Flakturm II G-Tower Friedrichshain (Flak tower)

The Flakturm tower was destroyed after the war. A small part of the tower is visible. The Flak tower was of the first generation. The L-tower, who stood in connection with this tower, is destroyed entirely after the war.

The Flakturm (Flag Tower) is a concrete bunker that is placed in a city. The bunker was provided with a space where people (in the largest tower itself was room for 20,000 people) could shelter during bombings and there was space for storage of goods. The bunker was equipped with Flak anti aircraft gun (Flak is the acronym for Flugabwehrkanone, also called Fliegerabwehrkanone).

These large towers were built during the Second World War in the cities Berlin (Germany), Hamburg (Germany) and Vienna (Austria).

Each Flak tower complex consisted of a G-Tower (Gefechts-Turm) and L-Tower (Leit-Turm).
The complexes consisting of 3 generations:

Generation 1:
G-Tower - 70.5 x 70.5 x 39 meters - with eight 128 mm guns and several 20, 30 and 37 mm guns.
L-Tower - 50 x 23 x 39 meters - usually equipped with sixteen 20 mm guns.

Generation 2:
G-Tower - 57 x 57 x 41.6 meters - equipped with eight 128 mm guns and sixteen 20 mm guns.
L-Tower - 50 x 23 x 44 meters - equipped with forty 20 mm guns

Generation 3:
G-Tower - 43 x 43 x 54 meters - with eight 128 mm guns and 32 pieces of the 20 mm gun.

The bunker today
This 78 meter high hill (Großer Bunkerberg) is located in Volkspark Frieddrichshain and is the result of the demolition of the Flakturm that stood here. After it was blown up, the bunker was covered with sand and debris. An information panel is standing at the feet of this hill.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Deutsches Bundesarchiv