V3 Bunker – Miniature Museum

V3 was a German large-caliber gun from World War II. In the bunker, you can see the remains of the 150 m long platforms of the cannon. The maximum firing range of V3 was 165 km.

Bunker - Weapons Museum V3 is in the village of Wicko, at Nabrzeżna. The museum is approx. 4.5 km south-west of the town of Międzyzdroje.

On the road from Międzyzdroje towards Lubin, just past the Zalesie settlement, on the left you can see a mysterious concrete staircase with a small bunker at the foot of it. They are the remains of German secret weapon positions from World War II V3 (Vergeltungswaffe 3). Concrete stairs formed the basis of the 125- and 90-meter-long long-range cannons, on which the Germans worked from 1943 to February 1945. It was supposed to be a retaliatory weapon, which was planned to be used in the Allied fire.
The multi-chamber cannon, the barrel of which measured about 125 meters, had a firing range of over 160 km! The weapon itself rested on a specially constructed concrete base, on the slope of a hill. After a series of trials on the Wolin Island, the gun was to be used in attacks on London. Ultimately, the cannons were in the small town of Mimoyecques, near Calais, on the English Channel in France. Even a gigantic underground defense complex had already been built there, consisting of two bunkers and positions for 25 V3 guns. The system of several chambers located along the barrel, in which the explosives were to be located, is an unusual technological solution of the secret weapon. They exploded right after the projectile passed them, which gave it additional acceleration. Due to the appearance of the cannon, the term "centipede" quickly stuck to it, and such a name was used even among German soldiers and command. The first practical use of the cannon took place during the German offensive in the Ardennes. The cannon mounted there had a firing range of 65 km. Unfortunately, the biggest problem was the speed of the projectile's preparation and launch. During the day, only three of the planned dozen were launched. On February 12, 1945, attempts to use the new weapons ceased, and the Soviet troops that entered the area in March, found only concrete and brick foundations of V3 cannons. Today, in the storage bunker of the former military training ground, there is a small museum that can be visited after making an appointment by phone. It presents the history of the place. Mr. Piotr, who looks after the museum, can spread his passion and the way of storytelling to interest even the most unrepentant opponent of militaria. On the other side of the road, in the waters of Wicko Lake, there is a restaurant ship moored that used to sail as a cruise ship on the Black Sea, carrying communist Kremlin notables.