Flak towers – Hitler wanted to use these concrete colossuses to stop the Allied bombers

Second World War
Flak towers – Hitler wanted to use these concrete colossuses to stop the Allied bombers

After the first air raids on Berlin, Hitler was shocked. He ordered the construction of huge towers with anti-aircraft guns mounted on top. But even they could not stop the Allied bomber fleets.

When it became apparent that the German Luftwaffe could not effectively combat the Allied bomber formations, the Nazis resorted to medieval methods to escape the hail of bombs. Factories were outsourced to mines and bunkers were built all over the German-controlled areas, which even the heaviest bombs should not harm.

The benefit of the building project is debatable. Although caves and bunkers were bombproof, the access roads were not. The Allies began to destroy the leading track systems and the entrances to the submarine bunkers were also constantly monitored.

Gun platform

A special case of German bunker construction were the so-called anti-aircraft towers. As bunkers, they offered protection to the population, but anti-aircraft guns were mounted on their roof.

The British Air Force carried out its first bombing raid on Berlin in 1940. Barely 200 bombs were dropped, no comparison to the later raids which involved fleets of 1000 heavy bombers. Hitler and the Berliners were shocked.

“The Berliners are stunned,” said a radio correspondent from the United States. “They didn’t expect that something like this could ever happen. At the beginning of the war, Goering assured them that it would never happen.” In a so-called “Führer Immediate Program” the construction of a total of eight large towers began, three of them in Berlin.

These bunkers were not dug into the ground, they aimed upwards. They had to be higher than the surrounding houses. Only through the high platform was it possible in the big cities to give the heavy anti-aircraft guns on the roof a clear field of fire. Because of the enormous gas pressure when firing, the heavy guns could not be used at ground level in the built-up area.

Indestructible Fortresses

The most famous building is the anti-aircraft bunker at the zoo in Berlin. The 13-storey reinforced concrete building was completed in 1941. Four carriages were set up on the roof, each for a heavy double flak with a caliber of 12.8 cm (“Twelve-Eight-Twin”). The lower platforms, which nestled like a ring around the bunker, were armed with 20 mm and 37 mm guns. They were intended to be used against aircraft attacking the tower directly. The side walls were eight meters thick and the ceiling was five meters of reinforced concrete.

A hospital was housed in the upper area. The civilian garrison of the tower comprised 350 men from the 1st Flak Division, and a total of 15,000 people were able to seek shelter there from bombing raids.

In fact, the flak towers could not be destroyed during the war. But they were largely powerless against the Allied air raids. The hail of flak fire made it difficult for the bomber groups to maneuver and also resulted in casualties. But the fire from the ground could not compensate for the inferiority of the German Luftwaffe. Once the Allies were able to have long-range fighters escort their bombers, the situation became hopeless.

Role in the collapse of Nazi rule

The concrete block played its greatest role in Berlin in the last days of the Third Reich. The parallel world of the Führer bunker under the Reich Chancellery is well known. Hitler hid there with his closest entourage. At the same time, thousands sought protection from the artillery and ground battles against the Red Army in the much larger flak tower.

While the civilians fled the fighting, the tower was converted into a fortress. In the vicinity, the last defenders dug bunkers and trenches, and the heavy anti-aircraft guns fired on the Soviet tanks.

The bunker could not be taken until the capitulation. Due to its commanding height, the bunker was one of the anchor positions of the last resistance in the government district of Berlin. Even the strongest caliber left only superficial indentations on the concrete. Inside was the apocalypse. Wounded, children and civilians could only be cared for inadequately. Survivors later described how the elevators kept bringing down the shattered bodies of Hitler Youth serving the gunners from the roof. Even if the bunker itself could not be broken into, the soldiers on the platform were largely defenseless.

In divided Berlin, the tower fell into the British zone. The British really wanted to blow up the colossus. Two attempts failed, only the third blast with 35 tons of explosives caused the concrete to burst.

Other large bunkers are still in Hamburg and Vienna.

Also read:

Hitler’s Luftwaffe bit its teeth at the “Flying Fortress” B-17

How a British woman eliminated German fighter planes with her invention

Illustrated book Fighter! World War II fighter planes come to life

Modern air-water taxi based on the design of Hitler’s rocket builders