Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 11:35:03 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Search:     Advanced search
we're back, baby
*
Home Help Search Login Register
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Topic: Austrians: WTF? Secret Nazi Nuclear Bomb factory? 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Pages: [1] Go Down Print
Author Topic: Austrians: WTF? Secret Nazi Nuclear Bomb factory?  (Read 3782 times)
angry.bob
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5442

We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.


on: January 03, 2015, 10:07:31 AM

Do you guys know what the real story on this place is? Every story I read about is saying something different about what it was, but a 75 acre underground complex is pretty big. I understand the SS collapsed the entrance and covered it with granite and whatnot, but I'd think at least one person would have remembered where it was. Also, do you know what sort of shape it's in? From what I've seen the other Nazi underground complexes are dangerously unstable due to deterioration. At this point I doubt there's much science or tech that we don't already know but what's in there could be historically significant. The idea that the Nazi's had developed a working nuclear bomb but were unable to deploy it for whatever reason is fascinating to me. Just imagine how much having a theater range nuclear missile might have changed the course of the war. Or if the V1 had carried a tiny nuke or a dirty bomb payload.

It would be interesting to find out what's up in there though. As radioactive as the place apparently is it wouldn't surprise me if they actually were at least working on dirty bomb payloads for the V1 and whatnot.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
Lakov_Sanite
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7590


Reply #1 on: January 03, 2015, 10:16:15 AM

 Tinfoil Hat

~a horrific, dark simulacrum that glares balefully at us, with evil intent.
jgsugden
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3888


Reply #2 on: January 03, 2015, 10:34:03 AM


2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
angry.bob
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5442

We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.


Reply #3 on: January 03, 2015, 10:35:51 AM

Yeah, that's why I'm asking. The only things that are common to all reporting about it is that it's a 74 acre underground facility ran by the SS guy in charge of the Nazi missile program, is radioactive as shit, and was sealed up like they were trying to keep the gate to hell closed. Given the size of Austria and the number of Austrians here someone can probably look out a second story window and see it.

This is why Politics is the superior forum.

« Last Edit: January 03, 2015, 10:39:07 AM by angry.bob »

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
calapine
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7352

Solely responsible for the thread on "The Condom Wall."


Reply #4 on: January 03, 2015, 12:36:09 PM

Do you guys know what the real story on this place is? Every story I read about is saying something different about what it was, but a 75 acre underground complex is pretty big. I understand the SS collapsed the entrance and covered it with granite and whatnot, but I'd think at least one person would have remembered where it was. Also, do you know what sort of shape it's in? From what I've seen the other Nazi underground complexes are dangerously unstable due to deterioration. At this point I doubt there's much science or tech that we don't already know but what's in there could be historically significant. The idea that the Nazi's had developed a working nuclear bomb but were unable to deploy it for whatever reason is fascinating to me. Just imagine how much having a theater range nuclear missile might have changed the course of the war. Or if the V1 had carried a tiny nuke or a dirty bomb payload.

It would be interesting to find out what's up in there though. As radioactive as the place apparently is it wouldn't surprise me if they actually were at least working on dirty bomb payloads for the V1 and whatnot.


I guess you are asking about 'B8 Bergkristall' (codename, literally: 'mountain crystal') as this site is in the news lately. It's an underground facility in upper Austria, about 15 km east of Linz (where I live).

The B8 complex stands out due to it's size (and being underground), but in general Austria was the target of quite a lot of war-essential industries being relocated, for the simple reason that it was out of bomber-reach for most of the war. Thus the moniker 'Reichsluftschutzkeller' ('national air raid shelter') for what was then the Ostmark.

Accepted knowledge is that it was an underground factory for the production of Me 262 jet fighters. Layout was single-level, 19 main tunnels (6m W x 4.6m H) with an aprox. length of 246m, connected via several rectangular cross-tunnels. Construction of the facility started in 1944 and wasn't finished until early 1945, the jet production was slowly ramped up while excavation was still in progress. Total output until the end of the war was 987 Me 262.

Like the infamous Dora Mittelbau (constrution of the A4/V2) the B8 facility was constructed and staffed by forced labor of KZ prisoners - with similar terrible conditions. Around 8600 workers died due to / during the construction.




Ok, what about nukes? The only claim about this is from a film maker who is currently shooting a documentation and digging at the site. His allegation is that there are more floors than are currently known and some were used for nuclear research (hints of higher radiation levels). That's about all to back that up so far.

State of the site. Most of the tunnels have been filled and were in disrepair for the last 60 years. Currently some restoration work is being done to open it to the public as part of a bigger historical research/rehabilitation project. Current condition:





I hope that helps.  smiley
« Last Edit: January 03, 2015, 12:42:29 PM by calapine »

Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!
Sir T
Terracotta Army
Posts: 14223


Reply #5 on: January 03, 2015, 01:27:06 PM

The Nazis did conduct Nuclear research during the war and there is some debate today about whether the scientists involved deliberately messed up their calculations to prevent the project succeeding. The truth will of course never be known. The Play "Copenhagen" was all about that, and there was a FABULOUS TV movie adapted from the play that I recommend you find and watch at some point if you find this stuff interesting.



*edit*

Found it on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hGAq2kc6u0
« Last Edit: January 03, 2015, 01:45:39 PM by Sir T »

Hic sunt dracones.
angry.bob
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5442

We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.


Reply #6 on: January 03, 2015, 02:15:40 PM

I guess you are asking about 'B8 Bergkristall' (codename, literally: 'mountain crystal') as this site is in the news lately. It's an underground facility in upper Austria, about 15 km east of Linz (where I live).

This is a whole new complex near Bergkristall, that may connect to it via a tunnel in an unexplored section. It's supposedly radioactive enough to pick up through the ground with a geiger counter. The entrance was found by some film maker though, who said the entrance tunnel had been collapsed, open entrance filled with granite, and then covered with giant granite slabs to blend in to the surrounding terrain. The two most reputable sources I could find was Fox News. First result in google for more details though I have no idea about the site itself: http://www.newser.com/story/200626/secret-underground-nazi-wmd-factory-found-report.html

I'd normally think it was some film maker trying to generate free publicity about a project since it would take thousands of people to build something like that and no one had come forwards. Considering who probably would have had to build it and what probably would have happened to them afterwards it's not an unreasonable thing to believe is possible. Also, I guess the place was mentioned by a few German physicists from the time but it's location could never be found.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
Ginaz
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3534


Reply #7 on: January 03, 2015, 02:39:52 PM

Do you guys know what the real story on this place is? Every story I read about is saying something different about what it was, but a 75 acre underground complex is pretty big. I understand the SS collapsed the entrance and covered it with granite and whatnot, but I'd think at least one person would have remembered where it was. Also, do you know what sort of shape it's in? From what I've seen the other Nazi underground complexes are dangerously unstable due to deterioration. At this point I doubt there's much science or tech that we don't already know but what's in there could be historically significant. The idea that the Nazi's had developed a working nuclear bomb but were unable to deploy it for whatever reason is fascinating to me. Just imagine how much having a theater range nuclear missile might have changed the course of the war. Or if the V1 had carried a tiny nuke or a dirty bomb payload.

It would be interesting to find out what's up in there though. As radioactive as the place apparently is it wouldn't surprise me if they actually were at least working on dirty bomb payloads for the V1 and whatnot.

Why so curious?  Are you looking for a place to put the bodies of the people from the German porn company that is suing you? Oh ho ho ho. Reallllly?
calapine
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7352

Solely responsible for the thread on "The Condom Wall."


Reply #8 on: January 03, 2015, 06:39:40 PM

I guess you are asking about 'B8 Bergkristall' (codename, literally: 'mountain crystal') as this site is in the news lately. It's an underground facility in upper Austria, about 15 km east of Linz (where I live).

This is a whole new complex near Bergkristall, that may connect to it via a tunnel in an unexplored section. It's supposedly radioactive enough to pick up through the ground with a geiger counter. The entrance was found by some film maker though, who said the entrance tunnel had been collapsed, open entrance filled with granite, and then covered with giant granite slabs to blend in to the surrounding terrain. The two most reputable sources I could find was Fox News. First result in google for more details though I have no idea about the site itself: http://www.newser.com/story/200626/secret-underground-nazi-wmd-factory-found-report.html

I'd normally think it was some film maker trying to generate free publicity about a project since it would take thousands of people to build something like that and no one had come forwards. Considering who probably would have had to build it and what probably would have happened to them afterwards it's not an unreasonable thing to believe is possible. Also, I guess the place was mentioned by a few German physicists from the time but it's location could never be found.

Bob, I know what you are referring to. Don't you think local news pick such things up before the daily mail?

The www.newser.com article and the articles it references to (International Business Times and Times of Isreael) are simply insane. It's 2:30 am now and if needed I can make a longer post tomorrow, but there has been nothing found yet except some stairs, helmets, a bike and warning signs.

« Last Edit: January 03, 2015, 06:41:37 PM by calapine »

Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!
angry.bob
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5442

We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.


Reply #9 on: January 03, 2015, 06:56:30 PM

No, that's not necessary. The Newser article was one of the more "factual" ones I read. Others had things like underground nuclear bomb testing possibly going on, which is what got me curious. Reading more carefully in a lot of the articles it seems the size estimate comes entirely from ground penetrating radar, so who knows. It's probably just going to turn out to be some sort of back door escape for Bergkristall if it ever gets explored. From what i understand most of Bergkristall is still unexplored because it's degraded to the point of near collapse. I watched a cocumentary about it not long ago where a camera crew went in with local urban explorers and filmed about. The camera guys kept wanting to go in deeper and the local guys kept telling them to stop touching everything before they caused a cave in. They were there looking for the INFINITY sized pile of secret Nazi gold that was rumored to have been hidden towards the end of the war. It was interesting but seemed like a generally terrible place to build anything bigger than a motorcycle. Even in sections I don't see how they managed to get Me 262s out of the place without wrecking half of the assemblies.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
Rendakor
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10131


Reply #10 on: January 03, 2015, 09:04:42 PM

As someone who occasionally uses ground penetrating radar for work, I can say that it is far from an exact or precise form of inspection.

"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
calapine
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7352

Solely responsible for the thread on "The Condom Wall."


Reply #11 on: January 03, 2015, 09:12:43 PM

e. I watched a cocumentary about it not long ago where a camera crew went in with local urban explorers and filmed about. The camera guys kept wanting to go in deeper and the local guys kept telling them to stop touching everything before they caused a cave in. They were there looking for the INFINITY sized pile of secret Nazi gold that was rumored to have been hidden towards the end of the war. It was interesting but seemed like a generally terrible place to build anything bigger than a motorcycle. Even in sections I don't see how they managed to get Me 262s out of the place without wrecking half of the assemblies.


(Can't sleep)

Hidden secrets are an interesting subject, I am with you on that.  smiley

Linz itself has quite a few underground areas from that period, though they are mostly air shelters (actually tunnels), not secret facilities. They are partly open to the public for tours [I have some photos from one, but again..just tunnels, probably not that interesting]. And to a degree it's fascinating to learn about these places that are all below that city but almost forgotten, but of course the context of their construction is quite dark. The tunnels were made to protect civilians from bombings, but they were built with the lives of the KZ inmates who were forced to dig them.


« Last Edit: January 03, 2015, 09:15:11 PM by calapine »

Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!
Jeff Kelly
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6921

I'm an apathetic, hedonistic, utilitarian, nihilistic existentialist.


Reply #12 on: January 07, 2015, 12:12:18 AM

The geology of the alps is such that there's pretty much a "higher level of background radiation" everywhere, due to the kinds of rock and sediment layers (liemscale, slate and granite amongst others) so that doesn't tell you a whole lot. Also a ground penetrating radar that finds caverns and cavities in a section of a large mountain range is hardly surprising

Even though a lot of manufacturing was planned to go underground to protect it against bombing raids and a lot of construction already went underway, nuclear fission research would never have been transferred to the "Ostmark" or indeed any of the annexed territories. Even the missile research facilities were at Warnemünde in Germany and would have remained there - just moved below ground. It's unlikely that nuclear research would have been moved to Austria since basically all R&D was based in the German heartland throughout the war.

It's also established fact that the Nazis didn't really have a nuclear program of any kind since their only source of heavy water was sunk by the allies and also because their own researchers sabotaged the projects related to it.

Pages: [1] Go Up Print 
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Topic: Austrians: WTF? Secret Nazi Nuclear Bomb factory?  
Jump to:  

Powered by SMF 1.1.10 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines LLC