[PLAYTHROUGH] Germany I Mission 8 I Hamburg
0Hamburg - "During WW2 Hamburg suffered greatly from Allied bombings. The raids were intended to destroy Nazi submarine factories on the coast, but in the end they led to mighty firestorms and mass destruction.
The St. Nicholas Church you are about to visit in game, stands in Hamburg to this day. It'd never been fully rebuilt."
[TRIGGER WARNING: Some missions in this simulator game are inspired by real life events from WW2 - If you feel uncomfortable watching, then please don't force yourself to watch]
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WW2 Rebulider is a first-person simulator where you will help Europe rise from the ashes after the Second World War and turn the ruins into welcoming homes for millions of people again. See the famous european cities on their knees, walk the streets of London destroyed by Blitz, combat-torned french towns or almost completely ruined Warsaw.
Clear the city of debris so that you can start rebuilding. Cut wrecks and smash ruined walls. The resources are few, so try to recycle everything you can. Undamaged bricks can be reused and even ordinary rubbish will be useful for filling cavities in the streets.
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Real World Hamburg & St. Nicholas Church:
During the Second World War, the Allied bombing of Hamburg devastated much of the city and the harbour. On 23 July 1943, the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force firebombing created a firestorm which spread from the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) and quickly moved south-east, completely destroying entire boroughs such as Hammerbrook, Billbrook and Hamm South. Thousands of people perished in these densely populated working class boroughs. The raids, codenamed Operation Gomorrah by the RAF, killed at least 42,600 civilians; the precise number is not known. About one million civilians were evacuated in the aftermath of the raids. While some of the boroughs destroyed were rebuilt as residential districts after the war, others such as Hammerbrook were entirely developed into office, retail and limited residential or industrial districts.
The clearly visible tower of the Church of St. Nicholas served as a goal and orientation marker for pilots of the Allied Air Forces during the extensive air raids on Hamburg. On 28 July 1943, the church was heavily damaged by aerial bombs. The roof collapsed and the interior of the nave suffered heavy damage. The walls began to show cracks, yet neither they nor the tower collapsed.
After the war, the basic structure of the Gothic church remained intact to a large extent and reconstruction was a realistic option. Nevertheless, it was decided to demolish the nave while leaving the tower untouched. As the vicinity of the church was no longer a residential area, a new Church of St. Nicholas was built in the district of Harvestehude. In 1951, the nave was finally demolished and the rubble was partially used for the reinforcement of the banks of the River Elbe. The loss of a valuable Gothic revival architectural monument was regretted by many, but after the war there were other priorities as far as reconstruction was concerned.
The tower and some remains of the wall have since been preserved as a memorial against war. For several decades they were not cared for, and, consequently, they gradually decayed. In 1987, the Rettet die Nikolaikirche e.V. (Rescue St. Nicholas's Church) foundation began to restore the existing fabric of the building and erected a so-called "place of encounters" (a room for events and exhibitions) in the crypt. The organization attempts to salvage pieces of rubble that were removed in 1951, such as pieces from the destroyed nave pulled from the River Elbe in November 2000. A reconstruction of the church, as done with the Church of Our Lady in Dresden, is not intended. However, a 51-bell carillon was installed in 1993 as a memorial.
Music Attribution:
Achilles - Strings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100463
Artist: http://incompetech.com/