Internment of German Lake Constance ships in Switzerland in 1945

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The internment of German Lake Constance ships in Switzerland in 1945 took place shortly before the end of the Second World War .

On the night of April 25-26, 1945, six non-operational passenger ships stationed in Lindau and Bregenz were towed across Lake Constance in a conspiratorial operation . According to a secret agreement with Switzerland , a total of ten ships were "interned for protection" in Swiss ports . On May 17, 1945, they were handed over to the French troops who had meanwhile marched into the Lake Constance region. Thus prevents it pursuant to an order of Hitler for scuttling came Lindauer fleet.

prehistory

Soon after the beginning of the Second World War, most of the motor ships of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the ports of Constance , Friedrichshafen as well as Lindau and Bregenz were decommissioned due to fuel rationing. All the former Austrian ships and the four largest Lake Constance ships were moored there, including the new Ostmark , later Austria . Due to years of inactivity due to inadequate maintenance, almost all large motor ships were no longer operational towards the end of the war.

Nero order and secret negotiations

When the German Wehrmacht withdrew from occupied territories, the scorched earth tactic was often used: bridges were blown up, canals and port entrances made impassable by sunk ships. With the so-called Nero order of March 19, 1945, the Nazi regime demanded the consistent implementation of this procedure shortly before the defeat. The SS units stationed around Lindau left no doubt about implementing the order and sinking the ships.

Dr. Ing. Alfred Otter, Head of Department at the Reich Railway Directorate in Augsburg , who was responsible for the ships stationed in Lindau and Bregenz, feared this development or damage to “his” fleet through combat early on. As early as November 1944, he conducted arbitrary negotiations with Swiss authorities to approve the internment of these German ships in the ports of Lake Constance in neutral Switzerland “in accordance with the Hague Convention on Sea War”, but initially received no binding commitment. When the French troops had almost reached Lake Constance at the end of April 1945, Otter held talks with the Swiss authorities again on April 24, although he was aware of the high personal risk. They feared foreign policy conflicts, but gave their consent on April 25 with precise guidelines. This included that as soon as the situation had calmed down, the ships were to be handed over to the victorious powers in an occupied port. Otter drove back immediately to prepare for the action. For his courageous behavior he later received the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Night evacuation

Although the time for planning, coordination and preparation was extremely short, the dangerous operation with around 40 volunteer crew members under the direction of a retired captain was carried out the following night. To do this, the boilers of the towing steamships had to be inconspicuously heated to operating temperature and the Bavaria left off the slipway .

In the early morning hours of April 26, 1945, the three intact paddle steamers from Bregenz , Bludenz and Munich hauled the three large defective motor ships Allgäu , Ostmark ( Austria ) and Germany , as well as the steam ships Bavaria and Lindau, as agreed, for voluntary internment to Romanshorn , Rorschach and Arbon . The motor boat Reutin hauled Austria to Staad SG , the motor boats Arthur and Silberhecht reached Romanshorn on their own.

The journey went without incident. Unflagged and darkened up to the middle of the lake, then lit peaceably and with a white flag instead of the national flag, the convoy reached the Swiss bank. The ships were moored and guarded in the ports by Swiss personnel. The German crew members were brought back to Lindau by motor boats Arthur and Silberhecht without having set foot on Swiss soil .

Repatriation and confiscation

The meanwhile victorious French occupying power negotiated with Switzerland and on May 17, 1945 the service boat Buchhorn under the French flag and crew called at the Swiss ports. The German crews were on board under the supervision of a French naval command. The Swiss border guard handed over the interned ships to him, which were transferred to Friedrichshafen and Lindau. There they were confiscated by the French occupying forces, like the other ships of the Reichsbahn before.

The successful action with the Swiss willingness to help and the courage of those involved contributed significantly to the fact that most of the Lake Constance ships survived the war relatively unscathed. The Austria is the only ship in the convoy that is still in service after 70 years.

gallery

The towing ships:

  • DS Munich (YOC 1882)

The towed ships:

  • MS Allgäu (YOC 1929)

  • MS Germany (YOC 1935)

  • MS Ostmark (YOC 1939), from 1946: Austria

  • MS Oesterreich (YOC 1928)

  • DS Lindau (YOC 1905)

literature

In various sources, reports about the action are largely identical. Unless otherwise stated, this article is based on the very detailed information provided by Michael Berg, mostly on the basis of primary sources.

  • Michael Berg: Motor shipping on Lake Constance under the Deutsche Reichsbahn and in the post-war period. Planning, construction and use of the White Fleet from 1920 to 1952 . regional culture publisher, Ubstadt-Weiher 2011. ISBN 978-3-89735-614-6 , pp. 222–226.

Further sources:

References and comments

  1. ↑ The frequently used term “protective internment” does not officially exist. What is meant is the voluntary internment of people and / or vehicles from a warring country in a neutral state. Comparable is the decision of Allied pilots, whose aircraft was damaged by fire, to turn away and to penetrate into Swiss airspace over Lake Constance in order to be interned after landing.
  2. ^ Paul Winter: Swiss railways under flags . Minirex, Lucerne 1988. ISBN 3-907014-02-2 , p. 176.
  3. ↑ It is not known whether government agencies were aware of the project and tacitly tolerated it.
  4. ↑ Only Dietmar Bönke reports shots by SS members, (literature) p. 77.
  5. ↑ Dietmar Bönke, (literature) p. 71. After Michael Berg, Reutin returned as planned .
  6. ↑ Illustration of the Buchhorn with the crew of the French Navy [1] Source: Hohentwiel-Verein Archivlink ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hohentwiel-verein.ch
  7. ↑ Supplementary: DS Stadt Bregenz (Bj. 1910) see Vorarlberger Bildungsservice , DS Bludenz (Bj. 1887) with camouflage see Vorarlberger Bildungsservice and MB Reutin (Bj. 1929) see picture postcard
  8. ↑ Supplementary: DS Bavaria (Bj. 1912) see schiffe-schweiz ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schiffe-schweiz.ch