Hochbunker Blumenstrasse

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High bunker at Blumenstrasse 22

The Hochbunker Blumenstrasse, also called the flower bunker , is an above-ground air raid shelter from the Second World War in Munich . It was built in 1941 according to plans by Karl Meitinger by the municipal building department in the center of the city. The establishment took place within the framework of the immediate Führer program , in which Munich was classified as a "first order air raid shelter". By the end of the war, 48 bunkers with a similar capacity had been built in Munich. In the bunker, up to 1,200 people should find protection from air attacks. The then Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition Fritz Todt appeared at the inauguration .

The bunker was built in the form of a baroque defense tower over a square floor plan. The edge lengths measure about 14.25 meters. The six-storey building is framed above ground by outer walls up to 1.30 meters thick, the walls in the basement are up to 1.80 meters thick and are made of reinforced concrete. The ceiling of the tower is a two meter thick layer of concrete. A tent roof is attached to the tower and ends with a ridge turret .

The only neighboring building in the street block is the Schrannenhalle to the northeast .

Architectural features

Many of the bunkers in Munich were built in historical styles, if possible, to blend in with their surroundings, making them harder to see from the air. Another reason was that the bunkers had to fit into the Munich cityscape, because they wanted to leave the bunkers standing after the expected victory. However, the camouflage became useless at the beginning of the area bombing.

post war period

In December 1945 the Allied Control Council issued Directives 22 and 23, which regulated the dismantling of fortifications on German soil and forbade the construction of new bunkers. This happened as part of the demilitarization of Germany and was implemented differently in the individual occupation zones. However, many of the bunkers have been preserved. This happened mainly because of the beginning of the Cold War and the integration of the two German states into the respective military alliances of the victorious powers. The bunker in Blumenstrasse was supposed to be blown up in 1947 as part of these directives, but this was prevented by the city administration, which argued that the bunker no longer had a military function and could serve civil defense. In the 1960s, the bunker was redeveloped and placed under civil protection regulations, with a capacity of 750 people for 48 hours. With this refurbishment, the bunker received its own sanitary and ventilation systems in order to withstand a potential nuclear attack.

future

The bunker is still subject to the civil protection order, but for two decades after the end of the Cold War , a new use has been considered. The continuing peace in Europe and the low probability that Munich will be hit by natural disasters means that the use of the bunker for civil protection no longer has the highest priority. In addition, a capacity of 750 people, which was already insufficient in wartime, is far too low for Munich today.

Many local interest groups presented their ideas of possible uses for the bunker in recent years. So suggestions came from the gastronomy to convert the bunker into a café or a restaurant. Suggestions also came from private individuals, such as Karlheinz Kümmel, who owns a large private collection on the subject of aerial warfare and bunkers in Munich. His suggestion was to set up a museum about bunkers, which was also supported by the CSU . In September 2016, however, a decision was made by the municipal committee of the city ​​council , which decided that the bunker should be turned into a museum for building culture and urban development. An operator and a usage concept still have to be found; even after this decision, the bunker is still subject to the civil protection regulations.

literature

  • Heinrich Habel, Johannes Hallinger, Timm Weski: State capital Munich - center (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume I.2 / 1 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-87490-586-2 , p. 120 .
  • Martin Kaule: Fazination Bunker: Stone evidence of European history. 1st edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86153-761-8 , pp. 174-176.
  • Marcello La Speranza. Explosive architecture: legacies of the Nazi era: party buildings, bunkers, sanctuaries. 1st edition. ARES Verlag, Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-902732-40-8 , p. 178.
  • Winfried Nerdinger, Architekturführer: München, Third Edition, edited by Winfried Nerdinger. 1st edition Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-496-01359-4 , p. 34.

Web links

Commons : Hochbunker Blumenstrasse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralf Blank (Ed.): German Wartime Society 1929–1945. Politicization, Disintegration, and the Struggle for Survival. License issue. Clarendon Press, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-928277-7 , p. 458 ( Germany and the Second World War. Volume IX / I).
  2. ↑ Martin Kaule: Fascination Bunker: Stone Evidence of European History . 1st edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86153-761-8 , pp. 174-176 .
  3. ↑ Birte Bredow: Münchner wants to turn private archive on the air war into a museum . In: sueddeutsche.de . June 20, 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  4. ↑ muenchen.de: The raised bunker on Blumenstrasse is being used again. Retrieved December 19, 2018 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 1.6 ″  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 24.7 ″  E