It’s been some time since I reported about the Masurische Grenzstellung and its bunkers. Stp Johannisburg around today’s Pisz lies nearby. Since several years the command bunker type 502 is being restored. In September last year it’s got his camouflage colors back in. Very nice work!

More photos http://rygielpisz.eu/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=54&func=view&catid=14&id=1343

502 in colors near Pisz. (Photo: http://rygielpisz.eu/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=54&func=view&catid=14&id=1343#1534)

502 in colors near Pisz. (Photo: http://rygielpisz.eu/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=54&func=view&catid=14&id=1343#1534)

Works in Warsaw found a German bunker in the center of the city during works on a tram line.

According to the photos it looks like a regular Tobruk to me, but a curator at the Polish army museum talks about a ’10-foot (3-meter) deep bunker’. It wil be moved to the museum.

However the photo with the article shows an already damaged Tobruk.

The original article can be found here. There’s also a discussion about it on the Polish Fortyfikacje forum.

The Tobruk at Plac Zbawiciela on April 13. (Photo: Michał Pawlak)

The Tobruk at Plac Zbawiciela on April 13. (Photo: Michał Pawlak)

The Oder-Warthe-Bogen linie in Poland. An historical monument but also an important environmental hideout. Thousands of bats survive in the endless underground tunnels.

The combination of the two could work but there are compromises to be made. The region’s big income are tourists who visit it partly because of the bunkers there are. For example, Panzerwerk 717 gets 40.000 visitors each year!

But bat protectors say the bat population has declined over the last two years and it’s better to close off the bunkers in winter, so that bats aren’t disturbed in their winter sleep.

Bats need the cold and humid air to survive, the underground tunnels of the defence line offer that. But for the bunkers on the other hand, the humid atmosphere is catastrophic for its preservation.

The bunker protecting organisations feel like nature is going before anything else and compromises aren’t possible with the bat protectors.

More in Gazeta Lubuska and on Fortyfikacjewpolsce.pl.

The impressive stairway of Panzerwerk 717. (Photo: longexposure @Flickr)

The impressive stairway of Panzerwerk 717. (Photo: longexposure @Flickr)

The Ringstand type 69 for observer/machine gun and mortar is quite common in the Atlantikwall. In Poland however it is an interesting find. 

Ringstand 69 near Płock. (Photo: Winnicki)

Ringstand 69 near Płock. (Photo: Winnicki)

Personally, I don’t know of any other place in Poland where you can find a Bauform 69. User Winnicki, on the Fortyfikacje Forum, found four examples near Płock in central Poland. They’re located in a small valley with a fire control post in front being a regular Tobruk 58c. 

One 69 is intact, of one only the fundaments remain and two are partly buried. The position covered the important road from Warszawa to Płock. A dense system of trenches can still be traced. 

In the town center of Płock a Tobruk 58c was demolished. It had to make place for a new shopping mall. More photos can be found on the Fortyfikacje forum. 


Płock/Imielnica show on bigger map

Some interesting photos of the renovation project in Pisz (Poland). The roof of the 502 bunker has been fixed.

More info on the project on the Fortyfikacje Forum.

The entire roof was fixed and covered with tar. (Photo: Piotr Banach)

The entire roof was fixed and covered with tar. (Photo: Piotr Banach)

Earlier than planned, the Regelbau 502 of Stp Johannisburg (nowadays Pisz), is opened to the public. It’s the first bunker out of several which will be included in a bicycle tour in the future.

In the beginning of this year the bunker was still covered with earth and litter but the historical group ‘Piska Pozycja Ryglowa’ and scouts cleaned it since. The drains are working again so the bunker is dry now.

Plans are to renovate one room to its original state while the second room will have some audio visual information.

A smaller bunker (Garage with MG position attached) in the woods nearby was cleaned too and will be opened to the public soon.

According to one of the group’s members, Piotr Banach, there were a lot of visitors, which shows that there is a great interest in this part of Polish history.

History

The bunker was built in 1939 and was part of the Galindestellung which defended the border of Ost-Preussen. The bunker is one of the few remaining 502s with a small observation cupola (type 90P9). It also has low entrances to the gaslock which can be found more in the area. It was a temporary solution before the final steel doors were placed. More information about the Galindestellung can be found on http://bunkersite.com -> Other Locations -> Poland -> Galindestellung and http://kaczorek.easyisp.pl/pisz/.

The 502 in 2007

The 502 in 2007 (Photo: Arthur van Beveren)

 

The bunker after the excavation (Photo: Piszanin)

The bunker after the excavation (Photo: Piszanin)