The Fuhrerbunker (German for "Leader's bunker") was the last of Adolf Hitler's headquarters, located deep beneath the garden of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. It was here that Hitler spent the final days of the Third Reich and ultimately took his own life on April 30, 1945.
Construction
The bunker complex consisted of two main sections: the older Vorbunker (front bunker) built in 1936, and the deeper Fuhrerbunker proper, constructed in 1944. The main bunker was located about 8.5 meters (28 feet) below the garden of the Reich Chancellery and protected by a reinforced concrete roof over 3 meters (10 feet) thick.
Layout
The complex included approximately 30 rooms on two levels, connected by a central corridor. Facilities included Hitler's personal quarters, a situation room for military briefings, Eva Braun's room, a map room, telephone switchboard, generators, and ventilation systems. Despite the dire military situation outside, the bunker was equipped with relatively comfortable furnishings.
Final Days
Hitler retreated to the Fuhrerbunker in January 1945 and spent most of the final months of the war directing increasingly desperate military operations from within its walls. On April 29, 1945, he married Eva Braun in a brief ceremony. On April 30, as Soviet forces closed in on the Reich Chancellery, Hitler and Braun committed suicide in the bunker.
After the war, Soviet forces discovered and explored the bunker complex. The site was subsequently demolished and buried by East German and later Soviet authorities to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.