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Flak tower

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Augarten L-Tower.
Augarten G-Tower and 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.

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 such that the German national rail schedule was altered to facilitate the shipment of 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. However only the 128 mm guns had effective range to defend against the RAF heavy bombers. The 3 flak towers around the outskirts of Berlin created a triangle of formidable anti-aircraft fire that covered the centre of Berlin. [citation needed]

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 in a fought-over city, and so the flak towers were some of the last places to surrender to USSR forces, eventually forced to capitulate as supplies dwindled[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. [citation needed]

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:

  • a G-Tower (German: Gefechtsturm) or Combat Tower, also known as the Gun Tower, Battery Tower or Large Flak Tower, and
  • a L-Tower (German: Leitturm) or Lead Tower also known as the Fire-control tower, command tower, listening bunker or small flak tower.
The three generations of G tower.
  • Generation 1
    • G-Towers were 70.5 × 70.5 × 39 m, usually armed with eight (four twin) 128 mm guns and numerous 37 mm and thirty-two (eight quad) 20 mm guns.
    • L-Towers were 50 × 23 × 39 m, usually armed with sixteen (four quad) 20 mm guns.
  • Generation 2
    • G-Towers were 57 × 57 × 41.6 m, usually armed with eight (four twin) 128 mm guns and sixteen (four quad) 20 mm guns.
    • L-Towers were 50 × 23 × 44 m, usually armed with forty (ten quad) 20 mm guns.
  • Generation 3
    • G-Towers were 43 × 43 × 54 m, usually armed with eight (four twin) 128 mm guns and thirty-two (eight quad) 20 mm guns.

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

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 II G-Tower

Flakturm IV - Heiligengeistfeld, Hamburg

  • Flakturm IV G-Tower
    Flakturm IV G-Tower

Flakturm V - Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg

  • Flakturm V G-Tower
    Flakturm V G-Tower

Flakturm VI - Stiftskaserne, Vienna

  • Flakturm VI G-Tower
    Flakturm VI G-Tower
  • Flakturm VI L-Tower
    Flakturm VI L-Tower
  • View from the climbing wall
    View from the climbing wall

Flakturm VII - Augarten, Vienna

  • Flakturm VII G-tower
    Flakturm VII G-tower
  • Flakturm VII L-tower
    Flakturm VII L-tower

Flakturm VIII - Arenberg Park, Vienna

  • Flakturm VIII G-tower
    Flakturm VIII G-tower
  • Flakturm VIII L-tower
    Flakturm VIII L-tower

Planned towers (not built)

Berlin

Bremen

Hamburg

Munich

  • Munich Railroad Station (eight planned, none built)

Vienna

  • Original plans were to place the three towers in Schmelz, Prater & Floridsdorf.

Flak guns

See also

Further reading

  • Foedrowitz, Michael. (1998). The Flak Towers in Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna 1940-1950. Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-0398-8
  • Ute Bauer "Die Wiener Flakturme im Spiegel Oesterreichischer Erinnerungskultur", Phoibos Verlag, Wien 2003. ISBN 3-901232-42-7
  • Flavia Foradini, Edoardo Conte: I templi incompiuti di Hitler", catalogo della mostra omonima, Milano, Spazio Guicciardini, 17.2-13.3.2009

Notes

  1. ^ George Pagliero (2008). Hitler's Secret Bunkers (Documentary). United Kingdom: Fulcrum TV.
  2. ^ Beevor, Antony (April 2009). Berlin:The Downfall.
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