Become part of the crew...
Dive down with U 474 and face the challenges with your comrades below and above deck, on dives and overwater trips. Any position from sailor to captain is open to you. Choose your role and plunge into a unique experience.
Goal of the Project
This page is intended to give you an insight into the development, content, background and implementation of a project that is unique in the world that will be realized in the greater Berlin area. U 474 is a special kind of live-action experience: in the original replica of a Type VII C boat, you can experience the everyday life of a submarine crew in World War II and thereby experience history up close.
One goal of the project is to make it understandable how and why decisions were made in warfare. The cramped, stressful experience in the boat will push the participants to their personal limits and create an understanding that no history book in the world can convey.
Up to 50 people have the opportunity to experience a simulation of a submarine dive and a military confrontation up close in a three-hour (or longer) event. Visitors experience for themselves what living in the confined space of a submarine is like.
During the event, roles are assigned and orders and instructions are given, which are based on real, documented scenarios from war history.
Visitors have the opportunity to choose their role as officers, non-commissioned officers or sailors in advance. The officers and non-commissioned officers will be primarily responsible for managing the boat and the crew. On the one hand, they have to calculate courses and carry out attacks on enemy ships, and on the other hand, they have to delegate tasks to the crew.
Sailors must perform maintenance and repair work. These tasks will predominantly have the character of an escape room; therefore no previous technical knowledge is required.
Schematic Representation
U 474 is an event site and a Museum dealing with the history of the German submarine fleet in World War II.
A Type VII C will be recreated using original construction plans and placed in a domed building. This spans an area of approx. 80m x 40m and is approx. 15m high. The submarine can be moved using a hydraulic system. This makes it possible to experience the real feeling of sea conditions and maneuvers. The outside world is projected onto the inner wall of the dome using around 60 projectors, allowing any environment and weather situation to be displayed. The weather influences felt on the boat are simulated using wind and rain machines. This is rounded off by further special effects, which, for example, create realistic representations of water intrusion and lead to a “up close” experience. The aim of the project is the complete and detailed reconstruction of a VII C submarine for a close, real-time experience.
By combining these complex technical elements, U 474 brings real missions from war history as well as fictional scenarios to life.
In addition to the U474 experience, an attached museum offers exhibits that provide a deeper understanding of the tragedy of human fates. Thus an awareness can be created for the impact of war on individuals and at the same time for the sheer mass of fates that are influenced by acts of war. Above all, the individual submarines are presented and their unique stories are told. Visitors can view war diaries, personal letters from the crew and more in the digital archive. Several reports from the allied forces will also be accessible. The ambition is to encourage people to consciously consider the implications of their own decisions and actions.
There will also be various experiments, for example on the topics of buoyancy, navigation and encryption.
The U 474 experience is designed similar to an escape room in conjunction with a simulator. Participants can book different scenarios that last at least 3 hours up to several days. Up to 50 people can actively participate in the action in the various roles at the same time, although some roles and tasks are more similar to a simulation and others contain a larger proportion of escape room elements. However, every single participant is necessary for success. The U 474 experience can therefore become a completely new event from different perspectives.
The level of difficulty of the missions can be adjusted to the participants' previous knowledge. This makes it possible to take part without any prior knowledge, but the project is also a challenge for experienced seafarers.
The different scenarios are predominantly based on real, historically proven situations. History connoisseurs will get their money's worth here and even people for whom normal history lessons are too abstract will be able to vividly and tangibly understand historical connections here. Reports about decisions and other components of human actions in war situations that are inexplicable and alien to life for people in the generations of peace can thus be at least partially traced and understood.
There are different roles to fill on every submarine. For U 474 you can book which role you want to take on on the boat. From the sailor to the non-commissioned officer to the captain, everything is possible. You will receive a role description with background information and an introduction to your tasks on the boat in advance. You even get your own CV to make your experience as realistic as possible.
The cooperation of everyone involved is crucial for the success of the mission, just as it would be for the survival of the team in real life. Therefore, U 474 is also ideal as a team building event. Of course, it is also possible to book tailor-made offers for your team.
The U 474 project aims for absolute realism in terms of the setting and the conditions on a VII C submarine. The hardships to which the crew was exposed should be tangible for the visitor. Taking part in U 474 is not a leisurely stroll, but an extreme situation. The participants are not only confronted with isolation, confinement, darkness and constant wetness, but also with dramatic and extreme situations within the scenarios. Even though everyone involved voluntarily put themselves in this situation and knows that they are not really exposed to the dangers of a submarine, massive safety precautions must still be taken:
To ensure the safety of the participants, trained U 474 personnel will be on the boat for every mission. This will not be recognizable as such and will enter the mission as normal participants. However, in emergencies, these employees are able to take necessary measures (e.g. first aid, pastoral care, etc.). Employees can also intervene in conflict situations and still move the mission forward if necessary.
Due to the special situation in U 474, which consists, for example, of an unusually narrow space and the proximity to strangers, the pressure of the relevant tasks of the mission, etc., the participants must be aware, despite all the safety measures, that in the course of the simulation Injuries of various kinds can occur. Psychological suffering can also be increased or “triggered” in connection with participation in a U 474 mission. Provision is made for both cases and specialist paramedics and psychologically trained supervisors are always within easy reach during the missions.
