From Nazi Bunker To Luxurious Hotel: This Five-Story Building In Hamburg Got A New Look And Purpose

The five-story structure in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the largest bunkers in the world, has a dark history tied to the Nazi regime. Now, after a five-year, $100 million renovation, its gray concrete roof is topped with greenery and houses a 134-bedroom hotel, a 2,000-seat concert hall, and a community garden.

"The idea of raising the height of the building with greenery was to add something peaceful and positive to this massive block left over from the Nazi dictatorship," said Anita Engels from the local Hilldegarden neighborhood association.

Built by the Nazis in 1942, the St. Pauli bunker served as a series of "flak towers" for air raid shelters and Nazi propaganda. During World War II, it housed up to 25,000 civilians during the July 1943 Allied bombings of Operation Gomorrah.

Post-war, the bunker housed the homeless and later became office space for a TV broadcasting center and advertising companies in the 1950s. The lower floors eventually became venues for musicians, a radio station, and even a climbing gym.

In 2019, Hamburg and private investors launched the renovation project to transform the bunker as part of a new "deNazification process," according to the property's website. This followed the conversion of the Gestapo headquarters in Hamburg into a luxury space with boutiques, offices, and apartments.

Germany has also transformed its other flak towers, including turning Hamburg's second tower into a mini power station producing renewable energy and burying Berlin's bunkers beneath artificial hills to create city parks. In Vienna, one flak tower was renovated into a 43,000-square-foot public aquarium.

The St. Pauli bunker will memorialize its past with a museum exhibition on the first floor. The Hilldegarden neighborhood association has collected testimonies from people who lived in the bunker during the war and tracked down records of those who built it in just 300 days, all now available for viewing at the exhibition site.