V3 Launch Sites

The V3 launch sites in Zalesie, south of Międzyzdroje, are the remains of a German experimental proving ground from the Second World War. It is a wartime site, not a place of entertainment.

What the V3 weapon was

The V3 was one of three German retaliation weapons, alongside the V-1 and V-2. Unlike them it was not a guided missile but a gun in which successive charges along the barrel gave the projectile its speed. The German code names Hochdruckpumpe and Tausendfüßler are associated with this arrangement.

Zalesie

According to the Wikipedia entry, work began in 1943 in Hillersleben near Magdeburg and in Zalesie on the island of Wolin, where three V-3 guns were installed. The intended battery was to be built in the complex at Mimoyecques in France. Around Zalesie, concrete structures that served as gun supports have survived, as well as bunkers.

The bunker with an exhibition

The entry on Wolin National Park describes the V3 bunker in Zalesie as an exhibition of German V3 weapons from the Second World War, set up in the bunker in which projectiles were stored, on a former secret experimental proving ground. Next to it there is a mini-museum and the park's tourist information point with its offer and natural history curiosities. Near the bunker there are remains of firing positions. The sources that were opened do not say who runs the exhibition or when it is open.

Practical information

• Location: Zalesie, Międzyzdroje municipality, Kamień County.
• Hours and rules for visiting the exhibition: check at the park's information point or on the website of Wolin National Park.
• Nearby: Wicko Małe and Turquoise Lake.