Years before the first V2 “Aggregat 4” rocket successfully flew for the first time, the German Army was already planning for its mass production and in 1938 the construction of a serial production plant was started on the east side of the Peenemünde peninsula as part of the Army Research Center. The building plans comprised of a production hall for rocket-assembly, a repair plant for production and repairs, a workshop, an offices complex and a materials warehouse to store materials required for the mass production of A4 (“V2”) rockets. The latter was only partly realised.
The large material warehouse (Ger: Materiallager) would measure 180 by 95 metres and have a height of 18 metres. Central to the design were the rail siding and loading ramp, which enabled the direct delivery, unloading, and distribution of large quantities of construction materials and production components.
Relocation of V2 production
After the devastating British air raid “Operation Hydra” in August 1943, work on the materials warehouse was ceased and the rocket production was relocated to the underground Mittelbau-Dora facility. Nevertheless, the unfinished structure remained operational in a reduced capacity. The already completed rail connection and loading ramp were used as a supply hub, functioning as a building yard from which construction sites within the Peenemünde research complex received the necessary materials.
Visit
Although most of the structures of the production plant were demolished right after World War Two and at the end of the Cold War, today you can still find many remnants of the former structures in the area. The grounds are littered with concrete remnants and rusted metal. Of the materials warehouse a large part of the loading platform is still visible.
