Air raids on Hamelin

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The air raids on Hameln by Allied bombers caused considerable damage to the city of Hameln during the Second World War . Before the start of the war, the city had 31,979 inhabitants in May 1939.

Air strikes

1940 to 1944

For Hamelin, the air war began in 1940, quite harmlessly. Various smaller drops caused only minor damage to property.

The first concentrated attack took place on June 18, 1941 at around 2 a.m. British bombers attacked the station , but missed their target. Six 250 kg explosive bombs fell on Stüve and Walthausenstrasse. There were 24 dead and nine injured. In addition, two houses were completely destroyed and others damaged. The number of victims is so high because no alarm was triggered prior to the attack .

The second air raid on July 7, 1944, which also targeted the railway facilities , killed 19 people in the Basberg settlement .

The last months of the war

From March 1945 the threat from the air was permanent. Most of the time, the bomber groups flew over the Weser Uplands at a safe height, but constant alarms forced the population to stay in the cellars .

The heaviest, probably American, air raid took place on March 14, 1945. At around 2:00 p.m., an air raid alarm was triggered and people went to the shelters as usual. 2 hours later, when the danger seemed to be over, people went back to their daily routine. At the station the fully occupied trains were ready to leave when a single bomber raised a smoke signal overhead . Seconds later, high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs , the load of 12 British bombers, fell on Hameln, and buildings in Bahnhofstrasse, Kreuzstrasse, Deisterstrasse, Schmiedestrasse, Stüvestrasse and Hastenbecker Weg were also hit. This attack left almost 200 dead and around 100 injured. 700 people were left homeless .

On March 28, 1945, the health department in Deisterstrasse and the neighboring houses were destroyed by bombs. The power station was destroyed during the last air raid on Hameln on April 4, 1945.

consequences

A total of 336 people were killed in air raids in Hameln, which is a relatively high percentage compared to other cities and in relation to the number of inhabitants. 84 houses were completely destroyed and 44 partially destroyed. A total of 905 apartments became uninhabitable, which corresponds to a degree of destruction of 9.9%. A total of 105,000 m³ of rubble was removed.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Association of Cities: Statistical Yearbook of German Communities , p. 384. Braunschweig 1952.
  2. ↑ German Association of Cities: Statistical Yearbook of German Communities , p. 385. Braunschweig 1952.
  3. ↑ German Association of Cities: Statistical Yearbook of German Communities , p. 377. Braunschweig 1952.