‘House of the Dead’ in Hamm – Monument for Peace

In the summer of 1943, the Hamm quarter of Hamburg was severely damaged by bombing during ‘Operation Gomorrah’ and the Baroque Holy Trinity Church, built in 1693, was destroyed. A new church designed by the architect Reinhard Riemerschmid was inaugurated in 1957. It is considered one of the most modern church buildings from the 1950s.

Monument
For the 50^th anniversary of the consecration of the church, the parish decided erect a monument in the historical Hamm Cemetery. It memorialises the destruction of the city quarter in 1943 while also holding Nazi Germany accountable for the crimes and injustices that resulted in so much suffering. The monument was funded by donations with the support of the Hamburg-Mitte district assembly. The sculptor Ulrich Lindow (born 1949) designed and built the steel ‘Totenhaus’ (House of the Dead), which is nearly four metres tall. It holds the Bieber bell from 1829, the only part of the old church that withstood the bombing. The monument was dedicated on 21 October 2007.