Miedzyrzecki Fortified Region

It is worth spending half an hour by car to reach the Museum of Fortifications and Bats in Pniewo, located 35 km from the WENA agritourism, to visit the Międzyrzecki Fortified Region. Certainly, this object will be of interest to people interested in military, military or general history, but not only – visiting underground corridors inhabited by bats, with a fascinating history related to World War II, will be an extraordinary adventure for almost everyone.

The Międzyrzecz Fortified Region is a series of corridors over 30 km long, created by the Germans in the years 1934 – 44. It is one of the longest underground fortifications in the world. Only fragments of corridors are available to visitors, divided into several longer and shorter routes. Tourists can meet eye to eye with bats, of which there are as many as 30,000 bats from 12 different species. Each group of visitors is accompanied by a qualified guide.

SIGHTSEEING ROUTES

Tourists can choose from several routes that differ in length and conditions on a given route. It is therefore possible to adjust the sightseeing of the facility to the best of your abilities and accompanying people. It is worth taking children or teenagers to this interesting history lesson. Due to wintering bats, which are subject to protection periods from mid-October to mid-April, individual routes have different routes in the fall-winter and spring-summer time.

Short route – about 1500 meters long, takes 1.5 hours. The least demanding, recommended for children or the elderly.

The long route – approx. 2500 meters, takes 2.5 hours.

Extreme routes – a choice of different route variants, lasting 4, 6 or 8 hours. As the name suggests, the routes are long, they can be tiring and take place in uncomfortable conditions, e.g. in wet corridors.

Surface routes – the possibility of visiting bunkers, shelters and other fortifications on the surface.

HOW TO PREPARE?

Appropriate clothing and equipment is really important when visiting the Międzyrzecz Fortified Region. Shorts and flip-flops will not work even in the middle of summer, because they are underground, where the temperature is around 10 – 12 degrees all year round. So you need to take warm clothes with you, and in the case of longer routes, wear onions, because being in such a temperature for several hours increases the cold. In addition, the surface of the underground is concrete, uneven and part of it are stairs, so good and comfortable shoes are the basis. The short route is illuminated, but the longer routes are not, so it's worth having your own flashlight to see as much as possible while exploring. When choosing an extreme route, you should have food, a spare battery for a flashlight and shoes adapted to moving in shallow water.