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Peenemünde Historical Technical Information Center,
Peenemünde, Germany
The Fieseler Fi 103 and the A-4
In the history of rocketry, places like the Kennedy Space Center (Chapter 94) or White Sands Missile Range (Chapter 106) garner all the attention, but the roots of rocket science can be traced to a spot three hours north of Berlin, on the German coast at Peenemünde. It was at Peenemünde during World War II that Werner von Braun and others worked to perfect rocket-based weapons and launched the first rocket into space.
Two major weapons came out of Peenemünde: the Fieseler Fi 103 (better known as the V-1, or doodlebug), and the A-4 (better known as the V-2).
The V-1 was a comparatively simple rocket fired from a sloping steam-powered launcher. It consisted of a pulse jet engine (see sidebar) and a simple guidance system that steered the V-1 until it was close to its target. The distance to the target was calculated with an anemometer in the nose, which drove a counter counting down to zero. The counter was set so that it would reach zero just before reaching the intended target, based on the prevailing winds and speed of the weapon. When the counter reached zero, the weapon’s controls would jam, sending it into a steep dive in which the engine would cut out. Since the V-1 was otherwise very noisy, this sudden silence served as a warning to the intended victims that an explosion would occur close by.
But the real prize for Soviet and Allied forces looking for the technological spoils of war was the team that developed the V-2. The V-2 rocket first reached space (at a height of over 80 kilometers) in October 1942, and went on to be produced and fired by the thousands at the UK, Holland, France, and Belgium.
The V-2 had a rocket motor that mixed alcohol and liquid oxygen to create thrust, and a sophisticated guidance system that in some late models included radio signals to guide the rocket to its target.
At the end of World War II, Wernher von Braun and his team of over 100 men surrendered to the U.S. Army and were transported to the U.S. along with tons of their equipment and rockets. The team was installed at White Sands Missile Range and went on to test-fire more V-2s before moving to Huntsville, Alabama, where they designed the Saturn V rocket used to put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon.
After World War II, Peenemünde became part of the German Democratic Republic (under the influence of the Soviet Union), and the Soviet army destroyed most of the facilities. After Germany’s reunification in 1990, Peenemünde was turned into a monument to the work performed there, and to the slave laborers who toiled (and died) producing V-1s and V-2s.
Today the site features a museum that focuses on the research activities, the weapons, and the willing and unwilling participants. In addition, the museum explains Peenemünde’s impact on rocketry and civilian space flight after World War II. There are reproductions of the V-1 and V-2 weapons, and exhibits of original equipment that survived the Soviet destruction of the site.
There are only a few remaining buildings at the site. One is the Nazi-era power station that remained in use until 1990; it now houses the museum. The other building is the factory where liquid oxygen was produced; it is now off limits on account of its poor condition.
To get a feel for the scope of the site, you can follow a special trail that covers 22 kilometers and takes in some of the remains of the extensive research and test facilities built in the 1940s. Because the Royal Air Force bombed Peenemünde in the single largest air raid of the entire Second World War, you definitely don’t want to wander off the trail because of the risk of finding unexploded ordnance. Also off the trail is Test Stand VII, where the V-2 rockets were tested; only the foolhardy who ignore the warnings of danger make it to the spot where von Braun started the Space Race.
Practical Information
Information in English about the Peenemünde center can be found at http://www.peenemuende.de/.
