Monument of the victims of forced labour on Kaltehofe

During World War II, hundreds of foreign forced labourers had to work for the Hamburger Wasserwerke (Hamburg Waterworks), which was located at the time on Kaltehofe, an island in the Elbe River. Hamburg Wasser, the city’s current municipal water utility, erected a monument on the site in 2016 in memory of these forced labourers. Many of the labourers were prisoners of war, especially Italian military internees, but 200 prisoners from the Dessauer Ufer and Fuhlsbüttel satellite camps of the Neuengamme concentration camp also worked here.

The monument was designed by Meinhard Weidner, a graphic artist who worked for the Hamburger Wasserwerke. It was built in collaboration with trainees at the company. It consists of a historical water pipe that is perforated in several places. In the hollow interior of the pipe there is a small stele that lists the names of 139 Italian forced labourers.