Flak tower

There were a total of 8 flak tower complexes in the cities of Berlin (three), Hamburg (two), and Vienna (three) from 1940 onwards.

Smaller single-purpose flak towers were built at key outlying German strongpoints, such as at Angers in France, and Heligoland in Germany.

The towers were operated by the Luftwaffe to defend against Allied strategic air raids against these cities during World War II.

After the RAF's raid on Berlin in 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of three massive flak towers to defend the capital from air attack.

The priority of the project was such that the German national rail schedule was altered to facilitate the shipment of concrete, steel and timber to the construction sites.

[2] With concrete walls up to 3.5 m (11 ft) thick, their designers considered the towers to be invulnerable to attack by the standard ordnance carried by RAF heavy bombers at the time of their construction.

However, only the 128 mm (5.0 in) FlaK 40 guns had effective range to defend against the RAF and USAAF heavy bombers.

The tower built near the Berlin Zoo was the first-generation type and covered the government district.

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.

52°32′39″N 13°23′14″E / 52.544092°N 13.387326°E / 52.544092; 13.387326 Heiligengeistfeld (1st Generation)53°33′22″N 9°58′12″E / 53.556212°N 9.970104°E / 53.556212; 9.970104 This tower contains six levels below the rooftop and includes in its design, as part of its air-raid shelter, two identical spaces for protection against gas attacks.