At 58 meters tall - just a little taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but with considerably more heft - the St. Pauli bunker in Hamburg, Germany, has dominated the city skyline for just over 80 years.
Built using forced labor during Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, it’s a relic of the darkest period in Germany’s history - but this concrete hulk has had a surprising rebirth.
The relaunched Hamburg Bunker is now packed with two restaurants, a five-story Hard Rock Hotel and a newly built pyramid-like rooftop bar and garden from which greenery flows abundantly over the concrete facade.
The REVERB by Hard Rock is a fitting addition to a city with an impressive musical history – this is, after all, where The Beatles began their career at the start of the 1960s.
The Karoviertel neighborhood in which the fortress-like bunker sits is a cool enclave filled with stylish coffee shops and vintage stores, plus the Knust nightclub in a repurposed abattoir.
Rooms in the 134-key REVERB range from 180 euros for a classic room, with amenities including a 55-inch flat screen TV and Alexa in-room assistant, to 269 euros for a suite with sweeping citywide views.
The hotel also has the kind of modern details you’d expect in any self-respecting hip hotel, such as self check-in, smart technology and co-working spaces.
You don’t have to be a hotel guest to enjoy the bunker’s amenities, however. On the ground level, there’s the Constant Grind coffee shop and bar, and a Rock Shop for those seeking Hard Rock merch.
The interiors have a stylish industrial feel. (Ulrich Perrey / dpa)
Bar-restaurant Karo & Paul, by German TV chef Frank Rosin, opened as a bar in April 2024 and occupies the first three levels of the building. The restaurant area is still coming soon.
The restaurant La Sala – Spanish for living room - is open for business on the fifth floor, offering lofty views and an international menu.
Finally at the top is the Green Beanie roof garden, with bar and walkway looping round the building, which can be accessed by the public for free.
The Hamburg bunker was one of eight flak towers – above-ground anti-aircraft bunkers which doubled as air raid shelters - which Germany built after British air raids on Berlin in 1940.
The history the Hamburg Bunker wears is heavy, but a 76,000-tonne concrete behemoth with walls 2.5 meters thick can’t be easily demolished or ignored.
The only flak tower to have been completely destroyed is one at Berlin’s zoo, as the others are in heavily populated areas where the explosives involved would be too great a risk, AFP reports.
“The idea of raising the height of the building with greenery was to add something peaceful and positive to this massive block left over from the Nazi dictatorship,” Anita Engels, from the Hilldegarden neighborhood association which supported the project, told AFP.
The association has helped with this new chapter in the Hamburg flak tower’s history by collecting testimonies from people who lived in the wartime bunker as well as records of the hundreds of forced laborers who built it.
An exhibition on the first floor now tells the full story of the building’s history.
Air Canada's potential work stoppage could ground flights, halt cargo and leave travellers scrambling to reschedule next week. Follow along with live updates here.
Stephen Peat, the former Washington Capitals enforcer who fought concussion issues and was homeless at times after leaving hockey, has died from injuries sustained late last month when he was struck by a car while crossing a street. He was 44.
In a move to safeguard public heath, Health Canada has officially banned the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) as a food additive. Here's what you need to know.
A group of workers at a Mississauga, Ont. Walmart warehouse has become the first in Canada to unionize at one of the company’s warehouses.
Police in Lloydminster have confirmed they are investigating a triple homicide in the border city.
An Ontario woman who just wanted to get some gutter guards to keep leaves out of her eavestroughs said she was convinced her home was going to collapse and handed over $158,000 in a roofing scam.
Claims from New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs that Ottawa wants to force the province to take in 4,600 asylum seekers are 'largely fictitious,' says federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
The family of a Sikh man from Brampton is seeking an apology, an explanation, and a promise to do better from the local hospital network after they say the facial hair of their loved one was removed without their consent.
A problematic airline passenger has been hit with an unusual form of punishment – he has to pay back the airline for the cost of fuel.
Air Canada's potential work stoppage could ground flights, halt cargo and leave travellers scrambling to reschedule next week. Follow along with live updates here.
A 20-year-old man arrested in Quebec last week over an alleged Islamic State terror plot to kill Jews in New York City is expected to appear in court in Montreal.
A humpback whale was so entangled in fishing gear, ropes and buoys that it took four days for a Fisheries Department crew to unravel the mess, Paul Cottrell said.
An Ontario woman who just wanted to get some gutter guards to keep leaves out of her eavestroughs said she was convinced her home was going to collapse and handed over $158,000 in a roofing scam.
A British Columbia Realtor has been fined thousands of dollars after a property listing was found to contain photos that were digitally altered to hide peeling paint and show furnishings that did not exist.
As Saskatchewan is facing a shortage of veterinarians, owners of exotic pets are in a particularly tricky situation if their animal needs care.
A 56-year-old Canadian woman died after being caught in a sudden snowstorm in Italy’s Dolomite mountains and her companion was being treated for severe hypothermia, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps said Friday.
The Russian authorities accused six British diplomats of spying and said they would be expelled, as tensions between Moscow and the West grow during an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the U.S. and Britain to strike Russia.
Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by street artist Banksy that was taken in a smash-and-grab raid on a London gallery.
A Turkish court on Friday jailed pending trial the mother and brother of a murdered eight-year-old girl whose body was found in a sack hidden under rocks in a case that horrified the nation and triggered protests since her disappearance three weeks ago.
A pro-Israel rally in a Boston suburb turned violent Thursday evening when a passerby was shot during a scuffle after confronting a group of demonstrators, authorities said.
Italian Navy divers have recovered video surveillance equipment from the superyacht that sank off Sicily last month, killing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six other people, a source close to the matter said on Friday.
Provincial leaders across Canada are taking turns criticizing the federal Liberal government's proposal to alleviate immigration pressure on Quebec and Ontario by resettling asylum seekers more equitably across the country.
Today is expected to mark the end of the criminal trial for two prominent organizers of the 'Freedom Convoy' protest, more than one year after the proceedings began.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his team is focused on restoring Canadians' 'hope' but when it comes to the new minority dynamics in Parliament, 'all bets are off.'
In a move to safeguard public heath, Health Canada has officially banned the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) as a food additive. Here's what you need to know.
Air Canada's potential work stoppage could ground flights, halt cargo and leave travellers scrambling to reschedule next week. Follow along with live updates here.
An Ottawa resident who died of a viral encephalitis this summer tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus eastern equine encephalitis (EEEV), the first human case of the virus in Ottawa.
At 700 kilometres above Earth, Thursday’s historic SpaceX spacewalk took place higher than any previous NASA spacewalk, and featured cutting-edge technology.
Teenagers who lived 25,000 years ago likely experienced the same stages of puberty as modern adolescents, and on a similar timeline, according to a new joint study.
They have a propensity to proliferate and a fondness for grapes, and while the distinctive red and white-spotted lanternfly may look beautiful, officials are urging vigilance as the invasive species tracks north.
Nelly Furtado will give Sarah McLachlan her laurels at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony later this month.
The Toronto Film Festival says it has been forced to pause the screenings of a documentary about Russian soldiers this weekend, citing 'significant threats to festival operations and public safety.'
Chad McQueen, an actor known for his performances in the 'Karate Kid' movies and the son of the late actor and race car driver Steve McQueen, has died. He was 63.
Air Canada says some operations will start to be affected today as time is running out before a potential shutdown because of a labour dispute with its pilots
A group of workers at a Mississauga, Ont. Walmart warehouse has become the first in Canada to unionize at one of the company’s warehouses.
Canada Bread is accusing Maple Leaf Foods of using it as a 'shield' to avoid liability in the alleged bread price-fixing scheme that's the subject of two class-action lawsuits and an ongoing Competition Bureau investigation.
A problematic airline passenger has been hit with an unusual form of punishment – he has to pay back the airline for the cost of fuel.
A Pokémon card shop in Richmond is coming off a record-setting month, highlighted by a customer opening a pack to discover one of the most sought-after cards in the world.
A Waterloo, Ont. man diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer continues to beat all odds.
Stephen Peat, the former Washington Capitals enforcer who fought concussion issues and was homeless at times after leaving hockey, has died from injuries sustained late last month when he was struck by a car while crossing a street. He was 44.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team's game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
An emotional Jordan Chiles opened up Wednesday about how the controversy surrounding her bronze medal in the women's artistic floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Games affected her, saying the process took away "the person I am."
Hyundai and General Motors have agreed to look for ways to work together on developing new vehicles, supply chains and technologies in an effort to cut costs and move more quickly.
Halton Regional Police say they have disrupted a group believed to be responsible for the theft of at least 40 vehicles in Halton Region and the Greater Toronto Area worth over $3 million.
Nearly two-dozen drivers were caught in a speed trap outside a Vancouver elementary school on Thursday – as students were settling back into their daily routines.
A Pokémon card shop in Richmond is coming off a record-setting month, highlighted by a customer opening a pack to discover one of the most sought-after cards in the world.
Abandoned homes line the streets of Lauder, a town that's now a ghost of what it once was. Yet inside, a small community is thriving.
Perhaps Saskatchewan's most famous encounter with Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP/UFO) – "The Langenburg Event" is now being immortalized in the form of a collector's coin.
It's been 420 days since 22-year-old Abbey Bickell was killed in a car crash in Burnaby, a stretch full of heartbreak for her family as they not only grieved her death, but anxiously waited for progress in the police investigation. Wednesday, they finally got some good news.
A Simcoe, Ont. woman has been charged with assault with a weapon after spraying her neighbour with a water gun.
The dream of a life on water has drowned in a sea of sadness for a group of Chatham-Kent, Ont. residents who paid a Wallaceburg-based company for a floating home they never received.
In 2022, Tanya Frisk-Welburn and her husband bought what they hoped would be a dream home in Mexico.
Mansour’s Menswear in Amherst, N.S., is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month
A beautiful Labour Day weekend at the lake was interrupted by some extreme weather when a tornado touched down in northern Ontario.
A humpback whale was so entangled in fishing gear, ropes and buoys that it took four days for a Fisheries Department crew to unravel the mess, Paul Cottrell said.
Stephen Peat, the former Washington Capitals enforcer who fought concussion issues and was homeless at times after leaving hockey, has died from injuries sustained late last month when he was struck by a car while crossing a street. He was 44.
Ten hotels in B.C. have been awarded Michelin keys, a designation that is the equivalent of a restaurant being honoured with a star by the prestigious guide.
An Ontario woman who just wanted to get some gutter guards to keep leaves out of her eavestroughs said she was convinced her home was going to collapse and handed over $158,000 in a roofing scam.
An 18-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries following a shooting in North York late Thursday night.
A group of workers at a Mississauga, Ont. Walmart warehouse has become the first in Canada to unionize at one of the company’s warehouses.
A first-of-its-kind scholarship is being created to honour a University of Calgary computer science student who was killed last September.
Steady rain on Thursday impacted much of central and southern Alberta, and that same system has prompted rainfall warnings Friday morning along the Trans-Canada highway east of Calgary.
There's more good news from the City of Calgary after it released an updated schedule for repairs as residents and businesses used a lot less water on Thursday, data indicates.
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a "threatening message" that was directed towards a school in Kemptville.
A man was found with non-life-threatening wounds in the early hours of Friday morning on Bank Street in Centretown, according to the Ottawa Police Service.
A man is dead following a late night stabbing in Ottawa’s ByWard Market, according to the Ottawa Police Service.
A 20-year-old man arrested in Quebec last week over an alleged Islamic State terror plot to kill Jews in New York City is expected to appear in court in Montreal.
A motion declaring that Quebecers are not required to present certificates of eligibility to receive health care in English was unanimously adopted by the National Assembly on Thursday.
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine will be offered free of charge to certain priority groups this fall, the Quebec government announced Friday.
An Alberta town has laid out rules for how residents must treat municipal staff and the consequences if they step out of line.
Today is expected to mark the end of the criminal trial for two prominent organizers of the 'Freedom Convoy' protest, more than one year after the proceedings began.
Provincial leaders across Canada are taking turns criticizing the federal Liberal government's proposal to alleviate immigration pressure on Quebec and Ontario by resettling asylum seekers more equitably across the country.
N.S. RCMP to hold news conference on woman’s suspicious disappearance
The price of gas dropped across the Maritimes overnight, while there was no change in the price of diesel on Prince Edward Island.
The assistant commissioner for the New Brunswick RCMP released a statement Thursday evening in regards to a police shooting over the weekend that resulted in the death of a man from Elsipogtog First Nation.
A motor vehicle crash has closed a section of Portage Avenue Friday morning.
An advocacy group says the Manitoba government has spent nearly a third of a million dollars on electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the past two years – but hasn’t tracked if the chargers are actually being used.
Amid a struggle to attract new growth to rural Manitoba, some communities are finding creative ways to sell Manitobans on small-town living.
As Saskatchewan is facing a shortage of veterinarians, owners of exotic pets are in a particularly tricky situation if their animal needs care.
Today is expected to mark the end of the criminal trial for two prominent organizers of the 'Freedom Convoy' protest, more than one year after the proceedings began.
After 14 years of research and planning, a movie has been made telling the true stories of Canadian soldiers who fought in the war of Afghanistan.
More than 100 noise complaints were made about a recent late night event at Riverside Park in Cambridge, leading one councillor to question why it was approved in the first place.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating the cause of a fatal crash involving a motorcycle and an SUV on Thompson Road East Friday morning.
The family of a woman killed by her husband, who then caused an explosion at their Kitchener, Ont. home, say they want to know when he’s out in the community.
The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is asking its board to green light 31 new full-time positions, after the province committed to permanently fund a host of new officers last week.
The proposed downtown location for the city’s newest homeless shelter is drawing criticism from the chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC), which runs the city’s largest emergency shelter.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is investigating after a person was found dead following a fire early Thursday morning.
The Township of Nairn and Hyman, as well as the Township of Baldwin, hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday night to discuss the transportation of radioactive material through the area.
A problematic airline passenger has been hit with an unusual form of punishment – he has to pay back the airline for the cost of fuel.
Police in Sudbury are asking the public for help in locating a suspect accused of breaking into a Hanmer home, assaulting someone and fleeing with stolen items on Wednesday.
A London man is charged police discovered 18 people have been defrauded of their money. Earlier this year, a victim realized a large sum of money they had invested with a financial advisory in 2023, was missing.
Celebrating a company that helped put London on a new economic path.
A funding request coming down the pipe from Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) to the ministry of education hopes to build four new schools, and expand one in the coming years.
Emergency crews battled heavy smoke and flames after a fire broke out in a garage at a Barrie home Thursday afternoon.
CTV News is learning more about disturbing allegations of sexual assault from 14 years ago in Beeton involving the husband of a Peel Regional police officer.
It's one of Meaford's crown jewels and now has a new name in honour of one of Canada's most celebrated soldiers.
Using his strong mayor powers, Dilkens said the move is in anticipation of significant budget pressures in preparation of the 2025 City of Windsor budget.
Leamington OPP have charged two people after an officer saw a suspicious vehicle idling.
A traffic stop has led to the seizure of drugs in Colchester, according to Essex OPP.
A humpback whale was so entangled in fishing gear, ropes and buoys that it took four days for a Fisheries Department crew to unravel the mess, Paul Cottrell said.
Stephen Peat, the former Washington Capitals enforcer who fought concussion issues and was homeless at times after leaving hockey, has died from injuries sustained late last month when he was struck by a car while crossing a street. He was 44.
Ten hotels in B.C. have been awarded Michelin keys, a designation that is the equivalent of a restaurant being honoured with a star by the prestigious guide.
A woman suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed during a home invasion in Kelowna, according to authorities.
A 12-year-old collie was killed by three pit bulls in the B.C. Interior Sunday morning, according to authorities.
Mounties in northwestern B.C. say they have arrested the suspect in a fatal shooting almost exactly a year after it occurred.
Lethbridge police say a 28-year-old man is facing charges of attempted murder following a frightening attack on a woman inside her home this week.
A police operation in near Vauxhall, Alta. has ended.
A man is in police custody with charges pending in relation to a break-in and violent assault of a woman earlier this week.
One person remains in custody and officials are searching for an aggressive dog that was subdued with a stun gun, Sault police said Thursday evening.
A visual history of the Town of Thessalon is taking shape, thanks to a mural being painted on the municipal officer created by a Sudbury artist Monique Legault.
The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service say one person has been taken into custody following an incident on Sussex Road in the city.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
