As the conflict drew to its conclusion, military planners in
Germany considered the idea of concentrating their ground and air
defenses into specific fortresses for a last stand. This would
buy them time. They needed time to perfect new "Siegerswaffen",
super-weapons so powerful that they could turn the course of the
war for Germany by themselves.
A mountain fortress or "Alpenfestung" was to be set up in the
German held areas of Northern Italy, Austria and Germany in
roughly the areas in which these countries converged with each
other and Switzerland (7). A fortress was to be set up in the
Harz Mountains of Thruingia including several large underground
complexes. This would extend from Nordhausen in the north down
through Kahla and into the Jonas Valley. Another similar
fortress complex was scheduled for the Owl Mountains separating
Poland from Czechoslovakia including "Der Riese" mentioned
earlier (8). Another fortress was to be set up in the Black
Forest of Southern Germany. Other minor islands of resistance
were to be set up in Norway, the Bohemian forest and the Bavarian
forest (9).
These fortifications were to house soldiers, mostly SS units.
They would also provide underground hangers and bomb-proof
overhangs for aircraft take-offs and landings. Missiles, such as
the V-l and V-2, and other weapons were to be mass produced there
and fired automatically, right off the automated assembly line.
The exotic weaponry mentioned above was to be employed, along
with especially trained mountain troops, defending the mountain
passes into these fortresses (10).
History tells us the Alpenfestung never actually happened. It
did not happen because German construction was simply not able to
make these places ready in time. What is important for us to
realize is that the weaponry for these fortresses was being
developed as the Second World War drew to a close. Few of these
weapons reached the operational stage but many were in various
stages of development.
When Hitler took power in 1933 one of his first decisions was to
rebuild the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe. This new
organization was to make a clean break with the old and this
reasoning was reflected in its research and development
facilities, the RLM, which were the finest of any branch of the
German military. Two brilliant research facilities were also in
the possession of the Luftwaffe, the Lilenthalgesellschaft and
the Academy of Air Research. Besides the Luftwaffe, there was
the Army which did develop such things as the V-l cruise missile.
There was the Speer Ministry of Arms which did research. In
addition, a system of research and development facilities was set
up headed by a research council, the "Reichsforschungrat". Their
job was to coordinate the technical schools and universities, the
military and governmental research groups, and the research and
development facilities into a concerted effort (11).
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