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Nazi flying saucers and an Antarctic base: a Dresden museum traces the legend

5 min read

A special exhibition at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, “Wunderwaffen,” also shows how postwar stories about Nazi “Reich flying discs” came about. German public broadcaster MDR Sachsen covered the topic in a podcast episode recorded at the museum with a historian.

The exhibition

The Bundeswehr Military History Museum (Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr) in Dresden opened its special exhibition "Wunderwaffen – Propaganda und Kriegstechnik im Nationalsozialismus" ("Wonder Weapons – Propaganda and Military Technology in Nazi Germany") on March 13, 2026. It runs until March 9, 2027.

The exhibition examines how Nazi propaganda turned certain weapon systems into "wonder weapons." According to the museum, the V-1 and V-2 are still widely known partly because propaganda made them famous. The museum says the "wonder weapons" that appeared late in the war were developed specifically for the propaganda war, even before they were used in combat.

Exhibits include a Tiger tank, an 8.8 cm gun, a model of the battleship Bismarck and a section on the Stuka dive bomber. A preview section opened in December 2025, featuring weapons the Wehrmacht used in large numbers, such as a Messerschmitt Bf 109, a Sturmgeschütz III assault gun and a Hecht midget submarine.

The "Reich flying disc"

According to the museum, the high-tech and fantastical weapons projects of the late war provided fertile ground for Nazi conspiracy theories after 1945. The fictional "Reichsflugscheibe," or "Reich flying disc," plays a major role in these narratives. The museum notes that the line between such fantasy weapons and the exaggerated developments of the war's final phase is blurry. One example of the latter is the Ratte, a tank designed to weigh 1,000 tonnes that was never built; the exhibition shows a model of it next to a Tiger.

The exhibition also looks at the present: according to the museum, the term "wonder weapons" is now being applied to some new weapons in the war in Ukraine.

The podcast

On September 28, 2026, MDR Sachsen's podcast "Unheimliche Heimat – Gruselgeschichten auf der Spur" released a 30-minute episode titled "Hitler und die Außerirdischen: Der Mythos der Nazi-UFOs" ("Hitler and the Aliens: The Myth of the Nazi UFOs").

In the episode, host Mario Süßenguth explores the topic at the Dresden museum. With historian Thoralf Rauchfuß, he traces the story of the "Reich flying discs," from claims made by self-proclaimed inventors after World War II to the legends of Haunebu and Neuschwabenland. Sociologist Andreas Anton puts the myth in context, while writer Katharina Nocun discusses the links she sees to far-right and antisemitic narratives, and how to talk with people who believe in conspiracy theories.

Where did the legend come from?

Italian UFO researcher Maurizio Verga's 2023 book, Flying Saucers from Naziland (Volume 1), documents the legend's early history in detail. According to Ulrich Magin's review in the academic journal Zeitschrift für Anomalistik:

the earliest known mention of "Nazi flying discs" dates to 1948 in Brazil, from a man named Josef Jacob Johannes Starziczny;
the first German press articles appeared on March 10, 1950, in the Weser Kurier and on March 30, 1950, in Der Spiegel, and they already presented unproven claims as fact;
the names now considered the foundation of the legend soon followed, including Italian professor Giuseppe Belluzzo and Rudolf Schriever, who claimed to have worked on developing a flying disc;
some elements come from science fiction: the alleged World War II UFO incident over Schweinfurt traces back to a short story published in an American sci-fi magazine in July 1943, and several illustrations of the supposed discs were copied from American sci-fi publications.

Magin argues that the legend's fictional nature is shown by the fact that not a single component, blueprint or document independent of the storytellers has ever surfaced about "Reich flying discs," even though this is one of the most thoroughly researched periods of modern history.

Neuschwabenland: what really happened

The legend of a Nazi base in Antarctica is built on a real expedition. The Third Reich's 1938–39 Antarctic expedition was led by Captain Alfred Ritscher. The ship Schwabenland left Hamburg on December 17, 1938, with 82 people and two Dornier flying boats, and reached the Antarctic coast about a month later.

According to Cornelia Lüdecke, a historian of science at the University of Hamburg, the main reason for the venture was whale oil: Germany had been buying whale oil, a key ingredient in margarine, from Norway and wanted its own supply. The flying boats took aerial photographs for mapping and also served to support Germany's territorial claim. The previously unexplored mountainous region was named Neu-Schwabenland after the ship. The expedition headed home on February 5, 1939.

According to Lüdecke, there is no evidence that Hitler showed any further interest in the continent after the expedition. Germany's first permanent Antarctic research station was established in 1981.

The sober take

What is proven: The Dresden exhibition and the MDR podcast episode are real, verifiable sources. The V-1 and V-2 were real weapons, and the Ratte tank was actually designed but never built. The 1938–39 Antarctic expedition also took place; its goals were whaling and territorial expansion.

What is not proven: No contemporary, independent document, blueprint or component supports the existence of "Reich flying discs." There is also no evidence of a Nazi base in Antarctica: the expedition returned home after a few weeks, and Germany's first permanent station was not built until 1981.

How might the legend have formed?

Postwar press articles that presented unproven claims as fact.
Self-proclaimed inventors who, according to researchers, spoke out partly to make a living or improve their circumstances.
Cold War fears that flying saucers might be Soviet secret weapons.
Elements borrowed from science fiction.
Later authors who expanded the story without sources and cited one another.

Weaknesses: Each new detail of the legend is backed only by other authors' claims, never by contemporary sources. According to researchers, the story also has links to far-right and antisemitic narratives.

What remains open: Research does not rule out that unusually shaped aircraft designs existed during the war, but none of them supports the capabilities described in the legends.