Travel Stories - Poland

"west-prussia" (region)

the masurian lakes

We took the bus from Bialowieza NP via Bialystok to "Augostow", which seems to be a tourist town in the middle of the "Masurian lakes" area. We arrived finally in the northeast of Poland - in the regions of Warmie and Mazurie which used to be East Prussia. The whole bus station is empty except for one busstop. This one is packed with people and it will not be a big surprise if this is ours too. Always problematic because of our big bags. Because these have to go underneath the bus (in the trunk) we come in last and have to stand. Along the way many Polish flags and old men in uniform; at the very modern information center in the city of Augustow we hear that there is a religious holiday and that there are many concerts to see. We walk along the Augostow canal that has many terraces and reminds me somehow of the Netherlands, my home. I read in the travel guide that in 1944 a two-month offensive between the Russians and Germans was going on here and 70% of the city was ruined. Actually we find it too crowded and touristy here and since we can not walk into the forest from the village we decide to take a bus to the forest itself. Near the small town "Przewiez" we get off at a small roadside restaurant in the middle of the forest and order some beer with syrup and sit on the terrace with some picnic tables. Tired and far too late we wander off the terrace and walk along the many forest trails past chalets, holiday homes to finally find a place for the night. No problem at all to set up our tent here and camp wild for the night.

mysterious "prussia"

The route to "Wegorzewo" crosses the countryside of the land that once was called Prussia. It appears that lots of countries and people ruled about this region; Teutonen, Lithuania, Russians, Germans, Sweden and now it is part of Poland. In a field along the road we see dozens of storks before we arrive in the city where we are able to travel towards "Katzryn" (Rastenburg). We quickly do some shopping before the bus leaves and this one takes us past many lakes between large pine forests. About 300 meters before the entrance of the second Nazi bunker complex "Mauerwald" we get out and are directly attacked by thousands of mosquitoes. The road is narrow, sometimes with cobblestones, lots of weeds, damp and dark because of the dense forests. Exactly as I had imagined it. On the right side of the road we see a few overgrown bunkers near the road and take a look. When we see a forest path behind the bunkers we do not hesitate and take this path and set up our tents between the trees with many dead branches near the actual camp. A fallen tree serves as a seat and we have made a walkway to protect our eyes in the coming dark. When the darkness enters, the forest looks stark and I imagine how it should have been here in 1944; barbed wire, roadblocks, trenches, bunkers, barking dogs, and many watchtowers with camouflage nets.

Mauerwald

In the morning it rains and we both wait separately in our tent. Meanwhile, countless frogs jump on our tent sides to take shelter. When it gets dry, we jump out of our tent, catch up and we forget where we have to go it’s so dark you get disorientated. We walk through some trenches, see some foundations of bunkers and suddenly we are in the bunker complex "Mauerwald". First we see transformer bunker no.3 and go inside. There dark, clammy, narrow oppressive corridors full of graffiti and mosquitoes. A number of small rooms where you have to pay attention to where you are walking (by means of a flashlight) with holes in the wall for ventilation. In addition to the large bunkers, we see many concrete positions and ruins whose purpose we can not figure out. A Polish man is walking around and we ask if we can have a look at his map. The man tells in good English that there were about 30 bunkers and hundreds of other buildings. In addition to about 300 lieutenants, big names such as "Guderian", "Von Paulus" and "Von Stauffenberg" have gathered here.

MAUERWALD:

In the bunker complex "MauerWald" (also known as the German headquarters OKH "Anna") about 250 objects were built in the period 1940-1944 where 30 are still standing nowadays. The highlight here is the giant bunker, where the supreme army headquarters was located - the walls and ceilings have a thickness of 7 meters and an anti-aircraft gun was placed on top of the building. The Wehrmacht tried to blow up this complex in 1945 but failed miserably. In addition to important generals and marshals such as "Rommel" and "Von Manstein", for example, the Hungarian dictator "Horthy" was also received in Mauerwald and even Hitler visited at least 7 times "Anna" in 1941 and 1942. "Normally" the bunker complex was inhabited by so 40 generals, a field marshal and about 1,500 soldiers. Just like the "Wolfschanze", the complex was a complete village with a cinema, post office, kitchens, apartments, hospital, sauna and a casino and was protected by barbed wire, spotlights, watchtowers and a security battalion. It was abandoned by the Wehrmacht in January 1945 without a struggle. It is an open secret that all papers about the attack on Hitler (July 20, 1944) were kept here and the plot was forged here. The documents have never been found and still seem to lie beneath the ground surface.

Also the bunkers of Mauerwald were abandoned in January 1945 and blown up before the Red Army took over. Everywhere you can see bunker 6, which is the big main bunker with walls of about 7 meters thick. This is in a good condition and we take a look at the lookout tower that is built on the bunker. Suddenly we are told to pay the entrance fee which is not a problem because we actually wanted to get a map of the complex. The entrance consists of a caravan and a number of army tents containing old helmets and weapons and some booklets. On the other side of the road there seem to be bunkers too and we are going to look at that afterwords. Here it is completely silent and darker rooms are lugubrious.

Hitler headquarters

We decide to buy and eat a grilled sausage in the parking lot and then take the bus to the other much busier bunker complex "Wolfschanze". Fortunately, we can leave our bags in a shack and we see on the map why this place was chosen by Hitler; far away from cities, villages, roads and protected by dense forest and many lakes. The building where the attack on Hitler in 1944 is totally destroyed; there’s only a foundation left and a plaque in memory of Claus Von Stauffenberg. We have made a route along the most important buildings of this gigantic complex consisting of 80 buildings! We see Goring's house, Bormann's house, casino, garages, Jodl's house, some of which still look fine. Hitler's gigantic bunker nr.13 is of course the biggest highlight. The walls are about 8 meters thick and we try to imagine that the leader of Nazi Germany practically lived here for 3 years. We read on a board that 4 times a year the camouflage nets were replaced, for every season. There seems to be an airport close by, like a train station and all Nazi leaders had houses in the neighborhood.

Church of "Swieta Lipka"

By bus we arrive in "Rastenburg" but actually we want to go to "Swieta Lipka" because we know that accommodation here is pricey. From the bus we see the beautiful church that has made the village known. Our travel guide already warned that (pilgrim) accommodation is often full here and that turns out to be no different today. Now all kinds of people start to interfere with us and we are told to walk along to a priests house. Neither does he know and we are taken to see priest Mark who apparently gives permission to set up our tents in the gardens of the monastery. Then we are informed that we can eat for free in the basement. When our plates are there we are told to hurry up because they are already cleaning up. With a unchaved face, big bag and our language we are the attractions of town and people try to let us eat "smalesz" - this is a typical delicacy from the region consisting of fried stomach fat. It is OK and we have to be careful that our beer bottles purchased this afternoon do not make too much noise in our bags. Nobody knows we bought them and maybe they are not so friendly anymore when they found out.

Our dear women's church is a building that you do not see much - in addition to the "carved tree" myth, many "miracles" happen here. Many beautiful frescoes adorn the walls of this wooden church and the showpiece is the organ that occupies the entire back wall. Next to the church and the monastery is the garden that is located on a wall. Here we drag some large pieces of wood together so that we have a table and chairs and set up our tents. Because it soon gets dark, we ignite our candle and secretly open our bottles of beer. Between eight and ten we can take a free shower in a large room behind the monastery and we take advantage of that as well. It seems we are in heaven.

The chivalrous castle of "Lidzbark Warminski"

In the early morning we are definitely not to first to wake up. Again we are asked for a free breakfast but we decide to take an early bus to "Lidzbark Warminski". Despite my request to drop us near the castle, we are still being brought to the station. The busdriver doesn’t understand us or he cant stop here. Today it is Dutch weather with some sun alternating with clouds and wind when we have breakfast in the park of the city. The garden around the castle does not look very appealing and we quickly walk over the big footbridge from the castle inside where there is a beautiful garden surrounded by a two-story high building. We can leave our big bags while we are led into the room with two Polish ladies and our guide. The whole complex is built in red brick and especially the arches on the ceiling stand out. When we see a large heavy wooden table, I see the knights already sitting around a grilled pig and large chalices of beer. The room next door reminds me of "Alice in Wonderland" with its chess tiles on the wall and floor. We then see the view, the prison and an inconspicuous exhibition in the attic. I think the castle is used for everything: barrack, warehouse, hospital and orphanage in his history. I think we can conclude we saw in the region of former West-Prussia a lot of different things. We intend now to travel more to the northwest of the country.

TIps & advice (2009)

Name: hostel / campsite "Dom Pielgrzyma"

Address: Swieta Lipka 29

Price: Free

Phone nr. : 089 755 1481

Content:

This pilgrims' hostel is located next to the church and normally has 85 beds in dormitories up to 5 persons per room. We were free to set up our tents in the monastery garden and later use the toilets and showers without any payment. It is often overcrowded and it is therefore wise to reserve. But if you get the chance, try to sleep here - we have received food for free and sleeping in the garden of a monastery is very special.