Air raids on Salzburg
The Allied air raids on Salzburg during World War II did not begin until the beginning of 1944. Until then, Salzburg, in contrast to most cities in the German Reich, was outside the reach of the Allied bomber fleets . It was only with the Italian campaign and the subsequent establishment of bases in southern Italy that Salzburg became a target for Allied bombers. The Allies' first reconnaissance flights to scout out possible targets began in early 1944. These often triggered air alarms. The railway facilities in the city were considered a strategic goal in Salzburg. These were important for the military supplies to northern Italy . From 1943 Gauleiter Gustav Adolf Scheel had air raid shelters (tunnels) built in the city mountains .
The first heavy air raid on Salzburg took place on October 16, 1944 . The target area was the historic old town. This attack claimed 245 lives. It was the heaviest of all 15 air strikes on the city. Badly damaged or destroyed:
- the dome of the Salzburg Cathedral
- the Kaiviertel
- the citizen hospital
- the Bürgerspitalkirche St. Blasius
- the Carolino Augusteum Museum
- Mozart's house
- wide areas around Salzburg main station
146 buildings were complete, 73 heavy, 90 moderate and 210 were easily destroyed
2,362 people were left homeless. 129 people were rescued alive from the rubble.
Up to the last air raid on Salzburg on May 1, 1945, 547 people were killed in a total of 15 attacks. Salzburg had heavy anti-aircraft protection . That is why the US bombers always attacked from great heights of 6,500 to 8,000 meters. Because of these high dropping heights, many bombs aimed at the train station missed their target and hit the entire city area widely. By the end of the war, around 46% of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed. This corresponded to around 7,600 apartments. 14,563 people were left homeless. Young people aged 15 and over were also used for rescues and evacuations at risk of death. From 1945 there were also air raids on smaller places in the Salzburg area. So on Grödig , Hallein , Bischofshofen and Schwarzach .
The surrender of the city to the US Army by Colonel Hans Lepperdinger without a fight on May 4, 1945 (four days before the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht ) prevented further damage. It took 15 years to rebuild the city. To this day there have been incidents with duds , especially during civil engineering work in the central city area.
literature
- Heinz Dopsch , Hans Spatzenegger : History of Salzburg . University Press A. Pustet, Salzburg 1984 ISBN 3-7025-0197-5 .
- Heinz Dopsch, Robert Hoffmann : History of the City of Salzburg , University Publishing House A. Pustet, Salzburg 1996, ISBN 3-7025-0340-4 .
- The air raids on the city of Salzburg . After simultaneous records and found Communications from the Municipal Statistical Office. In: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Salzburger Landeskunde , No. 86/87, year 1946/47, pp. 118–121. Digitized .
- Erich Marx (ed.): Bombs on Salzburg. The "Gau capital" in total war . Series of publications of the archive of the city of Salzburg No. 6. University publishing house A. Pustet, Salzburg ³1995 ISBN 3-7025-0339-0 .
- Bernhard Paumgartner : Salzburg . Residenzverlag, Salzburg, 1966.
- Series of publications of the Archives of the City of Salzburg No. 11: Historical Atlas of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 1999.
- Friederike Zaisberger : History of Salzburg . Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-7028-0354-8 .