On the western tip of the island of Usedom is Peenemunde, which is the original "Cape Canaveral" best known for the ultra-secret Nazi city and most important Nazi Army Research Center where the Rocket Age, Space Age and Jet Age began during the Second World War. Though, the first jet engine was invented by Sir Frank Whittle, an English aviation engineer and pilot, the first operational jet engine was designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain, a German physicist and developed in Peenemunde. Peenemunde was also where the first liquid fuel rockets were developed, and where German jet engines used in Messerschmitt fighter planes were tested. It was also where CCTV was used for the first time in 1942. And there were other top secret projects worked on at this site such as the Nazi UFO and Die Glocke (The Bell).

The vertical start V2 rocket at the Peenemunde Museum

Few know the greatest unsung hero behind rocket science. Rocket science can be traced back to a Polish military engineer Kazimerz Siemieniowicz, who wrote the first book in the world to systematically present knowledge about the development of multistage rockets and rocket artillery in the 17th century. Published in Amsterdam in 1650 in Latin, the book was translated into French in 1651, German in 1676, English and Dutch in 1729, and Polish in 1963.

It wasn't until a few centuries later that Werner von Braun was greatly inspired by Robert H. Goddard, who was mentored by Hermann Oberth. Oberth also assisted von Braun in Peenemunde. Von Braun once said that he developed the V2 rocket in Peenemunde during WWII with the hope that it would be used for space travel in the future. As noble as that may sound, history has shown otherwise.

After WWII, the V2 rocket was taken to White Sands, New Mexico, and it was the first man made object in history to reach outer-space. However, the first rockets that took the first satellites into space Sputnik 1 and Explorer 1 were designed on Kazimerz Siemieniowicz's 17th century multistage rocket idea.

The V1 rocket on its horizontal starting track at the Peenemunde Museum

Earlier ultra-secret technological projects such as the V1 rocket were also developed in Peenemunde by other teams of scientists. But the slow and problematic V1 rockets were abandoned due to technical issues, and replaced by V2 rockets.

The first US rocket to reach an altitude of 244 miles, high above the 62-mile Karman line that divides Earth's atmosphere and space was an original V2 rocket that was seized and transported to the US after the WWII. It was launched for the first time from White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico on February 24, 1949, and the rockets were later used in NASA space projects.

The Peenemunde power plant was not the largest building at this site. But it is the only one that survided to our times.
It was the most powerful electric power plant in the world, at that time, that produced gigantic amounts of power needed mostly 
for production of 12 1/2 tons of liquid oxygen, every day. It was one of the most important components of the rocket fuel. 
Every single V2 rocket used 4 tons of liquid oxygen.

After World War II, Peenemunde Army Research Center was seized by Russians, who developed their R-7 ICBM rocket based on von Braun's designs. The Russian R-7 ICBM rocket launched Sputnik into space on October 4, 1957. It was the first rocket, which actually went into space. And that event marks the beginning of the Space Race. But the foundational developments to suborbital space flights started before that in Peenemunde on the island of Usedom. American, Russian and Chinese multistage rockets still use Kazimerz Siemieniowicz's invention, and technologies that were developed and used for the first time in Peenemunde.

The site of the Rocket City was bombed during the war and is in disrepair. Now, the remains of its enormous power plant houses the Peenemunde Museum of Technology. Please check the museum's website for visiting hours and ticket information. The museum can be reached by car or UBB train. There is also a bus that goes around the Peenemunde historical site and its airport. Those who would like to fly to Peenemunde will be pleased to know that Peenemunde Airfield has a long runway and the author was told that is can handle light passenger aircraft traffic. It was originally built as part of the original army research center.

There are stories of a UFO hidden somewhere in a bunker at Peenemunde, but it has never been found. If there was one and Russians found it, they would have probably taken it back to Russia with them a long time ago. But there is no evidence of that either. The Peenemunde's underground constructions have not yet been fully explored, and there have been some UFO sightings in the area on the island of Usedom. However, most of those did not resembled the Nazi UFO or Die Glocke.

Although Peenemunde is best known for the Rocket City and technological museum, there are other sites and museums there dedicated to other interesting subjects. One of those is a U-Boot Museum docked next to the technological museum, which is worth visiting. There is also a doll museum with a collection of antique dolls; some of which are over 200 years old. The doll museum was created by Erhard Diller, and it is more then just a museum. Exhibitions show how dolls and toys were exploited by regimes for brainwashing of children. There is also the Phaenomenta Museum where one can experience laws of physics and learn more about them.

Neighboring resort town of Karlshagen was also a part of the Peenemunde Army Research Center. After the war, a monument was raised in Karlshagen to commemorate the victims of concentration camp forced labor that were worked to death in that army base.

Just as Werner von Braun was greatly inspired by Robert H. Goddard, the Wright Brothers were greatly inspired by Otto Lilienthal. who invented gliders. Lilienthal was the first person to make well-documented and successful repeated gliding flights. Coincidentally, Otto Lilienthal was born in the nearby town of Anklam, which is located on the main land, across the Peene River, from which Peenemunde gets its name. Lilienthal's study of birds have lead him to the invention of gliders, and have given birth to the aviation age. His work has also lead to the birth of the latest aircraft wing designs. The Otto Lilienthal Museum is located nearby in Anklam, which is also worth a visit.