Mittelwerk

Mittelwerk, formally Mittelwerk GmbH, was an underground German armaments enterprise established during the Second World War in the Kohnstein mountain near Nordhausen. Its principal purpose was to protect strategic weapons production from Allied bombing after the British raid on the Peenemünde Army Research Center in August 1943. The factory occupied a converted gypsum mine and used an extensive tunnel system, where assembly lines were installed for the A-4 rocket, later known as the V-2. The company received a German Army contract on 19 October 1943 for 12,000 A-4 missiles, valued in the contract at 40,000 Reichsmarks per missile. Production depended on prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, who were forced to perform construction, installation, assembly and support work under lethal conditions. The underground plant became one of the most important sites in Germany's rocket-weapons program, but it was also a central location of Nazi forced labor and mass death. An estimated 60,000 people passed through Mittelbau-Dora and its associated camps, and approximately 20,000 died through exhaustion, starvation, disease, abuse, executions, transfers and bombing. Mittelwerk's main product was the V-2 ballistic missile. The company also became involved in the production of V-1 flying bombs, and parts of the broader underground complex were assigned to other armaments projects. From late 1944, Werk II assembled V-1 weapons; after another V-1 facility closed, it was reportedly the only remaining German factory producing the weapon. Werk II completed approximately 2,275 V-1s between September 1944 and April 1945. Adjacent or related tunnel areas were used or planned for Junkers aircraft engines, Heinkel He 162 jet fighters, Taifun anti-aircraft missiles, liquid-oxygen equipment and synthetic-fuel initiatives. The enterprise was managed within a highly fragmented Nazi weapons system involving the Army Weapons Office, SS concentration-camp administration, technical specialists and private industrial contractors. Georg Rickhey became general manager in May 1944, while Albin Sawatzki served as technical director. Engineers associated with the program included Arthur Rudolph, Karl Seidenstuecker, Hans Lindenberg, Magnus von Braun and others. Wernher von Braun, although based primarily at Peenemünde, participated in planning and visited the facility. The participation or knowledge of technical personnel later became a major subject of historical and legal controversy. Allied bombing struck the Nordhausen area on 3 and 4 April 1945. Some attacks hit prisoner barracks, causing substantial deaths. The Mittelbau-Dora camp was evacuated as Allied forces approached, but the factory itself was not destroyed. U.S. forces reached Nordhausen on 11 April 1945 and found dead and severely ill prisoners in the Boelcke Kaserne barracks. In May, an American technical mission removed rocket components and documents. The area subsequently entered the Soviet occupation zone, and the Red Army occupied the plant in July 1945. The tunnel entrances were demolished in 1948. Mittelwerk ceased to exist as an operating enterprise after the war, but its equipment, documents and personnel became part of the postwar American and Soviet efforts to exploit German rocket technology. The surviving tunnels are now associated with the Mittelbau-Dora Memorial and historical preservation efforts. Parts of the system were opened to visitors after a new access route was created in the 1990s, although extensive sections remain flooded, collapsed or inaccessible. Mittelwerk is therefore remembered both as a landmark in the development and mass production of ballistic missiles and as a symbol of the relationship between Nazi technological ambition, forced labor and concentration-camp exterminatory conditions.

Mittelwerk was created in response to the vulnerability of Germany's Peenemünde rocket center. After Operation Hydra damaged Peenemünde on the night of 17–18 August 1943, German authorities sought a production site protected from air attack. The Kohnstein gypsum mine near Nordhausen offered a large underground space that could be expanded and fitted with industrial infrastructure. Construction and conversion work began under the direction of the German military and SS apparatus, with prisoners from the nearby Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp forced to carry out much of the labor. On 19 October 1943, Mittelwerk GmbH received an Army Weapons Office contract for 12,000 A-4 missiles. The A-4, later called the V-2, was a liquid-fuel ballistic missile capable of striking targets at long range. The factory's work involved the assembly and testing of components designed by the wider Peenemünde and Army rocket programs. Mittelwerk's organization included administrative, communications, technical, quality-control and prisoner-labor offices. Georg Rickhey became general manager in May 1944, while Albin Sawatzki directed technical operations. Arthur Rudolph led a technical division, and a quality-control group operated at Ilfeld. Wernher von Braun remained closely associated with the rocket program and visited the site, although his principal base was elsewhere. The tunnel complex was repeatedly reconfigured as German weapons priorities changed. In July 1944, northern tunnels were assigned to Junkers for aircraft-engine work, while the central production area remained with Mittelwerk. Other plans involved jet fighters, anti-aircraft missiles, liquid-oxygen generators and underground fuel production. V-1 assembly began in late 1944. Components were transferred from dispersed factories, and Werk II completed roughly 2,275 V-1 flying bombs between September 1944 and April 1945. The factory's output was inseparable from the brutal conditions imposed on its labor force. Prisoners worked in poorly ventilated and unfinished tunnels, often under conditions of hunger, disease, exhaustion and violence. Thousands died in the camp system, through direct killing, executions, abuse, inadequate care, forced evacuations and Allied bombing. The human cost greatly exceeded the number of people killed by the weapons manufactured there. This contrast is central to historical assessments of Mittelwerk: it was a technically important production site, but its industrial performance rested on a concentration-camp labor regime. As Allied forces advanced in spring 1945, the camp and surrounding operations were evacuated. Bombing on 3 and 4 April hit Nordhausen and prisoner accommodations. The factory itself was left substantially intact, despite an order calling for the destruction of infrastructure useful to the enemy. American troops entered Nordhausen on 11 April. In May, U.S. personnel removed rocket parts, machinery and technical documents, while Soviet representatives inspected the plant. The region passed into the Soviet occupation zone, and Soviet forces took control on 5 July 1945. The main tunnel entrances were demolished in 1948. Mittelwerk's legacy continued through Allied exploitation of German rocket technology. American projects including Operation Sandy, Operation Blossom and the Hermes program used material taken from the site. Soviet authorities also obtained equipment and documents after the American withdrawal. Postwar legal proceedings, especially the Dora Trial, examined the crimes committed in the Mittelbau-Dora system. Some technical figures associated with the rocket program were prosecuted, acquitted or never charged, producing enduring debate about responsibility and accountability. Later controversies also surrounded the postwar careers of former Mittelwerk personnel, including Arthur Rudolph. The site is now a historical and memorial landscape rather than an operating industrial brand. Parts of the tunnel system have been opened for visitors, while other areas are flooded, collapsed or inaccessible. Looting and unauthorized exploration damaged portions of the complex before access was more effectively controlled. Mittelwerk remains documented as both a major wartime missile factory and a crime site built and operated through forced labor.

• 1995

  Visitor access is established

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  A newly excavated entrance allowed public access to part of the former underground works.

• 1948

  Tunnel entrances demolished

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  Soviet authorities demolished the principal entrances to the tunnel system.

• 1945

  Nordhausen is bombed and evacuated

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  Allied attacks struck the area in early April; the Mittelbau-Dora camp was evacuated before U.S. forces arrived.

• 1945

  American and Soviet exploitation begins

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  American teams removed rocket material and documentation, followed by Soviet occupation of the plant in July.

• 1944

  Rickhey becomes general manager

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  Georg Rickhey assumed general management as the underground weapons operation expanded.

• 1944

  V-1 assembly starts

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  Werk II began assembling V-1 flying bombs in the tunnel complex.

• 1943

  Peenemünde bombing prompts underground production

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  Operation Hydra's attack on Peenemünde accelerated plans to relocate rocket production into protected underground facilities.

• 1943

  Mittelwerk GmbH receives A-4 contract

  [1]Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org

  The German Army issued a contract for 12,000 A-4 missiles at 40,000 Reichsmarks per missile.

A strategically dispersed, underground military-production enterprise designed to manufacture advanced weapons beyond the reach of conventional Allied bombing.

• Ballistic missile · 1944

  A-4/V-2

  The A-4, later known as the V-2, was Mittelwerk's principal weapon. It was a liquid-fueled ballistic missile developed by the German rocket program and assembled in the underground factory. Mittelwerk's contract called for 12,000 missiles, although wartime production and delivery were affected by shortages, disruption and the collapse of Germany.

• Cruise missile · 1944

  V-1 flying bomb

  Werk II assembled V-1 flying bombs from late 1944. Components were brought from dispersed German factories, and Mittelwerk became the last remaining German V-1 production site after another facility closed. Approximately 2,275 V-1s were completed there between September 1944 and April 1945.

• Aerospace components · 1944

  Aircraft and jet components

  Other sections of the wider underground complex were allocated to aircraft-engine production and work associated with the Heinkel He 162 jet fighter. These activities were related to the broader Nordwerke and underground armaments system rather than being identical to the main Mittelwerk rocket line.

• Industrial gas equipment · 1945

  Liquid-oxygen equipment

  The Eber project installed equipment intended to produce liquid oxygen using machinery transferred from other underground facilities. The generators were nearly complete when the site was captured in 1945.

• 1980

  Postwar accountability controversy involving Arthur Rudolph

  Arthur Rudolph later became associated with American missile and space programs, but allegations concerning his wartime role led him to leave the United States and return to Germany. The episode remains part of the debate over the postwar use of former Mittelwerk personnel.

  Source

• 1947

  Dora war-crimes trial

  The Dora Trial prosecuted SS personnel and concentration-camp functionaries for crimes connected with the Mittelbau-Dora system. The proceedings also raised questions about the responsibility of technical and managerial personnel involved in rocket production.

  Source

• 1943

  Concentration-camp labor at Mittelwerk

  Construction and weapons production relied on prisoners from Mittelbau-Dora and its subcamps. The labor regime was marked by starvation, disease, violence, executions and lethal exhaustion; approximately 20,000 people associated with the camp system died.

  Source

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• 1945

  Evacuate the production complexOther

  Background

  Allied armies approached Nordhausen after early-April bombing and the collapse of German defensive positions.

  Action taken

  Prisoners and technical personnel were evacuated or transferred, while the plant was left largely intact rather than destroyed under the scorched-earth order.

  Aftermath

  U.S. and Soviet forces captured the site and removed or documented its machinery, rocket parts and technical records.

  Source

• 1944

  Add V-1 flying-bomb assemblyProduct launch

  Background

  Germany sought dispersed and protected production capacity for its pulsejet flying bomb.

  Action taken

  Werk II was adapted for V-1 assembly using components transferred from other factories.

  Aftermath

  Mittelwerk completed approximately 2,275 V-1s before the end of the war.

  Source

• 1943

  Move strategic rocket production undergroundStrategy

  Background

  The Peenemünde attack demonstrated that exposed research and production facilities were vulnerable to Allied air power.

  Action taken

  German authorities converted the Kohnstein mine near Nordhausen into a protected production complex and assigned prisoners to its construction and operation.

  Aftermath

  The site became the principal assembly location for the A-4/V-2, while its labor system produced catastrophic prisoner mortality.

  Source

1. 1Mittelwerken.wikipedia.org