WWII Nazi Bunkers Stand the Tests of Time, Vandalism and Livestock

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/02/world-war-ii-bunkers-jonathan-andrew/

By Jakob Schiller 02.20.13 6:30 AM

Hitler knew the Allied invasion on the Atlantic coast would come eventually, so all along the western edge of Europe — from Spain to Scandanavia — he built a series of fortifications called the Atlantic Wall. In addition to minefields, workers were ordered to build a series of massive concrete bunkers designed to house troops and guns. Decades later, a group of those structures still exist.

Photographer Jonathan Andrew came across these relics while driving around the Netherlands on assignment. With walls up to 9 feet thick, some have withstood the test of time only to be covered in graffiti or converted into livestock barns by local farmers. Andrew was drawn to the bunkers as photo subjects by their strange architectural design.



“It was a visual thing first, but I was also fascinated with their history,” says Andrew, a commercial photographer who was born in England but now lives in Amsterdam.

He first set out to document the bunkers in the winter of 2008-2009. His commercial assignments had slowed along with the economy and he had a chunk of time on his hands. Armed with an old 4×5 camera that he outfitted with a Phase One digital back, he started picking off bunkers in Holland, France and Belgium.

FULL story and more photos at link.