please! "First Trip" to the Fatherland!

David R. Elkins · Post by **David R. Elkins** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 10:36 am

Hello all!

I am planning to take my summer vacation in Germany. This will be my first trip overseas. I will go for 3 weeks during July 2002 - June 29 to July 20.

I intend to spend all of my time in Germany. I want to learn as much history as possible about this great nation. I would like suggestions from those of you who have knowledge of WWII German sites & museums I could visit. I will have a rental auto and I have no set travel agenda.

The small town of Muncheberg (east of Berlin) where the Steel Panthers scenario "Agony of Doom" is set is of intrest to me.

The Sea Lion heights and the defense of the Oder River is also of intrest. Luftwaffe airfields - are there any available to see?

Please inform me of your opinions of where I could go to see German WWII battlefields. The manufacturing plants within the Ruhr Pocket appears interesting.

Are there areas I cannot see? Where may one pay respects to the brave men of the Werhmacht who fought for Germany?

I will provide my personal e-mail address to those who may want to provide feedback so as not to trouble others on this website who have no intrest in German WWII history.

Thanks to any who may assist me in learning more about German WWII history.

The Feldmarschall

Fallschirmjager · Post by **Fallschirmjager** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 10:51 am

I was in Germany last summer, its really hard to fine war related things to see and do.

They would really like to forget about the whole mess.
They lost and the world wont let them forget it.

The Imperial war muesum in London is amazing but your not going there so that doesnt help much....

Germany is a very nice place and I enjoyed my visit greatly.

AbsntMndedProf · Post by **AbsntMndedProf** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 1:56 pm

One place to visit, although I don't recall much war related stuff, is the Duetche museum. Here is their website URL:

http://www.deutsches-museum.de/e_index.htm

Also the beer halls of Munich are fun to visit. The one my family visited in 1969 even had an oompah band!

Hope that helps! Have a great trip!

Eric Maietta

AbsntMndedProf · Post by **AbsntMndedProf** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 2:00 pm

Also the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart is a good take. It has one of Adolf Hitler's staff cars on display, as I recall. The car even had a mark where Hitler fired his pistol at one of the windows to prove it was bullet-proof. Here is the URL for their site:

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/merc_museum.htm

Eric Maietta

AbsntMndedProf · Post by **AbsntMndedProf** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 2:07 pm

Yet another museum that may be closer to the mark is the Zeppelin museum. I've never been there myself, but am told it is worth while. Their site URL is:

http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/firstpage.en.htm

(Sorry for the multiple posts, but I keep remembering stuff as I go along. Just goes to show why my nickname is AbsntMndedProf!)

Eric Maietta

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 4:05 pm

The "Deutsches Museum" as mentioned above is definetly worth the trip. You can walk through a JU52 there, they also have a V1 and V2 rocket and lots of other stuff.
Also you might want to give the "Panzermuseum" in Munster (near Hamburg) a try. They have a phenomenal exhibtion there.

http://www.panzermuseum.com/about.htm

Another good visit is the "Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung" in Koblenz

http://www.bwb.org/organisation/wts/index.htm

Alot of stuff is still very clearly visible in Germany. Most of the bigger bunkers in the cities are still intact and a few of them can be visited inside too. Lot´s of the older buildings still have scars from straffing attacks or bomb shrapnel, you just have to keep you eyes open.
The "Siegfried Linie" is intact in a lot of parts and can be visited. You might plan your route along major battles and fortification lines and cities. For example you can visit the famous bridge in Remagen ect. A lot of the smaller towns like Hamminkeln (Operation Varsity and Plunder) have town archives and private collections open for the public but you would have to contact them first.

My advice to you is to plan your route and then contact the various towns and check what they have to offer, I´m pretty sure they will be glad to help you out if you ask nicely

.

There so much left from the war you won´t believe, but it´s also hard to find.

The Sea Lion heights ...

Sorry but that´s "Seelower Höhen" and has nothing to do with a Sea Lion

They have a memorial site along with a museum there:

http://www.kultur-in-mol.de/einrichtung ... h/main.htm

Are there areas I cannot see?

Oh yea, alot actually and those might also be the most interesting ones, like most of the underground bunkersystem of Berlin for example.

Where may one pay respects to the brave men of the Werhmacht who fought for Germany?

Nearly every city has a small memorial site along with a soldier cemetary.

You also might want to give some other victims respect:

http://www.dachau-online.de/sehen/leit. ... enkstaette

Alot of KZ´s are turned into memorial sites for the victims of the Nazi regime. They can all be visited and would really suggest you to visit one of them.

Hope this helps

RolandRahn_MatrixForum · Mon Mar 25, 2002 4:49 pm

Maybe a little of-topic (naval), but....

http://www.dsm.de/DSM/3ubor.htm

However, the Schiffahrtsmuseum is first off all aimed towards the non-military naval affairs.

Hope this helps,

Roland

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 5:46 pm

If you are interested in the German Navy, a few years ago I went to kiel and visited a memorial monument where they keep a lot of info about the Navy in WWI & II ( there was a real U-boat on display and you can visit it !!). As it´s said in other posts, the Deutsches Museum is very interesting, I remenber they had a Me-262 and you can get into a JU52.

Hope you had a good time in Germany!! ( But don´t forget your raincoat;) )

robot · Post by **robot** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 6:29 pm

You might want to visit garmish and bertchesgarden. These are by the lake forget name south of munich. Hitlers vacation castle is there and the lake is beautiful. The autobon runs some where near it. That is one freeway no speed limit. Of course it has been almost 55 yrs since i was there. 1948 was the yr. lot of burnt out ruins. Nuneberg the walled city was a shambles still so was munich. Also the black forest area had some small historical centers.

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 6:38 pm

If you are interested in the German Navy, a few years ago I went to kiel and visited a memorial monument where they keep a lot of info about the Navy in WWI & II ( there was a real U-boat on display and you can visit it !!).

That´s in Laboe IIRC, in the near of Kiel. Nice beach there also

laurentsx · Post by **laurentsx** » Mon Mar 25, 2002 11:24 pm

Hi David,

When you decide to go to or near the rurh gebied, it can be an option to also visit the arnhem/nijmegen region and or the Ardennes. From the rurh gebied to the Netherlands, Belgium or France is an odd 300 km/200 miles. An other reason to visit the arnhem/nijmegen region are the “zomerfeesten” (7/13-7/19), held around a 4 day march event, witch many armies take part in (odd 20.000 soldiers from all over the world).

laurentsx