Air raids on Munster
The air raids on Münster during World War II claimed around 1,600 lives. Many buildings in the city were destroyed in around 102 air strikes by Allied bombers . The attack on October 10, 1943, was particularly devastating and was also one of the first daytime attacks on a German city.
Military situation
The city of Münster as a garrison, administrative and trading city with important infrastructure such as the Dortmund-Ems Canal between the Ruhr area and north and central Germany offered a worthwhile target.
In the years between 1939 and 1945 there were a total of 1128 air alarms (532 day, 596 night alarms). The first half of the alarms fell on the first 40 months of the war in the period from September 1939 to December 1943 and the second half on the last 15 months from January 1944 to May 1945.
About 32,000 explosive bombs were dropped on Munster; Approx. 642,000 stick incendiary bombs and more than 8100 phosphorus-rubber-benzene canisters dropped.
Air raid on October 10, 1943
The heaviest attack on Münster took place on the afternoon of October 10, 1943. More than 200 bombers of the United States Army Air Forces initially flew towards the Ruhr area, turned off at Haltern and headed for Münster, where there had been no daytime attacks before. This took place in implementation of the Area Bombing Directive of February 14, 1942. Many Sunday excursionists stayed in the city, including those from the surrounding area.
Each Boeing B-17 had five tons of bombs loaded on an air base in southern England that morning. Shortly before their destination, the bombers gave up a good 2000 meters altitude in order to get faster through the anti-aircraft defense area at increased speed . On their approach, they used the steps of the west portal of St. Paulus Cathedral as a guide.
The city was bombed between 3:03 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. 2,200 high explosive bombs , 20,000 stick bombs and 660 phosphorus bombs fell . A direct hit went to the Mariensäule air raid shelter (79 dead), the Clemensschwesternhaus Loerstraße at the corner of Stubengasse (52 dead from a superiors' conference), the Apollo Kino, the main train station and Ludgeristraße , Aegidistraße, Rotenburg, Prinzipalmarkt and Salzstraße . The vast majority of the hits were within the promenade .
According to official information, 473 civilians and almost 200 soldiers died. The number of prisoners of war and forced laborers who died is not known.
The entire city center of Münster was destroyed. Among many other things, the Vinnenberg image was lost. The last sources of fire were discovered and extinguished weeks later. The forest cemetery Lauheide was inaugurated after the attack for the purpose of mass burial.
consequences
Next to Cologne and Aachen, Münster was the city in North Rhine-Westphalia hardest hit by the war. The old town was so destroyed that at the end of the war it was possible to look from the main train station to the castle . Experts estimate that around 15 to 20 percent of the bombs dropped did not explode and are duds in residential areas, industrial and commercial facilities and open spaces.
See also
- Article history of the city of Munster , section bombing and the destruction of Munster
literature
- Willi Riegert: Home under bombs: The aerial warfare in the Steinfurt area and in Münster and Osnabrück 1939–1945 , Münster 2013. ISBN 3-89960-235-8 .
