Capital of German shipping

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The term capital of German shipping referred to the Hanseatic city of Hamburg during the National Socialist era . With this designation, the plans for the massive renovation of the city began, similar to Berlin as the world capital Germania . The lead architect was Konstanty Gutschow , who from April 1, 1939 had the title of architect of the banks of the Elbe .

Planning

The new central element on the banks of the Elbe was supposed to be the so-called Gauhaus . It was planned to be 250 meters high and should be located at the height of today's Altona balcony . It should be almost twice as high as the Michaeliskirche, which dominates the silhouette . A Gauforum as a parade ground and a people's hall should be attached to the building. The capacity of the forum should be 50,000 people.

The square itself should be limited on the side facing away from the bank by low, multi-storey buildings. At its end and opposite the planned Gauhaus, two medium-high gate buildings should lead the way to the subsequent promenade. The bank itself was intended for further low rows of buildings. In the future, the ships of the National Socialist leisure organization should create strength through joy on the new representative harbor promenade .

The declared aim of the planning was also to relocate the center of Hamburg from the Alster to the banks of the Elbe. In addition, the city was to be structurally loosened up by a considerable greening and in this context the industrial cityscape was to be broken up by relocating companies. The fisheries located in the port were to be relocated to Wedel-Schulau and other industries to the Kattwyk peninsula. The war-important mineral oil port in Waltershof was to be closed due to expected bomb attacks and distributed decentrally.

A huge suspension bridge should also be of central importance, which should overshadow the recently opened Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with its dimensions . This Elbe bridge should have a span of 750 meters and a height of 180 meters. The design of the bridge was borrowed from that of the Golden Gate Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge in New York City . Your location should be at the level of the new Elbe tunnel .

The cost of the renovation should amount to 1.6 billion Reichsmarks and the construction work should be completed in 1965.

Forced labor

From the end of the 1930s, prisoners from Neuengamme concentration camp , located directly in front of the city, were used for the construction work . Since mainly clinker bricks were needed for the building to be built , the prisoners were placed in clay pits under inhumane conditions . For the transport of the fired stones, they worked in parallel on a branch canal to the port of Hamburg.

See also

swell