Submerged

Across the city, memorial plaques remember an historic disaster: in the night from 16 to 17 February 1962, enormous quantities of water put pressure on the dykes in the port’s outskirts. More than 60 dykes are broken or flooded. Early in the Saturday morning, more than a fifth of Hamburg – over 120 square kilometres – is under water. Damages are estimated to be 820 million Deutschmarks. Around 20,000 people need to be evacuated. 315 deaths are recorded. A week later, some areas close to the port are still flooded, such as Baumwall, around 400 metres from Rödingsmarkt. Today, a line of dykes and other equipment stretching to over 100 kilometres is used. The aim is to provide protection for a water level of up to 9.25 metres above the normal level.