Your first Hamburg History lesson!

Europe, Germany, and Hamburg itself is full of history! Yesterday Kev and I took a little "lift" ride to the steeple of the Mahnmal St. Nikolai (St. Nicholas Memorial). Although there are a few different historical churches/chapels in Hamburg, St. Nikolai is the tallest. When it was built back in 1874, it was considered the world's highest sacral building. The point of the steeple is 483 feet high. This church burnt down in the "Great Fire of 1842," and the citizens rebuilt between 1845 and 1874.


St. Nikolai



View of town hall from St. Nikolai steeple



St. Nikolai served as a landmark for the bomber pilots during World War II air raids in 1943. Hamburg was one of the most destructed cities during the war. Over the course of three days and nights, Allied airplanes attacked Hamburg in what was called "Operation Gomorrha." This operation is the most extreme in the history of international air war. Bombs put the city up in flames and caused a "fire storm." Over 35,000 people died during this while temperatures were pushed over 2000 degrees (C). Over 250,000 homes are destroyed along with St. Nikolai.



View of the ports from St. Nikolai steeple



The only remains of St. Nikolai after the air raids of the war were the steeple and parts of the walls. After this destruction, it was decided that St. Nikoai would not be rebuilt and it the ruins were declared a historic monument in 1960. Between 1973 and now, the St. Nikolai has been reconstructed into a memorial. Even while Kevin and I visited St. Nikolai, they were completing further construction on maintaining the church. We were amazed at the detailed architecture of this church, it is by far the most beautiful church I have ever seen.

We were also able to go into a small exhibit while we were here. The exhibit had old artifacts from the church's remains, but the most touching part of the exhibit were the pictures they had. There lines and lines of photos of areas of Hamburg after the air raids. We were able to visualize the destruction and get a tiny glimpse of what the people of Hamburg had gone through. They also had an area with pictures of parts of the city before the air raids, during the war, and present day photos. You can see one of those photos below.



St. Nikolai after the air raids



before/after photo

On a different note, we have visitors coming tomorrow! Kevin's brother Mike and two of his buddies arrive early tomorrow morning. It is going to be a riot around this household in the next few days! Have a great weekend everyone! Tschüss!