Valentin submarine pens

Valentin submarine factory
Part of Third Reich
Rekum [de; nds] port (Weser River, Bremen)
Aerial view of Valentin (2012), with modern solar panels at right
Coordinates	53°13′01″N 8°30′23″E / 53.216992°N 8.506275°E / 53.216992; 8.506275 (Submarine Bunker Valentin Memorial)
Type	blockhouse
Site information
Open to the public	Free entrance, self guided walking tours, electronic audio guide available
Site history
Built	February 1943 to March 1945 (unfinished)
Materials	Ferrous concrete

The Valentin submarine factory is a protective shelter on the Weser River at the Bremen suburb of Rekum [de; nds], built to protect German U-boats during World War II. The factory was under construction from 1943 to March 1945 using forced labour, but was damaged by air-raids and unfinished by the end of the war. The Valentin factory was the largest fortified U-boat facility in Germany, and was second only to those built at Brest in France.

As a manufacturing facility, it differed from conventional U-boat pens, which were designed to house and service operational U-boats.