Luftwaffe Munitions Depot Rottershausen

Luftwaffe Munitions Depot Rottershausen

A LuftMUNA, or Luftmunitionsanstalt (ammunition storage and assembly site for the Luftwaffe) was built in the woods near the village of Rottershausen, north of Schweinfurt, in 1943. This site contained several bunkers, some partly underground, storing aircraft bombs and ammunition for the Schweinfurt flak batteries. All were camouflaged with earth and vegetation to guard against aerial reconnaissance. A rail line was built for quick access into the area.

Many of the bunkers were blown up by retreating German troops on the night of 4-5 April 1945. American forces apparently destroyed others after the war. Others were removed in 2004.

After the war this area was used as an ammunition storage site by the U.S. Army, and part of it is still closed off (most of the existing above-ground bunkers are still in use, mostly by the Bundes Grenzschutz (German Border Patrol troops).


The main entrance road to the site was flanked by well-constructed rock walls.


Above-ground ammo bunkers at the Rottershausen site. The one on the left is intact and still in use. The photo on the right shows the entrance to one of the many destroyed bunkers. Only the rectangular shells remain, along with the concrete entryways.


Entrances to below-ground Luftschutz (air raid) bunkers for the MUNA personnel. (Actually, these bunkers were probably built in shallow depressions, then covered with earth - not actually dug into the ground like a tunnel.) Note - the bunkers shown here were removed in 2004.


Below-ground Luftschutz bunker located beside the rail line into the storage area. On the left is one of the entrances (partially filled in); on the right is the interior of the main room. Each Luftschutz bunker consisted of a right-angle entryway, a small passage, then the main room, which configuration was repeated on the other side for the back exit.


A blown up bunker for storage of fuzes. These Zünderbunker, all located near the rail line, had concrete steps leading to their elevated entrances.


The rail station at the Rottershausen Munitions Depot. (This building was demolished in the summer of 2004.)


Near the MUNA was a small headquarters complex and housing area for the Luftwaffe personnel. These buildings all still exist in an area now called the Waldsiedlung. This was the administration building. During the war it was camouflaged to look like a half-timbered Fachwerk house (this was all paint - no wooden beams or boards on the outside).


On the left, the guard house leading into the headquarters area. On the right, the Casino, or military club.

Click here to see photos of a Munitionsanstalt at Oberwildflecken, northwest of Rottershausen.

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