Wolf's Lair

Wolf's Lair
Wolfsschanze
Part of Führerhauptquartiere
Present-day Gierłoż, Kętrzyn, Poland
Hitler's reinforced bunker at the Wolfsschanze
Location within historic and present-day borders
Wolf's Lair Show map of Poland Wolf's Lair Show map of Germany
Coordinates	54°04′49″N 21°29′39″E / 54.0804°N 21.4941°E / 54.0804; 21.4941
Type	Camouflaged concrete bunkers
Site information
Owner	Polish Government
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Mostly destroyed
Site history
Built	1941; 83 years ago (1941)
Built by	Hochtief AG, Organisation Todt
In use	June 1941 – January 1945
Materials	2 m (6 ft 7 in) steel-reinforced concrete
Fate	Partially demolished by retreating German forces
Events	20 July Plot
Garrison information
Past commanders	Johann Rattenhuber
Garrison	Reichssicherheitsdienst Führerbegleitbrigade
Occupants	Adolf Hitler Government of Nazi Germany Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

The Wolf's Lair (German: Wolfsschanze; Polish: Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.

The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz in Ostpreußen (now Gierłoż), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn), in present-day Poland. The central complex and the Führer's bunker were surrounded by three security zones guarded by two Schutzstaffel (SS) units: the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers, and the Reichssicherheitsdienst. The Wehrmacht's armoured Führerbegleitbrigade was held in readiness nearby but, as a part of the Heer's elite Großdeutschland Division, was used to counter-attack Red Army break-throughs in Army Group Centre's front and rescue cut-off Heer, Luftwaffe Fallschirmjager and SS panzer troops.

The 20 July Plot, an assassination attempt against Hitler, took place at the Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944.^[1]