Hitler's Führer train during World War II was as luxurious as the US President's "Air Force One".
In 1937, in order to demonstrate his power and facilitate travel, Hitler decided to build himself an indestructible Führer's train. After two years of design and manufacturing, a 1,200-ton, 430-meter-long Führer's train - the Asia America (As for the special train, its original name is controversial. Most post-war information claims that it was called "Amerika", but during the war, French railway documents and reports from German troops stationed there , all called it "Erika". In addition, Hitler's translator Paul Schmidt also confirmed the name "Erika" in an article for "Aurora" in 1960. "Brnadenburg". Later, on February 1, 1943, the Führer's train was renamed "Brnadenburg" and began to be put into use. Hitler could live and hold meetings on the special train, and it was very sturdy. It was a mobile Nazi fortress and headquarters, the "Air Force One" of the railroad.
In the distant 1930s, this train was designed to reach a speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour. It was pulled by two locomotives to ensure that the train could continue running when one locomotive failed. Hitler's Führer's carriage was located in the middle of the train to facilitate communication with the other carriages. The carriages were all decorated with marble and equipped with heating and air-conditioning systems that could adjust the temperature at any time, which was very rare at the time. The third carriage from the front of the car is the reception room, which is guarded by two soldiers. A large table and several armchairs were placed in the middle of the living area. The walls are designed in mahogany. Hitler's next room consisted of a single bedroom with an adjoining bathroom with bathtub and gold-plated taps. Next is a bathroom and three guest rooms. There are also two soldiers guarding the end of the carriage.
The train itself is equipped with anti-aircraft gun carriages, which are located at the front and rear ends of the train. In the event of an air or land attack, soldiers can use a 20mm machine gun to fight back with a vertical range of up to 2.5 kilometers and a horizontal range of up to 4.7 kilometers. You can shoot in the air or on the ground on both sides of the train. It can fire 800 rounds per minute. Every time the train travels, there is a plane on standby at any time along the way, landing in advance at the designated airport ahead to wait for the head of state. Also accompanying him is his armored Mercedes car for quick movement.
After the outbreak of World War II, from the Polish Campaign in September 1939 until the Balkan Campaign in April 1941, this train was used as a mobile "Führerhauptquartier" (Führerhauptquartier) commanded by Adolf Hitler in World War II. "The command post of the German Army, spread throughout Europe)" Hitler discussed the frontline war and made strategic arrangements in this train, which became Hitler's second home. The train was equipped with Hitler's secretary, chef, personal bodyguard, valet, doctor, train conductor, and soldiers operating anti-aircraft guns. Because Hitler liked taking baths, the train also added an entire carriage of bathrooms and equipped them with hairdressers. The bathing carriage weighs 78 tons and is insulated with asbestos. It is equipped with an oversized water tank with a capacity of 2,000 liters and a small dressing room. Behind it are five bathrooms, two of which are made of marble and enameled stainless steel. Finally there are three marble shower rooms and a toilet.
In order to ensure the confidentiality and safety of Hitler's trip, all supplies and staff on the train, such as food and drinking water, were strictly scrutinized and must not be of Jewish origin. The service notes used on the trains must be destroyed before the end of the day. All vehicles along the route are notified only a few hours in advance to stop running. Even the station staff must be on standby in the office building. Everything is idle. Everyone must stay away from the platform. Thousands of people will be on guard along the route. No one knows where the train will pass or where it will go. In addition, there were several other America-like trains running in front and behind to confuse the audience and thwart potential attacks.
In the train, there is also a communication car, which is equipped with the most advanced communication equipment to contact the army. The latest strategic maps are hung on the walls of this car, and people can sit around the table to discuss the war situation. , next is the communication carriage, the equipment is all high-tech products from the 1940s, including teletype printers and encoding machines, which can encrypt and decipher messages, telephone switches, which can answer and make calls, and of course cipher machines. When the train is moving and it is impossible to make a call, a huge 700-watt shortwave radio equipment can be used. When the train is stopped, a telephone line can be connected to make a call.
In 1941, in order to meet Mussolini safely, Hitler ordered the construction of a massive tunnel to park the USS America. The tunnel was 480 meters long, 8 meters wide, and 12 meters high. The walls were made of solid walls more than 2 meters thick. Made of concrete. Even if there is an enemy attack, the German troops can temporarily seal both ends of the tunnel and fight the enemy, waiting for other German troops to come to rescue. Because Hitler stayed on this train for a long time, the British sent agents many times to assassinate Hitler on the train. Including trying to derail the train, but the train's travel time is not easy to obtain, and the German army often searches the train thoroughly, which also makes it impossible to plant explosives on the train. So they studied another method, which is to attack the water supply system on the train. Although the bottled water and food on the train will be strictly inspected, drinking water has an opportunity. If poison is added to the water tank, the train will be in motion. The poison will be mixed with water, and the poison is chronic and will not be discovered immediately. In this way, even if a taster tries to drink it first, he will not die on the spot. But in 1944, Britain decided not to assassinate Hitler. The reason was that he made many stupid decisions on the battlefield, which accelerated the defeat of the German army. Therefore, keeping him alive was the fastest way to end the war.
In 1945, Hitler committed suicide. After Germany was defeated, in order to prevent this train from becoming a trophy of the Allies, the German army blew up the Führer Train. Hitler's private carriage was blown to pieces, but there were still a few carriages that were destroyed by the British and American After the partition, the special train carriages were returned to West Germany in the 1950s. German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer assembled his own official train from the remaining carriages of the Führer's train and visited Moscow. Afterwards, this special train was improved and refurbished, and was never used again until the 1980s. Today, the few remaining carriages are preserved in the museum, silently witnessing that history.
The configuration of the Heads of State train varies according to needs and the number of passengers: there are 10 to 16 carriages in total, the length is between 300 and 430 meters, and it can accommodate up to more than 200 people. However, the layout of the carriages never changed, including defense and communications carriages as well as Hitler's personal compartment.
The train configuration is roughly as follows.
The special train is equipped with two locomotives. When using steam engines, a new locomotive filled with coal must be replaced every 200 kilometers. The Führer Train can be powered by several types of locomotives, including steam and electric locomotives, such as the B52 KDL1 wartime steam locomotive (BR 52 KDL1 Kriegsdampflokomotive) first used by Germany in 1942. Under normal circumstances, the BR52 can tow a train weighing 1,200 tons at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour.
Wartime locomotives (Kriegslokomotive) are the collective name for railway locomotives manufactured on a large scale by Nazi Germany to meet the needs of the war. Their design was based on wartime requirements such as metal shortages, military material transportation needs, easy maintenance, adaptability to extreme weather, and rapid assembly and mass production. Optimized according to the situation. The disadvantage of high fuel consumption to achieve these requirements was also taken into account in the design. Among them, the BR52 steam engine is the most famous one. It was developed from the pre-war BR50 locomotive, but based on the BR50, it saves manufacturing hours, reduces the requirements for workers' technical level and reduces the use of precious metals. In addition, the BR52 locomotive also enables the locomotive crews to more effectively withstand the severe cold in Russian winter. In order to complete the extremely large production plan during the war, Germany's motorcycle manufacturers were merged into one, managed by Reich Minister of Arms Speer, called the Greater German Locomotive Manufacturers Association (Gemeinschaft Grossdeutscher Lokomotivhersteller, referred to as GGL). From 1942 to the end of the war in 1945, Germany manufactured more than 6,300 BR52s. Including the locomotives produced in the early post-war period, the total number was as high as 6,719. A total of 17 factories were involved in the manufacture of BR52s. It is one of the most produced railway locomotives in the world. After the war, it lost many of its modified locomotives to other European countries.
An SdPI 4i-39 anti-aircraft carriage (Flakwagen) is an open anti-aircraft gun platform used for ground fire suppression and anti-aircraft defense. It was originally equipped with a single-barreled 2 cm caliber Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun, which was replaced with 2 in 1940. Centimeter 4-barreled Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun. This type of anti-aircraft gun has a ground range of 4.7 kilometers, a shooting height of 2.5 kilometers, and a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute.
A luggage car (Gepckwagen).
Führerwagen (Führerwagen), which was Hitler's private sleeping car, was divided from front to back: an antechamber guarded by two guards, a living room with a large table and several sofas, and a living room with a single bed for Hitler. Bedroom, a marble bathroom, three guest rooms, a shower room and another anteroom with two bodyguards.
The command car (Befehlswagen) includes a conference room equipped with all the latest communications equipment, a military situation room and a telecommunications room equipped with a teletype and encryption equipment, a telephone exchange (internal and external lines), a radio room , which contains an Enigma cipher machine for encoding and decoding. These devices cannot be used while traveling and must be plugged into a different station to work. However, when the train is running, a 700-watt shortwave radio on board can communicate with anywhere.
Escort compartment (Begleitkommandowagen), which is the compartment of Hitler's personal escort - the Reich Security Service (Reichssicherheitsdienst) and the SS Führer Guard Command (Führerbegleitkommando), with a maximum of 26 people.
A dining car (Speisewagen).
Two passenger cars (Gstewagen).
A bathing carriage (Badewagen) used for bathing and hairdressing services. This was a birthday gift given to Hitler by the Reich Bahn on April 20, 1939, when he turned 50. This carriage weighs 78 tons as it has 5 bathrooms, 3 marble showers, 1 small shower and also stores 11,000 liters of water.
Another dining car.
Two companion sleeping cars (Schlafwagen).
A press carriage (pressewagen), used by the press staff of the Propaganda Department.
Another luggage cart.
The second anti-aircraft carriage at the rear is the same as the one at the front.
in short.
"Head of State Train" = B52 class KDL1 wartime steam locomotive x 2 + SdPI 4i-39 front air defense car + front luggage car + head of state box + command car + guard car + front dining car + passenger car x 2 + Chinese food car + front sleeper Carriages × 2 + Bathing Carriage + Dinner Carriage + Rear Sleeper Carriage × 2 + News Carriage + Rear Luggage Carriage + SdPI 4i-39 Rear Air Defense Carriage.
