Peenemunde is a small seaside town on Usedom Island, about 90 kms southeast of Stralsund.  The name means “river mouth”.  Its claim to fame, and reason for our visit, is its role in the development of modern rocketry, in particular the V1 and V2 rockets.  The Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as a military proving ground.  The first successful launch of the V2 was in October 1942, and a production line was almost ready when the British bombed Peenemunde in 1943, causing relocation to an underground location in the Harz Mountains. The V2 was never as successful as the Nazis hoped, due to its inability to be targeted accurately.  Nonetheless, thousands of them were launched, generally aimed at London or Antwerp.  Peenemunde was also the site of development of other rockets and missiles but they didn’t reach production before the end of the war.  The last V2 launch was in early 1945, and a few months later the Soviet army stormed the installations, only to find all the research buildings and test stands demolished.

The power station on the site, which now houses the main museum exhibitions, remained operational until 1990, kept functioning by the GDR until reunification, when it was declared uneconomic.  In 1992, the Peenemunde Historical Technical Museum was opened.

Apart from the technological aspects, much of the exhibition is about the idealogy of building rockets – weapons of mass destruction, or the future of travel?  A lot of questions are asked, particularly about the use of forced labour and concentration camp prisoners, who endured terrible conditions; but the visitor is left to draw their own conclusion. After the war, many Peenemunde scientists, including of course the famous Werner von Braun, were employed by the US, Britain, France and the USSR.  The technologies that were incubated at Peenemunde were the basis of the space programs of the western world.

The displays themselves were highly informative (and in English and Polish as well as German), and the largely unrenovated interior of the power station was an excellent backdrop.  I learned that the rockets were fuelled by potatoes (I kid you not! They were converted to ethanol; it took a mountain of potatoes to provide enough fuel for a launch).  The highlight for me was being able to stand on the roof of the monumental power station.  For some reason that I have never figured out, I’m fascinated by industrial architecture and history – I love old mines, power stations, bridges and the like.  There is something about their sheer enormity, but it also has to do with the patterns and geometries within the structures, and the mechanics. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

It took about 4 hours to see everything at Peenemunde, including the 80s-era Soviet MIG 21 displayed outside the airport (you can buy them on Ebay these days).

What to do for the rest of the afternoon?  Do what any self respecting Aussie traveller does, and visit another country!  Because we don’t have border crossings of our own, we get excited when we get to visit someone else’s.  The Polish border was about 50 kms down the road, in a town called Swinoujscie (pronounced any way you can get your tongue around it).  We drove slowly through numerous resort towns to get there, not knowing what to expect.  There was a border sign, a heap of traffic, some market stalls selling cigarettes (no doubt much cheaper, judging by the number of people buying them) and some horse drawn carriages.  But apart from the signs now being in Polish, we couldn’t see much difference.  A quick look at the main street, u-turn at the cathedral, and back across the border.  This is no doubt a record for the shortest time we’ve ever spent in a country.

Driving today was tedious as we were on single lane roads almost the whole way.  There are so many road signs to figure out – instructions come at you constantly.  Speed limits change with no warning every few hundred metres, sometimes from 50 to 100 and back to 70 (often we only knew via the heads-up display in the car).  At the same time you have to look out for other cars, trucks, cyclists and pedestrians.  And not hit the kerb on the right hand side when turning.  All in all it’s quite stressful for driver and passenger.  We haven’t been on an autobahn yet, but will take the A20 back to Rostock on Sunday, hopefully when the roads are a bit quieter.

On our return to Langendorf we took advantage of a fine evening to have a look at our little village (very attractive) and the local lake, next to fields full of sunflowers.  Wind turbines rotate gently in the distance.  We could almost be tempted to go for a run.  Almost.