report no.: 155
informant: Richie 1998 (496)
source:
location:
date: 1939-1945

The external face of Berlin also changed as a result of the bombing raids. Hitler's new five-mile East—West Axis looked like an arrow pointing bombers straight to the heart of the government quarter and Berliners erected two miles of steel poles covered with netting in order to disguise it. The entire Lützensee was covered with scaffolding while open spaces like the Adolf-Hitler-Platz were filled with false buildings. There were attempts to build 'false cities' outside Berlin to disorient pilots and the sparkling golden Goddess of Victory on the Siegessäule was stripped and painted a dull bronze colour. Gauleiter Hoffmann, who was in charge of Berlin fortifications, positioned huge anti-aircraft guns on prominent buildings, including the Reichstag; forty-five heavy and twenty-four medium-flak gun batteries and eighteen searchlight batteries were placed in and around Berlin, while three hideous 130-foot-high cement flak towers were built in the parks around the government quarter. These were so massive that is was virtually impossible to destroy them after the war.