The War Tourist Magazine is issued by www.wartourist.eu • Reprint only with permission • No. 4 • February 2011 • Theme Issue

The mighty FLAK TOWERS On 24 August 1940, a German of strategic bombing. was struck 90 times JU88 bomber, commanded by major in the last two months alone by waves of up Rudolf Hallensleben who went on to 2000 bombers, last attack taking place on to win the Knights Cross for other Hitler’s birthday on April 20th 1945. After that deeds (on May 11th, 1943), accidentally strayed the Red Army took over, pounding the city with over London - during a raid on Thames Harbor artillery and flying numerous sorties, bombing - and dropped bombs in the east and northeast defensive positions and strafing the streets. parts of the city. A morally enraged Churchill Demonstrating their “Berliner Schnauze” - the ordered a retaliatory attack on Berlin and the renowned Berliner humor - Berlin’s air raid following night 29 RAF bombers hit the German sirens was known as “Meier’s hunting horn.” Capital. Although actual damage was slight and casualties few, reports indicate that Hitler During these campaigns the firepower of the was infuriated (he might have believed Gorings Flak towers were widely respected by Allied boasting of August 1939, that if just one enemy airmen, and even though the fortresses cannot bomber ever reached the German capital, show an impressive track record in terms of he would change his name to “Meier”) and downed airplanes, their mere presence must shortly after, on September 9th, he ordered the have had a repellent effect. construction of the monumental FLAK towers to protect major German cities. Three tower groups (gun tower and fire-control tower) were built within a very short period of If Hitler, who had a taste for the occult, also time, in an attempt to shield the city from aerial was haunted by some sinister premonition bombardments. The first group was located of what was in store for Berlin later on, he in the Berlin Zoo, the next at was right. The record shows that the German and the third and final at Humboldthain, thus metropolis was subject to no less than 363 air forming a large triangle around the city center raids during World War II; it was bombed by just north of the Government quarter and the the RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and Führerbunker. Three more tower groups were 1945, and by the USAF Eighth Air Force between planned, but never built. 1942 and 1945, as part of the Allied campaign Read the article on page 4 A word of apology from the editor... The first 2011 issue of The War Tourist, which you have in front of you, after a long and Berlin A war tourist treasure trove troublesome birth, eventually turned out to be a special or “Theme Issue” as mentioned - du hast mein Herz on the front. As regular readers will have noticed, a dramatic drop in circulation has occured - from the announced six issues per gestohlen... annum to, so far, one. There are several reasons for this. I do Battlefield tourism, the activity tried to pick not want to burden you with my private of traveling to battlefields up the pieces after the Great problems, but the main obstacle is my dire and places of war history, has War, just to be quickly overrun problems with my eyesight, which makes achieved a dramatic increase by twelve years of Nazi tyranny writing a slow and tedious process. in popularity in recent years, Battered, beaten and laid to (By the same token; please be tolerant with and with a steadily broadening waste, suffering tremendously the inevitable typo’s). audience. Looking back just a during the spell of fear and hope I now aim to send out two TWT Mags a year, few decades, battlefield tourism in April ‘45, as the ferocious German resistance: German efforts to German surrender. Karlshorst, in the borough Soviet bloating. Although it is pompous, come to terms with their Nazi past has led to of Lichtenberg, is the place where Keitel signed even a tad vulgar maybe, or perhaps exactly but let’s see. Hope you are happy with this - if such a concept at all existed battle for the city raged, the issue, and if so; pass the good news (and the the renaming of many streets and squares the Instrument of Surrender on May 8th, because of this, the monumental tribute to the - was synonymous with visiting tormented Berliners that did in Berlin. Befittingly, one must agree, fifteen minutes past midnight, thus formally fallen Soviet soldiers, victims of the Battle for link) on to your friends ;-) distinguished places such as survive Armageddon and slowly Bendlerstrasse is now Stauffenbergstrasse, confirming the surrender of the previous day Berlin, cannot help touch me every time I visit thus honoring the man whose name has and putting an end to the Second World War. the place. Winning hearts and minds medieval , Hastings or recuperated whilst they were become the epitome for German resistance Karlshorst, originally a mess hall servicing the The massive gateway, clad with marble against Hitler and Nazi rule. It goes without saying, that any museum, other locations of ancient conflict clearing up the ruins and trying Imperial German Army and briefly Marshal taken from the New Reich Chancellery (!) That have changed a lot. Regular to put their lives together again It was here in the so-called Bendlerblock, the Zhukov’s headquarter during the Berlin dramatically frame the twelve meter high exhibition or attraktion in the field of HQ or OKH, that the drama of July campaign, is today a museum and a special statue of Sergeant Nicolai Masalow, who battlefield tourism wants to give the visitors folks now find it acceptable – even then woke up one morning only to 20 unfolded. Having left Wolfschanze in the one as it is a joint endeavor between the allegedly save a three year old girl at the the best possible experience. Likewise will interesting and educating - to visit find their city divided and fought firm conviction that the Fuehrer was as dead German and Russian authorities. Potsdamer Bridge. The statue depicts a Soviet visitors value the opinion of others, who the along the Atlantic over by two opposing ideologies; a as Julius Caesar, Claus von Stauffenberg flew Although a recreation (the Russians smashed soldier holding a small girl on his arm and for to Berlin and joined his fellow conspirators at some inexplicable reason a broadsword in his were there before, in order to decide what the furniture in a wild party following the Wall as well as the many sites that schizophrenia that was to last for OKH from where they tried to organize a coup surrender ceremony), the room where the hand (one might have expected the Red Army to see. Hence the rating table. hide in many European capitals. almost three decades. d’état. event took place is nicely renovated and looks to be better equipped) while he symbolically Each location visited will be rated using the As Hitler was able to persuade Major Rehmer as if the participants left only hours ago. crushes a swastika under his foot. over the phone that he was alive and that 5000 Soviet soldiers are interred here where following gradient, where five red hearts Berlin draw the war tourist like a The traces from all this hardship A little out of context maybe, but nontheless consequently OKH orders should be neglected, interesting is a small outdoor exhibit sporting the rectangular cemetery is adorned by marble constitute the best possible score and five magnet. I have been there many are still there, you just have to the coup eventually failed. several armored vehicles that partook in the sarcophagi where the wise words of Father white hearts - well, not so good ;-) Rating times and I newer tire of the city. look for them. In this and coming Stauffenberg and several others were shot in Battle for Berlin, i.e. a T34 tank. Stalin are carved... well, in marble. solely reflect authors private opinion, and If Berlin is new to you, an almost issues of the TWT Magazine, I the courtyard of Bendlerblock. hearts may be gained also for excellent bottomless treasure trove awaits will try to give some glimpses service, guide knowledge or amenities, Victors prize. Dating back to 1894 and serving building was left largely as a ruin after WW2, and lost due to overdoing the commercial you. Although the city center to of what intrigues me in modern as home for the German parliament until (see insertion) to be restored into former the Nazi takeover in 1933, the impressive splendor only after the reunification in 1990. aspect, poor service or i.e. for forbidding a great extend was rebuilt after day Berlin and make me love this building on the bank of the Spree river has The battle scars are still there, just look at the photographing. the Second World War, the streets city. I will focus on the remnants seen governments come and go, systems rise patched-up columns at the entrance, and if you and buildings virtually oozes with of WW2 and the Cold War, but and fall and experienced fires, bombings and ascend to the roof top. you can still find cyrilic ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (5) An absolute must-see history, both recent and old. Few imprints from other époques will shellings and fierce, hand-to-hand combat in inscriptions in the stone walls. the final days of the Berlin battle. other European capitals have slip in inevitably. I do not have Make your visit early as a line forms very ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (4) Worth your while Capital prize of the Red Army, and symbol of rapidly, making a waiting period of more than experienced so many paradigm a fixed editorial plan, not a clear ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (3) An OK experience the conquest of Nazi Berlin, the Reichstag an hour the rule rather than exception. shifts within such a short period; overview, not even a red thread ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (2) A tad stale, perhaps from the relatively tolerant and - yet, so you will simply have to ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (1) Make no detours for this open rule of Frederick the Great hitch the ride and see... ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (0) Read a book instead over the rigid militaristic period of the Emperors, followed by a As always, positive criticism will The System strikes back. This location brief period of democracy as the be well received. may not look much at first glance, but you Not a member yet..? immediately feel a shiver down your spine when entering. The shed looks like a garage The War Tourist Group Sources used in this issue Hitler’s Last Days, an eyewitness account. - apart from a steel beam just below the on facebook is a The FLAK Towers in Berlin, and Gerhardt Boldt, Pen & Sword Military Classics ceiling at the far end of the room. The beam rendezvous points for © 2005 is furnished with butchers hooks, a 1942 1940-1950, by Michael Foedrowitz, addition, but the shed is not a slaughterhouse, the seasoned devotee of Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998 Berlin. The Downfall 1945. Antony Beevor, although the analogy is not too far fetched. battlefield sightseeing The Heavy Flak Guns 1938-1945, by Werner Penguin Books © 2007 This is the execution room of the nearby and touring the great Plötzensee Prison and close to 3000 people Müller, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. The Berlin , then and now. © After fortifications throughout lost their lives here during the period of the Battle, No. 61, 1988. National Socialist regime, which unpleasant history, focusing on the two World Wars. It is German FLAK in World War II, by Werner Müller, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998 Manpower drain. © Armchair General fact may account for the visitors feeling of a place for war history cadres to meet, and queasiness. Magazine, November 2010 to share photos, data and links to places of Geschichte der Berliner Flakturme, Berliner Most notably, the “July 20th criminals”, the interest. “Knowledge not shared is lost” as Unterwelten Website resistance fighters taking part in the attempt the saying goes, so discussions should thrive on Hitlers life at Rastenburg; officers Stieff, In Hitler’s Bunker, Armin Lehmann, Photos and drawnings used in The War Tourist Olbricht, von der Schulenburg and several here, for mutual benefit. Mainstream Publishing, 2003 magazine are either my own creations, work others along with politicians such as Carl Members receive the TWT Magazine in Der letzte Monat, Karl Koller, Bechtle, ©1985 of others that I use with their permission or Friedrich Goerdler, the former mayor of Leipzig their mailbox as issued and are strongly found in the public domaine. and many more were hanged here. The Bunker. The history of the Reich encouraged to contribute with their own Hanged in piano wires from the meat hooks, Chancellery Group. James P. O’Donnell, you see today. And filmed for Hitlers evening articles and photos. Houghton Mifflin Company © 1978 entertainment. Air raid shelters Monster-size concrete castles were Hitler’s solution to The role as refuge for the civilian population and the conditions, the inhabitants had to endure, threefold cramped inside the creepy environment, is described in sickening detail by Armin Repel the enemy Lehman in his book; “In Hitler’s Bunker”: “Men, women and children would exist for days on end, squashed side by side like sardines, along every corridor The Berlin FLAK Towers up and buried under a huge Flak towers were also erected in and in every room. The lavatories The Berlin Flak towers were all pile of rubble from bombed-out Hamburg and Vienna, Austria, would very quickly cease to sturdy, first generation towers, Berlin, and appears today as just as well, and planned for Munich function, clogged up by overuse considered impregnable because a slope in the terrain with very and . Most of those were nd rd and impossible to flush because of their thick concrete of the leaner 2 and 3 of lack of running water. The walls and roof and there January 25. 1944 generation, developed as passageways of the hospital units immense firepower, supplies of concrete and became make-do mortuaries for impressive even by today’s ”I was recently with Klaus in the Zoo bunker steel declined at the end of the dead, the nurses and doctors standards. during the seven o’clock air raid. Ghostly. A heard the war. Post-war, some of fearing death themselves if they of people in the darkness, running like animals the towers in Vienna and dared venture outside to bury the Besides their anti-aircraft - while the anti aircraft guns had already opened Hamburg were converted corpses. Buckets of severed limbs function, the towers also up - towards the entrances; too small and much too to other purposes. and other putrid body parts lined served as shelters for narrow. Flashlights are lit and everybody shouts: all the corridors.” Not much more the civilian population, ‘Turn off the light!’. People are pushing and pressing Autonomy to say here… designed to accommodate on and it is really a wonder that it turns out alright. The towers were up to 15.000 Berliners autonomous entities, Design each, but in the days of the The walls of the bunker, mighty monoliths, capable of sustaining life The early towers were designed final battle for the city up resembles the stage for the prison chorus in for their inhabitants for a to gain maximum stability to three times that number “Fidelio” (Opera by Beethoven). An elevator, prolonged period of time. through independent load-bearing are reported to have lights on, is going up and down without a sound, In fact, some post-war properties in outer walls as well as sought refuge in these apparently catering for the sick. Ernst Jünger might estimates speak of a period in the inner storey partitions. With fortresses. Art treasures have described it all in his “Capriccios”. Rude up to one year! Be that an a wall thickness of 2.6 meters and archeological artifacts policemen and officers heard the unwilling crowd over-estimate spurred by and a roof of 3.80 meters steel from fourteen Berlin up the stairs for distribution on the various floors. ignorance and their wicked reinforced concrete, all poured in museums were also For every new floor, the crowd grinds to a hold. A and impressive appearance, one process without vulnerable stored in the towers for woman broke down screaming. She was convinced, it nonetheless illustrates joints, the outer casing was safekeeping. that she would be in greater danger on the upper the respect connected virtually impenetrable for all but a floors.‘I have a husband and a son at the front’, she with these medieval type direct hit form a very large bomb. The planned, but not built shrieked in a high-pitched voice, ‘I am not going up fortresses. Thus, a collapse of a wall or storey type 2 during construction. Location unknown but could be Hamburg towers were to be placed there!’ At long last she was taken away. The towers partition would not affect the with two more in the have spiral staircases. Loving couples seek them out It is a fact that each tower overall integrity of the tower. Zoo area and one at the - a travesty on a carnival. had its own freshwater by paternoster hoists. Level workshop use. Levels five and six Templehof Airport to the well, its own power station The G-towers had six stories, two and three served as civilian were strictly military and required south. A modification of When the anti aircraft guns on the roof are firing, with underground supplies where ammunition was stored air-raid shelters, level four was special passports to access. the 1894 Reichtag Palace the building trembles and all heads duck as if a of fuel, huge storages of in chambers at ground level and designated for the dressing station to air defense purposes reaper was swung over them. People are standing ammunition, food and transported to the gun platforms and for various administrative and Construction was also considered, but pell-mell; scared bourgeois’, weary wives, shabby other necessities, their Being novelties in bunker the idea was eventually foreigners dragging all their belongings with own kitchen, dormitories design, the architect job was abandoned as the building the in huge sacks and soldiers, emitting an air of and amenities right down entrusted one of Fritz Todt’s close was deemed structurally embarrassment. I thought: God have mercy upon us to a fully equipped 95-bed associates; Dr. Friedrich Tamms. unsuitable. if panic strikes.” hospital with eight doctors, It is sometimes rumored that the twenty nurses and thirty architect was Hitler himself, and it After the war, all flak aides. One tower even had is true that he initially produced a Berlin towers were Ursula von Kardorff, „Berliner Aufzeigungen“ a maternity ward where few sketches (resembling sinister attempted torn down, (Berlin diary) 1942-45. © 1963. My translation. several new Berliners castles straight out of Tolkien), some with greater luck were born during air raids. but the final design was, despite than others. The “Zoo- Two cargo elevators could some outer similarities, much bunker”, undoubtedly the most little concrete visible. Although transport not only ammunition different from The Führer’s plans. well known of the three, was also attempted blown up, and supplies, but also patients up Tamms presented the first layout completely demolished and the Humboldthain is the only tower and down inside the tower. and a model to Albert Speer, debris removed, whereas the that remains partly intact and at that time General Building Friedrichshain tower was blown accessible to the public. Three generations (Bauart) of Flak Towers. Berlin towers were all Type 1 Inspector for the Reich Capital,

/12 /12 on October 25th, 1940, and Speer meters apart and connected by civilian air raid shelters along were furnished with windows – not Armament up to 50 miles away and sink to agreed in essence. On March 6th, an underground cable duct. The with the first and second floor. a regular feature in most . The towers main armament was safety 12 meters into the tower detailed plans were ready for the Humboldthain towers were built Together they could accommodate The explanation is as simple the formidable double-barreled, before bombs started falling. contractor. between October 1941 and April up to 15.000 people, but as many as it is audacious; Hitler never 128 mm Flakzwilling 40 with one Thus, this device did not assist 1942 at an estimated cost of 90 M as 40.000 are reported to have calculated that he might actually twin gun in each corner. These in actual gun laying but served The job was given top priority Reichmark. sought shelter here during the lose the war, enemy troops would powerful gun combinations were primarily as an early warning – to the extend that even the final Battle for Berlin. The hospital never set foot on German soil so costly and difficult to produce measure, providing direction of German Railways was ordered to G-Tower and the maternity ward were and thus, the towers would never that there were never many of the attack wave and an estimate alter their timetables to be able The Gefechtsturm or battle tower situated on the third floor, which be threatened from the ground. them; even by February 1945 of the altitude. The radar was to deliver 1600 tons of material depicted above, measuring 70 also provided space for offices, Consequently, he could afford there were only 33 in service. at a later stage fitted with every day – and the tower in the by 70 meters square and raising workshops and production of war to plan ahead to their post-war Each gun tower had a crew equipment to counter the Allied Berlin Zoo was erected in just six some 40 meters and six stories material. It was also the storage application; as museums and of approx. 160 troops and six use of “windows”, metal foil strips months. A stunning achievement above ground level, was the gun area for museum artifacts, memorials to honor Germany’s officers, with 21 men and one released from lead aircrafts to considering that to reach a wall platform where an array of heavy valuable paintings and sculptures. dead. Making the window holes Sergeant manning each of the jam German radar. thickness of two and a half meters armament pounded the sky with Fourth and fifth floor, just below while pouring the concrete, would four big guns. This number may and a roof three meters thick, the grenades of various calibers. To the gun deck, were the quarters greatly facilitate this conversion to seem to reflect some redundancy The L-towers or control bunkers construction required 78.000 tons support the massive weight of the for troops. This area peacetime purposes. as half that many would have been housed about one hundred rank- of gravel, 35.000 tons of cement tower, it rested on a slab of steel was off limits even for other sufficient to load and operate and-file and six officers and were and 9.200 tons of steel along reinforced concrete two and a half service branches without a special the piece, but carrying shells protected by 20 mm and 37 mm with 15.000 cubic meters of wood meters thick. Outer walls were up passport. weighing close to 50 kg from the cannons on a balcony encircling for the scaffolding. Like the men to 2.6 meters thick and the ceiling ammunition elevators to the gun the tower. at the building site, the railway 3.8 meters. The average use of Initially it was planned to have at a rate of up to 20 per minute worked round the clock and rebar was 50 kg per cubic meter the fire control bunker integrated took its toll on the men and Gun laying barges swarmed the Spree River of concrete. in the gun bunker, but the idea casualties from fragments or The Flak gunners of WW2 were with materials, supplying a further was abandoned due to the heavy enemy fire also had to be not expected to score a direct 500 tons each day. The ground floor had three smoke from the guns, that expected. hit on a plane 10.000 meters up entrances to the north, east and would obscure the view for the in the air, a virtually impossible Work progressed day and night, south, one of them large enough rangefinder, and the tremor from Secondary armament, task even today. Instead Flak so when a British night raid was to accommodate ambulances and the heavy artillery that might installed on a terrace ammunition explodes, either after reported in progress by the even trucks, and held the diesel jeopardize the sensitive radar below the main guns, a preset time or when a sensor night-fighter radar stations in the power plant and the ammunition equipment. However, the G-tower consisted of several detects the proximity of a target. Kammhuber-line, all lights went chambers. Ammunition was did have an auxiliary fire control 37 mm and 20 mm Fragments will then scatter over out on the building site, giving transported to the gun deck station in case the L-tower was cannons that could some distance and, hopefully, hit nearby Berliners preliminary by a paternoster type hoist, knocked out or the connection cope with low the plane. The three towers in notice of what was in store even protected by 72 ton steel copulas interrupted, comprising a altitude aircrafts. Berlin could be controlled from before the sirens began to wail. with massive doors. four meter rangefinder and a one bunker, thus being able to boys working in the ammunition Command Device 40 for target L-tower align the guns so that a “Flak The Humboldthain towers chambers fed the hoist with calculations. The other, more window”, saturating 250 by 250 A Flak tower group, Bauart 1, grenades for the guns above. modest Leitturm meter with shrapnels, could be consisted of two towers, a G- Looking at 1945 photos, it may or control tower, created. tower and an L-tower, some 3-500 The ground floor also served as strike one as odd that the towers measuring 50 by 23 meters, was To assist this control, the crew of TABLE 1 Flak 40 Zwilling, Flak 43 Zwilling, Flak Vierling, the command the L-tower could rely on radar for 2 x 128 mm 2 x 37 mm 4 x 20 mm bunker from where early detection and an estimate Designed 1936 1942 1940 In the background: the enemy planes of the altitude of enemy planes. Manufacturer Rheinmetal-Borsig Rheinmetal-Borsig Mauser The Heiligengeistfeld were detected and However, as radar technology was Flak G-tower in Hamburg Produced 1942 1943-45 1940 survived the war guns were aimed. still in its infancy at the time and Numbers built 450 Approx. 1000 unscratched in spit of Under normal too inaccurate for precision gun several air raids on the circumstances, laying, visual range finding by Role AA/AT AA/AT/AP AA/AT/AP city. actual gun laying means of optical 10-meter range Weight 27.000 kg 2.780 kg 1.509 kg (3.327 lbs) Today the tower is home to offices and institutes, i.e. a took place from this finders took over when the enemy Crew 20 (10) 8 music school. tower whereas the was within range and spotted the Barrel length 7.835/6.478 mm 3.300 mm 1.300 mm (4.26 ft) It is possible to visit certain parts of the tower, but not crews manning the planes above. No of riflings 40 the roof where the guns guns at the G-tower Shell weight 14.7/15.3 kg 0.64 kg 0.3 kg were installed. were mere feeders and For actual targeting, a devise Handling weight 47.7 kg 15 kg (8 in mag.) troubleshooters in case of known as Kommando-Gerät 40, a a jammed shell or similar. director used principally for large Caliber 128 mm (5.04 in) 37 mm (1.5 in) 20 mm (.78 in) caliber AA guns such as i.e. the Elevation - 3° to + 88° -7,5° bis +90° - 10° to +100° Some 40 meters in 128 mm twins, was used. The Traverse 360° 360° 360° height the L-tower director was basically an analogue Rate of fire up to 20 rpm 300 rpm (practical) 800 rpm (practical) housed a Würzburg computer working in tandem with Muzzle velocity 880 m/s 840 m/s 900 m/s (2.953 ft/s) Riese (Giant Würzburg) a stereoscopic range finder. It was Effective range 14.400 m 4.800 m 2,200 m (2.406 yds) radar dish that could operated by a crew of five. Two Feed system Electric rammer 8 round magazines 20 round magazines spot enemy planes operators were required to track

/12 /12 azimuth and elevation and a third could muster some 8000 rounds of 1941, Generalleutnant Otto increasing amount of personnel to marked slant range by means of a per minute. Gun details are listed Wilhelm von Renz, Commander 1. air defense. Ultimately, more than 4-meter base stereo range finder in Table 1. Flakdivision reported to the HWA one million men - in many cases mounted on the director. The that the amount of ammunition Hitler Youth troops - manned fourth man would set in horizontal Role, track record and expended per enemy aircraft some 39.000 AA batteries. To angle of approach and the fifth surrender destroyed was disproportionately top if off, another million or so man operated various switches. The Luftwaffe staff at the L-towers high and would deteriorate were employed to clean up after Data were transmitted to the guns coordinated the combined air further as the enemy built faster bombing raids; a significant for reception by a signal-light defenses over Berlin including machines. For each victory, manpower drain at a time, where system. observation posts, radar stations, German flak needed: 16.000 8.8 German armed forces were searchlights fighter planes, and cm (Flak 36) rounds, or 6000 stretched to the limits. The Kommando-Gerät 40 could the guns at the G-towers. One 10.5 cm (Flak 39) rounds, or handle diving and curving command post could i.e. control 3000 12.8 cm (Flak 40) rounds”. Battle for Berlin targets and was able to pick up the guns at all three towers Although the guns of the three In the final battle for Berlin, the a target within a time frame of and with radar and rangefinder towers benefitted from state-of- 128 mm guns of the Flak Towers 20 to 30 seconds. It was able guidance create a grid or the-art targeting devices and thus took the enemy under fire, and to shift to a new target close to “window” of shrapnel 250 by 250 may have used less than average the Russian forces respectfully the target previously computed meters wide. ammunition, the figures illustrate kept their distance. Rittmeister and, provided it was flying at a the inherent difficulties in gun- Gerhardt Boldt of the Hitler reasonably parallel course, new It is unclear just how many based air defense, each victory entourage and resident of the target data could be computed victories the Flak towers can being a Pyrrhic one. Führerbunker recounts in his in as little as 10 seconds. Even weapon, especially used on claim as the general picture most three occasions, but no damage memoirs; “The backbone of the evasive maneuvers with abrupt the Flak Towers. Capable of often is blurred during battle and In that perspective, the most was recorded, not even cracks in defense in the inner area of the changes in the targets course, throwing a 26 kg shell almost 21 claims tend to be either too over- important impact that the towers the concrete. It is likely, however, city now consisted only of the speed or altitude were overcome kilometers and with a maximum confident or too conservative. I.e. in Berlin had on Allied sorties over that had the tower been hit by a Flak Towers in the Humboldthain, within 10 to 15 seconds. altitude of nearly 15 kilometers many enemy planes may have the city will have been a degree of massive 6 ton Tallboy bomb, it Friedrichshain and Zoo parks with a cadence of 20 rounds per been hit by flak but managed to area denial; that the Government would have succumbed. Bombs and the anti-aircraft guns on Data could also be conveyed orally minute, this was a formidable and limp out of the Berlin airspace quarter within the triangle formed like these and their even bigger the Shell building. In the areas to the gun crews who adjusted the respected adversary for the Allied before finally crashing on the way by the three towers may have counterparts, the Grand Slam, within range of these fortifications mighty 128 mm guns, capable of airmen. home. The Humboldthain tower is been spared some bombing out weighing in excess of ten tons the Russian could make no destroying enemy aircrafts up to accredited 32 confirmed kills, not of reluctance by airmen to getting are reported to have penetrated significant progress”. Antony fourteen kilometers up in the air. To protect against low altitude an impressive figure considering too close. The roles as shelter for a seven meter thick concrete Bevor describes the situation attacks from enemy fighters, both that a single wave of enemy the civilian population has also ceiling in the U-boat pens of Saint this way, as he relates General Gun data the G-tower and the L-tower were aircraft could number 1000 or been of significance, and let us Nazaire in France. Weidling’s predicament after he The first 128 mm FLAK 40 twin furnished with several 37 mm and more, but it reflects the difficulties not forget the preservation of has been appointed leader of guns were delivered by Hanomag 20 mm cannons, some of them in gun laying against an enemy cultural artifacts that we thus can 1.000.000 men the city’s defenses; “The only in 1942. Although they were as twin or quadruple systems. flying at 10.000 meter altitude. enjoy today. By late 1944, as the Allied real strongpoints were the three portable with Special Trailer 203, The guns were placed on a sort of In fact, the expenditure of ammo bombing raids over Germany concrete flak towers – the Zoo the enormous weight of 27 ton balcony surrounding the towers, in Flak defense was huge, with The Humboldthain G-tower was steadily intensified, the German bunker, the Humboldthain and made this primarily a stationary and combined, on single G-tower a very modest yield; “At the end hit by Allied bombs on at least High Command had to allocate an Friedrichshain. They had plenty

A stunning view over the rooftops of Vienna. The two Flak towers are clearly visible; Leitturm ti the leftView and from Gefechtsturm Humboldthain to the Flak right Tower as it looks today

/12 /12 of ammunition for their 128 mm spearheaded by their commander, his young wife committed suicide and 20 mm guns as well as good Col. Schäfer. The Soviets tried in a Berlin street. communications with underground unsuccessfully to fire at the telephone cables. Their greatest concrete with heavy artillery and Demolition and burial problem was to be overfilled with T34 tanks, but made little impact Regardless of the intended post- wounded and civilians in their on the structure. war use of the towers and the thousands”. fact, that several institutions and The Flak towers thus seemed private companies had already In the last run for the Reichstag, impregnable to the Soviets and settled in some towers whereas the Russians bring up a large any ideas of a head-on assault others were in use as shelters for number of tanks and self- were rapidly abandoned. However, homeless people, the occupation propelled guns along with massive given the situation surrender was forces considered Flak towers forces, but are forced to retreat, only a matter of time. The Zoo military installations, bound for The Zoo Bunker after the war as they come under fire from the bunker capitulated on May 1st demolition in accordance with the nearby Zoo bunker. Antony Bevor; after guarantees were given, that surrender terms, and a program The League of Traveling Armchair Generals are preparing to enter Humboldthain Flak Tower in Berlin, the downfall 1945; “The SS and SA men in the bunker and the last resources within for their destruction was laid down German anti-aircraft guns on top would not be executed. Following the city limit – assembled at the in Directive 22 of December 6th, of the Zoo bunker, two kilometers Gen. Weidling’s surrender of foot of the Humboldthain flak 1945. The world press watched in awe the railroad tracks, and a partial away, had opened up on them. the the previous day, tower, determined to make a go as the fuse was lit at 16:00 hours demolition and subsequent burial They were forced to take cover Humboldthain gave up on May for freedom by breaking through After the post-war dividing of on August 30th, but when the in a heap of rubble from bombed- again and wait until nightfall”. 3rd, 1945, at 12:00 and the the Russian lines and link up Berlin, the Flak tower lay in thunderous explosion was over out Berlin was therefore decided And later on the same page; “The remaining crew and Hitler Youth with the illusive forces of Wenck different control zones; the Zoo and the dust had settled, the on. 8th Guards Army in the southern “Flakhilfer” boys were taken and Busse. The force was under towers were in the British zone, tower still stood! One American part of the and the prisoner by the Red Army. command of the flamboyant and the Friedrichshain towers in the newsman is reported to have The L-tower was demolished on 3rd Shock Army in the north highly decorated twenty-seven Russian zone and Humboldthain laconically commented; “Made in December 13th, 1947. The event were held back only by fire from Break-out from Hitler’s bunker year old Erich Bärenfänger – until lay in the French zone. The Germany” It took another 40 tons was successful apart from the the huge Zoo flak tower”.And During the night of May 1st, April 23rd a modest Lieutenant Soviets were to go first and on of explosives to knock the tower fact the property belonging to a few pages forward; “The 3rd a breakout was attempted Colonel, but in a whim promoted April 20th, 1946 (coincidence?), down in June, 1948. German company AEG on the Shock Army had bypassed the by Hitler’s entourage and the to Major-General by Hitler and put The first big bang took place as other side of Gustav-Meyer-Allé immensely powerful Humboldthain remaining personnel of the RSD in charge of Berlin defenses, a the Friedrichshain L-tower was Humboldthain, being in the French was also damaged. The G-tower flak bunker which was left as a and FBK. In some twenty groups, position he held for some twelve (partly) demolished. Unsatisfied sector adjacent to the Soviets, was unsuccessfully attempted target for their heavy artillery they tried to escape the Reich hours before the assignment was with the result, the Soviets made presented a special problem. The blown up on February 28th, 1948 and the bombers. Continuing in a Chancellery and flee northwards given to General Weidling. another attempt later and in G-tower was situated very close and only two weeks later a final clockwise direction, the 5th Shock over the Spree river. In the course the meantime, the G-tower was to the railroad, which ran through explosion managed to knock down Army, driving into the eastern of this attempt, a group passed The Reich Chancellery group, demolished. the Soviet sector, and in 1948 the two southern corners of the districts, similarly bypassed the the Humboldthain Park. At the led by Mohnke, arrived at the air between the former allies fortress. Friedrichshain bunker”. same time, in the wee hours of Humboldthain early in the The Britons followed on July 28th, was getting colder by the minute. May 2nd, a sizeable force of some morning and the sight of 1947, blowing up the Zoo L-tower Consequently, the French did Flak towers today Counter-attacks were also twenty Tiger tanks, self-propelled Bärenfänger’s force was and went on to the Grand Finale not want to risk an confrontation Initially all three demolition sites mounted from the Humboldthain guns and other armored vehicles almost incomprehensible to a month later by stuffing the G- with Stalin if some of the debris were covered in the millions of tower by troops from the defenses – fresh out of Berlin factories the escapees. General Mohnke, tower with 25 tons of explosives. from the explosion should fall on tons of rubble that the center of quoted by O’Donnell, related; Berlin had been reduced to during “It was a fantastic apparition, the allied bombing campaign like a Fata Morgana. I had to rub and the final battle for the city. my eyes. This otherwise unreal Humboldthain G-tower alone took scene reminded me of prewar 1.6 million tons of debris, and was maneuvers in my days as a young only partially covered. troop officer, somewhere off on the Lueneburger or the Romintern The Zoo towers are completely Heath. The sunshine, the shining gone. Even the heaps of rubble weapons, the distribution of were removed in 1958 as they field rations. No sign of serious presented a potential hazard battle fatigue. We who had been to U-Bahn tunnel excavation. trudging all through the Berlin Friedrichshain was covered to night were astounded. A crazy a height of 78 meters and is new hope rose briefly.” known as Große Bunkerberg, but the most debris went into the However, the initial joy did not so-called Teufelsberg (Devil’s last long as Weidling’s order Mountain) in Chalottenburg/ to lay down arms was in effect Wilmersdorf, reaching a by 10:00 that same morning. staggering 115 meters high and Subsequently, the tanks and guns used by US troops as a look-out were destroyed and later that during the Cold War. The balcony of the Humboldthain Tower today same afternoon, Bärenfänger and Demolished 128 mm twin guns on the Zoo Bunker, May 1945 u

10/16 11/12 A drill on top of the in 1942. Apparently a crew of just seven troops would suffice. Note that the gun at this point i time is a single- barrelled 88 mm, the 128 mm twins came later (August 1942). Also note the huge, 72 ton copula over the ammunition hoist. u In 2004 the Berliner Unterwelten On Flak and guns As airplanes matured during the (Berlin Underground Association) The term is an acronym interwar years, from flimsy fabric started guided tours of the upper of the German word and plywood kites to awesome floors of the tower, and as they Fliegerabwehrkanone or aircraft machines of destruction, the are remarkable structures, these defense cannon and the concept need for an efficient anti-aircraft Flak towers, and if you are into is of German origin. In an defense spurred an array of bunkers and fortifications of the English-speaking environment, longer and longer ranging artillery Second World War, and the history Flak is known as AAA or triple- pieces, and ordnance especially of a metropolis under , a A, an acronym for anti-aircraft suited to inflict damage on visit to Humboldthain is highly artillery, or ack-ack (from the fast moving, airborne targets. recommendable. l phonetic alphabet This included fragmentation for AA). The earliest known use ammunition, sending shrapnel of weapons specifically made for in all directions when detonated Factbox the anti-aircraft role occurred and a variety of fuses; time delay, Place: Humboldthain Flak Tower, managed during the Franco-Prussian War barometric and proximity, to by Berliner Unterwelten b.V. Office at of 1870. After the disaster at trigger the shell in the desired Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn Station Sedan, Paris was besieged and altitude. Phone: +49 (30) 499 105-17 French troops outside the city E-mail: Contact form on website started an attempt at re-supply never developed via balloon. Krupp mounted a a successful proximity fuse, so Web: http://berliner-unterwelten.de/ modified 1-pounder gun (~32 mm) initially they relied on a regular, home.1.1.html on top of a horse-drawn carriage time-delayed explosive shell for Opening days: See website for the purpose of shooting anti-aircraft purposes. In 1943, Opening hours: See website down these balloons, named the however, a fragmentation shell Admission: Seing the tower from the “ballonkanone”. with a controlled burst came into outside is free. Guided tours, see website service, increasing the success Bahn lines: U8, S2, S8, S41, 42 (circle lines) ratio, and within the last six Required gear: Warm clothes, sturdy months of the war incendiary shoes or boots. Helmet is issued by guide, shrapnels were developed. They flashlight is advisable. Always use caution in were thin-walled projectiles derelict bunkers! containing a large amount of small Photographing: Prohibited! pellets designed to penetrate the skin of an aircraft and start fires RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ within. l

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