Air raids on Göttingen

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The air raids on Göttingen by Allied bombers caused some damage to the city of Göttingen during the Second World War . In May 1939 the city had 51,214 inhabitants. In terms of war-essential facilities, Göttingen had a marshalling yard , the railway operations and repair shop with the Lokrichthalle , the air base of the Air Force opened in 1937 in the west of the city and the aerodynamic research institute (AVA), which was located in the city center between Brauweg and Leine Canal. Even the autobahn (today's A 7 ), which runs right past Göttingen in the west, was completed by the beginning of the war beyond Göttingen to the north to Nörten .

Air strikes

Göttingen was hit eight times by air strikes:

Plaque on the Kollegienhaus, which was destroyed in 1944
Blackboard on the library that was destroyed in 1944
Detail of the preserved facade of the Mehle factory
Untere Maschstraße in Göttingen: The 18 houses destroyed on Nov. 24, 1944 were rebuilt in the typical style of the 1950s.

The first air raid on July 7, 1944 resulted in a fatality when around 200 high-explosive bombs hit a barracks in the west of the city and the Maschmühlenweg.

In the second air raid on Göttingen on November 23, 1944, nine people were killed. The gas works on Maschmühlenweg was destroyed, the barracks on today's Hiroshimaplatz were hit by an air mine . Houses at the Geismartor were also destroyed or damaged by bombs.

Another air raid on November 24, 1944 at around 7.15 p.m. only claimed one human life, but caused considerable damage in the city center: Of the 28 houses in Untere Maschstrasse, 18 - No. 8 to No. 25 - were completely destroyed, including in Bombs hit houses on Prinzenstrasse and Paulinerstrasse. An aerial mine fell on the Paulinerkirche , which was then used as a university library . B. Commerzbank (on the Prinzenhaus ) and a nursery on Prinzenstrasse - badly damaged. Part of the book collection was irrevocably destroyed. The adjacent college building was completely destroyed. The town hall and especially the Johanniskirche also suffered considerable damage. The Luther school was also hit by bombs. Another air mine that exploded at the corner of Maschmühlenweg and Weender Tor destroyed numerous shop windows in Weender Strasse and other shopping streets.

On January 1, 1945, the railway facilities were the target of an air raid that claimed 47 lives. In addition to the marshalling yard, the depot was badly destroyed, as were houses in Emilienstraße, Arndtstraße, Weender Landstraße, Königsallee and Kasseler Landstraße. Many bombs hit the forced labor camp on Schützenplatz, where 39 people (including 9 children) were killed. A factory at Salinenweg 2 was almost completely destroyed. The university auditorium at Weender Tor was badly damaged. In Grone , a bomb hit destroyed a residential building in Lütjen Steinsweg, killing five people.

Another air raid on February 9, 1945, which left 21 dead, targeted the train station and the air base in the west of the city, but houses were hit by bombs again. The aluminum plant on Weender Landstrasse was badly damaged.

On February 22, 1945, 27 people were killed when the train station and railway facilities were again the target of an air raid and the brewery on Brauweg was also destroyed. Possibly the attack was aimed at the aerodynamic research institute , which was also located on Brauweg. Maschmühlenweg was also hit and the houses at Arndtstrasse 2 and 3 were destroyed.

On March 21, 1945, the old town of Göttingen was hit again by high explosive bombs, with several houses being destroyed or damaged, especially in Jüdenstrasse and Angerstrasse. The Junkernschänke and the Rheinischer Hof were destroyed. During this air raid, which resulted in a fatality, a house in the Treuenhagen housing estate was also destroyed by a bomb.

In the heaviest and last air raid on Göttingen on April 7, 1945, the station building , the anatomical institute of the university (today the bus station) and the upper floor of the zoological institute were completely destroyed. Five people who had sought refuge in the basement of the anatomical institute were killed. The railway bridge over the Leine was also destroyed. Emil Mehle's factory in Weender Landstrasse and houses in the eastern part of Weender Landstrasse were badly damaged.

Deaths and damage

A total of 107 people were killed in air raids in Göttingen; 59 houses were completely destroyed. A total of 300 apartments were destroyed in Göttingen, which corresponds to a degree of destruction of 2.1%. A total of 150,000 m³ of rubble was removed.

To this day, numerous undetonated duds have to be evacuated as a late aftermath of the war . On June 1, 2010, three experienced ordnance disposal service employees lost their lives when a US ten-quintal-weight bomb with a long detonator detonated during preparations for defusing it, located a week earlier at a depth of 7 m . A 7 kg splinter hit an attic apartment 700 meters and six other ordnance clearance personnel were injured. A water cutting robot should be used. On April 26, 2011, an American 5 quintals bomb had to be defused on a construction site in Güterbahnhofstrasse after a few hours.

literature

  • Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war, 1935–1945 . The workshop, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-89533-424-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Association of Cities: Statistical yearbook of German municipalities. Braunschweig 1952, p. 382.
  2. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 74.
  3. ↑ Lower Saxony city book. Stuttgart 1952.
  4. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 43.
  5. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 44.
  6. ^ Bombs in Göttingen during World War II. ( Memento of the original from February 25, 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. In: Göttinger Tageblatt. (Picture gallery) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.goettinger-tageblatt.de
  7. ↑ Göttingen City Archives: Chronicle November 1944. ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2014 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.stadtarchiv.goettingen.de
  8. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 47.
  9. ^ The bombing raid on the Schützenplatz and Auf der Masch camps on January 1, 1945 with 39 dead (including 9 children) on zwangsarbeit-in-goettingen.de
  10. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 49.
  11. ↑ Göttingen City Archives: Chronicle February 1945 ( Memento of the original from June 23, 2014 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.stadtarchiv.goettingen.de
  12. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 50.
  13. ↑ Göttinger Tageblatt: April 7, 1945: The last air raid on Göttingen , article from June 2, 2010.
  14. ↑ Göttingen City Archives: Chronicle for 1945 (online)
  15. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Göttingen in the air war. Göttingen 2003, p. 51 f.
  16. ^ German Association of Cities: Statistical yearbook of German municipalities. Braunschweig 1952, p. 383.
  17. ^ German Association of Cities: Statistical yearbook of German municipalities. Braunschweig 1952, p. 382.
  18. ↑ Tobias Morchner, Heidi Niemann, Britta Bielefeld: Göttingen: Three people die in a bomb explosion. In: Göttinger Tageblatt. June 1, 2010, accessed August 12, 2015.