Valentin submarine factory | |
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Part of Third Reich | |
Rekum port (Weser River, Bremen) | |
Coordinates | 53°13′01″N 8°30′23″E / 53.216992°N 8.506275°E |
Type | blockhouse |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Free entrance, self guided walking tours, electronic audio guide available |
Site history | |
Built | February 1943 to March 1945 (unfinished) |
Materials | Ferrous concrete |
The Valentin submarine factory is a protective shelter on the Weser River at the Bremen suburb of Rekum , built to protect German U-boats during World War II. The factory was under construction from 1943 to March 1945 using forced labour, but was damaged by air-raids and unfinished by the end of the war. The Valentin factory was the largest fortified U-boat facility in Germany, and was second only to those built at Brest in France.
As a manufacturing facility, it differed from conventional U-boat pens, which were designed to house and service operational U-boats.