Portal Background: Flak Rondorf

My faith in Wayfarer reviews got restored a little bit: My submission for a historical anti aircraft gunsite got accepted (Flak Stellung Rondorf, Intel-Link).

⁣⁣A bunch of Wayfinder submissions for „Zwischenfeldbauten“ - remnants of the Prussian fortification ring around Cologne - were declined beforehand. I submitted them while I had a guided tour with @andreasroland_altena from CRIFA (Cologne Research - Institute of Fortification Architecture).

These sites are rather unknown to the public, hidden in the woods from any sat view and have no information signs set up. So I wasn’t really surprised when one after another site got declined. Not surprised, but still a little bit disappointed (more about this tour is covered in this German blogpost).





⁣⁣By making them POI in an AR game these places of former military conflicts could help to preserve the memory. Only when you preserve the knowledge about formers wars and their costs in life and budget you can use this information to promote peaceful cooperation as a better way for our European nations.

⁣But I know that there is a discussion among the memorial preservation community whether it's a good idea to point people to these places or rather let them rest in peace. I'm more in favor to the side that thinks that a memorial that no one knows and cares about makes no sense. It may be subject to vandalism but I learnt from the urbex community that any lost place will be found by vandals sooner or later. So there is no point in hiding it deliberately.

This former military base got rejected as a wayspot. It was the "Flankierungsbatterie Hochkirchen" - a battery for light artillery. It was built for local defense between the bigger forts within the defense ring of Cologne. 

⁣The AA gun site from WW2 is less hidden. In fact there are two walking/running paths that lead around it. And it had another big advantage: There was a newspaper article about this site that I could present to the reviewers. ⁣⁣Now this part of the inglorious German heritage became a part of the AR gaming platform of Niantic.

I hope that this will help to preserve the site and the memory of the bombardments as a reaction to the crimes against humanity of Germany under the Nazi regime. The renaissance of right wing parties in Germany show that we shall promote this memory as much as we can in order to avoid repetition. That’s why I consider the voluntary work of the members Kölner Festungsmuseum in education and preservation as more valuable than ever. ⁣

"Fun" fact: all these kind of war memorials are located within a place named Friedenswald (Forest of Peace) where trees from a lot of countries show how peaceful coexistence is a thing.