Description
Wolfsschlucht I ("Wolf Ravine" or "Wolf Gorge") was the code name used by the Germans to designate their Grand Headquarters during the French campaign in June 1940. In the region of Brûly-de-Pesche where it is located (in the Belgian Fagnes), it is commonly called "Hitler's Shelter".
A second 'Wolf Ravine' (the Wolfsschlucht II) was built later at Margival in the Aisne region of France.
Finally, a third "Ravin du Loup" W3 was built in 1942 and 1943 in the railway tunnel of Saint-Rimay, in the Loir-et-Cher region of France.
Location
Hitler's Shelter is hidden in a wood near the small, isolated village of Brûly-de-Pesche about ten kilometres from the French border. The village is a vast clearing in the middle of the great Ardennes forest. It is one of the twenty Führer Headquarters (Führerhauptquartiere or FHQ) that Adolf Hitler undertook to build in Germany and in occupied Europe in order to be close to the combat zones.
The Army headquarters was located in Chimay about ten kilometres northwest of the village.
History
Construction
Brûly-de-Pesche, like 28 surrounding villages and towns, was emptied of its 119 inhabitants. The construction of the shelter was completed in one month by 200 men of the Todt Organisation employed from 25 May to 6 June 1940. Three Bavarian-style cottages were built (one was reserved for Hitler, another, nicknamed the Kasino, served as a mess hall and the third as a headquarters), two 7 x 7 m bunkers containing a 2 x 3 m room (a third bunker was not completed) in the undergrowth. Hitler named the whole complex Wolfsschlucht ("Wolf's Ravine").
The village buildings were taken over and transformed: the church became a cinema and the upper part of its bell tower was dismantled and replaced by a water tank. Hitler watched and censored the films of the day there. It was also in the church that the surrender of France was prepared and signed in the forest of Compiègne on 22 June 1940.
The school was used as a map room and as accommodation for Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl. A small airstrip is built at Regniowez. The tavern on the public square, renamed Wolfspalast, is the headquarters of Otto Dietrich's press office. The presbytery houses the aides de camp. A farmhouse near the square served as the Kommandantur.
A swimming pool and an omega-shaped oratory were also built near the cottages. There is also a fountain dedicated to Saint Méen, whose water is said to cure skin diseases.
Presence of Hitler
The area, forbidden to civilians, was guarded by 26 officers, 185 non-commissioned officers and 750 soldiers. Hitler's arrival on 6 June 1940 was kept secret to guarantee his safety. His small plane landed at Regniowez, a village beyond the French border, about ten kilometres south of Brûly-de-Pesche. He was present at Wolfsschlucht I from 6 June to 17 June, from 19 to 25 June and on 27 June, when he left Brûly-de-Pesche for Tannenberg and never returned. The bunkers themselves were never occupied.
Museum
Since 1981, the Hitler Shelter has been the property of the commune of Couvin. Two of the three cottages have been rebuilt identically and house a museum of the Resistance.