Air raids on Bayreuth

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The city of Bayreuth in Upper Franconia , the capital of the Bayreuth district during the Nazi era , experienced four Allied air raids during World War II , shortly before the end of the war . Two heavy attacks were carried out by the US 8th Air Force on April 5 and 8, 1945, a light attack on April 10 (at night) and a very severe attack on April 11 by the British Royal Air Force . A total of 205 bomber aircraft , including 196 heavy four-engine long - range bombers , were used in the attacks. They dropped 577 tons of bombs (472 tons of high explosive and 105 tons of incendiary bombs ) on the city, which no longer had an efficient air defense system. 36.8% of the living space, numerous public buildings and 32% of the industrial and commercial facilities were destroyed, as well as valuable cultural buildings from the former margravial residence. The number of fatalities was initially given as 741 (including 82 children under 15 years of age and 76 foreigners), later with 875 to over 1000. On April 14th Bayreuth was occupied by US troops without German resistance after artillery fire and fighter bomber attacks (with partial destruction of the Hermitage due to the refusal of a non-combat surrender by the combat commander General August Hagl) .

Grave monument (from 1947) for bomb victims at Bayreuth main cemetery

Air defense, air defense

Bayreuth in "Luftgau XIII" was originally an "Luftschutzort III. Ordinance ”, but was upgraded in 1941 because of the intensification of the air war and the proximity to Nuremberg-Fürth to the air raid shelter of the second order. In the summer of 1942 Bayreuth received a light “Heimat Flak” battery with six guns of 2 cm caliber. They were distributed across the city and were, for example, on the roofs of the old castle and the new cotton spinning mill . In January 1944, four heavy flak batteries were stationed in Bayreuth, each consisting of six 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns: in Meyernberg , Altstadt and Laineck . However, after the start of the Allied “oil offensive” in the summer of 1944, these batteries were relocated to Brüx in the Sudetenland to protect the hydrogenation works there . In defense of the heavy air raids in April 1945 on Bayreuth, “not a single (flak) shot” was fired. On the roofs of the old castle, the new spinning mill and in the barracks district there were only the four 2-cm guns, which did not work because of the futility of the violence of the attacks. Fighter planes were not stationed at the air base .

The city's voluntary fire brigade became the air raid police in 1942 , which was increasingly understaffed. It was fully motorized and generally well equipped with vehicles and equipment, but weakened by the handing over of men to the Wehrmacht and the Volkssturm . These were partly replaced by the Hitler Youth and volunteer prisoners of war . In addition, there was the fire brigades (from 1943 with the inclusion of Eastern workers), especially the large mills, Fire Clears patrols in the barracks and the (female) air base -Feuerwehr at Bindlacher Berg. After the air raids on April 5 and 8, 1945, the Wehrmacht placed auxiliary commands to rescue and extinguish the city. In the garrison Bayreuth was against the war, only the Grenadier -Ersatz battalion 42 stationed.

The city's numerous rock cellars played a major role as shelters . These deep cellars were equipped as air raid shelters from 1939, some of them were interconnected and provided with many entrances and exits. “The beer cellars of the ancestors provided the most effective protection: Thousands of Bayreuthers survived the worst hours in the city's history in this underground rock labyrinth.” With one exception (Loher department store near the market), these catacombs actually stood up to the hail of bombs. Large fire ponds were created in several places in the city, such as the market square .

A flight watch command (Fluko) and a flight warning command (Wako) (air raid warning center) were located at Alexanderstraße 2. An observation post with a telephone was stationed on a tower of the town church . The air raid protection line , subordinate to the Lord Mayor Friedrich Kempfler , was located in the old castle . From there, the orders to the fire brigade, the air raid police, the police, the rescue service and the reporters were issued. From 1941 Bayreuth had electric compressed air sirens, and from 1942 on the roof of Alexanderstraße 2 it also had a powerful large siren.

A total of 256 air raid alarms (mostly due to aircraft overflights) were triggered in Bayreuth from 1940 (first on July 6) to 1945 (last time on April 14): 1940: 15, 1941: 15, 1942: 12, 1943: 31, 1944 : 98, 1945: 85

The Bayreuth fire brigade was called twelve times between 1942 (for the first time on August 29, 1942) and 1945 to extinguish fire after Allied air raids on Nuremberg.

Many land fire brigades from the Bayreuth district were deployed during the massive air raids on Bayreuth , but also the Kronach fire brigade , the air base fire brigade and three motorized air defense departments of the Air Force , which were located in Goldkronach , Feilitzsch bei Hof and Gnadenberg bei Altdorf . On April 5, 1945, seven firefighters lost their lives while extinguishing the fire, and another seven were seriously wounded.

Bayreuth was an important hospital town during World War II . The large Winifred Wagner Clinic , which went into operation in 1942, was also used for this purpose, and alongside the other hospitals, an increasing number of auxiliary hospitals in schools and hotels - marked with large red crosses on the roofs.

The individual attacks

Heavy US bomber B-24 "Liberator"
British Halifax Mark 3 heavy bomber
US fighter-bomber "Thunderbolt"
Destruction in Bayreuth April 1945

Bayreuth was not yet included in the RAF's list of targets for attack on German cities of September 22, 1941. It was later recorded and given the fish alias "Devilfish" ( anglerfish ).

  • February 23, 1945: 33 (37) "Flying Fortresses" ( Boeing B-17 ) had the station facilities in Bayreuth as their destination at lunchtime as part of the Allied Operation Clarion , but turned off because of too heavy clouds and instead flew an attack on the station Würzburg and Lichtenfels Bayreuth escaped an air raid with a further 150 tons of bombs.
  • April 5, 1945 : 112 four-engine B-17s ("Flying Fortresses") and B-24 bombers ("Liberator") of the 8th US Air Force took off in the morning from their bases in England with their primary destination Bayreuth. Probably due to navigation errors only 39 of them reached Bayreuth, the others dropped their bomb load on Plauen in the Vogtland. The navigation took place - in "good weather" - visually and with H2X radar . The bombers flew with full escort by long-range fighter aircraft of type P-51 "Mustang" and P-47 "Thunderbolt". From 10:47 am to 12:19 pm, in bright sunshine, 55.5 tons of explosive and 30 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on the “primary target” Bayreuth in several waves. At around 11.30 a.m., the second wave of attacks - on the same districts - surprised the population, the rescue teams and the fire brigade . Six men from the volunteer fire brigade, plus a 15-year-old member of the Hitler Youth, were killed while extinguishing the fire on Wilhelmsplatz and seven were seriously injured (including four Ukrainian volunteers). Four large fire brigade vehicles were also destroyed by high explosive bombs. The main station (75% of the tracks can no longer be used), the station district , the district around Wilhelmsplatz (particularly difficult), the old town and Kreuz / Herzoghöhe districts , Lisztstrasse, Jean-Paul-Strasse, the gasworks , the Hofgarten , Haus Wahnfried and the barracks district , the region west of the Röhrensee and the outer Bismarckstraße. The foreign labor camp in the Bayerlein spinning mill was destroyed. In Rosestrasse, an air raid shelter operated by the mechanical cotton mill was hit directly: 100 people, mostly foreign workers, were buried and 65 were killed. After the attack, 88 dead and 67 wounded were recorded, according to another source up to 150 dead. The Bayreuth fire brigade reports 269 people killed (including the seven firefighters), including 62 foreigners. The hospitals and military hospitals were overcrowded, and ten operating tables were being worked on at the same time. 121 houses were destroyed, 118 badly damaged, and 1,678 people had become homeless. The NS district leadership spoke of "very composed behavior of the population". For April 8, the NSDAP scheduled two funeral celebrations: one in the city ​​cemetery with district leader Hans Stricker. He formulated: "What have we done to the Americans that they murder our women and children?" The second memorial service at the St. Georgen military cemetery took place with Mayor Friedrich Kempfler . This was interrupted by low -flying aircraft and then ended by the beginning of the second bombing attack by the US Air Force.
  • April 8, 1945 : 51 B-24 bombers “Liberator” of the 8th US Air Fleet took off from their bases in England, fully escorted by Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters. The primary goal was again Bayreuth. The location was visually located in clear weather. The attack on the city area took place from 12.06 to 12.08. 130 tons of bombs were dropped, of which 73 tons were high explosive and 57 tons were incendiary bombs. That was 521 bombs, of which 293 were 500-pound high explosive bombs and 228 were 500-pound incendiary bombs. The attack on White Sunday surprised many residents in Firmungs - or Konfirmations - and funeral services for the victims of April 5. The local fire brigade was considerably weakened in terms of personnel, equipment and vehicles due to the attack on April 5th. Support came from outside defenses and from Bindlach Air Base . Nevertheless, the mass dropping of incendiary bombs in the houses that had been torn open by explosive bombs had a devastating effect. Buildings on Jean-Paul-Platz were also affected. Among them was the Ludwig-Siebert-Festhalle (the historic Margravial Riding Hall), which was occupied by homeless people (from April 5th), which burned out completely except for the surrounding walls. Wörthstrasse (today Leuschnerstrasse) and the main destination, the barracks district , also suffered in particular . Many houses were affected here, in which around 40 people were killed. At least 38 soldiers were killed while eating in the Hans-Schemm-Kaserne , the numbers are also much higher.
  • 10/11 April 1945 : On the night of April 11th, seven high-speed bombers of the type Mosquito of the British Bomber Command launched a "disruptive attack" on Bayreuth. The order was to attack " ball bearing plants" in the mechanical cotton spinning and weaving mill that had been outsourced there. The planes were guided from England via the radio navigation system Oboe . Five machines reached the target shortly after midnight and dropped 3.3 tons of high explosive and 0.4 tons of incendiary bombs on Bayreuth. Some explosive bombs fell on Hans-Schemm-Platz (today Luitpold-Platz), and the New Town Hall (Reitzenstein-Palais) and the “ House of German Education ” were damaged. Some incendiary bombs fell near the spinning mills. There was relatively little damage, but several dead and injured. These are refugees from Hungary who had left their shelters.
  • April 11, 1945 : On this "blackest day in Bayreuth history", three days before the occupation by US troops, the heaviest air raid on the already badly damaged city took place. It was carried out by the 4th bomber group of the British Bomber Command (under the code 033 H 074 V) as an area attack with 110 aircraft: with 92 four-engine Halifax bombers, 14 four-engine Avro Lancaster bombers and four high-speed bombers "Mosquito" . The Halifax bombers were stationed in Central England near Yorkshire in the York borough. The planned 122 bombers included a crew of 814 (ten times more were busy preparing and carrying out the operation on the ground) and 1032 machine guns and on-board cannons. The official brief at the “briefing” with the teams before the start (“Gentleman, your destination for today is Bayreuth”) was to “destroy the railway facilities and the wagon stocks in the marshalling yard ”. Of the 100 Halifax bombers that took off in the morning, eight had to turn back due to engine problems, so that 92 were used. The 14 Lancasters and four Mosquitos joined them. The stream of bombers was 70 km long. The escort of the hunters consisted of over 100 Spitfires and over 100 Mustangs (together with the security for the attack on Nuremberg on the same day) . The bombardment took place from 2:53 p.m. to 3:03 p.m. The first "Christmas tree" of the master bomber near the Neue Spinnerei was followed by other illuminated signs to mark the city. Then 340.3 tons of high explosive bombs (1,582 500-pound bombs) and 17.8 tons of incendiary and flare bombs were dropped. Thus “the British machines completed the work of extermination against the defenseless city with a terrorist attack”, large parts of which were destroyed. “The city center was the focus of this terrorist attack”. From 3:07 p.m., huge black clouds of smoke rose to a height of 3 km in the previously blue sky. Firelight and smoke could be seen from airplanes up to 150 km away. Especially on the following night, Bayreuth presented a "ghostly picture". The post office and telegraph office, the New Town Hall with its entire inventory of files (the cellar ceilings had held over 200 people seeking protection), the "House of German Education" (burned out in flames), among other things, were destroyed or badly damaged, there was great damage in Casselmannstrasse, the Markgrafenallee, in the Mainkaserne, in the Wölfelblock, in the Hammerstatt district and on Luitpoldplatz. One of the large protective cellars became a mass grave: in the city center, an explosive bomb hit the five-meter-thick rock ceiling near the Loher department store. In the hospital in the Sankt Georgen elementary school , many wounded were killed by a direct hit. The old castle was on fire, and the fire brigade summoned by courier from outside initially had success in fighting the fire. 60% of the freight station and 90% of the station ancillary buildings were destroyed, the railroad tracks no longer passable. Due to the destruction of the Air Guard Command (Fluko) in Alexanderstrasse, an air warning could no longer be triggered in Bayreuth. The Bindlach Air Base was also attacked, allegedly - in the case of numerous false throws in the open air - apart from one hangar, mainly aircraft dummies were hit. All 110 machines involved in the attack on Bayreuth returned to England undamaged. The RAF Bomber Command assessed the attack on Bayreuth as a "highly concentrated and extremely successful operation". There was “no more light, no water, no coffins, no hearse” in the city. " Low-flying planes that immediately followed the bombers shoot at the columns of people who are now streaming out of Bayreuth (into the neighboring villages and forests)". Those who did not flee camped in the rock cellars and other air raid shelters. The city chronicler Bernd Mayer found words of praise for the solidarity in the population: “Most of the rural residents showed solidarity with the frightened and needy city dwellers”. “The neighborhood help, both large and small, is a positive experience in inhuman times”. "The fire fighters from the area support the battered city with admirable morale."
  • April 12, 1945: The situation in the city was catastrophic. The "technical management of mass death" also caused major problems. In the absence of coffins, the victims were stacked side by side in the morgues of the Sankt Georgen and Stadtfriedhof cemeteries. They decomposed over the next few days. The Heeresverpflegungsamt released its holdings for the population.
  • April 14, 1945 : Despite ongoing handover negotiations - with the threat of "blasting the city to the ground" - artillery and tank shells continued to be fired from 5 a.m. , and low-level planes were also firing at the streets with on-board weapons. In the afternoon until 4 p.m. Bayreuth was occupied by the 11th US Armored Division and the 71st US Infantry Division without any significant German resistance. With targeted attacks by US fighter-bombers and artillery, the New Palace ( orangery and sun temple) of the Hermitage near Bayreuth was destroyed on April 14th , and the old palace there and the former stables were also damaged. The artillery bombardment was carried out by twelve heavy field howitzers of the Long Tom type of the 11th US Armored Division from the city area. The fighter-bombers were of the P-47 Thunderbolt type , which - in addition to their heavy machine guns - were each equipped with 227 kg high explosive bombs and 11.5 cm rocket projectiles. The “full fire” in the Hermitage raged for several days before the fire brigade could extinguish the burning debris. In the New Palace of the Hermitage - in addition to the furnishings of the Old Palace and the inner-city New Palace - large amounts of documentary film material that had just been brought in from Berlin were stored . The corresponding freight train was also completely destroyed by fighter bombers on a siding at the Hermitage station . The destruction of the Hermitage is said to have been an American "demonstration of military strength" towards the German city commander General August Hagl, who was reluctant to hand over the city and who had moved his command post to Sankt Johannis .

Material losses

Bayreuth had become a "ruined city". According to official information from the city of Bayreuth from 1955, the air raids in April 1945 destroyed: 36.8% of the living space and 31.5% of the industrial and commercial facilities. “The core of Bayreuth's industry was almost destroyed. The mechanical cotton spinning and weaving 100%, spinning FC Bayerlein to 80% and the new cotton mill to 60% destroyed. Total damage caused to private and public property has been determined by experts to be over 100 million DM. The city of Bayreuth is… one of the most seriously damaged cities in Bavaria ”. In May 1945 the apartment failure in Bayreuth was reported as follows: 1,799 apartments were totally destroyed, 802 apartments were moderately damaged and 1,849 apartments were slightly damaged. 450,000 cubic meters of rubble were removed from the rubble.

The population of Bayreuth was 45,000 in 1939/40 and had risen to over 58,000 in August 1945 due to refugees, with a corresponding housing situation. In addition, the occupying power claimed living space in the preserved quarters. "The catastrophic housing shortage was exacerbated by the American occupation, which requisitioned entire districts, such as the Festival Hill or the former SA settlement in the Birken ."

Architectural losses

Old Bayreuth Palace, burned out in April 1945, rebuilt (photo 2013)
Old Main Barracks (around 1910). Destroyed in April 1945
Wahnfried garden side house (2006) (destroyed on April 5, 1945, reconstruction)
"To the golden swan" inn. Destroyed in April 1945, demolished

This description is based especially on the standard work by Hartwig Beseler and Niels Gutschow. The ruins pictures in the work are particularly worth seeing. It should be noted critically that the days of destruction mentioned in the book are not always correct. But it was always in the period from April 5 to April 14, 1945. Another source was the city chronicler Bernd Mayer , also with many pictures of the destruction from the “rubble city of Bayreuth”.

The extinguishing work on the culturally valuable buildings on April 11th and the following days suffered considerably from the personnel and equipment decimation of the fire department, the collapse of the water supply and the general inferno in the city. In the three nights after the occupation on April 14th, the Americans did not allow any extinguishing work in the dark, which mainly affected the burning old castle.

  • Old castle in the city ​​center : During the air raid on April 11, 1945, the central part of the castle caught fire, with the roof structure and the top floor burned out. This great fire has been extinguished. On April 14th, almost the whole building and the houses to the west burned down. The west and north wings were destroyed except for the outer walls, the wing between the courtyards was badly damaged. There are controversial accounts of the cause of the big fire in the Old Castle on April 14th. "According to reports, the SS had burned documents in the Old Castle", possibly triggering the big fire on April 14th. Mayor Oskar Meyer classified this as a “rumor” in 1946 and assumed “flying sparks or enemy fire” as the most likely cause. The city of Bayreuth stuck to this assessment in the context of a legal dispute in 1947. The old castle, "for the second time in its history a victim of flames", was later restored externally from the monumental ruin.
  • Margravial Old Main Barracks : Baroque building. Long before the First World War, it was no longer used as a barracks but as a residential area. Two wings burned out in an air raid, the masonry partially collapsed. The "sad remains", including the risalit that had remained standing up to that point , were demolished in 1950.
  • Former Palais Reitzenstein on Luitpoldplatz, Gontard building from the 18th century, the “most beautiful house in town” and “New Town Hall”: destroyed by air raid. Makeshift building erected from the ruins, a torso from the ground floor with portal and flat roof. The palace was not rebuilt, the location then belonged to the area of ​​the new town hall building from 1972.
  • Former margravial riding hall (at Jean-Paul-Platz), was "spruced up into a brown festival hall" in 1935/36, for 2,500 guests: burned out after an air raid. Later a theater (town hall) was built into the existing old wall.
  • House Wahnfried : During the air raid on April 5, 1945, an explosive bomb fell diagonally into the garden front of the villa. The “hall”, Richard Wagner's common room with semi- rotunda , was destroyed. The basement rooms were hit (from 1944 the Wagner family sought the air raid shelter under the neighboring Siegfried Wagner House), and the “children's room” fell from above. The historical furniture was destroyed (including Richard Wagner's desk), while the books, scores and paintings had been removed. An explosive bomb hit the devastated garden a few meters from Wagner's grave and tore open a crater there. Later, after a temporary arrangement, the villa was rebuilt.
  • Hofgarten : the Hofgarten with its trees was badly hit, the southeast part alone had 40 bomb craters. The house of Hans von Wolzogens and the house where Franz Liszt died were badly damaged.
  • "Reichsadler" station hotel: destroyed on April 5th
  • "Postei" restaurant (on Jean-Paul-Platz): burned out during an air raid. Externally restored in 1950.
  • The “Golden Swan” inn (Bahnhofstrasse 1), striking half-timbered building: destroyed, demolished
  • "Reichshof": Destruction of the front building, only the facade remained. The cinema building was also severely damaged. New building, only the coat of arms stone was taken over into the greatly simplified facade.
  • Former Kuratiehaus (Friedrichstrasse (Bayreuth) | Friedrichstrasse): the western half burned out after an air raid in April 1945. Externally restored.
  • Jägerhaus, von Gontard (Bahnhofstrasse 4, new building today 46): Destroyed by an explosive bomb except for the three left axes and two thirds of the ground floor. 1954/1959/60 ruin torn down (new building).
  • Former Layritzhaus at Luitpoldplatz 1: During an air raid, the facade and the inner walls of the ground floor were destroyed up to five axes. Initially makeshift building after the war. Demolished in 1966 and built over by the new town hall until 1972 together with the neighboring properties.
  • House of German Education , built 1933–1936, architect Hans Reissinger : destroyed by burning out in the roof and interior. The monument to the German mother with children in the "Weihehalle" suffered considerable wounds, but it has not been restored. The house was rebuilt in the 1950s - without the hipped roof - and "demonumentalized".
  • Maximilianstrasse , former street market, north side 16–36 (even numbers), west of the Old Castle: houses damaged to varying degrees by high explosive and incendiary bombs. The fire from the Old Castle stopped from spreading on April 15, 1945 when American pioneers blew up houses 32 and 34 (with the collapse of house 36) . Reconstruction / rebuilding of the house front using partial use of preserved elements.
  • Mechanical cotton spinning mill Bayreuth : the huge building was a symbol of the city for over 90 years. It was largely destroyed on April 11th. The imposing ruin ("Colosseum") was blown up in 1947/48. In 1943, a small part of the destroyed ball bearing production was relocated from Schweinfurt to the “mechanical”.
  • Grave chapel for Franz Liszt in the city cemetery: destroyed in the air raids, reconstructed in the 1970s.
  • Old Palace of the ( Hermitage ): As a result of shelling by US artillery and fighter bombers on April 14, 1945, the roof with ceiling paintings and large parts of the floor in the marble hall as well as the western half of the portal crown were destroyed. Reconstruction.
  • New Palace of the Hermitage (orangery and sun temple): Burned out by fire on April 14, 1945, the exterior architecture also badly damaged. The fixed furnishings (including the significant stucco) destroyed. The interiors of the Old Palace (Hermitage) and the New Palace (inner city) that were moved here were totally destroyed.
  • Marstall (Hermitage): South wing destroyed by shelling on April 14, 1945.

Fatalities

War cemetery St. Georgen (Bayreuth) with air war victims

In 1945, after the air raids and the artillery fire, the Bayreuth criminal police initially recorded 724 names of fatalities in a list. It was still unknown how many patients had died in the (emergency) hospitals or had been buried unregistered in emergency cemeteries. Therefore "it could be considered likely that the number of war victims in April 1945 was decidedly higher than 724". The main administrative office in Bayreuth added to the list until 1955 and assumed that “a total of 741 people died in the bombing raids in Bayreuth”. Of these, 82 were children aged 0-14, 53 adolescents aged 15-20 and 412 adults aged 20 and over. The age of 194 people remained unknown. 617 of the dead could be identified: 430 women, men, children, 111 soldiers and 76 foreigners. Identification could not be made for 42 women, men and children and for 82 soldiers because the bodies were too mutilated. Immediately after the bombing, there was a sharp rise in infant mortality up to 56%. A commemorative plaque from 1972 in Bayreuth City Hall lists 875 dead in the air raids in April 1945.

The long-time Lord Mayor of Bayreuth, Dieter Mronz , the local researcher and city chronicler Bernd Mayer and other authors assume that around 1,000 people were killed in the air raids in April 1945.

There is no reliable information about the total number of injuries.

Burial places and memorials

On May 5, 1972, when moving into the newly built town hall, a metal plaque was unveiled in its foyer in honor of the victims of the bombing raids in 1945 with the following text: THE CITY OF BAYREUTH TO REMEMBER THE 875 DEAD OF THE FLYER ATTACKS OF APRIL 1945.

In the garden of the former administration building of the mechanical cotton spinning and weaving mill there is a memorial in memory of the destruction of the plant in April 1945. On a granite plinth, bizarre, welded machine parts are piled up. The base - also with the remains of a bomb - shows the data “21. October 1854 - April 5 and 11, 1945 to July 22, 1949 ”(establishment of the plant, destruction, reconstruction topping-out ceremony).

On the war cemetery St. Georgen and the city cemetery , most graves are coming in of the killed in the air raids. There is a memorial from 1947 for 70 German and foreign bomb victims (Italians, Hungarians, Ukrainians) in the city cemetery , which was erected by relatives. Otherwise, visitors to the cemetery can only identify or suspect the dead as victims of the air raids if the days of the attack are known. A monument by the city of Bayreuth specifically for this group of victims cannot be found in the cemeteries.

In 2015, Bayreuth commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Allied air raids in April 1945 with large-format photo panels at the main locations

Conclusion: “A defenseless city became the victim of a hopelessly exaggerated strategy of destruction. The Gau capital had to suffer bitterly for the sheen of the brown display of power. "

literature

  • Hartwig Beseler and Niels Gutschow : War fates of German architecture. Loss - damage - reconstruction. Documentation for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany . Volume II: South. Karl-Wachholtz-Verlag, Neumünster 1988. Therein: Bayreuth , pp. 1343-1347. ISBN 3-529-02685-9
  • Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . JANE'S. London, New York, Sydney 1981. pp. 480, 483. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
  • Bernd Mayer : Bayreuth as it was. Flash lights from the city's history / 1850-1960 . Gondrom Publishing House. Typesetting and printing: Ellwanger, Bayreuth 1981
  • Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . 2nd Edition. Publishers Ellwanger / Gondrom Bayreuth. 1988.
  • Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. April 1945. War festival, air raids and everyday life in ruins . Wartberg Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2004. ISBN 3-8313-1463-2
  • Bernd Mayer and Gert Rückel: Circular routes. Bayreuth . 4th edition. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2016. ISBN 978-3-89889-049-6
  • Werner Meyer : Götterdämmerung. April 1945 in Bayreuth . Verlag RS Schulz, Percha 1975. ISBN 3-7962-0066-4
  • Dieter Mronz : The urban development of Bayreuth since 1945 . In: Bayreuth. From an 800-year history . Edited by Rudolf Endres . Böhlau-Verlag Cologne, Weimar, Vienna. 1995. ISBN 3-412-10594-5
  • Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich: Fire protection in Bayreuth . Books on Demand. 2011. ISBN 978-3-8423-9563-3
  • Christoph Rabenstein and Ronald Werner: St. Georgen, pictures and stories . Druckhaus Bayreuth, Bayreuth 1994. ISBN 3-922808-38-7
  • Counselor for bereavement . Bayreuth, cemetery administration. P. 16

Web links

Commons : Air raids on Bayreuth  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Trübsbach : History of the City of Bayreuth. 1194-1994 . Druckhaus Bayreuth Verlagsgesellschaft, Bayreuth 1993, ISBN 3-922808-35-2 , p. 332 .
  2. ^ Commemorative plaque from 1972 in Bayreuth Town Hall
  3. ↑ Bernd Mayer : Bayreuth as it was. Flash lights from the city's history 1850–1950 . 2nd Edition. Gondrom, Bayreuth 1981, p. 176 .
  4. ^ Dieter Mronz: The urban development of Bayreuth since 1945 . In: Bayreuth. From 800 years of history. Edited by Rudolf Endres. 1995
  5. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011
  6. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975. p. 194.
  7. ↑ a b Karl Müssel: Bayreuth in eight centuries . 1st edition. Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1993, ISBN 3-8112-0809-8 , p. 212 .
  8. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011
  9. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . 1988, p. 67.
  10. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. p. 436.
  11. ↑ https://bayreuther-feuerwehrmuseum.de/?page_id=51
  12. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years. 1988, p. 79
  13. ↑ Christoph Kuhl: Air protection and aerial warfare in Upper Franconia 1933-1945 . In: Historischer Verein für Oberfranken (Hrsg.): Archive for the history of Upper Franconia 88th volume . Ellwanger, 2008, ISSN  0066-6335 , p. 281-379 .
  14. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. April 1945 , p. 17.
  15. ↑ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung , p. 192.
  16. ↑ Apocalypse instead of final victory in: Nordbayerischer Kurier of April 4, 2015, p. 4.
  17. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth Fire Brigades in the Third Reich , p. 511.
  18. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. April 1945 , p. 32.
  19. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. pp. 530-535.
  20. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth as it was . 1981, p. 137.
  21. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . 1988. p. 80.
  22. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . 1988. p. 82.
  23. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975. p. 86.
  24. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975, p. 83.
  25. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . P. 82.
  26. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. pp. 593-596.
  27. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. p. 612 “The Hermitage is on fire”.
  28. ^ Mayer and Rückel: Circular routes. Bayreuth . 2016
  29. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975. pp. 197,198.
  30. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975, p. 198.
  31. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth as it was . 1981, p. 146.
  32. ^ Hartwig Beseler and Niels Gutschow: War fates of German architecture . Volume II (south). 1988. pp. 1343-1347.
  33. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth as it was . 1981
  34. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. April 1945 . 2004
  35. ↑ Axel Polnik: The Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. pp. 594 to 596.
  36. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth. The last 50 years . 1988, p. 83.
  37. ↑ Axel Polnik: The fire of the old castle with spread to the market in the Bayreuth fire brigades in the Third Reich . 2011. pp. 591-612.
  38. ^ Mayer and Rückel: Circular routes. Bayreuth . 2016
  39. ^ Mayer and Rückel: Circular routes. Bayreuth . 2016
  40. ^ Werner Meyer: Götterdämmerung . 1975. “They died in April”: pp. 194–196.
  41. ^ Metal plaque in the foyer of the Bayreuth town hall
  42. ^ Dieter Mronz: The urban development of Bayreuth since 1945 . In: Bayreuth from an 800-year history . Edited by Rudolf Endres. 1995
  43. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth as it was . 1981. p. 176.
  44. ↑ City recalls the air raids on Bayreuth at nordbayern.de, accessed on July 3, 2019
  45. ↑ [1]
  46. ^ Commemoration of bombing victims at infranken.de, accessed on July 3, 2019
  47. ↑ Bayreuth 1945: Pictures of the destruction at wiesentbote.de, accessed on July 3, 2019
  48. ↑ Bernd Mayer: Bayreuth as it was . 1981. p. 134.