Army Test Center for Motor Transport
The Test Center for Motor Vehicles ("Verskraft") was a department of the "Heereswaffenamt" (Army Weapons Office), department "WaPrüf 6" (vehicles and combat vehicles) in the German state of Brandenburg.
After the need for automobile warfare became apparent over the course of the First World War, increased army motorization was needed. In 1917 a "test center for conveyor railway and motor vehicle operation" was set up in Eastern Germany. In 1926, the "Verskraft" test center for motor vehicles was set up on the grounds of a shooting range.
"Verskraft" tested all prototypes of German tanks (up to the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus) as well as tanks captured on the battlefield, motorcycles, NSU Kettenkrad, trucks, traction vehicles, half-track vehicles, Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO), VW Kübelwagen, VW Schwimmwagen and many more.
In addition to administration, accommodation, workshops, test benches and vehicle halls, there were dust chambers and a hall for climate simulation for testing under extreme conditions.
With the end of the Second World War, the activity of "Verskraft" ended and the site was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. Then units of the 64th mobile brigade of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSSD) were barracked here. Since the GSSD left in 1994, the "Verskraft" site has been waiting for a new use. Until 2012, a private technology museum was housed in some of the halls.
Source: Wikipedia
Visited: November 25, 2019
Location: Undisclosed
Status: Abandoned
