The Wolf's Lair (German: Wolfsschanze; Polish: Wilczy Szaniec) was Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.

The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz (now Gierłoż), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the town of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn), in present-day Poland.

Eventually, a top-secret site was chosen in the middle of the Masurian woods, in what was then East Prussia, far from roads and urban areas, and accessible only by a single railway and small airstrip.

At its peak, over 2,000 people lived and worked at the Wolf's Lair, including food-tasters to sample Hitler's food before he ate it to guard him against being poisoned.

Hitler left the Wolf's Lair for the final time in November 1944 after having spent over 800 days there, the longest he had stayed at any place over the course of the war, during a 3+1⁄2-year period.

[1] The FBK and RSD had responsibility for Hitler's personal security within the site, while external protection of the complex was provided by the FBB, which had become a regiment by July 1944.

The previous small bunkers had been replaced by the Organisation Todt with "heavy, colossal structures" of reinforced concrete as defense against the feared air attack.

Junge wrote, "We had air-raid warnings every day" in the period between the 20 July assassination attempt and Hitler's final departure from the Wolfsschanze in November 1944, "but there was never more than a single aircraft circling over the forest, and no bombs were dropped.

Consequently, the thick, heavy table absorbed most of the blast and this, along with the collapse of some of the hut's thin walls thus dissipating the shockwave, saved the Führer's life.

Even before the bomb detonated, Stauffenberg and his adjutant, Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, had already begun their departure for Berlin where they planned to take control of the country alongside their fellow conspirators.

According to the official RSHA report, "at first, the guard refused passage until Stauffenberg persuaded him to contact the adjutant to the compound commander who then finally authorized clearance".

The two men reached the outer limit of the security zones and were allowed to catch their plane back to army general headquarters in Berlin.

The attempted assassination was derived from Operation Valkyrie, a covert plan officially sanctioned by Hitler for the Reserve Army to take control and suppress any revolt in the country in the event of his untimely death, which the conspirators adapted to suit their purpose.

Hitler departed from the Wolf's Lair for the final time on Monday, 20 November 1944, when the Soviet advance reached Angerburg (now Węgorzewo), 15 km (9 mi) away.

The Red Army captured the abandoned remains of the Wolfsschanze on 27 January without firing a shot, the same day that Auschwitz was liberated farther south.

Following the war, more than 54,000 land mines were removed from the area, together with abandoned ordnance, and the entire site was left to decay by Poland's Communist government.

Critics worried that the planned changes could turn the site into a place for neo-Nazi pilgrimages, although the District's spokesperson said that they would "make every effort" to maintain "due seriousness and respect for historical truth".

The project will include expanding and renovating the hotel and restaurant building, adding a new conference room, redesigning the exhibition space, as well as constructing a new observation deck.

[53] In 2024, archaeologists exploring the complex's former living quarters of Hermann Göring reported discovering five human skeletons (three adults, a teenager and a baby believed to be a family) missing their hands and feet and lacking any traces of clothing or personal objects buried under the brick residence.