The reveal

This is not just any abandoned and overgrown building. It is a bunker from World War II with walls that are three meters thick. It was built by the German Wehrmacht sometime between 1942 and 1944 as part of the Atlantic Wall.

The bunker can be found in the former Morschpark, a terrain at the edge of Transvaal that during World War II contained not only the bunker, but also a military hospital and various bomb shelters (Fig 1 & 2). Only the bunker remains. A parking garage stands where once the military hospital stood. When passing by, you have to be very observant to discover the bunker. But flying over the neighborhood would make it easier to spot (Fig. 3).

But why is this building so hidden from sight? Why is there a bunker in the middle of a residential neighborhood? And more importantly, what do the people in the neighborhood think about the bunker, and what else is there to discover about the war in this neighborhood? Let’s take a closer look at the bunker. Click below to go to the next step and dive into the history of this bunker!

Do you want to know more about the Atlantic Wall first? Then read the longread below!