Air raids on Munich

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Munich city center in 1945 and 1989 in comparison

The Bavarian capital was badly hit in the air raids on Munich during World War II . The air strikes were carried out by units of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). In the aerial warfare of World War II , a total of 74 attacks on Munich (one of which was a low-flying attack with on-board weapons) killed 6,632 people; 15,800 were injured. Half of the total city area and 90 percent of the old town was destroyed.

Especially the night raids by the RAF with the area bombing of civil targets (inner city, residential areas and others) were carried out on the basis of the " Area Bombing Directive " issued by the British Air Ministry on February 14, 1942 .

According to the census of May 17, 1939 , Munich was in fourth place on the list of the largest German cities in the “ Greater German Reich ” with just under 830,000 inhabitants , including Vienna . In addition to its importance as a location for important war companies such as BMW , Krauss-Maffei , Meiller , Südbremse , Dornier, etc., the “ capital of the movement ” (of National Socialism ) was also an important target for propaganda.

Selection of allied air strikes

date Focus Victim Attacking bombers Dropped bombs Remarks
March 10, 1940 no unknown number of British aviators only light bombs first air raid, but without bombs
June 4th 1940 Riem, Allach 8 injured unknown number of bombers of the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'air First air raid with bombs targeting BMW aircraft engine plant Allach
19./20. September 1942 no particular focus 413 injured, 149 dead about 30 bombers of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) 168 tons, including 55 mine bombs and 5,000 stick bombs
December 21, 1942 Western quarter 21 dead 15 RAF bombers u. a. 14 mine bombs weighing 1,800 kg, 5,800 stick bombs
9/10 March 1943 Downtown 436 injured, 212 dead over 100 RAF bombers u. a. 66 mine, 99 high explosive, 1,000 phosphorus and 70,000 stick incendiary bombs u. a. BMW main factory in Milbertshofen, the Brown House, tram depot, gas works damaged, 9,000 homeless people, three bombers shot down, anti-aircraft gun fired over 15,000 shells
September 7, 1943 entire urban area 785 injured, 208 dead 365 RAF bombers u. a. 73 mine, 269 high explosive, 127 flashlight, 6,000 phosphor and 180,000 stick incendiary bombs 17,597 homeless, 3,833 damaged properties, wholesale market hall badly damaged
2nd / 3rd October 1943 Downtown 906 injured, 233 dead 273 RAF bombers 500 tons, including 78 mine, 309 high explosive, 7,000 phosphorus and 190,000 stick incendiary bombs 35 churches and 15 hospitals, some badly damaged, National Theater badly damaged, large amounts of food destroyed, 5 aircraft shot down (about 30 dead)
October 8, 1943 Downtown only a few RAF bombers 8 dead and several injured in mass panic in front of the shelter
March 18, 1944 Downtown 296 injured, 173 dead Mission number: 264; 221 B-17s of the 8th Air Force from East England, another 290 B-17s attack Oberpfaffenhofen, Lechfeld and Landsberg, 227 B-24s attack Friedrichshafen 339 high explosive bombs and 805 liquid incendiary bombs, no mine bombs First daytime attack, residence, several churches and hospitals, post office, Ostbahnhof heavily damaged, flak fired 6,000 shells
24./25. April 1944 Munich Au 4,185 injured, 139 dead 400 bombers of the 5th bomber fleet of the RAF u. a. 7 explosive bombs weighing 2,000 kg, 550,000 stick incendiary, 14,160 phosphorus, 10,245 flame jet and 54 high explosive bombs no German night fighters deployed for defense, 80% destruction of the Au district. Direct hit on the parliament building Prannerstraße 20, Munich, seriously the old town hall, Munich Residence damaged many churches and art galleries severely damaged, 70,000 homeless, 13 kills by flak
June 9, 1944 Railway lines 107 injured, 147 dead 400 to 500 15th Air Force bombers 1,192 high explosives, 325 fragmentation and 247 liquid incendiary bombs Hospital badly hit, all routes to the main station destroyed, 5,000 homeless
June 13, 1944 Downtown 184 injured, 302 dead 600 8th Air Force bombers 4,021 high explosive, 258 fragmentation and 1,009 liquid incendiary bombs Goals were u. a. the BMW aircraft engine factory and Munich-Riem Airport , 15,000 homeless
July 12, 1944 Downtown see July 16 1,124 8th Air Force bombers u. a. 10,000 high explosive, 25,000 phosphorus and 400,000 stick incendiary bombs
July 13, 1944 Downtown see July 16 1,260 8th Air Force bombers u. a. 2,000 high explosive and 250,000 stick incendiary bombs Destruction of the main building of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich .
July 16, 1944 Downtown Since July 11, 4,525 injured, 1,453 dead 1,078 8th Air Force bombers u. a. 4,000 high explosive, 8,700 flame jet and 125,009 stick incendiary bombs Most serious series of attacks, around 4,000 total damage to buildings, zoo, state opera, 11 churches, 23 hospitals severely damaged, 25 enemy killings, over 200,000 homeless since July 11th
July 19, 1944 Downtown 131 injured, 180 dead 1,500 15th Air Force bombers u. a. 2,500 high explosive and 157,000 stick incendiary bombs BMW-Allach and Ostbahnhof badly damaged, 2,000 homeless, some enemy kills
July 31, 1944 Peripheral areas 100 injured, 114 dead 567 8th Air Force bombers plus fighter protection u. a. 2,650 explosives, 540 liquid incendiary and 180,000 stick incendiary bombs as well as 380 kg leaflets Severe damage to industry, 11 enemy kills, 20,000 homeless
December 17, 1944 Old town 909 injured, 562 dead 300 RAF bombers u. a. 75 mine, 1,100 high explosive, 3,000 flame jet and 75,000 stick incendiary bombs 49,000 homeless
January 8, 1945 Downtown 505 dead 597 RAF bombers
April 25 Pasing, downtown 44 injured, 45 dead unknown number of bombers 160 high explosive and 300 stick incendiary bombs 84 total damage to buildings, 600 homeless
April 26, 1945 Riem 3 injured unknown number of bombers 10 high-explosive bombs and gunfire 73rd and last air raid

The attack by the RAF on April 25, 1944

On the night of April 25, 1944, 350 to 400 RAF bombers targeted the railway systems of the main station during the 18th attack on Munich . Since the German night fighters were previously in action over Karlsruhe and later ran out of fuel, the major attack went without resistance. Due to the testing of new systems for target marking, the planned target area was missed. Instead, the Pathfinder Force planes set their markings over the Au district east of the Isar . Almost 80% of the buildings there were destroyed in this and later attacks, including the Mariahilfkirche , of which only the damaged tower and outer walls remained.

Damage

Around 450 air mines , 61,000 explosive bombs , 142,000 liquid incendiary bombs and 3,316,000 stick incendiary bombs were dropped on the urban area of ​​Munich . Around 90% of Munich's historic old town was destroyed. The entire urban area showed a degree of destruction of around 50% of its building stock. The Allied air raids left around 300,000 people homeless because 81,500 homes had been completely or partially destroyed.

Duds are still found during construction work today . The controlled detonation of a bomb that was found when Schwabinger 7 was demolished in August 2012 caused a stir . The unsuccessful blast caused millions in damage.

See also

literature

  • Richard Bauer : Air raid on Munich from 1940 to 1945. Hugendubel, Munich 1987.
  • Richard Bauer: Ruin Years. Pictures from destroyed Munich 1945–1949. Hugendubel, Munich 1988.
  • Hans-Günter Richardi : Bomber over Munich. The aerial warfare from 1939 to 1945, illustrated using the example of the “capital of the movement”. W. Ludwig, Munich 1992.
  • Irmtraud Permooser: The aerial warfare over Munich 1942-1945. Bombs on the capital of the movement. Aviatic, Oberhaching 1996, ISBN 3-925505-37-7 .
  • Irmtraud Eve Burianek: Munich in the air war 1942 to 1945, GRIN Verlag; Edition: 2nd (June 23, 2012), ISBN 978-3-656207-84-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd Richard Bauer: Air raid alarm . Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-88034-351-9 .
  2. ^ A b c Süddeutsche Zeitung: Second World War: Munich survived 73 air raids. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Memorial Air War Victims on stadt-muenchen.net; accessed on June 6, 2016
  4. ↑ Jörg Friedrich : The fire. Germany in the bombing war 1940–1945 , p. 83.
  5. ↑ Füracker: The Munich Residenz was destroyed 75 years ago - the reconstruction was splendidly successful - Heavy air raid on Munich in the night of April 24th to 25th 1944 triggered a major fire and severe damage to the Residenz | Bavarian state portal. Accessed January 21, 2020 .
  6. ↑ hdbg.de
  7. ↑ AC Grayling: The Dead Cities: Were Allied Bombing War Crimes? C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-570-00845-4 , p. 374 .
  8. ↑ a b c Luise Dirscherl (Ed.): The Ludwig Maximilians University Munich in the past and present . Verlag Lutz Garnies, Haar 2010, p. 149.
  9. ↑ AC Grayling: The Dead Cities: Were Allied Bombing War Crimes? C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-570-00845-4 , p. 376 .
  10. ↑ The night the bombers came sueddeutsche.de; accessed on June 6, 2016