Perhaps best known for its race circuit today, the city of Le Mans in the Pays de la Loire region of north west France is steeped in history dating back to Roman times.

It retains one of the most complete Gallo-Roman defensive walls surrounding the city and a 3rd Century amphitheatre can still be seen. Battles raged for centuries to follow as Le Mans became a seat of power of both French and English crowns during the 13th Century.

Fast forward a few hundred years to the 20th Century and Le Mans had become widely recognised as a hub of automotive and railway industry, as well as hosting the first 24 hours endurance race. In 1908, its racecourse was used by the Wright Brothers to demonstrate their new ‘aeroplane’.

Following the occupation of France in May/June 1940, around 30 fortified bunkers were built in and around the city centre, with some of the larger hotels and chateaus commandeered by high-ranking German officials.
While many of the public buildings remain, few of the bunkers can be found with the exception of four large command bunkers in the heart of the city.
Standing next to the Parc Victor Hugo on Rue Chanzy, are two large concrete constructions – R608 Battalion and Regimental HQ bunker and an even bigger special construction HQ building consisting of an extended, double R608 with an integral garage for the commander’s vehicle.
Inside the park a fourth R608 bunker is now largely hidden under landscaping and behind a private fence.

Le Mans was the headquarters of the German 7th Army which, from April 1941, was responsible for the defence of Normandy and Brittany, latterly as part of Rommel’s Army Group B.
The Armeeoberkommando 7 (AOK7) was commanded by Generaloberst (Colonel General) Friedrich Dollmann – a career soldier who served I the First World War – and in July 1942 he and his staff occupied the large corner building on Rue Chanzy, which today is the Hotel Mercure.

In early 1943, work began on building the large bunkers you can see today, the first being the R608 HQ building opposite the hotel.
These were to be communication and command bunkers to control the coastal Atlantikwall fortification sites and troops, including those along what would later become known as the D-Day landing beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword along with the ‘fortress cities’ including Cherbourg.

Following the D-Day landings and subsequent capture of Cherbourg on June 26, 1944, Dollmann was summoned to Hitler’s Berchtesgaden retreat and was later relieved of his position. It’s claimed he had already returned to Le Mans and is supposed to have been unaware of this.
His death – on June 29, 1944, remains one of mystery, some believe it was caused by a heart attack brought on by stress while there is a strong belief that he committed suicide by poison after saying goodbye to his staff inside the Le Mans bunkers.

Le Mans was liberated by US 79th and 90th Infantry Divisions on August 8, 1944. In 1946, the bunkers were sealed to the public, remaining so until the HQ building was opened again in 2011.
In 2014, a small museum was established, and they were opened to the public for the first time, offering a snapshot into life inside the HQ bunkers during the war.

Today they boast over 125 square metres of exhibitions – a time capsule experience which can be visited - and you can see uniforms, equipment, and original furniture and features from the period along with a timeline of the area’s occupation and liberation.

Visits to the Dollmann bunker can be arranged on the first Saturday of the month from April to November – check out https://historiquemans.wixsite.com/lm72 for more information.

We can highly recommend the guided tours inside the HQ bunker – they are very informative and highlight some of the hidden features of the building and its occupants during the war. They're some of the best, most knowledgeable tour guides we’ve ever experienced.

* The NormandyBunkers team would like to thank the association volunteers who look after the Dollmann bunker site for their kind hospitality and opening up the bunker specially for us to film – you can watch a full film on our YouTube channel soon.

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