Flakturme ( Flak towers )referred to several bunkers , which were built during the Second World War in Berlin, Hamburg ( Germany ) and Vienna ( Austria ) for anti-aircraft guns ( Flak ) and their fire control systems and were also used as shelters.
The Flak Tower IV in St. Pauli was designed as high bunker with mounted air defense guns The second function, protection of the population in air raids, could fulfill the towers, because the dropped explosive bombs could not penetrate the 5 meter-thick walls and ceilings, even if they hit directly.
construction goes down in history as the largest bunker ever built on European soil,
They had an armament of four 10.5 cm anti-aircraft guns, which were replaced in August 1942 by four 12.8 cm Flakzwilling 40 and numerous smaller caliber guns, mostly quadruple 20 mm AA guns . The Flakturm IV is one of the largest bunkers ever built. The base measures 75 meters x 75 meters, with 38 meters high. The wall thickness is 3.5 meters the ceiling is five meters thick. Windows were installed and sealed with concrete seals. Although capacity was limited to 18,000 people ( including a hospital with 95 beds.) , during the heavy air raids on Hamburg in the summer of 1943, up to 25,000 people sought shelter in the bunker.
Over the years, the Flak Tower IV was used for various purposes. A historic milestone was the year 1950, in which from this place the first television test broadcast of the Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation was broadcast in public.Flak Tower IV has undergone a major refurbishment, but is still mostly used by representatives of the event and media industries. Clubs like “Tower Room” or “Terrace Hill” have set up camp in the former bunker.
The future holds Big plans for the Flak tower IV , The pilot project “Hilldegarden” wants to set standards by not only increasing the bunker with another five floors, but also to include a hotel, a fitness club, restaurants, an event and sports hall are to be built there as well as a a green roof plantation .A green roof for the gray bunker ,The massive building on the Heiligengeistfeld in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district is said to be home to a city garden.
Access : Coordinates: N53 33.387 E9 58.201 / Feldstrasse, 20359 Hamburg, / Several S- and U-bahn lines link Altona and St. Pauli with the central part of the city. If you’re coming by train from elsewhere, you will possibly find Altona railway station useful. For drivers, Altona and St. Pauli are easily accessed from A7 north of Elbe.
Nearby attractions : Hamburg-Altona-St. Pauli / Landungsbrucken (St. Pauli Piers). The old passenger docks / U-434, St. Pauli Fischmarkt 10, One of the biggest non-nuclear Soviet submarines, moored near to the Fischmarkt / Alter Elbtunnel (St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel)/
Flakturm VI G-Tower Wilhelmsburg (Flak tower)
