Shadow City: Gimme Shelter 1935-1945

Abstract

In Holland - as in Germany and in Great Britain - efforts to protect cities against air-raids were taken already well before the beginning of the Second World War. Cities were turned into “shadow cities” that would be bomb-prove for citizens. The most “advanced” shadow city in Holland was Den Haag (The Hague), the seat of the Dutch government. Preparations to protect its citizens against air-raids began already in 1935. After the German occupation of Holland the occupying forces integrated these measures into their strategic planning: Den Haag was split up by the “Atlantik-Wall”, 130.000 citizens were forced to leave the city. But the Germans also carried through civilian defence measures to protect German civilians in the city. This combination of military and civilian measures in combination with the special rules for war-time every-day life - like the black-out and the curfew resulted in a new urban spatial experience that has not been discussed until now (also because most remnants of the shadow city were dismantled immediately after the end of the war).