Detail

The bunker “Valentin” is the ruin of a submarine shipyard of the Kriegsmarine, the German navy during the Second World War. Thousands of forced labourers from all over Europe and North Africa – civilian forced labourers, prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners – were made to work here between 1943 and 1945. More than 1,600 of them died during the construction work from malnutrition, disease and arbitrary killings. The bunker is located near the towns of Bremen-Farge and Neuenkirchen. It was not the only Nazi armaments project in the Lower Weser region. From 1935 to 1945, the region was dominated by three major construction sites, huge quantities of building materials and machinery, transshipment facilities, railways and, not least, seven camps for forced labourers.

Few traces remain of Nazi armaments and crimes. What remains is the bunker “Valentin”, a unique and striking relic of Nazi naval armament. Today, the historic site is marked by the traces of its post-war conversion and use: from 1960 to 2010, the bunker was used as a depot by the Bundesmarine, the modern German navy, which managed the bunker and adapted it to its purposes. The site of the former camp is still used by the Bundeswehr as a training area and is therefore still officially a military exclusion zone with restricted access.

In the early 1980s, activists began to reappraise the history of the bunker. In 1983, the first visible sign of remembrance for the victims of the bunker’s construction was inaugurated: the Extermination Through Labour memorial on the eastern side of the bunker. The former camp has also been marked out as an educational trail as a result of civic engagement. Among the stops along the trail are two historic barracks, bought and renovated by remembrance activists. They now house small exhibitions on the history of the camp site and its subsequent use.
When the Bundesmarine announced its intention to leave the site in 2010, the National Centre for Political Education was commissioned by the parliament of Bremen to develop a concept for a memorial. On the basis of this concept, work began in 2011 to transform the bunker and its immediate surroundings into the central memorial of the state of Bremen.

The “Denkort Bunker Valentin” Memorial was officially inaugurated in November 2015. Its exhibitions commemorate the fate of more than 10,000 people from all over Europe and North Africa who were forced to work on the construction of the bunker. The exhibition’s focus is on the conditions in which they were deported to Farge and forced to work on the site.

The “Denkort Bunker Valentin” Memorial is a place for innovative educational approaches to teaching history and historical awareness. A wide range of formats has been developed, from general guided tours and thematic tours of the bunker and the former construction site to self-guided tours, project days, multi-day projects and international projects.

The “Denkort Bunker Valentin” memorial aims to bring history into the present and to encourage reflection on this history and its significance for the present. It is a space that invites visitors to engage, encounter and reflect, demonstrating that memory is something that can be shaped and influenced. Our multi-hour formats offer the opportunity for a deeper engagement with the site and its history. An integral part of each visit is the search for traces in the part of the bunker that is accessible today and in the outdoor area. Individual aspects of forced labour in the Nazi era will be explored and discussed in the group using photographic and film material and biographical approaches. Under methodological guidance, the participants will be able to look in detail at the development of the site and the history of the place, and to develop their own questions from different perspectives.