For foreign visitors looking for insight the almost banal objects from teacups to bookshelves, really do bring to life what a home would have been like during the 40-year history of communist rule.

And of course, if you are a local that actually lived through the time, the museum acts a powerful trip down memory lane.

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Inside the Muzeam Czar PRL

The museum is housed within the top floor of an old, communist-era office building near the center of Warsaw. The robust yet bleak-looking exterior provides a suitable atmosphere from the off.

The collection inside is arranged in an interesting way. Each room of a house is represented, with all the relevant objects corresponding to the space.

Walk into the living room and you will find garish yellow walls, kitsch brown furniture, and vintage records playing on an old player.

In the kitchen are everyday products from the era; washing powder and soaps, tubs, and boxes with labeling only a native would recognize.

It is all displayed in a way that makes you think the owner has just popped out for a walk.

In one of the rooms, you can have a go at a children’s board game, or leaf through magazines from the time. While you’re taking a break, you can even buy a soda in an original 1960s glass bottle.

The museum was founded by Rafał and Marta Patla more than a decade ago. They have since expanded the venture by running historical tours of Warsaw in a vintage “Nysa 522” van.

Openly reliant on donated artifacts from members of the public, the museum is growing all the time with new materials.

It is very much a time capsule to an era in Polish history that is long gone, but in no way forgotten.

And for outsiders or the younger generations of Poles that have no experience of life under communist rule, the museum provides a fascinating hint at what it looked like.

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Where is Muzeam Czar PRL

• Address: os. Centrum E 1, 31-934 Kraków, Poland
• Admission Fee: Standard is 8 zł.
• Website

Good to know

The museum is a 15-minute walk from the Varshava Vskhodnya train station. However, if you are arriving from the city center we recommend you take tram no 22 to the Gocławska tram stop and walk from there.

Guided tours should be reserved in advance via the website if possible. That being said, all information is displayed in Polish and English.

The Neon Museum is just a 5-minute walk away and is worth checking out while you’re in the area.

Featured Image: Zygmunt Put Zetpe0202 / CC BY-SA

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I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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The remains of the bunker where Hitler was nearly blown up with a suitcase bomb can still be found.

Protected by nearby lakes and marshes the site is slowly being usurped by nature. However, it is open for visits, and Wolf’s Lair is a must-see location for any dark tourist in Poland.

Wolf’s Lair – A Brief History

Wolf’s Lair played a very important role in WW2. Hitler and his cronies spent over 800 days at this large, secret complex between 1941-1944. In fact, the German dictator spent more time here, than he did inside the Berlin bunker.

The compound was made up of 80 buildings, some of which were reinforced concrete bunkers designed to keep high-ranking German Officials such as Göring, Bormann, and of course Hitler, safe as they carried out their plans.

Decisions that led to the deaths of millions were made at Wolf’s Lair, including the construction of the death camps and the German attacks into Russia.

Built in 1941, the heavily fortified headquarters were protected behind multiple layers of security. It was positioned miles from the nearest village and the site remained a well-kept secret throughout the war.

However, one German colonel knew of its whereabouts. He also knew which of the buildings to target in the hope of assassinating Hitler and ending the Nazi regime.

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Operation Valkyrie – The Plan to Kill Hitler

Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (along with other high-ranking officials) had a brave plan to kill the Nazi Leader.

In a plot known as Operation Valkyrie, Claus von Stauffenberg managed to infiltrate Wolf’s Lair and leave a suitcase bomb in the room with Hitler.

His position as Chief of Staff of the Reserve Army meant that he had occasional face-to-face access with the Führer to hand over reports.

After several failed attempts, Stauffenberg successfully detonated a bomb inside the complex on 20 July 1944. He then hurried back to Berlin to assume his role for the Reserve Army coup.

All did not go to plan however. Although Hitler suffered minor injuries, he was protected by the large conference room table that shielded the bomb’s blast from killing him.

Operation Valkyrie had failed. Stauffenberg and other leading conspirators were promptly rounded up and executed.

The writing was on the wall for Wolf’s Lair after the assassination attempt. The headquarter’s had been compromised and Russian forces were beginning to move into Poland.

Within months the Nazis had abandoned the base, not before attempting to destroy all traces of it with dynamite.

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Where is Wolf’s Lair?

• Address: Gierłoż 5, 11-400 Gierłoż, Poland
• Phone: +48 89 741 00 31
• Website

Visiting Wolf’s Lair Today

A visit to Wolf’s Lair provides a chilling insight into the German war machine. You do have to use your imagination to visualize the base as it was however.

The Nazis were extremely good at blowing up their former military buildings in order to prevent the enemy from gain. Out of the 80 buildings that once made up Wolf’s Lair, over 90% sustained explosive damage.

That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to see mind you. The vast bunkers were originally built with concrete walls 8m (26ft) thick. Despite repeated attempts, the SS was unable to demolish them completely.

Walking around the base today and you can still see many of the former structures, brutal concrete carcasses jutting out of the undergrowth and between trees.

Some have collapsed on their sides, the stone remnants covered in moss.

Other’s are more intact and actually have roofs. Health and safety are thin on the ground and you can even walk inside them.

A haunting area of the site is the remnants of the Situation Conferences Barrack. This is where the attempt on Hitler’s life took place.

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There are very few structural elements left, however, a plaque in memorial of Stauffenberg and the 20 July plot has been built onto the spot where the bomb went off.

It is impossible not to feel the weight of the events that took place, and think “what if” it had been successful.

Hitler’s Personal Bunker can also be found. It is one of the biggest in the complex and is still relatively intact. There is nothing much to see inside, yet knowing this was where Hitler rested during his time at Wolf’s Lair is eerie in itself.

After the war, locals plundered the ruins which is another reason there is little to see beyond the broken structures.

Information boards are sparse and unless you book a guide you will not find much explanation in English. Efforts are being made to make Wolf’s Lair more visitor-friendly mind you.

There are plans to launch a free app that uses GPS to guide tourists around the complex, providing information on the various bunkers.

There is also one completely intact structure from the time of Hitler’s command. It is the former headquarters for Hitler’s personal security. Today it is a small hotel and restaurant and can be found on the outer edges of Wolf’s Lair.

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Good to Know

Wolf’s Lair attracts upwards of 300,000 tourists visit each year. If you visit in the summer months you won’t be alone. The basic entrance fee is 15 zloty (£3.16; $4). You will also need to pay a small fee for parking.

In order to funnel tourists through the site, pathways have been constructed. Fencing also surrounds the complex in an attempt to put off after-hour urbex explorers.

Upon arrival, you can request a tour guide (several languages are available). These can be conducted either on foot or (much more interesting) from the inside of an authentic WW2 jeep.

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Featured Image: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada / CC BY-SA

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Stew Baxter

I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

darktourists.com/