Peenemünde Army Research Centre
| Peenemünde Army Research Center | |
|---|---|
| Peenemünde, Germany | |
1943 RAF photo-recon of Test Stand VII at the Peenemünde Army Research Center
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| Coordinates | 54°08′35″N 13°47′38″E / 54.143°N 13.794°ECoordinates: 54°08′35″N 13°47′38″E / 54.143°N 13.794°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1937 |
| In use | World War II |
| Battles/wars | Operation Crossbow (Bombing of Peenemünde in World War II) |
The Peenemünde Army Research Center (German: Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde, HVP) was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the German Army Weapons Office (Heereswaffenamt).
On April 2, 1936, the aviation ministry paid 750,000 reichsmarks to the town of Wolgast for the whole Northern peninsula of the Baltic island of Usedom. By the middle of 1938, the Army facility had been separated from the Luftwaffe facility and was nearly complete, with personnel moved from Kummersdorf. The Army Research Center (Peenemünde Ost) consisted of Werk Ost and Werk Süd, while Werk West (Peenemünde West) was the Luftwaffe Test Site (Erprobungsstelle der Luftwaffe),one of the four test and research facilities of the Luftwaffe, with its headquarters facility at Erprobungsstelle Rechlin.
Wernher von Braun was the HVP technical director (Dr. Walter Thiel was deputy director) and there were nine major departments:
The Measurements Group (Gerhard Reisig) was part of the BSM, and additional departments included the Production Planning Directorate (Detmar Stahlknecht), the Personnel Office (Richard Sundermeyer), and the Drawings Change Service.
Several German guided missiles and rockets of World War II were developed by the HVP, including the V-2 rocket (A-4) (see test launches), and the Wasserfall (35 Peenemünde trial firings),Schmetterling, , Taifun, and Enzian missiles. The HVP also performed preliminary design work on very-long-range missiles for use against the United States. That project was sometimes called the "V - 3", and its existence is well documented. The Peenemünde establishment also developed other techniques, such as the first closed-circuit television system in the world, installed at Test Stand VII to track the launching rockets.
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