World War 2 Hamburg Tour: Nazi History & Bombing Sites

Hamburg's Nazi past shaped the city you see today, from bunkers still standing to memorials on nearly every corner.

A private guided tour of Hamburg covering the city's Nazi period, the 1943 bombing, and how Hamburg remembers this history today. The route takes in bunkers, execution sites, the former Jewish Grindel district, and memorials across five hours with a live guide in English or German. Concentration Camp Neuengamme is covered as a topic without a site visit due to time constraints.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each

1. Planten un Blomen Park30m
2. Jungfernstieg10m
3. Hamburg City Hall40m

Explore Hamburg's WWII history

• Discover interwar period history
• Examine 1930s judicial downfall
• Visit large WWII bunker site
• Explore execution and propaganda site
• See five war memorials
• View WWII water tower bunker
• Tour Grindel Jewish district
• Learn about decoy city centre
• Visit Hamburg City Hall and memorials
• Understand German colonial history
• Visit war memorial church and museum

The experience

The tour starts with Hamburg's interwar years (the aftermath of World War 1, hyperinflation in the 1920s, and the rise of antisemitism) before moving into the 1930s collapse of the city's judicial and political systems. You'll see Panik City, where the Nazi party dismantled democratic institutions, and the Feldstraße tower bunker, one of over 2,000 built during the war and now repurposed as a skyline garden. The guide walks you through how these structures and policies shaped what came next.

The Grindel district anchors the middle of the tour. Once a vibrant Jewish neighborhood, it's where you'll learn about the community that lived there, the book burnings of 1933, Kristallnacht in 1938, and what happened to those deported. Planten un Blomen Park, now one of Hamburg's most scenic spots, served as an execution site, a propaganda project, a human zoo, and a displaced persons camp during the war. The Hamburg City Hall and its surrounding square hold memorials to political opposition, book burnings, and World War 1 propaganda under Nazi rule. A water tower that looks ordinary is actually one of thousands of bunkers. A decoy city center was built near Jungfernstieg to divert bombing raids.

The tour ends at St. Nikolai Church, the bombed-out remains of the original structure that now serves as a memorial to war victims and the terror of Nazi rule. The church displays memorials to the 1943 bombing, victims of Neuengamme concentration camp, and post-war reconciliation between Germany and the UK. An elevator takes you up the tower for a view of the city shaped by this history. Five war memorials from different periods mark the physical and cultural landscape of remembrance in modern Hamburg.

What’s included

• Guiding services in English or German.
• public transit tickets if required for the route.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day23 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 17:00

Book up to2d before

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and German

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends at a different place from where it starts.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 3 days ago

Good to know

Moderate physical effortStroller-friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Experience Hamburg Tours

Is this one for you?The tour covers five hours on foot across multiple districts, so a moderate level of physical fitness helps you keep pace with the stops and walking between sites. Infants and small children can join in a pram or stroller, and service animals are welcome.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and German.

What happened to Hamburg's Jewish community during the Nazi period?

The Grindel district hosted a vibrant Jewish community before the war. The tour covers the book burnings of 1933, Kristallnacht in 1938, and the deportation of Hamburg's Jewish residents, as well as sites like the Born Synagogue and Talmud Torah School.

Why does Planten un Blomen Park look so different from its wartime past?

The park served as an execution site, a propaganda project, a human zoo, and a displaced persons camp during World War 2, but today it appears as one of Hamburg's most scenic locations, with no visible trace of that history.

Will the tour visit Neuengamme concentration camp?

Neuengamme is covered as a topic during the tour, but the site itself is not visited due to time constraints within the five-hour itinerary.

How many bunkers were built in Hamburg during World War 2?

Over 2,000 bunkers were constructed in Hamburg during the war. The tour includes the Feldstraße tower bunker and points out a water tower that is actually one of these remaining structures.

What can you see from St. Nikolai Church at the end of the tour?

St. Nikolai Church is the bombed-out remains of the original structure, now a memorial to war victims and Nazi terror. An elevator in the tower takes you up for a view of the city, and the church displays memorials to the 1943 bombing, Neuengamme victims, and post-war German-UK reconciliation.