Stepina – Anlage Süd
This FHQ is located along the railway line between Jaslo and Rzeszow in a small village called Stepina, just outside Strzyzow in southeastern Poland. Its construction started in 1940, completed in 1941 and named anlage Süd. It consisted of a tunnel about 500 meters long that could protect Hitler’s special train America. In connection with the tunnel, a number of maintenance barracks and bunkers were built. The tunnel, barracks and bunkers were carefully camouflaged to avoid detection either from the air or from the ground. On August 27, 1941, Hitler met his Italian ally Mussolini at Stepina. The meeting took place on Hitler’s train and lasted several hours. The topic probably discussed was the war against the Soviet Union. Both Hitler and Mussolini traveled to Stepina in their respective trains and the tunnel in Stepina housed Mussolini’s train while Hitler’s train parked in a tunnel in Strzyzow, about fifteen kilometers from Stepina. Both Hitler and Mussolini spent the night on their trains and both departed next day. Hitler eventually returned to Stepina in October 1941, but did not stay overnight. Beside Hitler, SS leader Heinrich Himmler and field marshal Erwin Rommel visited Stepina.
Current status: Preserved with museum (2015).
Location: 49°52' 17.92" N 21°35' 30.52" E
Get there: Car.
Follow up in books: Seidler, Franz W. & Zeigert, Dieter: Hitler’s secret headquarters (2004).
The Tunnel is a museum and inside there are various military objects as well as information about Hitler’s and Mussolini’s visits. All information is in Polish. But that’s ok, cause it’smore interesting to walk around in the tunnel and its corridors. On the outside there are also bunkers to see that were part of the complex. The tunnel in Strzyzow where Hitler’s train was parked can also be visited but needs pre-booking. The Germans built several planned FHQ because they did not really know how the war would proceed. If Hitler thought he was needed at a certain front section, there would already be one FHQ in place. In addition to Süd (South) there was also a North and Mitte. North was Wolfschanze in northeastern Poland where Hitler spent most of the war, and Mitte lay as the name suggests in the middle of Poland. Hitler never visited Mitte.