Krupp decoy site

This reinforced concrete command post is the only remaining part of a sprawling industrial dummy built on Rottberg hill near Velbert. The complex once covered many hectares and contained multiple fake buildings with moving installations.

Between 1941 and 1944, the installation mimicked the Krupp steel plant to draw Allied bombers away from the real production facilities in Essen. After the war ended, residents dismantled most of the dummy structures and reused the materials for reconstruction.

The bunker now functions as a memorial, documenting how military planners tried to protect the region through deception and the ways local families lived under constant air threat. Visitors walk through exhibits showing everyday objects and wartime records from the surrounding towns.

The site opens once a year for visits, usually in September during Heritage Day. Guided walks explain how the deception worked and show wartime photographs of the surrounding fake structures.

A miniature railway ran continuously at night on an endless loop to suggest active factory work. Light effects and smoke generators added to the illusion for aircrews passing overhead.