Trieste Kleine Berlin – In And Out Slovenia

Hi guys,

I’d like to show you something a little bit special today.
I am taking you with me in “Kleine Berlin” (meaning “Little Berlin” in english).
It is the biggest system of underground tunnels against air raid still in existence in Trieste.
It was build in 1943 by german soldiers and city authorities, when Trieste was annexed
into the “Adriatic Coast Operatianal Zone” (a Nazi German district on the northen adriatic coast).

Entrance of Kleine Berlin. Waiting for the tour to begin.

Kleine Berlin is made up of a public air-raid tunnel for italian civilians
and of a German military air-raid shelter, consisting of a main tunnel and of side branches.

It can be visited every friday evening at 8 P.M.
The “Kleine Berlin” tour is supposed to last 2 hours.
The people who organize the tour are all volonteers.
We called a phone number that we found on Google a Thursday to book 2 places for Friday.
Maurizio, the man who answered the phone spoke only Italian.
He told us to be at the meeting point Via Fabio Severo.
We where about 30 people to attend the tour.
We should have paid 10 € (5 € for each ) but we ended up paying nothing
because Maurizio wrote our names on a list and told his colleagues
that it would be free for all the people on that list (those who booked their visit by phone).

Some of the stuffs left by german soldiers are exposed in the tunnel, near the entrance.

We entered in the tunnels at 8 P.M.
10 minutes later, a documentary film explaining the story of Trieste
and the region of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia during WWII was played for us in a room.
Once again, the documentary film was in Italian …no english subtitles whatsoever.

After the documentary film was finished, we followed Maurizio to start visiting the tunnels.

One of the large room, near the main tunnel in the german sector.

I do not speak Italian so I had to ask my partner to translate for me when I was completly lost.
Maurizio told us everything about the story of those tunnels, the difference between the german sector
and the Italian sector and gave us a lot of anecdotes.

Secret passage built for the German General **Odilo Globocnic**, SS and Police leader of Trieste (1943-1945).

He could use this passage to reach his private house and the Courthouse of Trieste.

Courthouse of Trieste, 100 m away. It was the SS headquarter between 1943 and 1945.

After spending about 1 hour with the Maurizio, a second guide took over.
We stayed with him for more than an hour.
He told us about the history of the tunnel complex but not only that.
He showed us one of the highlight of the tour…
A tunnel who was slowly turning into a cave with stalagtites because of high humidity.
This tunnel who used to shelter hundreds of people during air raid is now floaded with 10 cm of water.

The second guide also gave us a lot of anecdotes.
He showed us the ventilation system in the tunnels and explained how people managed to survive in the tunnels.

We ended up the tour in a room full of photos of Trieste under the bombs in WWII.
The guide showed us how the city and its docks was devastated by air raids
and explained us how Triestini tried to survive and fight to live another day.

Rooms exposing photos of Trieste under the bombs in WWII.

Exposition of photos showing Trieste under the bombs.

Second guide explaining how Trieste was destroyed by air raid during WWII.

22h27 -> the tour was finished.
We all went outside.

Getting out of Kleine Berlin. It was already dark outside.

The tour was supposed to last 2 hours but it ended up being almost 30 minutes longer than expected.
All in all, though I do not understand Italian very well, I learned a lot.
Before going outside, I asked the second guide (who spoke a little bit English)
if it was possible to attend a walking tour in English.
He told me that it was possible but only for a group of 20 people or more.
Those of you who might be interrested to have a guided tour in english have to send an email (-> kleineberlin@cat.ts.it).
Some of the volonteers of the association speak English and can give a guided tour in English.

My tips for Kleine Berlin :

1/ Call to book for a tour (+39 339 253 9712).
2/ Send an email if you want to book a tour in English (for small group, 20+ people).
3/ Don’t go alone if you don’t understand Italian.