Our (historical) search for Nazi eagles continues. While we thoroughly covered the history of the german heraldic eagle, from its use as the Reichsadler in the early 900s up until today as the Bundesadler in our post “The Nazi Eagles of Berlin” – we will refrain from rehashing its history in this piece. As we’ve already extensively documented the remaining Nazi Eagles in Berlin, as well as in the state of Brandenburg – we’ve started documenting the remaining Nazi Eagles in Hamburg.
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
If an address is not given for an Eagle, it is done so on purpose. If you do have a question regarding one of the publicly listed locations ask away. If you know of an Eagle that we’ve missed out on, feel free to leave a comment so we can continue to complete the list. It goes without saying that our interest in these Eagles/Symbols is purely historical, and in no way do we condone or support any fascist or racist ideology.
A short history of Hamburgs Bunkers
Few cities in Germany were as heavily fortified with bunkers during the second world war as Hamburg. While Nazi government had initially assumed that the pre-existing civilian shelters were adequate enough, the increasing allied air raids over Berlin and other cities quickly changed their mind. By 1940, the Nazis introduced the “Führer-Sofortprogramm” – which sought to speed up the construction of air raid shelters for (initially) all cities with over 100,000 residents.
Despite its ports, Hamburg played a relatively minor industrial role in Germany up until the early 1930s. Only with the Nazis rise to power, and the heavy investment (and subsidisation) in rearmament programs – specifically large shipyards and petroleum production – did Hamburg become an industrial center, and a lucrative air raid target for the allies.
In 1940, Hamburg only had enough shelters to protect roughly 3% of its inhabitants, by 1943, this had jumped to 22%, in addition to two thirds of all the cities cellars having been fortified. It is estimated that over 1200 shelters and bunkers had been constructed in Hamburg until the end of the war, with 650 of them still accessible/intact to this day.
The reason we bring up Hamburgs bunkers is (not just because we are fascinated by them) because many of them were “denazified” after the war – having their swastikas removed, yet their eagles left intact. Many of the eagles on this list are located at the entrances of a so-called “Zombeck-Turm” – an air raid shelter resembling a medieval tower. 11 of these so called Zombeck-Türme were built in Hamburg, 9 of which still stand today.
The Nazi Eagles of Hamburg
Unlike Berlin, Hamburgs Nazi Eagle locations can be broken down into (primarily) three locations: Bunkers, Memorials, and Barracks. And unlike Berlin or Munich (or the rest of Bavaria), it seems like they did a relatively thorough job of scrubbing the city of the majority of Nazi iconography after the war – though a few controversial pieces still remain. *We are currently missing at least 5 Eagles in Hamburg which we will add to this list the next time we visit Hamburg (one afternoon was simply not long enough to traverse all locations on our list).
[1934] A Reichsadler atop the Kriegerdenkmal Pinneberg
Address: Rockvillestraße, 25421 Pinneberg
Current Status: The wreath underneath the eagle originally had a swastika in the middle, which was replaced with an iron cross after the war. The memorial is opposite of the Pinneberg Train station and is publicly accessible.
[1940] Zombeck-Turm Vorsetzen
Address: Vorsetzen 70, 20459 Hamburg
Current Status: The bunker has been converted into a portuguese restaurant.
[1940 / 1941] Zombeck-Turm Billhorner Brückenstraße
Address: Billhorner Brückenstraße 41, 20539 Hamburg
Current Status: The bunker was converted into recording studio.
[1940] Zombeck-Turm Hasselbrook
Address: Hasselbrookstraße 174, 22089 Hamburg
Current Status: Previously used by multiple businesses, currently empty.
[1939 / 1940] Zombeck-Turm Barmbek
Address: Wiesendamm 7, 22305 Hamburg
Current Status: Currently empty, but there is a nice historical display in front of the tower.
Nazi Eagles Hamburg Map
We’ve created this map to help those of you who are interested in finding/looking at some of these Nazi Eagles in Hamburg for yourself. If you are interested in the Nazi Eagle locations in Berlin and Brandenburg, feel free to check out the map at the bottom on either of these articles: Berlin | Brandenburg