Description
The Engelberg Tunnel is a motorway tunnel on the German A81 Autobahn (motorway) just to the west of Stuttgart on the outskirts of Leonberg. During World War II it was used as a Nazi forced labor factory for the manufacture and storage of aircraft parts.The name is sometimes used to refer to the Old Engelberg Tunnel - which was Germany's second ever motorway tunnel - and sometimes used to refer to its successor, the completely rebuilt lower Engelberg Tunnel. Both travel under the Engelberg hill to the east of Leonberg on the Stuttgart to Heilbronn A81 motorway.The Old Engelberg TunnelThe original Engelberg twin tunnel was opened to traffic on 5 November 1938 after three years' construction. The 318m long twin tunnel stood on 'Route 39' of the network of motorways built during the German Reich and was Germany's first ever motorway tunnel.World War IIDuring World War II both tunnels were closed to traffic in 1944 to be used as a Messerschmitt factory. Nazi slave labourers were brought to work in the factory from the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace. In shifts lasting between 12 and 18 hours, "Zwangsarbeiter" assembled wings for Me 262 type aircraft. To provide extra production area, an extra floor was built in the tunnels. Total production area was 11,000m².
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