In the 80 years since World War II ended, the world has come to remember and pay respect to the atrocities that happened under Adolf Hitler. While over 12 million Axis casualties were recorded, it pales in comparison to the 61 million Allied deaths, with some 45 million of them reported as civilians.
Under Hitler and the Nazi Party, Germany made its way across Europe, with many countries still bearing the scars of World War II. Germany is no exception, with the country only lifting its ban on the use of Nazi symbols in video games as recently as 2018.
Much like Switzerland is littered with a network of bunkers in the aftermath of WWII and the Cold War, Germany has its own 'dark tourism' surrounding bunkers. While there's only a small board to mark where Hitler's infamous Führerbunker is, the Hamburg skyline is marked by its own Nazi bunker.
Instead of shying away from this potentially problematic part of history, Heiligengeistfeld's Flakturm IV has been turned into a major tourist attraction that houses a concert hall, sports complex, rooftop garden, and even a four-star hotel.
Advert
As Allied attacks on Germany worsened, Flakturm IV started construction in 1942 as a massive anti-aircraft gun emplacement and air-raid shelter.
The bunker has had many uses over the years, once being home to the NDR Tagesschau news broadcast, but in 2025, it's a multifunctional space that boasts how it has 'unique' rooftop views that you can't get anywhere else in Germany.
Although the L-Tower was demolished after WWII, the G-Tower was later transformed into a nightclub that boasted a music school and music shops. The NH Hotel Group laid out plans for a luxury hotel in 2019, with it initially supposed to open in 2022. Reconstruction increased the height to 58m with the addition of five more floors, and despite things slipping behind schedule, Hard Rock Hotels' Reverb finally opened its doors in July 2024.
Advert
Rooms at Hamburg's Reverb start at $131 a night for a classic room, climbing to $239 for a king room.
For those who think they might suffer from megalophobia, you might want to avoid the Hamburg bunker because someone describes it as an 'absolute unit'.
Advert
People on Reddit were fascinated by the 'hulking Hochbunker of Hamburg', with some explaining how the cost and scale of trying to level the bunker after the war would've been too much and severely damaged the local neighborhood.
Praising the repurposing of these towering monuments to the Nazi regime, one person said: "A flakturm in Vienna was turned into an aquarium I visited as a schoolboy."
Another added: "I saw this randomly when driving through Hamburg and was amazed! It stands out like a concrete mountain in the middle of the city."
A third joked: "Thousands of years from now, archaeologists are gonna be real confused about this building."
Advert
It's said that up to 25,000 sought shelter in Flakturm IV during the bombing of Hamburg, and even though it could've had a dark legacy, it's since been transformed into something wonderful for the local community and tourist population.