Date visited 16 April 2023
First visit today was the German Navy Memorial (Deutscher Marinebund) at Laboe - about 20 minutes from Kiel, home of the U-995 - the last surviving Type VII submarine. The submarine is in immaculate condition, and the quality of workmanship evident in her construction is outstanding - she was much better built than the post-war German submarine I visited later in the day.The memorial itself is both impressive and sobering. There is a history hall there with displays and ship models featuring German naval history from the founding of Germany to the present day. There is a large subterranean hall containing wreaths and memorials for various units/ships/events, and then the tower - the bottom few floors of the tower contain a variety of memorials/artefacts, and then you can catch an elevator to the top - given how flat the topography is up there, you would be able to see a very long way on a clear day - and even on a day like today, I could still see bits of Denmark.The museum shop is also to be commended - they had quite a range of books and naval magazines - many of which I hadn't seen before.Everything about this memorial is well done, and I highly recommend it.
Links and References:
Howman-Meek, RSS, et al 2000. Career of U995. Warship International, 37 (4), 429-430.
Sattler, C, 2019, U-995 on display, Australian Warship, 106, pp42-45.