Flak tower

Augarten L-Tower.
Augarten G-Tower.

Flak towers (German: Flaktürme) were 8 complexes of large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed in the cities of Berlin (3), Hamburg (2), and Vienna (3) from 1940 onwards. They were used by the Luftwaffe to defend against Allied air raids on these cities during World War II. They also served as air-raid shelters for tens of thousands of people and to coordinate air defence.

Contents

History and uses

Flak tower during construction, 1942

After the RAF's raid on Berlin in 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of 3 massive flak towers to defend the capital from air attack. These towers were each supported by a radar installation that had a retractable radar dish (the dish would be retracted behind a thick concrete and steel dome in order to prevent damage in an air raid). The flak towers, the design of which Hitler took personal interest in and even made some sketches for, were constructed in a mere 6 months. The priority of the project was evidenced in the fact that the German national rail schedule was altered in order to facilitate the shipment of the necessary materials, namely concrete, steel and lumber to the construction sites.[1]

With concrete walls up to 3.5 metres thick, flak towers were considered to be invulnerable to attack with the usual ordnance carried by Allied bombers, though it is unlikely that they would have withstood Grand Slam bombs which successfully penetrated much thicker reinforced concrete. Aircraft generally appeared to have avoided the flak towers. The towers were able to sustain a rate of fire of 8000 rounds per minute from their multi-level guns, with a range of up to 14 km in a full 360-degree field of fire. The 3 flak towers around the outskirts of Berlin created a triangle of formidable anti-aircraft fire that covered the centre of Berlin.

The flak towers had also been designed with the idea of using the above-ground bunkers as a civilian shelter, with room for 10,000 civilians, and even a hospital ward, inside. The towers, during the fall of Berlin, formed their own communities, with up to 30,000 or more Berliners taking refuge in a single tower during the battle. These towers, much like the keeps of medieval castles, were some of the safest places to be in a fought-over city, and so the flak towers were some of the last places to surrender to Allied forces, eventually forced to capitulate as supplies ran out[2].

The Soviets, in their assault on Berlin, found it difficult to inflict significant damage on the flak towers, even with some of the largest Soviet guns, such as the 203 mm howitzers. Soviet forces generally manoeuvered around the towers, and eventually sent in envoys to seek their submission. Unlike much of Berlin, the towers tended to be fully stocked with ammunition and supplies, and the gunners even used their anti-aircraft 20 mm cannons to defend against assault by ground units. The Zoo Tower was one of the last points of defence, with German armoured units rallying near it at Tiergarten, before trying to break out of the encircling Soviet Red Army.

For a time after the war, the conversion to representative objects with decorated facades was planned. After the war was lost, the demolition of the towers was in most cases unfeasible and many remain to this day.

Flak tower design iterations

The L & G-Towers in Augarten, Vienna

Each flak tower complex consisted of:

The three generations of G tower.

The evaluation of even larger Battery Towers was commissioned by Adolf Hitler. These would have been three times the size and firepower of flak towers.

Towers

Flakturm I - Berliner Zoo, Berlin

Zoo Tower, Berlin, after the battle

Flak position on the Zoo Tower

Flakturm II - Friedrichshain, Berlin

The G-Tower, known as Mont Klamott (Rubble Mountain) in Berlin, was the inspiration for songs by singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann and the rock band Silly.

Flakturm III - Humboldthain, Berlin

Flakturm II G-Tower

Flakturm IV - Heiligengeistfeld, Hamburg

Flakturm IV G-Tower

Flakturm V - Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg

Flakturm V G-Tower

Flakturm VI - Stiftskaserne, Vienna

Flakturm VI G-Tower

Flakturm VI L-Tower

View from the climbing wall

Flakturm VII - Augarten, Vienna

Flakturm VII G-tower

Flakturm VII L-tower

Flakturm VIII - Arenberg Park, Vienna

Flakturm VIII G-tower

Flakturm VIII L-tower

Planned towers (not built)

Berlin

Bremen

Hamburg

Munich

Vienna

Flak guns

See also

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ George Pagliero. (2008). Hitler's Secret Bunkers. [Documentary]. United Kingdom: Fulcrum TV. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262365/. 
  2. ↑ Beevor, Antony (April 2009). Berlin:The Downfall. 

External links