Where would Germany test Nukes?

[Arcvalons]

A surviving Third Reich (or any other Germany at all, maybe even the Kaiser's) which is engaged in a Cold War against the west... where
could it realistically test its nukes?

I mean, the Soviets had the huge empty frozen siberia, and the US had alot of largely unpopulated land in the west still, but Germany doesn't really have that much space... this is assuming Germany only has it's 'core' territory available, of course (though maybe Imperial Germany could use colonies); and that the radioactive side-effects arent yet fully understood, so no underground tests at first.

[Noravea]

The North Sea maybe?

[FDW]

Maybe they could do like the Americans did at one point and do an underground test in a concrete chamber.

[Emperor Norton I]

Madagascar?

(Get it? Ya get it?)

[imperialaquila]

Libya, assuming Italy is friendly. Which, in a Nazi victory scenario, it probably is. Failing that, probably Poland.

[Kome]

Core territory only? So thats assuming no Poland?

[Beedok]

They have some uninhabited bits of the Alps don't they? Especially if they have Austria they will.

[Noravea]

Haven't thought of Libya. If Italy is allied with Germany, this may do.

[WhatIsAUserName]

If it's the Kaiser's Germany, how about Southwest Africa in the Namib or Kalahari Deserts?

[asupackman]

They could always test on some unmanned island in the pacific like the Americans, British, and French did, wouldnt take that much of a pre WWII POD to get them one.

[XNM]

Assuming the Third Reich survives, I wouldn't rule out them testing a nuke on a populated place, as long as that populated place has been evacuated of "Aryan" people. Probably somewhere in Poland.

Especially if the effects of nukes aren't really well-known. Then it's just a convenience.

However...if we're talking about imperial Germany...I don't know.

[jakewilson]

Russia, I assume. If they're Cold Warring with the West, then I imagine that European Russia is missing most of its population. Major settlements are pretty far apart anyway. Alternately, Spitsbergen/Svalbard.

[jlckansas]

Imperial Germany would look more like the US/UK/France in testing and development of the bomb. If Imperial Germany survives WW1 and there is a Soviet Russia I could see them team up with the US/UK in the 30's/40's to develop a bomb if the USSR was a threat to them. Remember the Kaiser Whilhem Institute was one of the leading physics places in the world pre Nazi Germany. Look at how many people immigrated from there when the Nazi's took power. They would also attract lots of folks from other countries to work and do research there. You might see Southwest Afrika or one of the German Islands be a test site, with the UK/US involved anywhere they control might work.

Nazi Germany on the other hand would more than likely use the East, Poland/Ukraine/White Russia to test the bomb, including a existing city with the people there as a target. They would not have as much scruples as Imperial Germany and as long as it was not an Aryan or Greater Germany area it would be fair game.

[Michel Van]

On this site would Nazi, test a Nuke in end of WW2

Military training area Ohrdruf in today Thuringia, south of Mittelwerk factory.
Harz Mountains, north of Mittelwerk factory.

why so near Mittelwerk factory ?
the SS wanted to build a huge production complex called "Mittelbau"
around 18 underground factory (which Mttelwerk was a small part of it) in area of Nordhausen and Ohrdruf.
there much speculation about that SS wanted to build also nuclear weapon factory in underground Site S/III at Ohrdruf.
but S/III was never finished and its intended purpose remain a mystery.

[tallthinkev]

South pole, anyone one? Or an island in the Pacific. One would think they would want to keep it serect, so nearly any part of Europe could well be out, you can't really hide a 10 mile high mushroom cloud.

[hefajstos]

Originally Posted by Arcvalons

A surviving Third Reich (or any other Germany at all, maybe even the Kaiser's) which is engaged in a Cold War against the west... where
could it realistically test its nukes?

I mean, the Soviets had the huge empty frozen siberia, and the US had alot of largely unpopulated land in the west still, but Germany doesn't really have that much space... this is assuming Germany only has it's 'core' territory available, of course (though maybe Imperial Germany could use colonies); and that the radioactive side-effects arent yet fully understood, so no underground tests at first.

Kehlsteinhaus?

[wcv215]

Originally Posted by tallthinkev

South pole, anyone one? Or an island in the Pacific. One would think they would want to keep it serect, so nearly any part of Europe could well be out, you can't really hide a 10 mile high mushroom cloud.

Why would they want it to be a secret?

If it's the Nazis there are only two possibilities for getting a nuke.

A. They are winning/have won WWII and thus wouldn't care if they hit a populated area, especially if that area was full of people. So long as they aren't "Aryan" none of the Nazis will care.
or
B. They are losing the war in which case the nuke must be used immediately. In this case it's tested by dropping it on the Red Army. If it works, great they've just wiped out a portion of their foes and shown the world they have it. If it doesn't work it might still hit someone on impact.

If it's the Kaiser then there is no reason to believe the Germans having it there would be no cause for secrecy either since nukes act as deterrents as well as (sometimes better than) as weapons. If they have a nuke it reduces the risk of another country declaring war on them for fear of massive retaliation.

None of the above scenarios require secrecy, and it isn't even a good thing to have.

[Delta Force]

What about the Bismarck Archipelago?

[MSZ]

Rainer Karlsch, in "Hitlers Bombe" makes the suggestion that OTL Nazi Germany tested fissionable materials in Ohrdruf in Thuringia (as Michael Van writes) and on Rugen.

Lets not forget that any such experiments would have to be secret, so doing them anywhere else than somewhere in the Reich would run a higher risk of deconspiration.

[HMS Warspite]

In Germany there are several saltmines in the former Eastern parts (now mostly in Poland) that could have been used for underground testing. This also coincides with the German custom to do secret projects underground as well, such as the OTL V-Project weaponproduction.