Mittelwerk ( German: Mittelwerke , literally “medium plant”) is the largest military underground secret plant in a mountain range near the town of Nordhausen . Designed for nodal assembly of missiles and engines with subsequent bench and general tests. Its construction began in August 1943 for the production of V-2 and turbojet engines BMV-03 and UMO-004, used in fighters and bombers. Used in the years 1943-1945. Actual mass production from January 1944 to March 1945. 5946 missiles were produced instead of the target 13500 pieces. The main reason is called sabotage of prisoners working in the workplace. Hundreds of people were hanged and shot for sabotage. .
Factory History
Since 1934, on the Mittelwerk site, in Mount Konstein ( Kostein ), there has been an underground warehouse of fuels and lubricants for the Wehrmacht .
It was decided to expand the tunnels to the size of the plant. There was a Buchenwald concentration camp nearby for the needs of the plant, but then more than 40 own camps were created (for example, Dora-Mittelbau ).
US troops arrived in Mittelwerk in April 1945. They did not meet armed resistance, since the bulk of the prisoners were evacuated, and the guard scattered when the Americans approached. Before the arrival of Soviet troops, the Americans transported almost all the engineers and specialists to Worbis and Witzenhausen , including Werner von Braun and Walter Dornberger . Several dozen specialists refused to move, and American officers, checking their lists, did not insist. But some resistors were taken, regardless of their reluctance. Before the arrival of the Soviet units, the Americans removed all fully-made missiles, of which more than a hundred were accumulated. Soviet specialists were able to export only large units and assemblies to the USSR, from which it was possible to assemble 10-20 missiles and restore drawings destroyed at the factory from them. These materials subsequently became the basis for the Soviet counterpart of the V-2 - missiles R-1 .
See also
- Peenemuende training ground
- Dora Mittelbau (concentration camp)
- Nordhausen (Institute)