String Of Butterflies: September 2013

Lab hikes can be brutal. Thursday was a designated lab outing day for group bonding, and the group decided a hike would be in order for our outing. Our well intentioned organizer decided a 6km (3.73 miles) hike was in order. We hiked from Dernau along the Rotweinwanderweg to the Regierungsbunker and then to Ahrweiler. Now what is the Rotweinwanderweg? This is a red wine trail that literally is in the middle of the wineries on this steep hillside (http://www.ahr-rotweinwanderweg.de/). Now, 6km wouldn't have been so bad normally, I've walked around cities for longer than this, but I'm not used to climbing hills anymore. This trail went high up in a switchback snaking path, and then went back down to river level again, repeat 3x. I didn't have much time to admire the views because of our pace, but we were surrounded by vineyards almost ready to be harvested. We were supposed to get to our lunch spot called Bunte Kuh (colorful cow) by a certain time, however, we blew that time and got there really early because of the slave drivers at the front of the group. We didn't stop at all on our 'walk', until we got to that spot. It would have this incredible view if it wasn't so foggy, overcast, and at one point drizzly.

A bit of the group

Smile

Let's all try to squeeze in

mmmmmm red wine grapes

The hills are alive.... with grapes

The leaves are changing

The slow, in the back group that I was with

Grape leaves changing

about half the group

Sabine, Monika, myself and Franzi at Bunte Kuh

We finished that part of the hike and made it to the Regierungsbunker early (try by 1 hour), we were really booking it. The bunker has a rich history. It was originally built prior to WWI as a railway to connect central Germany to the western border in preparation for the war, although in WWI the railways were never actually utilized. The tunnels were subsequently determined to be not profitable and not used as railways. In the intervening years between WWI and WWII the tunnels were instead used for growing mushrooms (1930-1939). Toward the later years of WWII, they were used to build V2 bombs and their mobile platforms. Manufacturers used slave labor from a nearby concentration camp to build the bombs under the code name Camp Vine. The tunnels also served as air-raid shelters. After the war, the tunnels were left unused for about a decade before the decision of re-purposing came about. By then the Cold War was in full swing, and the West Germany capitol was in Bonn, a quick 30 minute drive to Ahrweiler, which is a sparse area of wine country. The West Germans decided to build a bunker against a potential nuclear bomb that could've been deployed during the war. This bunker was built during 1960-1972 out of the old railway tunnels due to its close proximity to Bonn in an isolated area. The surrounding parking lots had a dual purpose as potential runway area for planes. Built into the hillside, the tunnels were extended to be about 19km long. The inside measurements were about 970,000 sq ft. The bunker could hold 3,000 people for 30 days before oxygen would run out, due to the filter limitations. There were underground wells supporting the water system, had generator facilities, and diesel stores. The 3,000 potential occupants were only intended to be the politicians and support staff. Not their families. The bunker had a decontamination area (for radioactive washoff), surgery center, dental center, had an antenna for broadcasts in case of an emergency, in case anyone survived. The bunker was built to sustain a direct hit of bomb with the energy of Hiroshima's bomb. Unfortunately, they quickly realized that bigger, stronger bombs were being built, and the bunker wouldn't be able to withstand it, however they stocked the shelter with enough equipment that if one person survived, they could give a broadcast to others. Every season drills would be done in the bunker by the military, and about 200 people maintained the bunker every day until the bunker was decommissioned in 1997. The massive entry doors were opened and closed every day to confirm they were still operational, and can close in 16 seconds flat. Because the bunker is near minor earthquake fault lines, some of the equipment was on springs to ensure any earth movement wouldn't cause problems. The entrances and surrounding corridors had airlocks with walls that were 1-2 meters thick, they were also patrolled by dogs and military personnel. There was even a trained emergency crew that was housed within the bunker. The bunker was meant to be fully functional to keep the government running, complete with offices, and the only person with a private room was the chancellor. All the other 'bedrooms' had 2 sets of bunks holding 4 people per room. The bathrooms were what you would expect for a dorm like facility. Only about 203 meters of the bunker is still exist, and mock rooms with original equipment outfit it as a museum. The remaining tunnels were stripped starting in 2001. The deconstruction was faster and cheaper than expected, with the government telling the employees that they could take whatever useful equipment they wanted (wrenches and other tools), and the metal was scrapped and melted down for money. The museum had to request some items back later from the employees so they could create an authentic record of what the site looked like. The bunk rooms were recreated, as the original bunks were sent to Kosovo for NATO forces. The lightly used beds were sent to Cuba as a humanitarian effort. Our tour guide led us through the various rooms, and it was extremely musty down there. It was also about 57F degrees with the temperature remaining between 55-65F year around. When in use, heaters had to be utilized. She said one time, there were 3 separate choir groups from different nationalities, and in the old tunnel that's stripped out, they all sang 'Hallelujah' and it echoed in a beautiful cascade. There have been many ideas of what to do with the stripped areas, but none of them were considered to be truly feasible for that area (like a disco and nuclear waste storage [too shallow to store that], among other ideas).

Museum entrance

Original artifacts

If the light's blinking, you better get on the correct side of the door

Airlock

Decontamination showers

Medical evaluation room

moving from the 'new' tunnel to the railway tunnel

Old computer equipment

Old lab equipment for water testing etc.

1 of 3 bunker command modules controlling the bunker

Gas mask and equipment (Cold War not WWII era)

Asbestos lined fire retardant suit

Tracking map

Magnets for tracking the enemies

The only spot of color, the Chancellor's office

The first hair cut sink in Germany...

Stripped out tunnel

The divided tunnel- upper vs lower areas

Simulated bunks

Bunk area

Museum signage

After touring the bunker and getting out of its claustrophobic, musty area, I virtually sprinted for fresh air. I could've dealt with being underground and tight quarters, but the musty air made it difficult to breath. We then continued our hike down to Ahrweiler, where we went to a restaurant and had some good food and wine, and the sun even made a brief appearance. The wines we tried were early wines called Feder(weissen or rot). Red wines traditionally aren't well produced in this region because of the lack of sunlight, and the Federrot smelled very sulfurish. The Federweissen was very sweet, and it is cloudy, more like fresh grapes, but whites are what the Ahr Valley is known for. After our brief sustenance break, we took a train back to Bonn. A few of us went to Brauhaus Bönnsch afterwards, where I had a Bönnsch beer (ick- at least to me), I didn't stay very long, and went home after my beer. Next day= shin splints.....fun.....