Hochbunker Heckeshorn

The Reichsluftschutzschule (German Air Raid Defence School) was designed by the German architect Ernst Jobst Siedler. It was opened in 1939 to train air raid wardens from all over Germany. To preserve the natural character of the surroundings, the area was not primarily designed as a barracks, but rather as a housing estate with educational rooms, administrative buildings and garages. Additionally, the Heckeshorn bunker, designed by Siedler as well, was built on the premises in 1943. It was one of the largest air raid bunkers in Berlin, with six floors covered behind four meters of thick walls of reinforced concrete. The bunker served as air defence coordination headquarters of the Luftwaffe, coordinating both Flak units and fighter aircraft of the Berlin defence area, and also served as a headquarters of the Luftflotte Reich.

Furthermore, the bunker was used as a communications office and informed Berlin citizens about the approaching Allied bombers. During the Battle of Berlin in April 1945, both the Oberkommando des Heeres and Oberkommando der Wehrmacht were evacuated from Wünsdorf to the Heckeshorn bunker for at least two days. The German troops at Wannsee were involved in heavy fighting, in particular with the Soviet 350th Rifle Division, and managed to slow its advance for several days. After the war, the school area was at first used as a barracks for the US Army, and in 1947 it was redesigned as a tuberculosis clinic. Today, the pulmonary clinic of Heckeshorn is located on the premises.

In the first postwar decades, the bunker was used as a centre for communication with West Germany and as an office for the radio and television station Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor (Broadcasting in the American Sector). It was later rebuilt for medical purposes. In 1985, it became a makeshift hospital, of which the equipment is now partially dismantled.