Valentin Submarine Pens - Post War

Post War

After the war, when the already installed machine tools had been removed, further bombing of Valentin was carried out. Beginning in March 1946, Project Ruby was a joint Anglo-American project to investigate the use of penetration bombs against heavily protected, concrete targets.

The U-boat pen Nordsee III and subterranean bunkers on the island of Heligoland were also selected as targets for this testing. Bombs were carried by Avro Lancasters from No. 15 Squadron RAF and US Boeing B-29 Superfortress and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft operating from RAF Marham. Around 140 sorties were flown, testing a range of different bombs.

Because it seemed impossible to destroy Valentin by bombing it, the decision was made to destroy it by blasting. This idea was later given up because the blasting would have caused severe damage at the nearby villages Rekum and Farge and the power-station in Farge. In the following years, there were several ideas for the further utilization of the bunker, as for example the creation of an artificial hill using rubble from the bombed cities or using it as an atomic power station, but in 1960 the bunker was taken over by the German Navy, for use as a storage depot.

In 1983, a memorial to the workers who built Valentin was erected. Titled Vernichtung durch Arbeit (Extermination through labor), it was by Bremen artist Fritz Stein.

High maintenance costs forced the German Defence Ministry to offer the bunker for sale in 2008. Military use finally came to an end on 31 December 2010. Its custodianship was passed to a group called Denkort Bunker Valentin with the intention of developing it as a museum and a memorial. The group currently offers guided tours of the bunker to the public.