Fort Hahneberg
Hidden in the hills
Hidden away on the green western edge of Spandau is the last Prussian artillery fort, built in the the 1880s: Fort Hahneberg. The hexagonal fortification was sunk into the hill known as Hahneberg so that even from at close distance it is almost undetectable. However, Fort Hahneberg was never used for military manoeuvres: rapid progress in the development of artillery shells overtook the fort’s design and rendered it useless even before it was completed. And so the fort was used for other, very interesting purposes. It was once the central archive for military medicine, gliders were built here before the Second World War and in 2008 scenes from the Quentin Tarantino’s American blockbuster Inglourious Basterds were filmed here.
Today, the old brick walls, vaults and trenches have completely different inhabitants: Fort Hahneberg is a popular roosting site for bats. Many protected species, including the great mouse-eared bat, which is the biggest species of bat in Germany, spend the summer or hibernate here.
An exhibition shows the beginnings of the "Arbeits- und Schutzgemeinschaft Fort Hahneberg e.V.", founded in October 1993, and the commitment to the preservation of the fortress and to events in the fort that still continues. The exhibition can be found in the former telegraph room of the Kehlkaserne.
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