Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Kraftwerk Peenemünde — The power plant or Krafwerk Peenemünde, Germany

The Historisches Technisches Museum Peenemünde Im Kraftwerk is largely situated on the grounds of the former power plant of Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde, the former ww2 army research center testing grounds where weapons like the V1 and V2 rockets were developed (Peenemünde Army Research Center). This facility is one of the last remaining large buildings, but even on it’s own it still displays the enormous ambition the Nazi’s had in developing their goals.

A V1 and V2 (replica) rocket on display on the museum grounds.

The Heeresversuchanstalt demanded a great amount of electricity. The testing and production facilities of many different experimental programmes, the production of liquid oxygen, the railway system, the Luftwaffe airfield and the housing of 2000 scientists and 4000 other staff and military personnel all added up.

Using forced labour, construction of the power plant started in 1936 and took only two and a half years to finalize. The facility was the largest power station in WWII Europe at the time and highly advanced. The plant was equipped with a filter system, which used electrostatically charged metal plates to remove 90% of the coal particles from the flue gas. This effectively reduced visible smoke to conceal the plant’s operational state to Allied planes. Around July 1942, the power plant delivered a total of 30 Mw of electricity and supplied the demand of the newly built large liquid oxygen plant Sauerstoffwerk II which was taken into use, absorbing 22Mw alone.

After the war, the power plant was kept in use and continued to produce heat and electricity until 1990. For this reason the building is still standing today. In 1992 the Peenemünde Historical and Technical Information Centre opened its doors.

Visit Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde Im Kraftwerk

Apart from the power plant, the museum has lots of information and exhibits about the Peenemünde area, the labour camps and the army research that was done here.

This “Bunkerwache” and former control center is now the entrance to the museum grounds – Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the Bunkerwache of the Kraftwerk museum

Memorial: “Peenemünde in memory of the victims, the bone of contention”

Overview of the powerplant and the museum grounds – Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the Power Station (German: Kraftwerk)

The large facility has been divided into two spaces for visitors (actually there are more, but these are only accessible with a private guide). First there is the exhibition center about the whole Peenemünde area, the labour camps and the army research that was done here. Then, there is the main production hall with the impressive Kesselhaus (boiler room) where we get a real sense of the magnitude of the Peenemünde operations. Both parts of the museum are well worth the visit.

Pipe installations in the Kesselhaus (Boiler room) – Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the Kesselhaus (boiler room) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

A giant gearbox – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

This part is only accessible with a guided tour – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Looking towards the ceiling of the Kesselhaus – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

A basic maquette of the Power Plant buildings on the museum grounds – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the boiler room (Kesselhaus) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Overall view of the Kesselhaus (boiler room) inside the power station – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The control room

Power switch – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Control room – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

An Aggregat 4 (V2) rocket engine on display – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Memorial for the forced laborers – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The crane bridge and the coal transportation system

A big eye-catcher directly next to the plant is of course the large steel crane bridge which is part of the coal transportation system. The crane unloaded the Silesian coal from the harbour (or when it was out of order it came from the underground bunker underneath) and fed the crusher house (Brecher Haus) where the coal was refined into smaller pieces (max. 40mm) and was dropped on the conveyor-belt bridge (Schrägaufzug) to be transported into the steam generator of the power plant.

Another view of the coal transportation system – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The mobile crane on the crane bridge on top of the crusher house (Brecher haus) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The large grabber of the coal crane – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The coal crusher house (German: Brecher haus)

Here the silesian coal was refined into small chunks and loaded on the conveyor belt to be transported into the power station.

Inside the coal crusher house (brecher haus) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the crusher house looking down below the conveyor-belt – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

A shot of the crusher (Brecher) and the conveyor-belt coming from the Bunker underneath – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The crane on top of the crusher house (Brecher haus) and the conveyor-belt bridge – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The conveyor-belt bridge (Schrägaufzug) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The V1, V2 and the Walter split-tube catapult

Peenemünde is of course best known for its rocket development. On the museum grounds they have an A4 (V2) type rocket replica built of original parts and a ‘Fieseler Fi 103’ or ‘FZG 76’ better known as the “V1” or “buzz bomb” in combination with a Walter “split-tube” catapult installation on display.

An A4 (V2) replica made of original parts on display – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The V2 rocket seen from the base – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Fieseler Fi 103 or FZG 76 or V1 mounted on a segment of the Walter split-tube catapult – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Fuel tanks covered with soil – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Das Siebhaus (1941)

The Siebhaus (or Eng:Screening house) was built for water purification and is situated between the power plant and the dock. It took in the water from the nearby harbor, filtered it and then pumped the water into 4 large containers, which were placed on the uppermost storey of the power plant. Each container could hold up to 44.000 litres of water.