Hermann Meier's canopy

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"Hermann Meier's Baldachin" was the derisive name given by the Berlin vernacular to the air raid protection - camouflage nets that were set up in 1940 in Berlin-Tiergarten over the Charlottenburger Chaussee (east-west axis; today: Straße des 17. Juni) , to make orientation difficult for Allied military aircraft.

In some places small conifers were attached to the camouflage net in order to give overflying aircraft crews the illusion that they are not over one of the main traffic arteries of Berlin, but over a forest or park.

From a military point of view, the camouflage nets are considered largely useless; it is assumed that they should convey a (deceptive) feeling of security to the Berlin population.

The designation as Hermann Meier's baldachin is due, on the one hand, to the fact that the camouflage nets gave passers-by the impression of walking under a canopy, and, on the other hand, from a nickname known in the 1940s for Reichsluftmarschall Hermann Göring , to whom the - unproven - statement was ascribed became that his name would be Meier, even if only one enemy bomber appeared over Germany. Even if it is rather unlikely that Goering actually made this statement, at least this ascription was widely known; Joseph Goebbels mentions them in his diary as does Victor Klemperer .

The same statement attributed to Göring was also used to derive the derisive name for air raid sirens, which were supposed to warn of approaching enemy bombers, as "Hermann Meiers Waldhörner" - Göring was not only Minister of Aviation and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, but also "Reichsjägermeister".

Historical images

  • “Brandenburger Tor, seen from Charlottenburger Chaussee, under camouflage nets”, from: Berliner Großstadtgeschichten, viewed on November 17, 2019, http://www.grossstadtgeschichten-berlin.de/items/show/143 . This photo of the camouflage net over Charlottenburger Allee (today's Straße des 17. Juni) on the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate (today: Platz des 18. März) by Kurt Knauft from the holdings of the Berlin State Archives, holdings F Rep. 290: 1975 ( Kurt Knauft), is printed in: Hans-Ulrich Thamer, “Berlin in the Third Reich - Rule and Everyday Life under the Swastika”, Elsengold-Verlag, Berlin 2014, p. 244/245.
  • "Charlottenburger Chaussee", from: Berliner Großstadtgeschichten, viewed on November 17, 2019, http://www.grossstadtgeschichten-berlin.de/items/show/148 Source: Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep. 290 (01) No. 0003892, Photographer: Rudolf Steinhäuser
  • Berlin, east-west axis / camouflage nets, Berlin-Tiergarten, east-west axis (formerly Charlottenburger Chaussee, today Straße des 17. Juni). Camouflage nets over the east-west axis against air attacks. Photo, around 1941 (Stefan Arczynski). Image number: AKG55701, AKG Images, https://www.akg-images.de/archive/-2UMDHUWBQLS8.html
  • Berlin, Brandenburg Gate, camouflage nets, Berlin-Mitte, Brandenburg Gate. View from the west with camouflage nets over the east-west axis (Charlottenburger Chaussee) against air attacks. Photo, around 1941 (Stefan Arczynski). Image number: AKG54607, AKG Images https://www.akg-images.de/archive/-2UMDHUWDPG0U.html
  • Another photograph of the camouflage nets over the Charlottenburger Chaussee, from the archive of the Berlin newspaper publisher Ullstein, Berlin-Tempelhof, is printed in: "Berliner Luft - Von Berlinern für alle Freunde Berlin", collected and noted by Berliners, idea and editing: Heinz Görz , Sigbert Mohn Verlag, Copyright: C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh 1959, on p. 49 - with the following caption: "" Hermann Meyer's baldachin "was what Berlin Görings called protective and camouflage nets".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ So: Hans-Ulrich Thamer: Berlin in the Third Reich - Rule and Everyday Life under the Swastika , Elsengold-Verlag, Berlin 2014, p. 244/245. Deviating: Maritta Adam-Tkalec: Berlin in historical recordings - camouflage nets over the Charlottenburger Chaussee , in: Berliner Zeitung, March 10, 2017, https://archiv.berliner-zeitung.de/berlin/berlin-in-historischen-aufnahme-tarnnetze-ueber-der-charlottenburger-chaussee-25946604  : “In July 1941, let the National Socialists set up camouflage nets over Charlottenburger Chaussee (today Straße des 17. Juni) in order to practice air raid protection and to accustom Berliners to the idea that war could also afflict Germany. "
  2. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Thamer: Berlin in the Third Reich - Rule and Everyday Life under the Swastika , Elsengold-Verlag, Berlin 2014, p. 245: “However, the camouflage nets in front of the Brandenburg Gate were attached in 1940 from a network of wire netting and scraps of cloth to give everyone a feeling of security. That soon turned out to be an illusion: Strong gusts of wind soon tore holes in the camouflage nets, and in August 1940 the Royal Air Force began dropping bombs on Berlin for the first time, which soon turned into area bombing. "
  3. ^ Joseph Goebbels, diary entry from February 1, 1943, books.google, https://books.google.de/books?id=97ITAQAAIAAJ&q=meier
  4. ^ Victor Klemperer: LIT - notebook of a philologist , Aufbau-Verlag 1947, p. 136, http://books.google.de/books?id=_c5bAAAAMAAJ&q=Meier