Test Stand VII, Military launch pad ruins in Peenemünde, Germany
Test Stand VII is a rocket launch facility in Peenemünde on the German Baltic coast with preserved concrete structures from the 1940s. The remains include a wide trench, a flame chamber, and a sand wall that extend over several hundred meters along the shoreline.
The facility was built in 1938 as part of the Army Research Center and served for testing rocket motors. On October 3, 1942, the first successful V-2 rocket launched from here, marking a turning point in rocket technology.
The site holds significance as a place where rocket development shaped modern technology and changed how people understood space travel. Walking through it today, visitors can sense how intensive engineering work transformed this Baltic location into a center of innovation.
Access to the remains is via an old concrete road leading to the site. Visitors should be cautious when walking on the deteriorating structures since the ground is marshy and some parts may be unstable.
The facility features a specialized flame deflection system made of molybdenum-steel pipes designed to withstand extreme temperatures during rocket testing. This technical detail shows just how sophisticated early testing installations had to be.
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