The Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze or Wolf ‘s Lair was the key name of one of Adolf Hitler ‘s greatest military barracks during World War II .
The complex was in the village of Gierłoż ( German : Forst Görlitz ), near Kętrzyn or Rastenburg , in German, in what was formerly East Prussia and today is Poland . It was built in 1941 for the German offensive on Russia . It had some 80 buildings camouflaged, 50 of which were bunkers. He was surrounded by mined fields and barbed wires and immersed in a thick forest. It had its own power station and was receiving supplies from a nearby air base. It was abandoned by the Nazis three years later, as the Red Army approached the Prussian border.
In the Wolfsschanze the failed assassination attempt of Hitler was perpetrated, 20 of July of 1944 , planned mainly by Claus von Stauffenberg , that soon was executed.
Upon his retirement, Hitler ordered the demolition of the compound. However, despite the use of powerful explosives, the buildings remained standing, although seriously damaged. Today the site is a popular tourist attraction, and on the site is a monument to the conspirators of July 20.
Other Hitler bunkers throughout Europe begin with the word Wolf (wolf), such as the Wolfsschlucht in Belgium and the Wehrwolf in Vinnitsa, in a swampy area full of mosquitoes in Ukraine . This is because Hitler was nicknamed for a time Herr Wolf by his closest friends and the strong influence that Germanic mythology has the legend of Werwolf.