Hochbunkers in Munich - Often Seen, Seldom Looked At
How many things are there in your surroundings that you pass by, or in my case cycle by, every day, seeing but not looking at? You don't know exactly what they are and you gloss over them without wondering. Such was the case for me with Munich's approximately 40 hochbunkers, the overground bunkers built by Hitler in the first years of WWII. I started cycling to them and taking pictures, collecting them so to speak.
Wikipedia on Munich's hochbunkers:
Wikipedia on Munich's hochbunkers:
Most of Munich's hochbunker have been abandoned or are used for other purposes (living, art), only two (in the Schleißheimer- and in the Blumenstraße) are still dedicated as civil pprotection structures. Overground bunkers or air-raid towers were designed, patented and approved by the Reich Air Force for Air Defense in the early 1930s. With the same level of protection, bunkers are cheaper, faster and less material to build than underground bunkers. On October 10, 1940, a Fuhrer emergency program was designed for the construction of air raid bunkers in the German Reich. About 40 bunkers. LS special structures no. 1 to no. 40 and eight underground bunkers were built by the Stadtbauamt München under the direction of Karl Meitinger until the end of the war. After the war, all bunkers were to be blown up by American order. However, since there was a shortage of housing, the buildings remained largely intact.
I used the Wikipedia list of Munich's hochbunkers with their locations for my photo outings by bicycle. Although the website maintains there are approximately 40 of these structures, they only list 28. Of these 28, 23 are still standing. Built to withstand bombing, it is difficult and costly to demolish them. While some have been converted to living space or hotels, others are used by the city or stand neglected with no purpose at all.
These are some of the hochbunkers which I photographed between May 2018 and August 2018. I didn't publish them at the time but had every intention of eventually completing the project. I now, March 2022, return to the project. I had originally intended to include stories of my bicycle rides to the bunkers scattered in all parts of Munich. Cycling to the sites of these relics from the war was an adventure of discovery in itself.
I had also planned to include their exact location, history and present day status. Too late for that now. The project has lost its momentum and I am just posting little more than a collection of pictures. I have rescued some bits of the original narrative from my blog which you'll find by clicking the images. The rest is left to the reader's imagination. The alternative was to leave this page under construction forever.
These are some of the hochbunkers which I photographed between May 2018 and August 2018. I didn't publish them at the time but had every intention of eventually completing the project. I now, March 2022, return to the project. I had originally intended to include stories of my bicycle rides to the bunkers scattered in all parts of Munich. Cycling to the sites of these relics from the war was an adventure of discovery in itself.
I had also planned to include their exact location, history and present day status. Too late for that now. The project has lost its momentum and I am just posting little more than a collection of pictures. I have rescued some bits of the original narrative from my blog which you'll find by clicking the images. The rest is left to the reader's imagination. The alternative was to leave this page under construction forever.
