Ever wonder what secrets lie beneath our feet? The Kleine Liebessäule, though a fountain today, echoes with tales of a hidden world. We are standing before the Kleine Liebessäule. But its story is entwined with “Kleines Berlin” in Trieste, Italy. This “Little Berlin” was a complex of underground air-raid tunnels. They date back to World War II.
After Germany annexed Trieste in 1943, they began building military defenses. Companies cooperating with the Organisation Todt carried out the work. The German authorities wanted an antiaircraft shelter. It was for their soldiers and civil employees near the Trieste Court area.
But here’s a twist. When the air-raid alarm sounded, German soldiers would flee with Italian civilians. They used a “municipal” shelter tunnel. The Nazis supplied lighting for this tunnel. It had bare copper wires according to German practice. Other antiaircraft tunnels in Trieste used bare lead wires.
Excavation of the shelter involved three companies. Each worked independently. SS-Gruppenführer Odilo Globočnik ordered secrecy. He planned a “secret passage”. It would connect his house and the court. Land-surveyor Gerdol’s company built the shelter’s entrance. It was near Via Fabio Severo, leading to Via di Romagna. They also built the passage to the Court of Trieste. They worked for Organisation Todt.
The underground complex has two sectors. One is of Italian construction. The other is German. They differ structurally. The Italian sector has parallel tunnels connected perpendicularly. It was better equipped. It had wooden benches, a first aid room and toilet facilities. Three entrances served it on Via Fabio Severo.
The German sector had big rooms. They were perpendicular to a long main tunnel. It covered 1,000 square meters. Only SS troops occupied it. Globočnik used it to reach his offices in the Court of Trieste. He could avoid going out in the open. It had four entrances. One was in the garden of his villa. Another was in the courthouse basement. Two others, including the main one, were on Via Fabio Severo.
Non-German staff couldn’t use the German sector entrance. Only an electrician from Luigi Presel company could enter. He replaced burnt-out lamps. The Germans worried about the humidity in the tunnels. They burned coke coal in braziers to dry the rooms. But the burnt gas went into the “municipal” tunnel. This caused asphyxia for those sheltered there.
In April 1945, Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer and Globočnik fled Trieste. They went to Austria. The Allies arrested them there. On April 30, 1945, an insurrection broke out in Trieste. The Italian anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee led it.
On May 1, 1945, Yugoslav Partisan troops entered the city. They surrounded German strongholds. They forced German soldiers to surrender. The Court, connected by tunnels to the shelter, was among these strongholds. No trace exists of a Yugoslav attempt to penetrate the court’s corridor. They likely didn’t know about it. German soldiers surrendered to New Zealand troops. They had entered the city. After twenty months, the German occupation of Trieste ended.
So as you admire the Kleine Liebessäule, remember the hidden world of “Kleines Berlin”. It’s a reminder of a tumultuous past. It shows the resilience of those who sought shelter beneath the surface. It is a silent witness to history.