Air raids on Jena
In air raids on Jena during World War II , the 8th Air Force , and most recently the 9th Air Force of the US Army Air Forces , dropped 1,021 tons of bombs over the city of Jena , the British Bomber Command was involved with 5 tons. The focus of the American daytime attacks was in February and March 1945. March 19, with a major attack, is considered the “blackest day in Jena history”. The bombing caused severe damage and total losses, especially in the city center. The appearance of Jena, which has grown over the centuries, has changed fundamentally as a result. More than 4,000 apartments in 1,187 houses and 140 shops were completely destroyed. The Zeiss works were also badly hit with 25% losses, the university with 40% losses and numerous historical cultural buildings . Jena is - after Nordhausen - the second most destroyed city in Thuringia . 709 (805) Jena residents - probably more - lost their lives, over 2,000 were injured, some seriously.
Jena before and during World War II
Jena was an important university town, a science center and, with its Zeiss factories and Schott AG, an important industrial location, also for armaments production . It had an organically grown, attractive historic old town. In the second half of the 1930s, Jena became a garrison town . There was an air base in Rödigen . In 1937 Jena received a heavy flak main battery, but it was withdrawn to Italy in 1942/43 and replaced by "Heimat Flak". A flak battery was z. B. on the mountain Jenzig , in the rear plateau area. Jena, located in Luftgau IV , was the only town in Thuringia to be included in an air raid shelter construction program as a "first-order air raid shelter" in 1940. By 1944, the city had nine "bulletproof and gas-proof" bunkers. Of these, four have been preserved in other uses (2015), including the former operation bunker and the delivery bunker in the Bachstrasse Clinic. In air defense, tethered balloons (for example on the mountain spur, the "nose" of the Jenzig, foundation used today for the "Jenzig star") and artificial fog were also used.
On January 1, 1945, Jena had 79,276 inhabitants, including many refugees and foreign workers.
Attack planning on Jena
Jena was earmarked for air strikes early in the Second World War as part of the Area bombing directive . In the list of fish aliases of the British Bomber Command for German cities intended for bombing, it was recorded as "Starfish" (starfish). In a target list of Winston Churchill's British War Cabinet from April 1942 with 25 cities, Jena was also included. In the summer of 1942 there was a plan by Air Marshal Arthur Harris with a thousand bomber attacks , in which Jena was listed as a target complex together with Eisenach , Gotha , Erfurt and Weimar . Charles Portal , the Commander in Chief of the Royal Air Force , planned Jena together with 57 other German cities for a "cremation bombardment" in November 1942. In January 1945 Harris made the proposal to attack medium-sized and small German cities that "still had larger, undestroyed urban areas". Jena was one of them. In an order from the British and American Chiefs of Staff of February 8, 1945 to the 8th US Air Force, Jena was classified as an "industrial alternative target". In the last verifiable target lists of the Bomber Command and the US Air Force in 1945, Jena, along with other cities, continued to be a focus.
The attacks
The air strikes were concentrated in the final months of the war
- On 16./17. August 1940, four British RAF bombs fell on the grounds of the train station . The damage was described as minor. The air defense was strong. A bomber was hit and crashed near the Dutch border.
- On May 27, 1943 at 9:00 p.m. after the anti-aircraft fire and balloon barriers had broken through, 14 British high-speed bombers of the Mosquito type attacked the Zeiss works with 24 large-caliber bombs, half of them with long-term detonators, at low altitude. They caused considerable damage in the main and southern works by the explosive effect and considerable fires. There were 12 dead and 56 wounded. Three mosquitos were shot down.
Until February 1945 there were no major air raids, despite the great importance of Jena for the German military optics and fine mechanics.
On February 9, 1945, eleven heavy four-engine B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the 8th Air Force attacked Jena city center and the north quarter with 27.5 tons of bombs at 12:16 pm. In addition to numerous residential buildings, the university library , the Kollegienkirche , the Griesbachsche Haus, the north school, the Botanical Institute and the Unterm Markt 1 house were badly hit. There were 98 dead, 53 seriously and 204 slightly injured, and 34 missing.
On February 23, at 11:41 a.m., 25 B-24 Liberator bombers dropped 59.5 tonnes of bombs, which corresponded to around 150 high-explosive bombs, mainly on the north quarter, the area around the north cemetery as far as Löbstedt .
On 10/11 March 12 bombs fell by three British planes on the city center and Südstadt, Lichtenhain , Beutenberg and Kahlaische Strasse in the evening.
On 15/16. March, another attack by the RAF caused no significant damage.
On March 17th, Jena was approached by 71 B-17 bombers of the 1st Air Division with 220 tons of bombs as a "secondary target" at lunchtime from 13:01 to 13:25. It was 210.7 tons of GP (General Purpose) bombs, combined high-explosive and cluster bombs, which were aimed at both buildings and people. There were also 9.4 tons of incendiary bombs. The anti-aircraft defense was sparse, German fighters were not in use. The designated target of the attack were the Zeiss works. Around 400 high-explosive bombs hit the Saalbahnhof, Jena-Ost, Steinweg, Anger, Frauengasse, Luthergasse and the place in front of the Kupferhütchen, the Zeiss factory (6–10 bomb hits) and the Schott factory. 54 houses were destroyed and 82 badly damaged. There were 138 deaths (including numerous prisoners and forced laborers), 210 seriously and 148 slightly injured and 12 missing. One bomber was badly damaged by anti-aircraft guns and was able to land in the Soviet-occupied area.
On March 19, the "blackest day in Jena history", 197 American "Flying Fortresses" B-17s of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked from 1:17 pm to 1:32 pm with 563 tons of bombs ( around 800 incendiary, phosphorus and high-explosive bombs) especially in the city center. The stated goal was the optical industry. The Zeiss plant received 6–10 hits, the Schott plant 6 hits. Over 1,000 explosions occurred in the city. In addition to explosive bombs, incendiary and liquid incendiary bombs were also used. The districts of Winzerla , Wöllnitz , Lobeda and the Kernberg district were hit. A large area of the city center, in which a devastating wildfire developed, was totally destroyed. In the entire old town there was almost no building that was not affected. There were 1347 damage to buildings, of which 224 were total losses, 261 were severe, 199 were moderate, and 663 were minor. The attack also had a destructive effect:
- the city museum (Weigelstrasse),
- its Siedelhof branch,
- the city bank,
- the Physiological Institute,
- the Institute for Mineral Optics,
- the post office,
- the Gasthaus Burgkeller,
- the Neuenhansche Druckerei,
- the chemical laboratory of Zeiss and
- the main university building.
The town church burned out. There were over 140 dead, 123 seriously and hundreds lightly wounded, and 12,000 homeless. The number of deaths was corrected up to 236 by the city historian Rüdiger Stutz in March 2015 "according to the latest findings". Two bombers were reported lost and 46 damaged. From March 19 - until the bombing of Nordhausen in early April 1945 - Jena was the most destroyed city in Thuringia.
On April 9, four days before the US ground troops marched in, the hall station and neighboring buildings were attacked from 4:14 p.m. to 4:53 p.m. Jena was the primary target of 86 medium-weight medium-range bombers of the type B-26 “Marauder” (“looters”) of the 9th Bombardment Division of the 9th Air Force with the dropping of 151 tons of high explosive bombs. The hall station, the railway area and the existing rolling stock as well as 105 surrounding buildings were largely destroyed. There were 108 dead. In addition, anti-aircraft positions were attacked by 6 aircraft with 11 tons of fragmentation bombs. The total number of bombers involved is also given as 110.
When Jena was bombarded by US artillery on April 11, 1945, another 40 people died.
On April 13, the city was occupied without a fight by a division of the 3rd US Army.
Human and material losses
709 residents of Jena were killed in the air raids, over 2,000 were injured, some seriously (the figures refer to the urban area in 1945, excluding the districts that were later incorporated). Since the city historian corrected the number of deaths from March 19, 1945 upwards from 140 to 236 in 2015, the number of total victims must also be changed: to 805. The proportion of foreign civil workers who were very numerous in Jena (from 1940 to In 1945 over 13,000 were employed in Jena) is not exactly proven. One study says: "A great many probably died in bombing attacks", "Most deaths were recorded in the spring of 1945 (Jenas bombing)" and "The unreported number of unregistered and missing persons, especially after bombings, was probably much higher".
Over 4,000 apartments in 1,187 houses were totally destroyed, as were 140 shops. 4,743 apartments were badly damaged. The Zeiss plant lost 25% of its building substance. The university clinics in Bachstrasse were partially destroyed and six university institutes were destroyed.
Cultural losses
The losses of culturally significant building substance described here come (almost all) from the standard work Fates of German Architectural Monuments in the Second World War (Ed. Götz Eckardt): In Volume 2, the chapter "Jena" by Rudolf Zießler. Pp. 512-520
- The town church of St. Michael : was badly damaged on February 9 and March 19, 1945. The mansard roof was destroyed, as were the four western central nave bays, the western gallery, the glazing and the Renaissance tower dome. The nave burned down and the valuable organ was destroyed. The flames came out of the tower after the bell tower had fallen on the nave.
- The Kollegienkirche (University Church ): the roof was destroyed by a direct hit on February 9, 1945, the vault collapsed and the furnishings were badly damaged. The nave was completely destroyed on March 19, the ruins were torn down in 1956 and the tower was damaged.
- The college buildings (the place where the university was founded) were damaged.
- The main university building was partially destroyed.
- The university library was destroyed on February 9, 1945 (except for the basement). 80,000 volumes had been relocated outside of Jena, particularly valuable holdings remained intact in bank vaults. The reading room inventory, catalogs and over 10,000 volumes were lost.
- The university institutes (the inventory of which had been partially relocated since 1943) sank to 40% in the attacks.
- The city museum in Weigelstrasse was destroyed and lost 21,000 of its 25,000 objects, including its Siedelhof branch
- The historic Jena town hall was severely damaged on February 9 and March 19, 1945, especially the roof.
- The Abbeanum : the wing of the institute was badly damaged
- The little princess palace: moderately damaged
Residential and commercial buildings (including half-timbered, Renaissance, Baroque):
- At the cross: stone house (oldest building in Jena, fortified manor house): damaged and demolished in 1947. Other town houses on the cross: Merkur House, Kramer House, Dummel House, Rats-Apotheke destroyed.
- The Collegiengasse: town houses destroyed, some from the Renaissance period
- The Eichplatz: severe damage, such as the Chemnitius House (north wing)
- Behind the church: Siedelhof (wine-growing house, branch of the city museum) destroyed except for the preserved archway
- The Jenergasse: western side of the street partially destroyed, eastern side completely destroyed, the historic inns Kleine Zeise and Die Schrammel also destroyed and cleared
- Johannisstrasse: large parts of the houses destroyed, such as Haus Roßmann (Weimarsches Haus, former old government), as well as the superintendent. The Burgkeller inn (Renaissance, historical building of the German fraternity) was completely destroyed.
- Leutrastraße: completely destroyed on March 19, including the Neuenhahn building (university printing works)
- The Löbdergraben: Griesbachsches Haus (imposing professor's house, here Schiller held his inaugural lecture in 1789 and had his 3rd apartment here in Jena): main building destroyed, later lecture hall extension preserved
- Löbderstrasse: all buildings destroyed
- The market : on February 9 and March 19, 1945 the entire west side with the exception of the town hall (damaged) destroyed, as well as parts of the north side with the Germanenhaus. The Kirstenche house on the southeast corner of the square, Unterm Markt 1 (this is where the poet friendship between Goethe and Schiller began) destroyed and cleared on February 9th. Portal recovered. The farm pharmacy burned out on February 9, further damage cleared on March 19
- Rathausgasse: all buildings destroyed, including Bachstein's house
- The Saalstrasse: destroyed, including the Hoffmann house
Post-war events
The damage caused to the Jena site of the Zeiss and Schott works by the US occupation forces' "Carl Zeiss Factory Mission" before the city was handed over to the Red Army (early July 1945) will be considerably greater estimated as the one caused by the bombing. 200 scientists and management personnel, many truckloads of documents, patents, products and materials were transported to West Germany. The almost complete dismantling of the Zeiss and Schott works by the Soviet occupying forces followed in 1946 .
Memorials and graves
- Stele : In March 2002, a new stele was inaugurated in the city center near the town hall in memory of the bomb victims, which the master stonemason Eckart Block created and donated from Grenzheimer limestone. According to the will of the city's cultural committee, it no longer bears the (half-correct) reference on the earlier memorial stone from the GDR era, which was removed because of the development on the west side of the market, that it was an "Anglo-American" bomb. The inscription to be read in 2015 now reads anonymously and literally (in capital letters): "In the spring of 1945 the city center of Jena was destroyed by bombs / This is how the war came and Germany came back here too / We remember the victims". They were American bombs.
- According to information from the Jena cemetery administration, there are also bomb victims in the north cemetery (fields 16 and 7b), but no longer a separate grave field for them. There are also no references to bomb deaths in the war cemeteries in this cemetery. This is in contrast to almost all other Thuringian cities affected, such as Nordhausen , Erfurt , Weimar , Gotha , Gera , Eisenach and Meiningen , Hildburghausen , Meuselwitz , Schleiz , Sondershausen , Arnstadt .
- On the elongated grave field 7b (stone crosses and memorial plaque "The dead of World War II from different nations rest here") and grave field 16 (memorial stone "The dead in memory. The living in reminder. War graves 1939-1945") can only be recognized by the Dates of death (March 17, 1945, March 19, 1945 and April 9, 1945) on the board and the crosses that some of the victims were bombed.
- A representative tombstone in the north cemetery commemorates 15 Dutch workers buried here in a communal grave who were killed in the air raid on March 17, 1945 ( “Aan onze Landgenoten die op 17. Maart 1945 hun leven lieten. Zij rusten in Vrede " , Translated:" For our compatriots who lost their lives on March 17, 1945. They rest in peace. "). The Zeiss factory commemorates their death with a base plate from 1983 in German.
- A memorial stone of the Repubblica Italiana in Italian and German commemorates the Italian military internees who were killed (in the air raids) and who worked in the Jena factories: “A Perenne Memoria die Caduti Italiani che qui Riposano” / “In memory of those here dormant fallen ”.
- A remarkable individual tomb shows the following inscription: “Prof. Dr. phil. Theodor Lockemann . Director of the University Library. Born in Sübeck in 1885, fallen on February 9, 1945 in Jena ”. Lockemann died together with 11 employees under the rubble of his bombed library.
literature
- Manfred Fritsch: Bombs on Zeiss and Schott in World War II. American protocols on the bombing of Jena . Jena yearbook on technology and industrial history. Vopelius, Jena 2006, issue 9. ISSN 2198-6746 . Pp. 457-466
- Olaf Groehler : bombing war against Germany . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1990. ISBN 3-05-000612-9 .
- Rudolf Zießler: Jena . In: Götz Eckardt (Ed.): Fates of German architectural monuments in the Second World War. A documentation of the damage and total losses in the area of the GDR . Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2. pp. 512-520.
- Roger A. Freeman: The Mighty Eighth War Diary . Arms and Amour Press, Revised edition, London 1990 (English).
Web links
- From the history of Jena: World War II - firestorm over Jena
- Bomb attacks on Jena
- The history of the flak barracks in the Jena Forest. Jena in the sights of allied bombers (2011)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c From the history of Jena: 2nd World War - Firestorm over Jena
- ↑ a b The history of the flak barracks in the Jena forest. Jena in the sights of allied bombers (2011).
- ↑ http://forum.hidden-places.de/archive/index.php/t-4365.html
- ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . 1990, p. 35.
- ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . 1990. pp. 62, 69, 74, 385, 432.
- ^ Bomb raids on Jena
- ↑ a b c d e f g Manfred Fritsch: Bombs on Zeiss and Schott in World War II . Jena 2006.
- ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . 1990, p. 151
- ↑ a b Jena commemorates bomb victims ( memento of the original from March 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (March 19, 2015)
- ^ Günter Sagan: East Thuringia in the bombing war 1939-1945 . Imhoff 2013. p. 187
- ^ Evelyn Halm and Margitta Ballhorn: Foreign civilian workers in Jena 1940 to 1945 . Ed .: Städtische Museen Jena. Druckhaus Gera 1995. ISBN 3-930128-21-7
- ↑ Thomas Bernst: The fear of bare survival . Thuringian State Newspaper, March 20, 2002.
