Bomb raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aerial photo 1945 from the east

The Lower Franconian city ​​of Würzburg was one of the cities in the German Empire that were bombed in the last weeks of the Second World War . The heaviest, approximately 20-minute attack on the evening of March 16, 1945 , carried out by the British Royal Air Force , killed around 4,000 to 5,000 people; 90% of the historic old town was destroyed.

prehistory

With the Casablanca Directive of January 21, 1943, a joint coordinated bomber offensive by British and US air forces was decided. The 8th US Air Force (USAAF) took over the systematic destruction of infrastructure and strategic key industries, but above all of fuel production and supply in Germany through daytime attacks. The British Bomber Command coordinated night attacks on Germany because the Royal Air Force could not protect its bomber formations with escort fighters.

The so-called Bomber-Baedeker created by the British Ministry of Economic Warfare (MEW) classified Würzburg as a city of little importance for the German armaments industry. Accordingly, the destination code ciphers "GH 646" for a railway center of minor importance and "GH 5566" for transport systems were used.

In view of this assessment, the probability that Würzburg would be bombed was relatively low, since area bombing was not suitable for switching off traffic and transport facilities. On the other hand, the Area Bombing Directive had already given the RAF in 1942 that incendiary attacks would negatively influence the morale of the civilian population.

By the end of 1944, the major cities of Germany had already been largely destroyed, and the Allied bomber fleets simply “ran out of targets”. From a list of so-called filling targets for general area attacks dated November 22, 1944 , seven target cities were deleted and, together with three other cities, on a special list for those of Churchill , who had visited Würzburg in 1909 and entered the Golden Book as “President of the Board of Trades ”, the requested area bombing in central and eastern Germany. On the general area attack target list there were only six cities. The Combined Strategic Target Committee (target selection committee) therefore put eleven new target cities on a new list dated February 8, 1945. a. on an older list dated January 23, 1945 for potential area attack targets. The name Würzburg appeared on this list for the first time. From this older list, Würzburg was included in 10th position in the newly added list for filler targets of February 8, 1945. Arthur Harris ' deputy , Air Marshal Robert Saundby , also provided all German cities suitable for area bombing with a so-called fishcode . Würzburg was named Bleak ( ukelei ) as one of 94 cities selected for this .

Cities with no military significance were put on the list with first and later second order targets for the use of incendiary bombs if they were easily destructible and very prone to fire. Medieval city centers were given preference on the basis of fire plans .

Würzburg received its first smaller bomb attack in February 1942 (near Südbahnhof), on the night of 24/25. February 1944 a shot Lancaster bomber crashed into the city center, on July 21, 1944 eight American B17 bombers "lost" their way to Würzburg (32 dead and 77 injured). Further attacks from the air took place on December 5, 1944 and January 13, 1945. In 1945, according to Allied documents, further air raids took place on:

  • 4th / 5th February - RAF - two De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito (Löwenbrücke and Grombühl)
  • 5th / 6th February - RAF - Six De Havilland Mosquito (downtown)
  • 12./13. February - RAF - four De Havilland Mosquito (??)
  • 19./20. February - RAF - three om De Havilland Mosquito (downtown)
  • February 23 - USAAF - 37 B17 bombers (Central Station and Railway Facilities)
  • 3rd / 4th March - RAF - 42 De Havilland Mosquito (entire city area)
  • March 22 - USAAF - eight B24 bombers (railway facilities)

Until March 1945, the population of Würzburg lived largely under the illusion that they would be spared a major attack, as the city had many hospitals on the one hand and no significant war industry on the other. According to his successor Richard Wolf, the Würzburg combat commandant Major General Karl Bornemann had made insufficient preparations to defend the city. The main railway station and the railway site were severely damaged as a railway junction on February 23, 1945 by a targeted American bombing raid. After all, at the beginning of April the war for Würzburg was supposed to end with the invasion of US infantry.

But already after the third smaller attack on February 5, 1945, Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth, as Reich Defense Commissioner , issued a clear warning in the style of powerless Nazi propaganda in the Mainfränkische Zeitung , the official organ of the NSDAP and the state and municipal authorities : " The hateful enemy is unrestrained in his will to destroy. His air terror does not stop at women and children or at old cultural sites. More than ever, it is our duty to prepare what is humanly possible for an emergency. We no longer have any reason to assume that the air pirates will spare Würzburg. ”On April 6, 1945, the Würzburger Diözesanblatt reported the damage to all the church and monastery facilities spread across the city.

Main attack

At the RAF Bomber Command in High Wycombe, west of London, the decision had meanwhile been made to select the previously relatively undestroyed Würzburg as the filler target for an area attack due to the predicted favorable weather conditions on March 16, 1945 . The structure of the many half-timbered buildings and the spatial confinement of the old town promised the triggering of a firestorm . The No. 5 Bomber Group , which was also involved in the heaviest attack on Dresden on 13./14. February 1945 was decisively involved. Small Würzburg was destroyed to an even greater extent than Dresden.

On March 16, 1945, over 500 bombers of No. 1 , No. 5 and No. 8 Bomber Group from their airfields to a collection point west of London and formed up to fly to the targets Würzburg and Nuremberg . To deceive the German air defense, the stream of bombers was moving on a winding route across the estuary of the Somme , Reims and the Vosges towards its targets. The Rhine was crossed south of Rastatt . Above the Reich territory, the machines rose to the heights between 2,400 and 3,700 m intended for bombing. At around 9 p.m., the 225 Lancaster bombers and 11 Mosquito bombers of No. 5 Bomber Group entered the Lauffen am Neckar area and headed for their destination from the south.

In Würzburg, a public air warning ( small alarm) was triggered at around 7 p.m. and a pre-alarm at around 8 p.m. Due to a report from the radio listening service in Limburg an der Lahn to the command post of the Main Franconian Gauleiter , a full alarm was given for the population of Würzburg at 9:07 p.m.

The attack time H (Hour) was set for Würzburg at 21:35. The time over the target area - d. H. over the entire city center - with H + 7 min. = 9:42 pm given. At 9:25 p.m., this was preceded by an approximately 10-minute period for the Pathfinder Force to mark the target area . For this purpose, the urban area was marked with green light bombs . This marked target area was illuminated by means of light bombs on small parachutes ( flares ), also known as Christmas trees by the German population . The sports fields on Mergentheimer Strasse at the level of Judenbühlweg were designated as a marking point for the incoming bombers. This point was marked with red target marker bombs at 21:28. The yellow light bombs dropped at the end of the marking phase confirmed this marking. The bombing then took place with a time delay in sectors ( sector bombing ). For this purpose, the Lancaster bombers, armed with high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs, had to fly over the red marking point, adopt an altitude and trajectory specially assigned for each aircraft, and release their bomb load with a time delay. The staked target area was flown over in a fan shape, and the different bomb release times had an extensive effect. The detailed planned process was monitored by the so-called master bomber . (At a cruising speed of 350 km / h, a bomber has flown over the entire target area in less than a minute.)

Air mine HC 4000 LB (1780 kg)
In 1945 a Lancaster first dropped a 2 t air mine (left) and then bundled 2 kg stick incendiary bombs (right) during a daytime attack .
British stick incendiary bomb INC 4 LB (2 kg) and remains from March 16, 1945

The hail of bombs hit Würzburg between 9:35 p.m. and 9:42 p.m. First of all, most of the roofs and windows in the old town were destroyed with 256 heavy explosive bombs and air mines in order to favor the incendiary effect of the more than 300,000 stick bombs . In total, the following quantities of bombs were dropped: 5 high-capacity bombs (5,443 kg each), 179 “block hackers” (1,814 kg each), 72 high-explosive bombs (453.5 kg each), 307,650 incendiary stick bombs (1.81 kg each) and 251 marker bombs. The total weight of the explosive bombs was 395.55 t and that of the marker and incendiary bombs 586.97 t.

Within a short time, isolated nests of fire developed into a single, area-wide source of fire, which developed into a firestorm with temperatures of 1000 to 2000 ° C. The people could only seek refuge in temporarily prepared basement rooms ( shelter ); there were hardly any fortified bunkers. To make it easier to find these shelters and to rescue buried victims, the shelters and their exits were marked with labels on house walls and signs (e.g. SR / LSR for shelter / air-raid shelter, NA for emergency exit, KSR for no shelter). These markings can still be found here and there in the cityscape.

In order not to be buried or suffocated during the major fire, many people rushed outside and tried to reach the banks of the Main or the outskirts. The fire brigades took on a hopeless fight against the fire and tried to create waterways .

On the approach to Würzburg, a Lancaster bomber was shot down by a German night fighter near Aufstetten, five more were lost during or after the attack.

In the media, the city of Würzburg was then referred to as "Grab am Main".

The exact number of the victims on March 16, 1945 is not known. For a long time it was assumed that there would be around 5,000 deaths, but a study by Hans-Peter Baum calls this into question. In Hans Oppelt's book “Würzburg Chronicle of the Memorable Year 1945” the number of 5000 victims is mentioned once, but not only as the number of victims of the night of the bombing. Rather, Oppelt related this number to all acts of war in and around Würzburg, namely from the start of the air raids on February 4, 1945 to the final capture of the city on April 6, 1945. Baum calculated that the actual number of victims in the bombing should be around 4,000 .

At a distance of 230 kilometers, the departing bomber crews could see the glow of the burning city. Around 2:00 a.m. on March 17, 1945, the last bombers returned to their bases.

The final report of No. 5 Bomber Group of April 10, 1945 measured the degree of destruction in the city center at 90% (in the old town six houses on Juliuspromenade and one house on Büttnergasse were preserved, presumably after the stick bombs had been extinguished or removed ) and for the outskirts at 68%. The district of Heidingsfeld was also destroyed to an above-average extent (85%) , as some bomber crews set off their bombs before they even reached the first target markings. The British final report even names 1,207 tons of bombs. Today's Versbach district and the outlying community of Veitshöchheim remained unaffected by this major attack. The average degree of destruction for Würzburg was calculated to be 82%.

21,062 apartments and 35 churches in Würzburg were destroyed. The destroyed monuments included the cathedral and parts of the Würzburg residence , including the hall of mirrors (the staircase with the famous fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo remained; the ceiling construction, bold for the 18th century, even withstood the collapsing roof structure). After the end of the war, the US occupation troops immediately and in an exemplary manner to secure structural monuments in danger of collapsing. There was 2.7 million cubic feet of rubble; it was not until 1964 that they were completely cleared.

Escape routes through the firestorm

There is a description of the contemporary witness Hans Schwabacher. He and his two siblings could not escape from the cellar of their house at Domerschulstrasse 25, neither from the normal exit nor from the emergency exit of the burning house. Only after crossing the cellars of five other neighboring houses did he come to the street in Kettengasse. Then he fled to the courtyard garden, passed the orangery and soaked the clothes in the pond with water, as sparks flew through the air and trees burned. They had to crawl through the bushes and only found shelter in an air raid shelter in the courtyard garden, 500 meters behind the residence. This is how they survived the inferno.

Rescue of the bomb victims

Before the start of the war, the population of Würzburg was approx. 108,000, at the beginning of 1945 - also in view of the near end of the war (supply situation, military service, etc.) - approx. 75,000 to 85,000 people will have stayed there. On the day it was captured by American troops (April 6), 36,850 townspeople were registered; at the end of 1945 the population had risen to 53,000.

The bomb victims were stored on the front wall of the left aisle in the Würzburg Cathedral until they could be transferred to the collective grave. At this point in the cathedral there is now a prayer room in memory of the war victims.

Rebuilding from the ruins

Würzburg, Hofstraße 10: House inscription in memory of the reconstruction after the destruction in 1945
Würzburg, Juliusspital, inner courtyard: plaque commemorating the bombing raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945 and the reconstruction.

On numerous buildings there are references to the reconstruction after the destruction of March 16, 1945. Two memorials remind of the predominantly female helpers ( rubble women ) who made the reconstruction of Würzburg possible again, one is a (historically incorrect) mining wagon and - in its visibility - a memorial plaque (with the historically correct representation of a tilting lore, which were used in large numbers to clear rubble in Würzburg) made of red sandstone between Altes Kranen and Kranenkai. The people of Würzburg first helped voluntarily, on December 18, 1945 a general labor service was ordered, from March 8, 1946 a mandatory "honorary service" was then applied, because the issuing of food stamps was linked to participation in these clearing operations. From April 2, 1947, the evacuation was gradually taken over by private companies. A total of two and a half million cubic meters of rubble were loaded onto lorries and driven off in Main barges or deposited in outlying districts.

Commemoration

Würzburg, Grafeneckart: Notice board for the bombing raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945. Documentation room.
War cemetery bomb victims of World War II in Würzburg. Mass grave at the entrance to the main cemetery: bell as a reminder.

Documentation and memorial sites

  • The extent of the destruction of the city center and the names of the identified dead were documented in a permanent exhibition near the Alte Mainbrücke on the right at the entrance to Grafeneckart. Excerpts from contemporary witness reports on blackboards are intended to make the effects tangible for future generations beyond statistical figures.
  • A 3D model of the destroyed city is also in the rooms of the Fürstenbaumuseum .
  • To the left of the main entrance to the main cemetery in Würzburg is the mass grave for the approx. 3000 bomb victims who were recovered . The main cemetery itself was no longer usable due to the bombing (no cemetery attendants, torn open graves, overturned gravestones). On the edge of the memorial you can see a replica of a fragment of an explosive bomb that was processed for the Würzburg Reconciliation Bell. In the middle of the mass grave area, a memorial plate by the Würzburg sculptor Fried Heuler was set into the ground, symbolically showing a man, a woman and two children larger than life in a state of agony. The mass grave is lined with memorial stones to the fallen of the First and Second World War and an obelisk for the fallen of 1870/1871 .

Annual commemoration on March 16

  • Bells ringing: Every year on March 16, at 9:20 pm, all Würzburg church bells begin to ring to commemorate the attack in 1945. The bell rings for 20 minutes.
  • List of deaths: A list of deaths from the air raid is posted annually on the facade of the Grafeneckart.

Other commemorative events

  • In the Lady Chapel every Friday at noon, the prayer of Coventry spoken in the spirit of reconciliation as the worldwide network of the Cross of Nails Centers.

Right-wing extremist abuse of remembrance

  • On the 60th anniversary of the air strike, the NPD , a right-wing extremist party, held a rally in Würzburg under the motto “No forgiveness - no forgetting”. A broad alliance of parties and associations organized counter-demonstrations.

Quotes from contemporary witnesses

“... All ages and genders are represented among the dead, from infants to old men. There are intact, bloody, crushed, dusty, black and scorched. Parts of the body are also included. ... "

- Contemporary witness of the Würzburg cathedral chaplain Fritz Bauer

“... Apparently the heat developed so terribly with smoke development that all the occupants of the air raid shelter, only women and children, eventually suffocated and scorched. ... "

- Contemporary witness Otto Stein

See also

Film documentaries

  • N-TV from July 14, 2007, 8:10 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.: Bombs against Germany - report ("7" original RAF recordings, "8" documents and considerations that led to the selection of Würzburg)
  • Color photos of the destroyed Würzburg discovered in a US archive
  • BR of March 15, 2010, 22: 30-23: 15: Würzburg, March 16, 1945, documentary. Production by Bayrischer Rundfunk 2005. (Contemporary witnesses, types of bombs, flight paths, mass grave in front of the cemetery, typed listing of the victims, pictures of the ruined city, low-flying aircraft)

literature

  • Christoph Daxelmüller (Ed.): “… Glad that the shitty war was over!” Everyday life in Würzburg after 1945. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8260-4160-0 .
  • Max Domarus: The fall of the old Würzburg . Wuerzburg 1950
  • Heinrich Dunkhase: Würzburg, March 16, 1945, 9:25 p.m. - 9:42 p.m. Background, course and consequences of the air attack of No. 5 Bomber Group. In: Mainfränkische Jahrbücher 32. Würzburg 1980, ISSN  0076-2725 , pp. 1–32.
  • Roland Flade: Hope that grew out of ruins. 1945 to 1948: Würzburg's most dramatic years. Mainpost, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-925232-60-2 .
  • Klaus M. Höynck, Eberhard Schellenberger (Ed.): March 16, 1945. Memories of Würzburg's fateful day and the end of the war. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-429-02693-6 .
  • Herrmann Knell: Downfall in flames. Strategic bombing and their consequences in World War II. (= Publications of the Würzburg City Archives. Volume 12) Schöningh, Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-87717-792-1 .
  • Rolf-Ulrich Kunze : Würzburg 1945-2004. Reconstruction, modern city. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume III / 1: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 318-346.
  • Ursula R. Moessner: New Findings on the Allied Air War 1944/45. In: Mainfränkische Jahrbücher 46. Würzburg 1994, pp. 192–208.
  • Hans Oppelt (Hrsg.): Würzburg Chronicle of the memorable year 1945. Würzburg 1947. (Reprint, Schöningh, Würzburg 1995, ISBN 978-3877178010 ).
  • Heinz Otremba (Ed.): Würzburg 1945. The tragedy of a city in photographic documents. Echter, Würzburg 1995, ISBN 3-429-01666-5 .
  • Roman Rausch: Bomb Night. The last 24 hours of old Würzburg. A novel about the last 24 hours of old Würzburg. Echter, Würzburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-429-03885-4 .
  • Dieter W. Rockenmaier: When fire fell from the sky. This is how old Würzburg died. Echter, Würzburg 1995.
  • Herbert Schott: Homeland War. The area between Margetshöchheim and Gelchsheim in the air war. In: Mainfränkische Jahrbücher 44. Würzburg 1992, ISSN  0076-2725 , pp. 196-219.
  • Hans-Peter Trenschel (Ed.): The city history department of the Mainfränkisches Museum Würzburg in the Fürstenbaumuseum . Room 31: Würzburg in National Socialist Germany, destruction and reconstruction, Würzburg today. (= Inventory catalogs of the Mainfränkisches Museum, Volume 17). Würzburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-932461-22-4 , pp. 199-214.
  • Peter Weidisch: Würzburg in the »Third Reich«. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume III / 1: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 196-289.
  • Leo Weismantel : Lament for the dead over a city. Stürtz, Würzburg 1985, ISBN 3-8003-0254-3 .
  • City of Würzburg (Ed.): Würzburg. Through the rubble and ashes out into time. March 16, 1945. The fateful day of a city. (= Leaflet accompanying the permanent exhibition in Grafeneckart, strategy of Sir Arthur Travers Harris, "Bomber Harris", incendiary bombs, Würzburg burns brightly, "Never again war"). Würzburg, approx. 2004.

Web links

Commons : Bomb attack on Würzburg on March 16, 1945  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ RAF: High-explosive bombs for industrial targets, incendiary bombs for cities
  2. ↑ Peter Weidisch: Würzburg in the "Third Reich". In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. Volume 2, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , p. 1288, note 417.
  3. ↑ Fishcode of the RAF ( Memento from December 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 299 kB)
  4. ↑ Roland Flade: Future that grew out of rubble (1944–1960 ), p. 24 ff, Mainpost-Verlag 2009. - On the march back from Schweinfurt, an RAF bomber with Canadian crew members crashes after being shot down on the Grombühler Josefschule, Steinheilstrasse. All crew members perished in the rubble ("all KIA"). Freezing fire fighting water at Josephsplatz.
  5. ↑ Peter Weidisch (2007), p. 275. - 8th Air Force operational reports July 1944 .
  6. ↑ Peter Weidisch (2007), p. 275.
  7. ↑ Flade p. 49f: Test of British navigation devices, two air mine drops, Löwenbrücke 20 dead, Grombühl 10 dead. - A third machine of the 105th Squadron (Type B.XVI Bomber, Ser. Number MM151 ( Memento from February 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )) crashed on approach due to technical reasons. Problems already starting in Belgium.
  8. ↑ u. a. Häfnergasse and Marienkapelle
  9. ↑ It is probable that this attack on Würzburg never took place due to the weather or the defense. - The RAF operational planning for Würzburg existed, the eyewitness and damage reports from Würzburg are missing. ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mainpost.de
  10. ↑ Flade, p. 55: Air mine drops, etc. a. Kürschnerhof, Neumünster and Dom, Juliusspital, Bürgerspital. 112 dead
  11. ↑ Peter Weidisch (2007), p. 274 (damage in the area of ​​the Julius promenade near the Echterhaus).
  12. ↑ Flade p. 56: 250 high-explosive bombs, 178 dead
  13. ↑ Flade p. 59: Air mine drops, 86 dead
  14. ↑ Ulrich Wagner: The conquest of Würzburg in April 1945. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2 (I: From the beginnings to the outbreak of the Peasant War. 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1465-4 ; II: From the Peasant War 1525 to the transition to the Kingdom of Bavaria 1814. 2004, ISBN 3 -8062-1477-8 ; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 ), Theiss, Stuttgart 2001–2007, Volume III (2007), Pp. 294-314 and 1290-1292; here: pp. 298–300.
  15. ↑ Würzburger Diözesanblatt 3a , pp. 19–26 (1945)
  16. ↑ A bomber shot down by German night fighters at 21.43 hrs; Hptm. Wilhelm Johnen (1) from Staff III./NJG6 and / or Oblt. Erich Jung (2) from 5./NJG2.
  17. ↑ Würzburg reminds of destruction with bells ringing. In: Welt.de. March 14, 2018, accessed March 17, 2018 .
  18. ↑ It was also said that around 3,000 dead were recovered from the rubble of the city in the following days, and that around 2,000 corpses of undeclared refugees were expected to be buried under rubble.
  19. ^ Karl-Georg Rötter: New study: 4000 instead of 5000 dead on March 16, 1945? In: Mainpost.de. July 19, 2016, accessed March 17, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Roland Flade: Escape through the firestorm . In: Mainpost of March 14, 2015, p. 33
  21. ↑ This is the new cathedral. Special supplement in: Main Post from December 12, 2012.
  22. ↑ a b Roland Flade: Hope that grew out of ruins. 1945 to 1948: Würzburg's most dramatic years. Main-Post, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 3-925232-60-5 (with many contemporary witness reports), p. 78 contemporary witness Otto Stein: Saturday, March 24, 1945. Transport of the sister to the mass grave.
  23. ↑ Gisela Rauch: Very bad memories . In: Main-Post . March 18, 2016, p. 11 (Around 500 people gather at the cathedral to commemorate in silence).
  24. ^ Würzburg: Thousands demonstrate against the NPD march. www.spiegel.de, March 19, 2005
  25. ↑ Roland Flade: Hope that grew out of ruins. 1945 to 1948: Würzburg's most dramatic years. Mainpost, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 3-925232-60-5 (with many contemporary witness reports), p. 76 Contemporary witness, Domkaplan Fritz Bauer: Thursday, March 22, 1945. Three or four layers of dead on top of each other.