Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Berlin – Shell Haus

In 1932, a remarkable office building was completed on the Landwehr Canal, which has been known as the Shell-Haus since 1947. It originally served as the headquarters of Rhenania-Ossag Mineralölwerke AG, later known as Shell Norddeutschland.

In 1934, the Marineleitung (Navy Command) of the Reichsmarine moved into the building, under the leadership of Admiral Erich Raeder. Three years later, the Reichsmarine was renamed the Kriegsmarine, and its staff was given the name Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (OKM). From January 1943, Admiral Karl Dönitz was at its head. Other parts of the OKM were located in the adjacent Bendlerblock and at various other locations in Berlin.

The Shell-Haus remained the headquarters of the Kriegsmarine until 1943. As Allied bombing raids on Berlin became heavier and more frequent, the city grew increasingly unsafe. When the heavily fortified Koralle complex, located about forty kilometers outside the city in the forests near Bernau, was completed, the OKM moved there.

During the Battle of Berlin in 1945, the Shell-Haus was heavily damaged. Fortunately, a large part of the archive stored there was saved, making it an important source for historians. The building was restored after the war. It now has the status of a protected monument and is used by the German Ministry of Defence.

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Source

• Text: Maurice Laarman
• Photos: Maurice Laarman
• de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell-Haus
• historiek.net/uitzonderlijk-oorlogsverhaal-hoe-het-duitse-marine-archief-behouden-bleef
• exikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Oberkommando/OKM