Air raids on Merseburg

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During the Second World War , Merseburg suffered a total of 23 air raids in 1944 and 1945 . The city was often affected by attacks on the neighboring Leuna works , but the main target several times. Most of the attacks were carried out by the United States Army Air Forces , always at the time of day. The British RAF Bomber Command participated on December 6, 1944 with a night raid that followed an American day raid ("double strike"). In total, the participating bomber associations dropped 6,300 high- explosive bombs , 125 mine bombs , 3,000 stick incendiary bombs and 300 phosphorus bombs in less than 24 hours . 9,800 buildings were destroyed or damaged, only 20% remained undamaged, there were at least 587 dead and 700 injured.

Air defense, air defense

The Merseburg / Leuna / Schkopau / Lützkendorf region was surrounded by a very dense ring of flak units, which was considerably reinforced after the start of the “oil offensive” of the Anglo-American air forces on May 12, 1944. In addition to the approximately 500 heavy anti-aircraft guns on the ground (caliber 8.8 cm, 10.5 cm and 12.8 cm) there were three railway flak trains with 24 guns (caliber 12.8 cm). The bomber crews spoke of the "Flak-Hell Merseburg". 123 heavy four-engine bombers were shot down in the region.

In Merseburg there were (public) air raid shelters under the Petri monastery , under the east wing of the castle , in the crypt of the cathedral , in the cellars of the Engelhardt brewery, under the Upper Burgstrasse, in the "Tiefen Keller", under the courtyards of the schools , at the city hospital. Air raid tunnels were located at the school square, at the hospital, at the air base , in the palace gardens, at the city park, in the Wilmowsky Garden, at the Scheitplatz, under the Altenburg cemetery (entrance on the hillside at the garden colony), at the Neumarktkirche (Neumarktstollen), with entrances on both sides the cathedral steps.

In 1944 there was a partial evacuation of the subsistence population from Merseburg, which was very much in danger of being bombed (1939: 37,000 inhabitants). Small children with mothers and pupils were particularly accommodated in the Sangerhausen district, whole school classes in Stolberg (Harz) . The older school classes were drafted into the flak.

The attacks

American B-17 "Flying Fortress"
British Lancaster bomber
US fighter plane P-51 "Mustang"
German 8.8 cm Flak 41
In Frankleben fallen flak soldiers

All air raids from May 1944 to January 1945 were carried out by heavy four-engine bombers from southern England . The 8th Air Force of the USAAF mainly used B-17 "Flying Fortress" for their daytime attacks (according to sight) , but also B-24 "Liberator" , the RAF Bomber Command used the Avro Lancasters for its radar-guided night attacks . The American escort consisted of hundreds of long-range fighters of the types Lockheed P-38 "Lightning", Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt" and North American P-51 "Mustang", which also operated as low-flying / fighter-bombers, especially in the first April Half of 1945.

The first British attacks, with minor damage to property and without victims, had already occurred on the nights of 28/29. August 1940 and from 8./9. Taken July 1941. At the RAF Bomber Command, the target Merseburg had the code name "Sailfish" (English for sailfish ). The deputy of Arthur Harris , Commander in Chief of Bomber Command, was Air Vice-Marshal Robert Saundby , who, as an avid fisherman , provided a fish code to all of the German cities that were coming into selection .

The individual attacks

Part of the bombing raids on the city of Merseburg were probably due to operations against the Leunawerke and other chemical companies in the region. But it can be deduced from the strategy and the distribution of the bomb hits that the attacks from October to (especially) December 1944 were aimed at the city itself.

The following information comes mainly from the publication by Rehmann listed below, but also from the documentation by Pabst and the diary and documentation by Karl Gutbier .

  • May 12, 1944: 1:48 p.m. - 2:08 p.m. Parallel to the major attack by USAAF 224 B-17s on the Leuna Works as part of the allied “oil offensive”, 14 B-24s attacked the city of Merseburg as a “secondary target” with 29 tons of explosive bombs. However, due to the inaccuracy at the time, the city was also hit by extensions of the main attack on the Leunawerke. 580 bomb hits were counted in Merseburg. There was extensive damage, especially in Seffner-, Wilhelm-, Christianen-, Hutten- and Hallische Straße. Hans-Schemm-School partially destroyed. 138 deaths (Pabst) and 301 deaths (Rehmann) and many (seriously) injured people were counted after the unexpected attack in Merseburg.
  • July 20, 1944: US light attack with 10 high explosive bombs. Hit in Hindenburgstrasse and Lindenstrasse. 2 dead (good beer).
  • July 28, 1944: 9:35 a.m. - 10:05 a.m. The USAAF's main attack was probably aimed at the Leunawerke and the Lützkendorf mineral oil works , but there was also severe damage in Schkopau and Merseburg. Here the old town was affected with the Lower and Upper Altesburg, Klausentor, Rosental, Weinberg, White Wall, Eselsplatz, Hälters-, Schmale and step-streets. The Altenburg cemetery, the palace garden, the western orange house, the movie theater “Sonne”, the city cemetery and the cultural center “Herzog Christian” on the Gotthard pond were partially destroyed. 97 dead (Pabst), 128 dead (Gutbier).
  • July 29, 1944: the Leunawerke were again the US target, but the neighboring Merseburg settlement Exerzierplatz was badly hit, as was Geusa and his church. 12 dead (Gutbier), 43 dead (Pabst). “Balance of both attacks: 186 dead” (Rehmann).
  • August 24, 1944: US light attack with 60 high-explosive bombs.
  • September 11, 1944: US attack with 350 high-explosive bombs. 8 dead (good beer).
  • September 13, 1944: Light US attack with 14 high explosive bombs. 2 dead (good beer).
  • September 28, 1944: US attack with 400 high explosive bombs. Affected: station grounds, Hindenburg-Strasse, Wilhelmstrasse, Moltke-Strasse. 7 dead (good beer). The three September attacks together: 17 dead (Pabst).
  • October 7, 1944: 11:16 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. The Neumarkt district is badly damaged in a US attack with 350 high-explosive bombs, as is the new road bridge over the canal, the Dompropstei and the east wing of the castle. 24 dead (Gutbier), 27 dead (Pabst), 88 dead (Rehmann).
  • November 2, 1944: US attack with 120 explosive bombs. No dead.
  • November 21, 1944: 12.15 p.m. - 12.25 p.m. US attack with 250 high-explosive bombs. The bombings are spread all over the city. Gotthardt-, Wagner-, Grüne Straße, Lauchstädter, Adolf-Hitler- (Bahnhof-) Straße, Hindenburg- (König-Heinrich-) Straße, Post-, Karl-, Klobikauer, Brauhaus-, Weißenfelser, Dietrich- Eckardt- (Fritz-Teuter-) Straße, Schiller-Straße, Am Markt and Otto-Weg. The gas station also receives hits, and the gas supply fails for a long time. 15 dead (Gutbier), 16 dead (Pabst), 105 dead (Rehmann).
  • November 25, 1944: US attack from 11:28 a.m. to 1:20 p.m., 1,000 high-explosive bombs, devastating property damage and 105 deaths. 115 dead (Gutbier).
  • November 30, 1944: US attack with 200 high explosive bombs. 8 dead (Gutbier), 9 dead (Pabst).
  • December 6, 1944: Hardest day for Merseburg, with a double attack during the day (USAAF) and then at night (RAF).

11.40 am - 12.45 pm: Hundreds of American "flying forts" B-17 dropped around 1,000 explosive bombs on the city from 11.40 am to 12.45 pm.

During the ongoing rescue, recovery and extinguishing work, the attack by 475 Lancaster bombers and 12 mosquitos of the Royal Air Force took place from 8:25 p.m. to 9:25 p.m. Navigation was carried out with the radar-based H2S system and, after target marking, with “Christmas trees” and light bombs . 2,242 tons of bombs were dropped: 100 mine bombs to tear open the roofs, 800 high explosive bombs, 300 phosphorus bombs and 3,000 stick bombs. The bombings spread over the entire city area, the Merseburg "old town burned brightly". The extinguishing work was considerably hampered by the destruction of the water collecting line. After the attacks, residential areas and many public buildings were in ruins: such as the New Town Hall, the Dobkowitz department store, the secondary school for boys on Abbe-Straße, the Lessing School, the Pestalozzi School and the Windberg School, the Risch -Mühle and the Stadt-Cafe, the Gagfah housing estate ("image of horror"). "The city was almost completely destroyed afterwards" (Bachmann, district leader of the Merseburg fire brigade) The attack complied with the British Area Bombing Directive for area attacks on German cities.

The two attacks together resulted in 69 deaths (Gutbier, table p. 30), 81 deaths (Pabst), 112 deaths (Rehmann) and 128 deaths (Merseburger Zeitung, quoted in Gutbier, p. 21). Electricity was not available again until December 9th, but no water or gas. "December 6th, 1944 is likely to be one of the most terrible days Merseburg has ever experienced" (Karl Gutbier, teacher, local researcher, contemporary witness).

  • December 12, 1944: The 1st Bombardment Division of the 8th Air Force dropped around 500 explosive bombs on the city from 12.30pm to 1.25pm ​​in the last heavy attack of the year. The anti-aircraft defense had run out of ammunition. Areas on Tiefen Keller, in Burg-, Mälzer-, Gotthardt-, Breite-, Hindenburg-, Adolf-Hitler- (Bahnhof-) Straße, on Entenplan, on Seitenasche, from Sixtiberg to Schmale Straße, Am Stadtpark and were hit on Steckners mountain. The "Tiroler" and the temporary station (after earlier destruction) were hit. 32 dead (Gutbier), 41 dead (Rehmann) and 48 dead (Pabst) had to be registered.
  • 14./15. January 1945: In a heavy night raid by the RAF on the Leunawerke, Merseburg was also affected: the Reichsbahn line Schlachthof - Leuna, the settlement of Exerzierplatz and the village of Kötzschen . According to Gutbier, the impact of 25 mine bombs, 25 high-explosive bombs, 50 stick incendiary bombs and 5 light bombs were detected in the city. No dead (Gutbier), 6 dead (Pabst).

April 1945: numerous missions of fighter-bombers.

On April 13, 14 and 15, 1945 there was heavy fighting in and around Merseburg, on April 15 the US Army occupied the city.

Dropped bombs

According to Gutbier, a total of 9,769 bombs were thrown on Merseburg by January 14, 1945: 6,289 explosive bombs, 125 mine bombs, 300 phosphor bombs, 3,050 stick bombs and 5 light bombs. Up to and including the daytime attack on December 6, 1944, only explosive bombs had been used. Rehmann had 5,700 bombs (without duds and obviously not counting the incendiary bombs) by the end of 1944. Then there was the attack on January 14, 1945 and the dropping of US fighter bombers in April.

The district peasantry of Merseburg found that 26,000 bombs had fallen on their corridor.

Property damage

According to Rehmann, by the end of 1944 (not counting January 14, 1945 and the later Jabo attack), 19 air raids “largely destroyed the city of Merseburg”. 15% of the buildings were totally destroyed, 35% suffered severe and 30% minor damage. After that, only 20% of the buildings remained undamaged. Then there was the air raid on January 14, 1945, the fighter-bomber raids in April and the fighting in the city from April 13 to 15, 1945. After Gutbier: 9,621 residential buildings, 67 public buildings and 65 farm buildings were destroyed or damaged. The Merseburg train station was destroyed (new construction in 1956). Ecclesiastical and secular cultural buildings were also significantly affected. All Merseburg Saale bridges were destroyed in the air raids.

Cultural buildings

This - incomplete - information is based on the presentation by Renate Kroll in "Fates of German Architectural Monuments in the Second World War"

"The city suffered severe damage during the war in 23 air raids ... the old town (was) devastated, particularly by the attack on December 6, 1944".

  • Merseburg Cathedral : The cathedral was damaged by an air raid in 1944: the garment chapel with groin vaults leaning against the choir to the south, the adjoining chapel with nave and nave from the 13th century and choir from the 14th century, as well as the Michaelis chapel to the south which was created by converting components from the 13th century. A vertical crack was formed in the north wall of the bishop's chapel (north arm of the transept). The roofs were damaged, the windows destroyed. As a result of the roof damage, the plaster came off the walls, and the painting fell apart from 1883–1886.
  • Cathedral chapter house : was badly damaged by a direct bomb hit in 1944, the late Gothic paintings destroyed. The building was restored.
  • Parish church St. Norbert : badly damaged on July 28, November 25 and December 12, 1944, the rectory completely destroyed. On the night of April 14th to 15th, 1945, there was further destruction by shell hits. After the end of the war, reconstruction and expansion.
  • Merseburg Castle : square-shaped complex with the south side of the cathedral. The east wing was destroyed by air raid and burned out. The hood of the chamber tower was destroyed. Reconstructed on the outside, freely designed on the inside.
  • Palace Garden Salon : located in the baroque palace garden. The western orange house was destroyed in the war, and the western side of the palace garden salon was damaged. Extensive damage to the roof and windows, resulting in the formation of sponges, which destroyed all ceilings and the baroque staircase. After restoration, the western orangery, which was destroyed in 1944, is missing.
  • Herzog-Christian-Haus: built for Duke Christian from 1688 to 1691 as a baroque “fish house”. Converted into a coffee house in 1816. Two-storey plastered building with 11 axes with a mansard roof. Completely destroyed by air raid in 1944, ruins removed in 1945/46.
  • Fishery: built in 1661, later renovations. The front building was destroyed in its northern half on October 7, 1944 and demolished in 1967.
  • Market square with old and new town hall, community center Markt 24 - a sandstone building. In 1944 the eastern row of houses and the New Town Hall on the south side were destroyed by an air raid and the Old Town Hall was damaged.

Images of the destruction

About 30 watercolors with pictures of the destroyed city by Franz Wagner can be found as an appendix in the book by Karl Gutbier listed below.

Sacrifice numbers and burial places

The addition of the victims from the individual attacks in Rehmann's publication results in 833 deaths, although he did not list all attacks, but only eight serious ones. It is possible that the number of victims he cited of 301 does not apply to May 12, 1944 alone. According to Pabst, 587 deaths result, although he is based on only 14 attacks, according to Gutbier 540 deaths. Gutbier restricts this number, however, not all victims could be included, as the numbers were reported shortly after the attacks. Despite this restriction, the city of Merseburg bases its memorial services on a death toll of 540. If you add up the highest number of deaths reported by the various authors for the individual attacks, you get 1,000 deaths. In addition, there were 322 seriously and 311 slightly injured after Pabst, and 704 injured after Gutbier. 13,500 Merseburgers were left homeless (Gutbier).

Most of the bomb dead were buried in the southern part of the St. Maximi city cemetery on a burial ground and in ivy-covered mass graves. In addition to the extensive tombs, a memorial was created: The current inscription on the central memorial stone: “The victims of war and tyranny”. On one of the seven surrounding stone slabs with a total of 400 names it says that it is "victims of war and bombs 1940–1945 in Merseburg". A memorial stone (foundling) on ​​the other side of the grave fields shows the words "Die Toten admon". The Republic of Italy erected a memorial for its military internees who were killed in the air raids with an Italian and German inscription: "In memory of those who fell here."

  • Memorial "War and Bomb Victims Merseburg"

  • Mass graves bomb victims Merseburg

  • Grave field bomb victims Merseburg

  • Bomb victim child Merseburg

  • Bomb victim Mrs. Merseburg

  • Italian bomb victims Merseburg

literature

  • Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . JANE's. London, New York, Sydney 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
  • Olaf Groehler : bombing war against Germany . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1900. ISBN 3-05-000612-9
  • Karl Gutbier: From Merseburg's difficult time . With 30 watercolors by Franz Wagner. Ed. Historical City Archive Merseburg / Domstiftsarchiv Merseburg. Sax-Verlag, Leipzig-Markkleeberg 2011. ISBN 978-3-86729-084-5
  • Renate Kroll: Merseburg / Saale (Merseburg district) . In Fates of German Monuments in World War II . Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2. pp. 332-335
  • Martin Pabst: The air raids on Leuna and Merseburg at the end of World War II , a documentation. Self-published, Cuxhaven 1995. Authorized new edition 2009
  • Heinz Rehmann: Bombs on the chemical region - the Anglo-American bombing raids during the Second World War on targets in the Merseburg area and the German defensive measures . Merseburg contributions to the history of the chemical industry in Central Germany. 7th year: 1/2002. Friends of the chemical industry association “Sachzeugen der chemical Industrie eV” Merseburg. Ed. Buna Sow Leuna Olifin Association.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Pabst: The air raids on Leuna and Merseburg at the end of the Second World War . Cuxhaven 1995, new edition Leuna 2009
  2. ^ Heinz Rehmann: Bombs on the chemical region. The Anglo-American bombing raids on targets in the Merseburg area during World War II . Merseburg, 2002.
  3. ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . 1900. p. 35
  4. ↑ Fish code names , (British original, PDF; 292 kB), German translation (PDF; 214 kB), on: bunkermuseum.de ( Bunkermuseum Emden ), accessed on September 26, 2017
  5. ↑ Martin Pabst: The air raids on Leuna and Merseburg at the end of the Second World War. Cuxhaven 1995 / Leuna 2009. p. 27
  6. ↑ Martin Pabst: The air raids on Leuna and Merseburg at the end of the Second World War . Cuxhaven 1995, Leuna 2009. pp. 28, 29
  7. ↑ [1]
  8. ^ Karl Gutbier: From Merseburg's difficult time 1944/45 . 2011. pp. 30/31
  9. ^ Karl Gutbier: From Merseburg's difficult time . 2011. p. 30
  10. ^ Karl Gutbier: From Merseburg's difficult time 1944/45 . 2011. p. 26 ff
  11. ^ Karl Gutbier: From Merseburg's difficult time . 2011. p. 31
  12. ^ Renate Kroll: Merseburg . In Fates of German Monument in World War II . Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1978. pp. 332-335
  13. ^ Heinz Rehmann: Bombs on the chemical region . 2002. p. 34 ff
  14. ↑ http://www.mz-web.de/merseburg/540-Kerzen-wurden-entzuendet-2747128
  15. ↑ Martin Pabst: The air raids on Leuna and Merseburg at the end of the Second World War . 1995/2009. P. 36

Web links

Commons : Air raids on Merseburg  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files