Site of memory „Heinersgruen command post“
foreign language version: English

1. Ground floor & basement

Access to the ground floor is via intercom and electric door opener. In addition to switchgear (5) and a storage room for a variety of batteries (4), there is also a toilet without a water connection. Water is stored in buckets. The wastewater is led into an external septic tank (2).
The basement can be reached via a floor hatch. There you will find the power connection including distributor, emergency power generator (3), sound generator as well as work equipment and repair material (1). The floors are connected to each other via steel stairs. The basement and ground floor have a ventilation shaft with an electric fan (19).
Next to the command post there is a vehicle shelter lined with concrete slabs. Most of the time, a four-wheeled vehicle equipped with a radio is accommodated here, but sometimes there are two motorcycles or snowmobiles in winter.

2. First floor

The 1st floor serves as the ready room for the so-called alarm group. This operational reserve of the border troops consists of four soldiers who spend an average of 12 hours here. When an alarm is triggered, a so-called border alarm, the soldiers have a time window of around one and a half to three minutes to prepare to march.
The furnishings include camp beds, chairs, a table, a broom locker and a weapon rack (7). The lighting is via neon tubes, and there are electric wall heaters on the top two floors (8).
Sometimes a radio may be operated with the permission of the superior. However, the GDR radio stations must be marked. Listening to Western stations is prohibited – this will be checked during controls. In such a case, the radio permit issued will be confiscated.

3. Top floor

On the 2nd floor is the so-called management cockpit with communications equipment and an all-round view. The work table and chair for the responsible “border security commander” are on an approximately 50 cm high platform facing the border. The topographic map of the respective border section on a scale of 1:10,000 is connected to the podium (15). All activities and reports are noted here. A compass rose painted on the ceiling serves as orientation. Activity book and management table are placed on the table. Radios, intercoms, sets of intercoms, field telephones and telephone terminals are available for communication with the border posts, neighboring command posts, the border company, the border battalion staff and other departments. There is a weapon holder on the table.
The display devices of the border signal fence, such as the so-called central display ZA-40, are located between the floor hatch and the platform. It uses visual and acoustic signals to indicate in which section of the fence the alarm was triggered. By 1984, up to two control cabinets could be set up for barrier system 501 (equipped with the SM-70 fragmentation mine).
The equipment also includes various antennas (10) and a device for measuring wind speed (11). The roof can be accessed via a ladder and hatch (13/14). It is surrounded by a steel railing. A centrally mounted searchlight (12) can be operated from inside (9) or from the roof.