All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S02E05.Conspiracy.On.Devils.Mountain.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
An american installation
That waged a cold war.

Gough: it was so brazen.

It must have been a giant
Middle finger to the ussr.

Narrator:
An industrial site now lost
In impenetrable forest.

Bell: without that production,

Hitler's war machine
Would simply grind to a halt.

Narrator: and an abandoned
Tower teetering at the edge.

It's a very strange picture
Because what was there before

It's a very strange picture
Because what was there before

Is no longer there now.

Narrator: once, they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,
Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them?
And how?

And why were they abandoned?

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Discovery communications

*

*

In the western part of
Germany's capital city, berlin,

A battered shell of a building
Sits atop a tree-covered hill.

*

*

The hill is called
The teufelsberg,

The devil's mountain.

The name adds
A sinister touch

To the weird structure
Rising out of the trees.

Gough: at first sight,
All you're thinking is

I don't know what this is,
But it's an eyesore.

Narrator: towering 260 feet
Above the surrounding plateau,

The block-shaped building
With its central tower

The block-shaped building
With its central tower

Is mysteriously topped
By a dome.

Two other tattered domes
Flank the tower,

And nearby a fourth rises
From the summit.

Surrounded by a sprawling
Complex of derelict facilities,

The tower and the
Four domes are covered

In ragged, plastic sheeting
That exposes the ruined interior

Of this extraordinary structure.

Of this extraordinary structure.

Gough: this thing is really
A hangout for rebels,

Conspiracy theorists,
Counterculture intellectuals,

And most definitely
Graffiti artists.

And there's soft of an
Angry presence to it.

Narrator: mystery surrounds
This strange ruin,

But what was
Its original purpose,

And why was it abandoned?

In the 1960s, the city
Of berlin is the center

Of cold war espionage.

The city is split
Into four sectors.

Three are run by the
Americans, british, and french,

While the eastern quarter
Is run by the soviets.

However, this makes
Democratic west berlin

Entirely surrounded by
Communist east germany,

Making the west an easy target
For eavesdropping.

Making the west an easy target
For eavesdropping.

Nusbacher: the american embassy
In moscow is riddled

With listening equipment.

The american fleet at sea
Is constantly being tailed

By soviet fishing trawlers

Bristling with
Listening equipment.

Everybody is
Shadowing everybody.

Narrator: though encircled,

America's national
Security agency, the nsa,

America's national
Security agency, the nsa,

Takes advantage of its
Proximity to the communists,

Hoping to spy against
The soviet union.

So they aim to build a
Cutting-edge listening station

Called field station berlin,

Known to its operators
As the hill.

Corum: we had listening posts
With large antennas

All around the periphery
Of the soviet union

Collecting electronic
Intelligence.

And it was especially
Well-placed

And it was especially
Well-placed

Because it's 150 miles
Inside the enemy lines

In this enclave of west berlin.

Teufelsberg was a place
Where we in the west

Could listen in and get a
Look inside the operations

Of the soviet armed forces.

Narrator: in 1963,
Engineers begin work

On a new permanent structure

On the summit
Of the teufelsberg.

The foundations for the new
Radio monitoring station

Go deep, but not into bedrock.

The teufelsberg is

A 16-million-cubic-yard
Mound of rubble

Created from the wartime ruins
Of nazi berlin.

Beneath this devil's hill is
Something really interesting,

A nazi technical college

Designed and constructed
By albert speer.

And it was designed so well,
They couldn't knock it down,

And it was designed so well,
They couldn't knock it down,

So they just buried it.

Narrator: from the moment
The hill begins operating,

The soviet union is
Desperate to shut it down.

And that's because teufelsberg
Surveillance technology

Is effective.

In each of the hill's
Distinctive domes,

A large rotating parabolic
Radio antennae intercepts

The soviet force's
Radio communications.

Monitoring this radio
Chatter gives the nsa

An invaluable
Intelligence insight

Into military maneuvers
Behind the iron curtain.

But to maintain the shape
Of the plastic sheeting

Over the main dome, the whole
Structure has to be kept

Under pressure, with
Life-threatening consequences.

Gough: it's interesting that
The iconic ray domes

Are still there today.

Now, these were thin plastic
Put over frames

In a highly pressurized room,

And we're told,
Interestingly,

That the men
Who worked there

Had to go through
A decompression chamber

Upon leaving
Or otherwise risk

Getting decompression sickness.

Narrator: the soviets
Constantly attempt to block

Or interfere with the u.S.
Army's radio communications

In a practice known as jamming.

In a practice known as jamming.

Now, jamming was a standard
Procedure of the soviet union.

But in this case,
There's not a lot you can do

With an enclave that's
Deep inside your system

Without jamming your own
Radio transmissions.

This structure, high up on
The hill, it was so brazen.

It must have been a giant
Middle finger to the ussr.

It must have been a giant
Middle finger to the ussr.

Narrator: year by year,
The hill listening station

Gathers intelligence
On the strength and capabilities

Of soviet
And east german forces.

The all-important nuclear
Missile launcher units

Are given top priority.

*

You can learn a lot
From military operations

From just listening, even if
You haven't broken their codes.

From just listening, even if
You haven't broken their codes.

We understood that when
We were on the radio

The other guys were listening,

And they understood that,
As well.

Narrator: but will
The soviets manage

To sabotage the hill?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: during the cold war
In west berlin,

Surrounded by
Communist east germany

Is an american-run listening
Station known as the hill.

Though both sides eavesdrop
On their opponent's

Radio communications,
For more than 30 years

The hill's location in berlin
Gives the west

The hill's location in berlin
Gives the west

A crucial advantage.

*

You're surrounded by
A large number

Of soviet east german divisions,
Which are holding maneuvers,

Which are pushing
The radio traffic.

And it's a great place to
Listen to all of their patter,

Their tactical
Operational transmissions.

Narrator: the soviets
Never managed to put an end

To the nsa's surveillance,

To the nsa's surveillance,

And when the cold
War comes to an end

With the collapse
Of the soviet union

And the warsaw pact of 1989,

The hill's mission ends.

As soon as it's decommissioned,
The hill is stripped

Of its secret
Monitoring equipment

And left as an empty shell.

*

Today, the teufelsberg
Listening station lies in ruins

Today, the teufelsberg
Listening station lies in ruins

Overlooking the city of berlin,

But its rebellious status
Remains intact.

Gough: who wants to remember
That paranoia,

That imminent destruction?

So now it's a graffiti gallery,
And maybe that's appropriate.

You know, maybe
That's even healing.

Narrator:
Even today,

The details of its surveillance
Work are classified,

But the knowledge
And experience gained

On this mountain
Of nazi rubble

Gave the u.S.A. And its allies
A lead in signals intelligence

Gave the u.S.A. And its allies
A lead in signals intelligence

That has never been lost.

Corum: we are looking at
Peoples' bandwidths

And transmissions all the time,

And it's still a very, very
Big part of intelligence.

In fact, it's probably a
Bigger part of intelligence

Today than it was before.

Gough: the sight now has been
Completely stripped

Of all its equipment,
So there's no clue about

What it actually found.

And to this day,
It remains highly classified,

And to this day,
It remains highly classified,

In fact, top secret.

*

Narrator: over 4,000 miles
Away in the united states

In the heart of baltimore,
Maryland, looms an incredible

And practically
Unknown structure.

Hemmed in by towering
Office blocks,

This building is
From a bygone era,

This building is
From a bygone era,

And many
Of the city's inhabitants

Have no idea what it is.

Dickrell:
It was the tallest structure
In the united states.

Not only was it made of brick,

But it was made of
So many bricks.

Narrator: pierced only
By a few deep-set windows,

This massive brick tower
Soars to a height of 215 feet

Above the surrounding streets.

At the base of the tower,
An iron door set in

Its 4-1/2-feet thick wall leads
Into a hollow shaft.

Gilman-forlin:
It is quite a climb.

I mean, going 215 feet,
You know,

It's over 13, 14 stories high.

It really is
An engineering masterpiece,

And this really was
Untrodden ground.

Narrator: inside,
Old wood planks rise straight up

Out of sight,
Supporting bizarre,

Zig-zag-shaped iron brackets,

And around the walls,
A creaking, wooden staircase

Leads to the summit.

The smooth surface
Of the tower's interior

Is testament to
The skilled laying

Of the kiln-fired clay bricks,

And the intricate wooden
Framework lining it

Reveal the complex engineering
That went into its construction.

Reveal the complex engineering
That went into its construction.

So what happened here,

And why is this mighty
Building now abandoned?

*

Throughout the revolutionary war
And even the war of 1812,

The american military has to
Rely on imported ammunition

From holland, france, and spain.

From holland, france, and spain.

The united states has
No way of manufacturing

The huge quantities needed,

And this is a crucial
Weakness in its defenses.

Gilman-forlin:
The united states at
The time this was built

Was still a relatively
Young country

That was trying to come onto
Its own on the world stage,

And therefore, it needed
A way of producing

Military armaments
Quickly and inexpensively.

Narrator: so how
Will this unusual tower

Narrator: so how
Will this unusual tower

Help the american military,
And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator:
By the early 1800s,

The u.S. Military is desperate
To produce its own ammunition.

So in 1828 in baltimore,
Charles carroll iii,

A surviving signatory

Of the u.S. Declaration
Of independence,

Lays the foundation stone for
This, the phoenix shot tower.

*

*

It's an incredible
Vertical factory

Designed to produce 100,000

25-pound bags
Of lead musket balls

And round bullets
Called shot every year.

But to construct
The mighty building,

A local company has to produce

An astonishing
1,100,000 bricks.

Dickrell: the limitation of
The structure was probably due

Dickrell: the limitation of
The structure was probably due

To the compressive strength of
The brick at the bottom, right?

You can only make it so high

Before the weight
Of the structure above

Just crushes
The bricks at the bottom.

Narrator: but despite this,

Soon this extraordinary new
Building begins to take shape.

Yard after yard,
It grows upward.

And there's a reason engineers
Must build it so high.

Dickrell:
At the time when the shot
Tower was constructed,

Dickrell:
At the time when the shot
Tower was constructed,

Guns would shoot spherical,

Basically lead projectiles
Out of them,

And the most efficient way
To do that

Is to pour molten lead
From a height, which,

As it falls, the molten lead
Coalesces into a sphere,

Almost like a perfect sphere.

Narrator: this technique
Might sound bizarre,

But it actually relies on
An ingenious use of physics

To achieve the
Perfectly round bullet.

Tons of lead are hauled
To the top of the tower

Tons of lead are hauled
To the top of the tower

And heated to
620 degrees fahrenheit

To create molten lead.

This is poured through
A copper sieve,

And the combination
Of surface tension

And friction with the air
Turns the falling drops

Of molten lead into
Perfect spheres

By the time they hit a
Cooling pool of water

At the bottom of the tower.

You're basically using gravity
Or using physics

To create a sphere,
So it makes perfect sense.

To create a sphere,
So it makes perfect sense.

But clearly what you need
For that is a lot of height.

And how do you get height?

It's by building
A massive brick tower.

Narrator: but to build
A 215-feet tower

Presents a major challenge.

They didn't really know entirely

What they were getting
Themselves into.

Incredibly, no scaffolding
Was used to build this.

Incredibly, no scaffolding
Was used to build this.

It was built entirely
One level at a time,

Slowly building bricks
As they went up.

It's really, really sturdy,
Almost over-built walls

Because they were
Afraid of a collapse

From wind or some
Other natural disaster.

And so this tower is
Really strong as a rock

Because of those super thick,
Load-bearing masonry walls.

Narrator: in addition
To its sheer height,

Its construction poses other
Threats to life and limb,

Which lead to the
Introduction of one

Which lead to the
Introduction of one

Of its most
Distinctive features.

Gilman-forlin:
That cast iron metal track,

It looks kind of strange and
A lot of people ask what it is,

But it's actually
An early braking system

For a kind of elevator.

Agrawal: they didn't just put
Any old elevator in.

They thought about,
Well, what happens

If a rope actually snaps?

Gilman-forlin:
There was a terrible accident
In which workers fell

To the bottom
But thankfully survived.

After that, they
Installed this track

After that, they
Installed this track

So that the box for the
Pulley system had spokes

Which would fit into the track.

So if there was a breakage,
It would very slowly

Kind of shift its way down
To the bottom of the tower

And hopefully
No one would get hurt.

Narrator: only a year
After the first brick is laid,

The phoenix tower goes
Into production in 1829.

Dickrell: probably one of
The most effective ways

That the united states
Had of making shot.

That the united states
Had of making shot.

It was a huge
Production facility

That created hundreds of
Thousands of bags of shot.

Narrator:
So will the tower meet the
U.S. Army's ammunition needs?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator:
In the heart of baltimore

Stands the imposing
Phoenix shot tower,

Which is designed
To produce ammunition

For the american military.

And for over 30 years,
The phoenix shot tower

Successfully produces
Spherical bullets for muskets.

But in the 1850s, the
Development of more advanced

Rifle ammunition
Deprives it of its role

Rifle ammunition
Deprives it of its role

In the nation's defense.

So the tower creates bullets

For the nation's
Civilian game hunters instead.

But in september, 1878,

Production comes
To a dramatic halt

When the tower's wooden
Interior catches fire.

Dickrell: the flames were
Shooting out so much

That the fire itself could
Be seen from miles away.

The fire burned out all
Of the internal structure

Of the shot tower, but the
Bricks itself remained intact

Of the shot tower, but the
Bricks itself remained intact

Due to their inherent
Resistance to fire.

Agrawal: well, brick is actually
A really good insulator.

What that means is
It doesn't get very hot

Or very cold very easily.

And because of the thickness
Of the brick,

It actually contained the fire.

The heat just couldn't penetrate

Through this massive
Wall of clay.

And also remember that this
Clay has actually been fired

To much higher
Temperatures already

Than the fire would
Have been producing.

Than the fire would
Have been producing.

Narrator:
Because of this, the tower rises
From the flames like a phoenix.

And just a month after the fire,
It, again, opens for business.

But by the late 1800s,
More efficient methods

For making round lead bullets
Lead to the tower's demise.

The effort of hauling tons
Of lead up a high tower

Is now deemed too
Hazardous and uneconomic.

Is now deemed too
Hazardous and uneconomic.

So the phoenix tower closes its
Iron doors for good in 1892.

*

Today, the phoenix shot tower
Stands as a monument

To a bygone era that helped
Deshackle the american military

From foreign-made ammunition.

But without concerted effort,

But without concerted effort,

This abandoned vertical factory
Would have vanished

Without a trace.

Gilman-forlin:
The tower had been purchased
By a gas and oil company,

Which did propose
Tearing the tower down.

However, the citizenry of
Baltimore loved it so much

And cherished it as a landmark
That they rallied together

And raised the money
To purchase the tower

And then donated it to the city
Government for safekeeping.

Narrator: now open as a museum,
The phoenix shot tower

Narrator: now open as a museum,
The phoenix shot tower

Is more than just a symbol
Of outdated technology.

Not only did
This incredible brick factory

Help to revolutionize the
Production of ammunition,

It was also a vital
Stepping stone towards

The nation's world-leading
Military industries.

*

4,000 miles away,
Across the atlantic ocean,

4,000 miles away,
Across the atlantic ocean,

On the baltic coast of poland,
Near the village of politz,

Is a 450-acre
Fenced-off area of forest.

Smashed concrete structures
Liter this desolate site.

Skeletons of buildings,
Gaping tunnels,

And blocked stairways
Are everywhere to be seen.

Bell: hidden under the trees
In northern poland

Is this labyrinth of
Concrete structures.

Is this labyrinth of
Concrete structures.

It's quite clearly something
That was industrial.

And that kind of thing
Does not happen over night,

And not without a vast
Investment of time and money.

Narrator:
The largest remaining structures

Are clustered together in the
Heart of the forest.

Flanked by the
Partially-demolished remains

Of two massive buildings,

A bizarre, brick-colored tower
Soars over the trees.

A bizarre, brick-colored tower
Soars over the trees.

Bell: when you look closely,
There are clues

To tell you exactly
What happened there.

On the side of one building
Is marked in german,

"Coal bunker four,"
And then not far away

There's the remains of
What was, quite obviously,

Large storage tanks.

And right there, those
Two elements are the core

Of the story that tells you
What happened there.

Narrator:
So what did happen here,

And why was the site abandoned?

*

In the 1930s, the town of
Politz is part of nazi germany.

Adolf hitler has ordered
That no expense be spared

So that he can overcome
A critical obstacle

In his plans for war.

Very few people know
That germany really lacked

Very few people know
That germany really lacked

The natural resources
Required to fight a major war.

Apart from coal and water,
At the time,

Pretty much everything else
Was imported.

And that critical lack
Played a huge role

In hitler's preparations
For war.

Narrator: and one
Crippling energy shortage

Outweighs all the others.

Without it, not a single
Aircraft will fly,

Ship will sail,

Or tank will roll
Across the battlefield.

Or tank will roll
Across the battlefield.

Corum: the germans suffered
From real constraints

In all of their operations
From fuel.

Through world war ii, the prime
Mover, or the main transport,

Was the m1a1 horse
Pulling a wagon.

Narrator: so germany sets out
To create its own fuel.

The modern equivalent
Of over $1 billion

Will be spent on
This site alone.

Here, hitler aims to create
The politz synthetic oil plant.

In 1937, construction starts
On the huge industrial site.

And this place
Is no ordinary refinery.

It is a state-of-the-art
Facility which plans to use

A revolutionary new process
Called hydrogenation

To turn germany's
Abundant coal into oil.

To turn germany's
Abundant coal into oil.

Nusbacher:
The germans used methods
To make fuel out of coal

That were developed in
The early 20th century

On to the mid-20th century.

They produced beautiful fuels,

But they produced fuel
That is very, very pure

But mind-bogglingly expensive.

Narrator:
The synthetic fuel is created
By liquefying powdered coal.

Narrator:
The synthetic fuel is created
By liquefying powdered coal.

In a reactor, a mixture of
Heavy oil, hydrogen gas,

And a catalyst is heated to
Over 750 degrees fahrenheit

And subjected to
The incredible pressure

Of 10,000 pounds
Per square inch.

This dangerous process makes
Politz a lethal environment

For its thousands
Of slave laborers.

*

Bell: the economics of it
Really don't add up.

Bell: the economics of it
Really don't add up.

It's said that it takes
Six tons of coal to produce

One ton of synthetic oil,

And that's before you consider
The amount of coal it takes

To ship everything around.

And whilst for hitler that
May have served a purpose

For nazi germany,

In any other economy
That just won't fly.

Narrator: after four years
Of construction,

In 1941, politz begins
Fuel production.

At the heart of the politz plant
Is the coal mill.

At the heart of the politz plant
Is the coal mill.

Packed around it are acre
After acre of storage tanks,

Distillation plants, pressure
Chambers, and the hundreds

Of miles of piping needed
To carry the vital fuel

To trains and tankers offshore.

The sheer scale of politz
Is yet another drain

On nazi germany's already
Overstreched resources.

Will politz produce enough
Fuel for the third reich?

And did this dangerous
Hydrogenation process

Lead to disaster?

*

Narrator:
On the baltic coast of poland,

Hidden amongst the trees,
Is a vast, crumbling,

Industrial complex that
Fueled the nazi war machine.

By 1943, the politz
Synthetic oil plant alone

Is producing a staggering
700,000 tons of it --

15% of germany's fuel.

The synthetic fuel plants
Kept germany in the war.

Without that production
Coming out from politz,

Hitler's war machine would
Simply grind to a halt.

Narrator:
But politz's increased output
Comes at a terrible cost.

30,000 slave laborers
Are brought in

From all over occupied europe
And the soviet union

To operate it's complex
And dangerous machinery.

Nearly half of
These prisoners die

From the brutal treatment
And the terrible

And toxic working
Conditions at the plant.

13,000 slave laborers
Gave their lives

At politz alone,
And that's something

That should never be forgotten.

Narrator: despite these
Dangerous conditions,

The war carries on.

And synthetic fuel
From plants like politz

Becomes even more vital
For hitler's armies.

Becomes even more vital
For hitler's armies.

Corum:
The germans are really dependent

Upon these synthetic
Fuel plants.

And when those
Plants are attacked,

Then there will be a huge
Drop off in the capability.

For example, there is
No fuel to train pilots.

They're producing airplanes
But there's no fuel,

And it would become
Progressively worse.

Narrator: and this critical
Weakness does play a role.

The coal the nazis rely on
Is desperately needed

By other industries,

Like transportation
And steel production.

There just isn't enough
To go around.

Nusbacher: the german war effort
Has to got to expend

A lot more resource
On burning one liter

Of high-test aviation gas
Than the british

Or the americans
Or the russians.

Or the americans
Or the russians.

The germans are fighting
A much more expensive war

Because they haven't got
Key resources.

Narrator: in january 1945,
Allied bombers run

A devastating 14 minute air
Raid that saturates the plant

With more than 1,600 bombs.

Corum:
Once the campaign gets going,

You see a dramatic drop
In german oil reserves,

And in supplies available
For the german army.

And in supplies available
For the german army.

And this impacts the german
Operational effectiveness

Quite severely.

Narrator:
When the war ends,

The soviet union loots
The remaining equipment

And the ruins of politz
Are abandoned.

Today, the remains of
The refinery at politz

Are accessible and can be
Explored with care.

They are a forgotten
Monument to oil production,

They are a forgotten
Monument to oil production,

The achilles heel of
Hitler's third reich.

Bell: the allies pulled out
All the stops

To try and bring production
To an end.

And if you visit politz today,

There's evidence
Of that everywhere.

Huge craters in the ground,

Roofs of all these
Buildings destroyed.

Some buildings
Completely turned over.

The devastation there
Was phenomenal

Because it was so
Important for the allies.

That was their means of
Bringing nazi germany to an end.

That was their means of
Bringing nazi germany to an end.

Nusbacher: politz reminds us
Of the horror of death.

It reminds us of
Mass enslavement

Under cover of war,

And it reminds us
Of the nazi idea

That cruelty and enslavement

Could create fuel
Where there was none.

*

Narrator: over 300 miles north,
On the northern tip of denmark,

Narrator: over 300 miles north,
On the northern tip of denmark,

A solitary ruin stands in total
Isolation on the shoreline.

*

This derelict tower
On a huge sand dune

Overlooking the sea would
Not look out of place

On the coast of morocco.

Bell: when you think
Of shifting sand dunes,

You possibly conjure
Up images of the sahara

Or vast desert landscapes.

You certainly don't
Automatically think of denmark.

The tower perches precariously

On a desolate
Position overlooking

The cold, gray waters
Of the skagerrak,

The narrow strait that separates
Denmark, norway, and sweden.

When you see this tower
Emerging out of the sand,

I mean,
It's eerie, it's mysterious.

Dougal: it's a very strange
Initial picture

And that's primarily because
What was there before,

Is no longer there now.

Narrator:
The 75-foot masonry tower

Is topped by
A glass-fronted turret.

Scattered around its base
Are the remains

Of other buildings
Submerged in the sand.

The whole structure is
Precariously balanced

On the lip of a sheer sand
Cliff 200 feet above the sea.

What really stands out as
It rises up into the sky

And looms over the cliffs,
Is when it was built,

And looms over the cliffs,
Is when it was built,

The tower was strong enough
To withstand

Even the strongest gale.

So why was this one abandoned?

*

Narrator: as far back
As the 16th century,

The danish government realizes
That to become

A global trading powerhouse,
The country must help ships

Navigate through one of
The most dangerous stretches

Of ocean in the
Northern hemisphere,

The skagerrak straits.

*

*

Kofoed: it were very dangerous
To sail at this sea.

There was a lot
Of storm from the west

And boats were often --
They come into trouble.

So they want to make
Some lighthouses

Along the coast line.

Narrator: equipped with an
Equivalent modern budget

Of $1 million, the danish lights
And buoy service

Commissions a
Revolutionary lighthouse.

Commissions a
Revolutionary lighthouse.

They call it the
Rubjerg knude fyr.

In march 1899, construction
Of a complex of buildings

Begins on a 200-foot-high cliff,
200 yards from the shore.

From it's cliff-top position,

The light should be visible
Across miles of sea

And save countless lives.

Bell:
Now, ships still frequently
Sail through these waters

And in stormy
And foggy conditions,

Even with the advent
Of modern technology,

Lighthouses are still needed
For captains to know

Where the land starts.

*

Narrator:
So how will this tower work,
And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: on the northern tip of
Denmark sits the isolated ruin

Of the rubjerg knude lighthouse.

After nearly two years
Of construction,

The light at the top
Of the mighty tower

Finally goes into operation
On december 27, 1900.

Powered by a 550-watt bulb,
The state-of-the-art

French-made fresnel
Lenses within the light

French-made fresnel
Lenses within the light

Amplify the beam with
Impressive results.

With numerous glass rings
Stacked at different angles,

The fresnel lens focuses
Light towards its center.

On clear days,
This allows the light to be seen

From 25 miles away.

But sand picked up by
Strong winds along the coast

Constantly clogs its machinery,

Constantly clogs its machinery,

And scars the fresnel glass
Of the light.

Bell: when it was built, rubjerg
Knude was 200 yards inland

And 200 feet above sea level.

And miles away to the
South was a sand dune,

But not just any sand dune.

Narrator: the rubjerg mile is
The largest moving sand dune

In northern europe.

For 300 years, its 5 million
Cubic yards of sand

For 300 years, its 5 million
Cubic yards of sand

Slowly moves along
Denmark's northern coast

At a dramatic rate
Of 60 feet a year.

Gough:
It's really hard to imagine
That a country like denmark

Could have a slow-moving sand
Tsunami creeping up the coast.

The sand dunes
Themselves always have

A sort of back slope,
A windward slope,

And then a slip face
Where the sand gets blown up,

It bounces up and it
Falls down the slip face

It bounces up and it
Falls down the slip face

And slowly, through time,

It migrates
Across the land surface.

We can't stop the wind, so
We're not going to be able

To stop the sand dunes
That are migrating

Because of the wind.

The fact is, this sand dune
Had been moving for centuries

But where the lighthouse
Was built,

There was never
Any reason to think

That the sand would ever
Be any kind of threat.

Narrator:
For over 20 years, its light

And powerful foghorn
Penetrate darkness and fog

And powerful foghorn
Penetrate darkness and fog

To keep vessels clear of
The dangerous shallows.

But by the 1920s,
The rubjerg mile dune arrives

On its doorstep much to the
Surprise of the engineers.

Dougal: they just tried to do
A sort of king canute

And stop the sand in its tracks.

They put barriers in the way
To stop the sand migrating.

In doing so, there was
A big traffic jam of sand

Building up and the dune
Got bigger and bigger.

Building up and the dune
Got bigger and bigger.

So actually, then you've
Created a bigger problem

'cause you've
Created a bigger dune.

Narrator: in an unlikely twist,
The 200-foot cliff

That made the rubjerg knude
Lighthouse so visible,

Now acts as a ramp that
Carries the slow-moving

Tsunami of sand up and over
The lighthouse complex.

The sand had made its way
All the way up that cliff

And had swallowed up the
Buildings around rubjerg knude.

And had swallowed up the
Buildings around rubjerg knude.

Kofoed: the sand was laying
Around the lighthouse

And the big dunes would build
Up there higher and higher.

Narrator: by 1953,

The dune grows higher
Than the lighthouse itself.

Trapped in a hollow in the sand,

The light and fog signal can no
Longer be clearly seen and heard

By the ships at sea.

Bell: the only way they figured
They could save the lighthouse

Bell: the only way they figured
They could save the lighthouse

Was buy continuously digging
Away the sand around the base

But even then,
They must have known,

This was a battle against nature
They were never going to win.

Narrator: in 1968,
The authorities finally give up

The battle against
The flood of sand,

And the rubjerg lighthouse is
Decommissioned and abandoned.

Today it is an empty shell.

Today it is an empty shell.

Every year, thousands of
Visitors climb the mountain

Of sand to explore
Its haunting remains.

But the onshore winds that
Suffocated the light with sand,

Have also scoured away
The cliff on which it stands.

Kofoed: the coastline is coming
In closer and closer

So in a few years, maybe two,
Three, four, five, six years,

So in a few years, maybe two,
Three, four, five, six years,

There's no lighthouse
Any longer.

Narrator:
The rolling dunes may have
Snuffed out the light,

But in the very near future,

Erosion will cause the mighty
Tower to fall into the waves.

The engineers who built
The rubjerg knude lighthouse

Believed its location
And solid construction

Could withstand anything

The sea and weather
Could throw at it.

But they didn't anticipate
The extraordinary power

Of the wind to transform
The landscape itself.

Bell:
There's always a need

To take into account
Your natural surroundings.

Mother nature has a way
Of continuously reminding you

Who's really in charge.