Hochbunker Augustinerhof

The Hochbunker Augustinerhof rises beside the town hall as a tall, unfinished concrete shelter from the Second World War. Its raw concrete walls give the tower a stark presence beside the town hall.

Built to protect civil servants and citizens from air raids, the bunker also housed wartime operations. Firefighters, technical emergency services, and city administration worked from the complex.

Its pointed roof was designed to make bombs glance away and detonate beside the shelter. The unfinished structure still contains uninstalled ventilation machinery and an incomplete rooftop.

A neighbouring flat bunker once connected underground with the tower and included basement space for utilities. Plans provided for energy, communications, and a fresh water well within the protected complex.

After the war, proposed sandstone cladding and slate roofing never transformed the exposed concrete exterior. The surrounding buildings prevented demolition, while later uses included theatre storage, civil defence, and a telephone centre for French troops.

Its thick walls and cramped, windowless rooms continue to shape the bunker’s difficult reuse. The Hochbunker Augustinerhof remains an urban reminder of wartime protection, unfinished planning, and survival.