The authorities are struggling with the area around Goebbels' villa; it could serve the army

Wandlitz – The Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels, had a villa built north of Berlin in 1939. In the 1950s, a higher school for communist youth was established nearby. The entire area, known as Bogensee, has been empty for more than 20 years and is awaiting new use. The German army has now started to show interest in it, confirmed the army infrastructure office to ČTK. Due to rising defense expenditures and Germany's effort to build the largest conventional army in Europe, the Bundeswehr needs new spaces.

The plot near the town of Wandlitz was donated in 1936 by the city of Berlin to Minister of Propaganda Goebbels for his 39th birthday. One of the most powerful men in the Third Reich built a country residence on it, which he named Waldhof, meaning Forest Court.

Goebbels used the villa as a place for his love affairs, where Czech actress Lída Baarová, who was the minister's mistress, often stayed. Towards the end of the war, Goebbels, as one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates, moved his entire family to the villa by Lake Bogensee. He later returned to Berlin, where he committed suicide with his wife in Hitler's bunker. They also killed their six children.

After World War II, the villa was acquired by the youth organization of the East German communists, the Free German Youth (FDJ), which was the equivalent of the Czechoslovak Socialist Union of Youth (SSM) in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). An extensive complex was then created on the site, housing the FDJ university named after the first and only president of the GDR, Wilhelm Pieck. It served as a breeding ground for the cadres of East German communists.

After the year 2000, the complex was largely unused and began to deteriorate. At the end of January this year, part of the monument-protected building of the former university even burned down. The fire completely destroyed a valuable hall in the main building, where the roof collapsed.

In the past, various ideas for the use of the sixteen-hectare site have emerged. It is owned by the city of Berlin, which considered demolishing it a few years ago. The maintenance costs approximately a quarter of a million euros annually (over 61 million CZK). The nearby Brandenburg town of Wandlitz wants to prevent this, as it obtained the buildings and land last autumn for two years for free into its administration. However, no specific project for new use has yet been presented.

The interest of the German army could be a hope for the complex. A spokesman for the Federal Office for Infrastructure, Environmental Protection, and Bundeswehr Services (IUD) told ČTK that due to the current security situation in the world and related higher NATO goals, the German army will significantly expand in the coming years.

"The Bundeswehr is reviewing various sites throughout Germany that could potentially be suitable for future military use," the spokesman stated. "Currently, we are also reviewing the Bogensee area near the municipality of Wandlitz in the Barnim district," he added, emphasizing that the review of the area is far from closed.

Wandlitz Mayor Oliver Borchert welcomes the Bundeswehr's interest, but he believes it would not be right to focus solely on military use. "We remain open to various possibilities of use, whether it would be education, healthcare, or tourism," said the mayor to the Tagesspiegel website. He emphasized that the army explicitly ruled out using Goebbels' villa due to its historical burden during its inspection of the area.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that he wants to build the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional army in Europe due to the threat from Russia. According to the plan, Germany will gradually increase defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2029.