Built with forced labour between October 1941 and April 1942, these enormous structures were manned by Luftwaffe helpers (often schoolchildren) and managed to down 32 aircraft during the war.

The flak towers at Volkspark Humboldthain are one of the best known remnants of WWII, and they formed a key part of the city’s air defence strategy. Photo: Peter Graham Flak towers at Humboldthain The flak tower just after the war, when rubble was stacked up around it. The columns of the Yorckstrasse bridges are scarred with battle damage. The dirty white paint job also dates from World War II, when the supports were coloured so as to be visible during the blackout. The iron itself has been warped by the impact and one of the rivets has been forced out, while the wall opposite shows clear signs of battle damage too. The major damage you can see below was probably caused by a bomb or artillery fire. Today, the supporting columns still show clear signs of the fighting. In the background of POWs being marched east this photo, you can see that one of the bridges has fully collapsed. In one photo from the period, you can even see that one of the bridges has collapsed, blocking off the street entirely. When the Soviets were approaching from the east, moving up Yorckstraße from Gneisenaustraße and Neukölln, these bridges made a convenient defensive position for the retreating Germans. Forty five distinct railway bridges once crossed here, some of which are still in use – and they bear a number of distinct marks from the warfare of 1945. Photo: A.Savin, WikiCommonsĪt first, the Yorckstrasse bridges might not look like much, but these famous Berlin landmarks have stood since around 1883. The bridges at Yorckstraße The bridges from the air. I find something new every time I’m here.”Īt these 12 sites – all taken from the Berlin Battle Damage blog – you can still witness the scars of 1945 for yourself. He even shows me a table on the side of the bridge which displays the last time they were painted. When we meet, in a cafe on Yorckstraße, he is able to point out evidence of lasting damage mere steps away on the nearby Yorckbrücken bridges. Berlin Battle Damage is a blog on facebook and twitter – with a website forthcoming – which seeks to document the scars this city still bears from the war.

Largest tank battle after ww2