Doggerstollen

The Dogger tunnel (also called Doggerwerk) is a tunnel system in the Houbirg mountain range. The tunnels of the Doggerwerk were dug in the years 1944 to 1945 by prisoners of the concentration camp Hersbruck in forced labor. In the planned underground production facility, war-critical BMW aircraft engines were to be manufactured. The construction management and the SS command staff were in Happurg. The total completed length is 3.9 km, of which 2.6 km still exist today. The code name was "Esche 1". It has been planned for some time to make parts accessible to the public. Walled access to Doggerwerk Stollen H, now used as a bat cave.

The tunnel was built in May 1944 to April 1945 by prisoners of the concentration camp Hersbruck, a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp, in forced labor. Here should be produced for a planned underground factory (U-relocation) war-important BMW aircraft engines. The construction management and the SS command staff were in Happurg. The cover name was "Ash 1".

The tunnels are now walled and enter only with special permission through normally closed doors. Efforts are currently underway by the association "Dokumentationsstätte KZ Hersbruck" to open a tunnel section of around 250 meters as a historical document and to make it accessible.

Very interesting facility with a nice information board.

Very interesting history would be a challenge to make this tunnel system accessible to the public again.

Doggersberg - concentration camp forced labor camp: The tunnel was built from May 1944 to April 1945 by prisoners of the concentration camp Hersbruck, a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp, in forced labor. Here should be produced for a planned underground factory (U-relocation) war-important BMW aircraft engines. The construction management and the SS command staff were in Happurg. The cover name was "Ash 1".As a rule, the prisoners came on foot the five-kilometer-long route from the barracks camp in Hersbruck and worked in two shifts. From Pommelsbrunn station, a conveyor track led up to the Houbirg construction site for material transport. By the end of the war, 0.5 million cubic meters of sandstone were broken in 3.9 kilometers of tunnels; of which about 750 meters were concreted. The total area should have been 100,000 square meters, of which only 15,000 square meters were completed. During this time, the concentration camp outside camp was occupied by around 9,500 prisoners, during which time around 4,000 people lost their lives due to working and living conditions.Source: Wikipedia (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerstollen)

The title of the highlight is somewhat misleading. The rock that can be seen is actually sandstone, but the pictures show the so-called "Doggerwerk" (also called Doggerstollen), an underground production facility for aircraft engines built by the Nazis from 1944 with the help of forced laborers , which was about 15% completed and was under construction until the end of the war. Around 4,000 prisoners from all over Europe died under inhumane conditions until the end of the war. More information about the Doggerstollen at de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerstollen.

This "prison" is actually a cave in which a rare species of bats live. To protect this, the cave was made inaccessible to humans.

A walk here is really worthwhile.

Walled entrance to the Doggerwerk

View from the big quarry on Happurg

Towards Doggerwerk