A Memorial of Hidden Workshops. These were carved in the marl caves during the last months of the war.
Historical indication:
In response to the Allied bombings, Germany moved its vital 'War Industry' to bomb-proof locations. In March 1944, under the leadership of 'Organisation Todt', the first underground workshops were set up.
in the Geuldal.
In September 1944, the work in the Bronsdael quarry was to provide an underground utility space of 9,200 m2 for repairs to BMW engines for the German bombers.
The work was carried out by forced laborers from the Noordoostpolder and Belgium. The concrete framework you see before you is, according to tradition, a remnant of a possible V2 installation or other war purposes. The visible concrete construction should also have become a covered loading platform for trucks and trains from which a narrow-gauge connection lay via Meerssen. The large hall, carved into the rock to the east, served as a hangar for a locomotive.
Even before full production could be reached, the Allied liberators put an end to this attempt to save the German 'Endsieg'.
For me a special location to reflect on because the late father, as a political prisoner, was put to work in similar caves during the last year of the war.
Fortunately, he survived the horrors of war.