Remains of the war in Hamburg "Heiligengeistfeld"

Front side of the Heiligengeistfeld tower

The firs time I saw this building in Hamburg, around the Schanzenviertel, I was astonished. It is very very ugly. And it is located in the middle of the city. As the first time I was around there I did not have a clue in which area of the city I was, I wondered if it was a prison. But then I asked myself, could it be a remain of the second world war? The government would not let that happen? Would they? Oder??

As everyone in these days, when I have doubts about something I just google the concept, the person, the movie, the country, etc; and I instantly get my doubt solved. With this building I did not have a clue how to start looking for information about it. But one day, with google maps, looking for an address in the Schanzenviertel, I found it by pure coincidence. And then I googled the name of the street and finally got to know what this ugly building is.

The building above is a Flak bunker or a Flak tower. As I am not a native English speaker and I do not have any familiarity with war terminology, I really could not understand what a flak was. I could imagine though. Having a building so huge and with so thick walls, it could only be for defense.

The name of the building, I guess, is Flak Turm Heiligengeistfeld. According to wikipedia, this sort of buildings were anti air-craft built to prevent attacks on certain areas of the city. At the same time they worked as air-raid shelters for people.

According to the book of Keith Lowe, Inferno: The devastation of Hamburg, Heiligengeistfeld was built to be indestructible, that's why it is still there. Hamburg is not the only city that still houses this kind of buildings. It seems that Vienna also has tome Flak bunkers today.

What do you think should be made with this building? The Heiligengeistfeld flak tower? Now it houses some apartments and businesses. I wonder who would like to live or work here.