Outcry in Germany over controversial plans to demolish Nazi bunker for luxury apartment building

A Hamburg investor plans to demolish a Nazi bunker in Berlin and replace it with an apartment building.

The plans, first revealed by the German newspaper BZ, have sparked an outcry in Germany due to the site’s historical significance.

The bunker is part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed over a period of ten years, and which served as the headquarters of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. This bunker was used to shelter people who worked in the Reich Chancellery, and also housed a military hospital.

The complex is situated near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

Hitler himself used a separate bunker about 100 m away, named the Führerbunker. Hitler moved into the Führerbunker on 16 January 1945, and it is also where Hitler and his wife committed suicide on 30 April 1945.

Half of the bunker survived the war, entrance hidden in an empty lot

While the Chancellery buildings were destroyed after the war, at least half of the bunker remained.

The bunker entrance is situated hidden beneath a mound on an empty lot in a prime area of central Berlin, located behind the state offices of Hesse and Brandenburg, within sight of the Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin construction senator Christian Gaebler told BZ that the city will not block the construction of much-needed housing simply to keep the bunker.

Berlin Senate building director Petra Kahlfeldt also told BZ that heritage authorities do not believe the bunker must be preserved, adding that Berlin already has numerous underground historical sites open to the public.

However, Historian and underground researcher Dietmar Arnold told BZ he opposes the demolition, arguing that Germany should not erase physical traces left behind by the perpetrators of Nazi crimes, especially since the bunker remains in remarkably good condition.

State Monument Council opposes demolition

Berlin’s State Monument Council produced an internal recommendation opposing the demolition, saying that the New Reich Chancellery was both the planning center and operational base from which the Second World War was launched, and that it symbolically represents the catastrophic collapse of the Nazi regime.

“The New Reich Chancellery was the planning center and starting point of World War Two and also symbolizes the catastrophic end of the Nazi regime,” the council said.

“In view of its potential significance as a historic monument, its state of preservation and its inclusion on the list of listed buildings should be assessed by the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments.

The architectural firm BLRM from Hamburg has proposed a seven-story residential building containing 66 apartments, alongside a six-story office building.