Hamburg - Wind Force 11
A new wave of bombs shattered the houses. The torrent of fire swept everything before it on the other side of
Hansaplatz. An enormous vacuum cleaner devoured everything, good and bad.
Aunt Dora brought grilled chestnuts. We dipped them in the common salt standing in the middle of the table.
- Comrades Of War (Chapter 8, "Wind Force 11") |
Strangest thing... there actually is a bar in Hamburg named Wind Force 11 (or Windstärke 11 in German). Here it is:
Now, before anyone says, as I did before we went, "Yeah, so there's a bar in Hamburg called Wind Force 11 - it's
hardly likely to be the same one from the Sven Hassel books is it", I must point out a number of things.
- This is not just a bar in Hamburg with the same name, it's a bar with the same name in the same square in
Hamburg (see above quote from Comrades Of War).
- If this was, say, a Parisian bar from a Hemingway novel, or a London pub from a Dickens story, it's possible that
it might be recreated by some chancer hoping to pick up tourist trade. But no one in Germany has even heard of
Sven Hassel and his books have never been published there. Anyway, the barman in the 2005 Wind Force 11 told me that the
bar has been there since the 1920s.
- The current bar is a complete shit hole, not a tourist place by any stretch of the imagination (except for Sven
Hassel fans, of course). You go down some stairs to get in, with a window looking out at pavement level so you can see
the prostitutes and porn shops outside, beer is served in bottles only, no draught. There's a basic wooden bar
running down one side and a few tables at the back in alcoves. These were dark when we first went in, but lit up
when I went back on the Sunday night. The lay-out, to my mind, fits with the Sven Hassel description from the 1959 book,
although the book mentions a revolving door, which is mysterious... except that the barman said the bar used to be
connected directly to the hotel in the building above. So, a revolving door would make sense.
- The other side of Hansaplatz has clearly new buildings, though in a broadly similar architectural style to the ones
on the Wind Force side. This matches the "bombs falling on the other side of Hansaplatz" quote.
Maybe Sven Hassel happened to spend an evening in the bar some time in the 1950s and thought it would do as a setting
for a wartime story. The whole thing could be made up, but why not just use a fictional bar name? OK, that's out for
discussion, here are some pictures...
View across to the newer buildings on the other side of Hansaplatz
Night time shot of the bar
A couple of terrible quality interior shots
And a map
If anyone visits and gets a chance to take some better pictures... I'm at dang65@yahoo.com
|
|
