District Operations Command W.
On the outskirts of a small town in Saxony-Anhalt, there is a small relic from the Cold War era. It is the alternative command center of a district operations command ("Kreiseinsatzleitung", KEL). These were the military organs of a district for preparing for a state of defense in the event of a threat of war.
All district operations centers had an “alternative command center” at their disposal: while some district operations centers were to be housed in “protected basements,” others had KEL bunkers at their disposal: these would have made it possible to maintain the leadership of the
structures (state functions) for several days in war and crisis situations.
This bunker was built in the early 1960s. Initially, the KEL bunker was under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, and operational readiness was ensured by the district People's Police administration (VKPA).
In 1973, responsibility was transferred from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of National Defense.
From that point on, the bunker served as an alternative command center for both the district operations command and the military district command, which was also responsible for ensuring operational readiness.
The bunker is an LP-09 type protective structure (LP = "Leitungspunkt", "Command Post). This type of bunker was standardized to a usable area of 138 square meters with external dimensions of approximately 15 by 11 meters.
In addition to “bunker-typical” equipment such as an airlock, decontamination shower, ventilation, and emergency power supply, the bunker also had a situation room, a communications room, and a rest room for staff.
The bunker has been abandoned since the German reunification.
Visited: May 19, 2021
Location: Undisclosed, Germany
Status: Abandoned
