Original subtitles

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?

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by 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.