Hamburg Bombing Memorial

Article on Operation Gomorrah, the RAF-USAAF bombing campaign against Hamburg beginning 24 July 1943. The raids created firestorms with winds up to 240 km/h and temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius, killing an estimated 34,000 people and destroying 60% of the city's housing.

Operation Gomorrah lasted eight days and seven nights. One million people evacuated Hamburg afterwards. It was the heaviest aerial assault in history at that time.

Visitor's guide to Hamburg's WW2 firestorm memorial sites, centered on the ruins of St Nikolai Church. The church, once the tallest building in the world (1874-1876), was left as a memorial to the victims of the 1943 bombing raids.

St Nikolai Church ruins preserved as a memorial against war. The church tower and crypt house a museum dedicated to the air war over Europe. Many wartime bunkers also preserved across the city.

Official Hamburg memorial register entry for the firestorm memorial plaque. Part of the city's broader network of memorials commemorating the devastating air raids of July-August 1943.

Part of a decentralised network of memorials across Hamburg including bunkers, plaques, and rebuilt districts. Hammerbrook district was entirely rebuilt after its destruction.