It’s hard to describe my reaction after walking into this abandoned room, during Friday’s (4 March 2011) Urban Explore of abandoned former Soviet Military Base “H”, to discover this hidden “heroic” wall mural. It was a sight to behold, and I’ve tried to convey the feeling in today’s photograph. In 1958/59, the Soviet might deployed Nuclear weapons to his location, deep in the heart of the German Democratic Republic. This was the first time the Soviets had deployed nukes outside its own vast borders. And the soldiers and officers at this facility were, I imagine, a special breed, entrusted with the the unenviable responsibility of remaining always prepared to launch a Nuclear strike/counterstrike against the West, if ever commanded by the Kremlin. Thankfully, that day never same, but I’ll bet the soldiers here trained for that day as if it would. During my research prior to shooting at this location, I learned that the weapons here were 300 kilotons each, with a range of 1200km). By the way, I listened to the Gregorian’s re-imagining of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ while processing this photo and writing the text for this post. Check it out!
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