This is the Volino Island, located very close to the Svinoujscie resort on the Polish Baltic coast. At first glance, nothing here suggests a military past. Around – pine forests, beeches, dunes, and long beaches. However, beneath the sandy ground lies a huge complex, today called the Volino underground city.
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Visitors can now descend into its underground and see with their own eyes the place where, at different times, a Nazi military fortress and a Cold War command post operated, CNN reports.
The fortress was built by the Nazis
The complex, initially called the Vineta battery, began construction in 1936. The Nazis planned to install a powerful coastal defense system here to protect German territory.
“In the 1930s, the Nazi leadership decided to build two coastal defense batteries,” says Kacper Stachula, born and raised in Svinoujscie and now leading tours of the complex.
The two batteries – Goeben and Vineta – were built between 1936 and 1939, just before World War II.
The complex consisted of a network of bunkers. Four of them housed rotating guns, others were intended for command, ammunition, and various auxiliary functions.
At that time, the Nazis secretly strengthened Germany’s coastal defense, although this violated the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which prohibited Germany from restoring military power after World War I.
Nevertheless, this fortress never became a site of major battles.
“Since the front of World War II moved forward very quickly, this area was quite calm during the war, so the Nazis turned the entire complex into a naval military school,” says K. Stachula.
In 1945, the bunkers were occupied by the Soviet Union’s Red Army.
As they retreated, the German army tried to destroy the complex – they blew up ammunition and attempted to dismantle the fortifications. But the plan failed. A large part of the bunkers remained intact.
From Nazi fortress to secret Cold War command post
After the war, it was unclear for a long time what would happen to this place.
“After the war, no one knew what to do with this place,” says K. Stachula.
The Soviets took away most of the metal structures and valuable items, and what remained was looted by local residents.
However, in the 1950s, the complex gained a new purpose. The socialist Polish government decided to establish a backup military command post here, to be used “in case of a Third World War.”
The complex was heavily modernized in 1955 and 1965.
The location was almost ideal. The bunkers were surrounded by forests and dunes on all sides, and the territory itself was remote enough to serve as a secret military command base.
Moreover, Poland at that time had highly secret military plans related to a possible invasion of Denmark.
The old Nazi bunkers were connected to each other. The Polish army dug additional tunnels, built new auxiliary rooms, and installed underground water pumps.
Eventually, there were almost one and a half kilometers of tunnels.
The complex was divided into five security zones, accessible only with special permits. Soldiers could spend entire months underground – there were not only workspaces but everything needed for daily life.
Underground – as if time stood still
Today, visitors entering the complex immediately immerse themselves in the Cold War atmosphere.
At the ticket office stands a Soviet-era armored personnel carrier, in the forest you can see parts of missile hulls, and nearby – a heavy Soviet military truck ZIL.
Since the area is huge, visitors walk around only with a guide. They are divided into “groups,” and the guides take on the roles of strict Polish military commanders. During the tour, visitors have to line up, follow commands, and sometimes hear raised voices.
Finally, massive bunker doors open, and visitors enter the underground city.
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Here, the temperature remains around 10 degrees Celsius year-round, with humidity.
But what impresses most is not the temperature, but how well preserved the complex is. In many abandoned military sites, you can find only ruins and rust, but here many devices remain in their places.
Telephone switchboards, old radio communication stations, telecommunications cabinets, radar screens have survived.
Visitors can see barracks with bunk beds, communication rooms, decoding stations, teletype machines, and 1970s telephone switchboards.
Underground there was also a kitchen, medical point, canteen, and water supply room. In the engine room stands a huge diesel engine.
But the most impressive place is the War Room.
Here remain original tactical maps, old computers, and a red phone, through which theoretically the most important orders could have been transmitted.
And this place hides one of the darkest episodes in the complex’s history.
A nuclear strike was planned from here
During the height of the Cold War, plans were made here whose implementation could have changed the history of all Europe.
Polish General Wojciech Jaruzelski and Soviet military leaders considered scenarios for the use of nuclear weapons.
“It was planned to deploy tactical nuclear warheads in the ports of Denmark and West Germany to break NATO’s defense, and then start a broader offensive,” says K. Stachula.
If these plans had been carried out, a large-scale nuclear war could have erupted in Europe.
Fortunately, history took a different turn.
The red phone, on which the fate of thousands of people could have depended, was never used to transmit such an order.
There may still be secrets here
Although today the Volino underground city is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, its history is not yet fully revealed.
According to Polish tourism organizations, about 3,000 people visit the complex each month.
However, there are still places underground that no one has entered.
In 1945, as they retreated, the Nazis sealed some tunnels with thick concrete walls. Therefore, there are still unexplored areas underground.
Historians and researchers do not rule out the possibility that behind these walls various items or even valuables hidden during the war may remain.
Bunkers – just a few steps from the beach
Perhaps the strangest detail of this place is its proximity to a tourist paradise.
The Volino underground city is located very close to the Przytór beach. Less than one and a half kilometers from the complex is a railway station, and it can be reached from Svinoujscie by bus.
In summer, Volino Island fills with vacationers. They are attracted by long white sandy beaches, dunes, and the Baltic Sea.
The nearby Svinoujscie beach is considered one of the most beautiful in the region. From it, there is a view of Stawa Młyny – a windmill-like navigational mark that helps ships enter the port.
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