Oberraderach was the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 location of Prüffeld-Anlage Raderach, a V-2 rocket test facility code name

Code name

A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...

d "Porcelain Factory" . Oberraderach testing ensured V-2 turbopumps did not overpressure combustion chambers (there was no controller) and was planned for rocket motors to be installed by the nearby Zeppelin Works as part of the Eastern Works (V-2 facilities in the Vienna-Freidrichshafen area). Firings were visible in Switzerland across Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

 and testing ended shortly after the facility began operation.

The first design sketches for the Oberraderach facility were prepared by Bernhard Tessmann

Bernhard Tessmann

Bernhard Robert Tessmann was a German expert in guided missiles during World War II, and later worked for the United States Army and NASA.-Life:Tessmann first met rocket expert Wernher von Braun in 1935...

 of the Peenemünde Army Research Center, and Captain König was the military representative at Raderach. By mid-1942, the German Army had started construction of the Raderach motor test stand, and a nearby liquid oxygen

Liquid oxygen

Liquid oxygen — abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries — is one of the physical forms of elemental oxygen.-Physical properties:...

 (A-stoff) plant produced up to 900 tons/month. On July 25, 1943, British V-2 intelligence

V-1 and V-2 Intelligence

Intelligence on the V-1 and V-2 weapons developed by the Germans for attacks on the United Kingdom during the Second World War was important to countering them...

 reported that aerial photographic reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 of Friedrichshafen depicted rocket firing sites like those at

Test Stand VII

Test Stand VII was the principal V-2 rocket testing facility at Peenemünde Airfield and was capable of static firing of rocket motors up to 200 tons thrust...

 the Peenemünde Army Research Center. On August 3, 1944, the test facility and the ZF Friedrichshafen

ZF Friedrichshafen

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German public company headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg....

 at Friedrichshafen were bombed. The 461st Bombardment Group's primary target was the "Raderach Chemical Works", and the Zahnradfabrik

ZF Friedrichshafen

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German public company headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg....

 (gearwheel factory) secondary target was also bombed. The 485th Bombardment Group attacked the "Ober chemical works" on August 16.