Heeresmunitionsanstalt Kapen
Built by the German Army Heeresmunitionsanstalt Kapen was a munitions factory. After the Second World War it was taken over by the Soviets and used as a military base, and an armaments company named Chemiewerk Kapen. It was abandoned in 1991.
Heeresmunitionsanstalt Kapen lies near Oranienbaum in Eastern Germany. Before the Second World War, the area was forest. A hunting villa and lodge has stood there since 1902. In 1935, the German army built a large ammunition depot.
The military factory made artillery shells and cartridges. In 1936 a chemical weapons plant opened. The site filled mustard gas and arsenic weapons into bombs and shells. By 1943, it employed over 1,150 people. Many were forced laborers.
Soviet army
After the Second world War, in April 1945, U.S. troops reached the site. The Americans left soon after. The Soviet army took over in May. From 1945 to 1947, Soviet forces destroyed the chemical weapons on site by burning or dumping them. This created severe pollution and dioxin contamination.
Chemiewerk Kapen
Part of the plant was used as a Soviet military base, the other part of the armaments company VEB Chemiewerk Kapen. They made hand grenades, landmines, fuzes, and the SM‑70 self‑shooting device used on the inner German border. Production peaked in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Soviets revamped the area, putting up barracks and decorating the surroundings with paintings and propaganda. In the center of the area, there’s a large panel featuring an image of Lenin. The theater façade displays several Soviet emblems, including three Orders of Lenin awarded to the Komsomol in 1945, 1948, and 1956, along with other decorations such as the Orders of the Red Banner, Red Banner of Labour, and October Revolution. Some emblems had been plastered over for decades but were recently uncovered by Berlin explorers, revealing the complete collection.
Dessora industrial park
After German reunification in 1990, the military base closed and the chemical plant was converted into the Dessora industrial park. Soviet forces left in September 1991. Some old buildings remained, but many parts stay unused and polluted.
Today the site is largely abandoned. Nature slowly reclaims the buildings. People still sometimes visit, but the place is unsafe. No major re‑use plan exists for now due to contamination and structural damage.
