Air raids on Zerbst

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The city of Zerbst / Anhalt was attacked during World War II on April 16, 1945 by the tactical 9th Air Force with 116 tons of high explosive and 90 tons of incendiary bombs. The bombardment was followed by days of shelling by low-level planes and artillery . The former small residential town lost two thirds of its housing stock in addition to its cultural buildings. Zerbst was 80% and the city center almost completely destroyed. More than 574 (500 to 600) people died. It was the greatest catastrophe Zerbst has experienced in its thousand-year history.

Zerbst before April 14, 1945

Zerbst 1940

Zerbst was a small, former residential town in the central German town of Anhalt , which was also called "Central German Rothenburg ". It had numerous representative buildings, especially Zerbst Castle . Most of the residential buildings in the inner city were half-timbered houses . Zerbst was a garrison town , from 1936 and the Air Force with an air base near the city.

Zerbst had about 23,000 inhabitants before the war. Zerbst had to take in a large number of people who had become homeless by evacuating from air war regions, such as the Rhineland since 1942 , then after the bombings of Magdeburg in January 1945 and Dessau in March 1945. From the beginning of 1945, many expellees came to the Zerbst region on treks from the eastern regions . All halls and other accommodations were overcrowded in April, with around 30,000 people crowding into Zerbst.

In the city and its surroundings in early April were 1,945 four or five hundred poorly equipped army soldiers in the area had flak stationed to the "came Volkssturm " from Zerbst itself. This built twenty tank barriers of logs at the city entrances. From April 12th these were temporarily closed to vehicles. The city administration ordered the sale of existing groceries. Reserve or emergency hospitals with a total of two thousand wounded existed in Schloss Freiheit 19, “Rephuns Garten”, in the station hotel, the inn “Zum Erbprinzen” and the old barracks in Jüdenstrasse. On April 13th, the German artillery left the "Vogelherd" heading east. On April 14th, transportable wounded men were transferred from the city to the barracks barracks in front of the Heidetor, to Wiesenburg and the surrounding area.

The air raids on Zerbst

Air raids on the air base

The air base of the Air Force in Zerbst had since 1937 location of various fighter squadrons, during the war especially for the physical protection of the Leuna works and the explosives factory WASAG Reinsdorf . From the end of 1944 it offered parking spaces for the new Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter .

The first US air attack by 8 strategic bombers of the type B-24 "Liberator" of the 8th Air Force was aimed at this air base as an alternative target on June 29, 1944. The 21 tons of bombs were dropped over the tarmac, hangars and barracks remained undamaged. The 3rd group of Jagdgeschwader 301 was able to take off and land.

On April 10, 1945, the air base was again the target of a bomb attack: 75 American B-17 “Flying Fortress” dropped 222 tons of bombs on the northern part of the runway and neighboring meadows. Hangars and barracks remained intact. The runway could no longer be used for landings of Me 262, but it could be used for other fighters.

On April 15, several US fighter-bombers attacked the air base with bombs and on-board weapons . There were total losses and damage to German aircraft.

Air raid on the city on April 14, 1945

On April 13, the US Army crossed the Elbe in Barby . In bitter defensive battles over the next few days, attempts were made to stop their further advance from the formed bridgehead on the right bank of the Elbe in the direction of Zerbst and beyond, by means of mixed-up Wehrmacht units. In view of the situation, the city administration released the sale of previously managed goods, especially food.

So far , no bombs have fallen in Zerbst itself, despite 341 air raids (since June 1940). From 6:40 p.m. to 7:05 p.m., twelve American fighter-bombers attacked the city with explosive bombs and on-board weapons . The startled population fled to the bomb shelter . Six residential buildings were destroyed and 12 badly damaged: Schleibank, “Neues Haus” on the market (upper floors destroyed, cellar with police and city-center offices undamaged), Hoheholzmarkt, Breitestein, Lange Straße, Alte Brücke, suburb of Ankuhn. The Trinity Church was badly damaged. Within a few minutes, nine people died and nine more were wounded. The barracks were not bombed. From 10 p.m. artillery bombardment took place as a "disruptive fire" with a considerable effect, which killed two other residents. The city center, the station area, the outskirts, and Ankuhn were affected. The artillery observers sat over the action in small single-seat aircraft and directed the fire of the batteries .

Evacuation on April 15th

On Sunday from 1 p.m. onwards, the Zerbst police made written and oral requests to the population, especially all women and children, to leave the inner city as quickly as possible. There were only a few motor vehicles to escape from. Thousands left the city in long refugee trains, but not all of them could be reached (air raid shelter), not all wanted to leave the city (cattle farmers), and deployable men had to stay - according to the Volkssturm. The surrounding villages were soon overcrowded. The district hospital was relocated to the Spitzberg. Some of the refugees were attacked by low-flying aircraft. In the evening, artillery bombardment began at irregular intervals, which also started fires. Phosphorus grenades were also used. The market was lit as bright as day, especially due to the fire in the “New House”.

In mid-April, the Allies decided that the Reich capital Berlin should be captured by the Red Army and that the Elbe should form the provisional border line. Therefore, the US Army only advanced very cautiously and initially stopped in front of Zerbst.

The heavy air raid on April 16, 1945

US bomber B-26 "Marauder" (looters)
US bomber A-26 "Invader" (intruder)
US Mustang fighter , also used as a low -flying aircraft in Zerbst

The following description is based closely on the book by Udo Pflegehar Brückenkopf Zerbst and the eyewitness reports in Zerbst in April 1945 .

The operational order for the attacking bomber crews read: “The goal is the town of Zerbst in grid square D-988830. This city is a defended traffic junction, according to tactical reconnaissance reports, very strong in terms of its facilities, its supplies and its personnel ... ”. The attack of April 16, 1945 on Zerbst as "Communication Center" was carried out in five waves by the tactical 9th Air Force stationed in Belgium with its twin-engine bombers / fighter planes of the 9th Bomber Division (99th Bomber Squadron), after sparks of the code word "Young Girl". The attack of each wave (bombardment group) with 30 to 40 bombers each was initiated by two machines used as scouts , which set target markings ( Christmas trees ) and immediately afterwards dropped the first 8 explosive bombs. From a total of 178 Martin B-26 “Marauder” and Douglas A-26 “Invader” (“intruder”) involved threw 154 machines in 5 attack waves within 10:02 am (with initially clear skies and very good visibility) 40 minutes the following bomb load (sequence: high-explosive bombs, then high-explosive bombs + incendiary bombs): 309 high-explosive bombs (58 × 906 kg; 32 × 453 kg, 215 × 226.5 kg, 4 × 118 kg) corresponding to 116 tons, and 396 incendiary bombs each 226.5 kilograms, equivalent to 90 tons. The approach and attack altitude of the bombers was around 4,000 meters. Shortly before reaching the Elbe, a large number of P-51 Mustang fighters from the 29th Tactical Air Command joined the bomber fleet as escorts .

The explosive bombs used were "all-purpose" and fragmentation bombs . The 396 incendiary bombs were of the type M-17, each weighing 226.5 kilograms. “These devil things had a special fuse setting. At a height of 1,500 meters, the containers opened and scattered incendiary bombs and phosphor canisters over a wide area ”. The incendiary bombs were thrown from the 4th and 5th waves into the buildings that had been torn open by previous high explosive bombs from the first three waves. Some machines had mechanical problems with the dropping systems and had to dispose of their explosive bombs by means of "emergency throws" or - in the case of incendiary bombs - bring them back to the airport.

There had been no air raid. The population rushed to the air raid shelters, into the palace gardens, or tried to get out of the city. As part of the air raid, the city wall was broken through in several places. The houses shook and collapsed under the detonations. Not all air raid shelters held, people were crushed and buried. When the incendiary and phosphor bombs fell in large numbers , the flames found plenty of food in the covered, windowless and partially destroyed (half-timbered) houses, and the heat became unbearable. The fires combined to form wildfires, from which there was often no escape. People suffocated and burned in the cellars. Low-flying circling overhead and shooting when they escaped outside and crouched in the bomb craters. In the cellars of the "Hereditary Prince", which had become a reserve hospital, around sixty to eighty soldiers - including doctors and nursing staff - were killed when 150 wounded were hit directly. 117 people had sought protection in the large brewery cellar at 32 Breiten Strasse, women, children, evacuees, refugees, soldiers, including 30 Soviet prisoners of war. After a direct hit, only three of the 117 were rescued, most of them suffocated. The Heidetorfriedhof, to which many people had fled, was not spared either. The palace and other buildings in the palace gardens turned to burned-out ruins. The Franzisceum could be saved by resolute deletion. During the attack, the fire brigade , technical emergency aid , rescue teams and the police continued to provide assistance. There was no water to extinguish the fire because the pipes had burst. Due to the extensive fires, the city was a smoking sea of ​​flames even at night and shone like a gigantic torch in the wide area. A firestorm developed . Charred corpses lay on the streets, even the asphalt was burning. The Mustangs accompanying them hunted people fleeing and the rescue workers after the bomber attack.

The smoke-shrouded Südstadt was less affected than planned by technical breakdowns when navigating the bombers. The Zerbster barracks were not bombed.

From the second wave of attack the US aircraft were on approach of German flak attacks, particularly by 12.8-cm - rail guns . However, the flak suffered from a lack of ammunition. 20 machines were damaged by the fire, and there were also wounded. A two-man bomber was hit and crashed. Rescue parachutes were not seen.

Another ten days of low-level aircraft and artillery fire

On April 17th, the city continued to burn. Ruins collapsed or were laid down. In the hospital barracks in front of the Heidetor 6–7 people died daily in the first days, later 12–15 people. The Volkssturm was now subordinate to the air raid chief and rescues people still trapped in cellars, but had to recover many more corpses. The city continued to be exposed to artillery and fighter-bomber attacks. On April 18, the Heidetorfriedhof in particular was the target of attacks because the Americans wrongly suspected a German artillery position there. In many parts of the city the fire continued, despite the best efforts of the fire brigade and residents. On April 19, flying sparks caused further fires. The entire urban area was still under artillery fire, there were further deaths from artillery shells. The east gable of the Bartholomäuskirche collapsed, the burned-out roof structure fell into the nave . In the castle the fire had eaten its way down to the ground floor. It destroyed the state rooms, cabinets, furniture, works of art, parts of the Anhalt State Archives and the entire Zerbst city archive. On April 20, the fires gradually subsided, except for smoldering embers. That day the artillery only fired at the Heidetor barracks. On April 21, the bombardment of the city center began again, especially the market and its surroundings were under fire. Large numbers of low-flying planes threw bombs again and shot “everything that moved” with on-board weapons. The US ground forces had slowly moved closer to the city, but made no attempt to occupy it. For the whole night of Sunday, April 22nd, "terrible artillery fire" was depicted again on the city, which continued during the day. There were new losses of standing buildings and human life. Numerous duds were lying on the streets. On April 23, the irregular but heavy bombardment of the city continued, as did the low-flying attacks. Another "bad night" followed. The next few days "passed with the same mental and physical stress on the residents". On April 27, the Americans called for the city to be surrendered, threatening that otherwise it would be razed to the ground with artillery and fighter planes. The remnants of the Wehrmacht withdrew to the east during the night.

In the late afternoon of April 28, US tanks and after them infantrymen of the "Buckshot" regiment entered the city without a fight. This was followed by the first night for the remaining 7,000 residents without fear of being fired at, and around 5,000 people added during April 29. There were still over 1,100 wounded in the hospitals. On May 6, the Red Army replaced the US occupation and Zerbst became part of the Soviet occupation zone . Women and girls were not treated more gently in the battered city than elsewhere. Since the undestroyed barracks were insufficient, the occupying power also requisitioned the remaining residential buildings, which were withdrawn from the suffering population. “Zerbst was destined to be an insignificant provincial town in the GDR” - to which the destruction in April 1945 certainly contributed significantly.

Material damage

Zerbst aerial photo after destruction in 1945

Of 3,485 houses, 1,433 were destroyed, as well as seven schools, four churches and Zerbst Castle with the Anhalt State Museum. Of 7,110 apartments in Zerbst, 3,684 were destroyed, 309 severely, 147 moderately severely and 407 slightly damaged. Only 2,563 apartments remained undamaged. The inner city was almost completely destroyed. 372,000 cubic meters of rubble lay on 126 hectares of destroyed area.

Loss of cultural buildings

The following description is based closely on the chapter "Zerbst" (by Renate Kroll) in the standard work Fates of German Monuments in World War II (very well illustrated with the intact buildings) : Ed. Götz Eckardt, Berlin 1978, Volume 1, p. 275 to 292

Castle before destruction (Schaufafel Schloss Freiheit 2017)
  • Zerbst Castle : three-wing, magnificent residential palace with valuable interior fittings. It housed the Anhalt State Archives, the Zerbst City Archives and the Anhalt State Museum : burned down - including the holdings that had not been relocated - in an air raid with incendiary bombs on April 16, 1945. No security measures were taken. The preserved surrounding walls of the west wing and the main wing with the tower were blown up during the Soviet occupation zone. The ruins of the east wing with the adjoining part of the main wing were preserved thanks to an objection by the state curator in 1952.
  • Combing (Zerbst) (southwest of the castle): damaged on April 16, later demolished
  • Marstall (Zerbst) (west of the castle): on April 16, the carriage house and stable were destroyed, the surrounding walls preserved
  • Orangery (Zerbst) : destroyed in the air raid on April 16, ruin used as an open-air stage
  • Castle garden (Zerbst) : The Princely Riding School is the only building in the castle garden that has withstood bombardments and artillery fire.
  • Kavaliershaus (Zerbst) Schloss Freiheit 10: burned out on April 19, 1945 as a result of the air raid. The second gentleman's house also burned out.
  • Marktplatz (Zerbst) : Ensemble destroyed in an air raid on April 16, 1945, Roland damaged
  • Town hall (Zerbst) : burned out during the air raid on April 16, ruins removed
  • Neues Haus Markt 11 (Zerbst) : first floor destroyed in an air raid on April 14, 1945, burned out during the night of April 15-16 as a result of artillery fire (except for the basement). Stable enclosing walls demolished in 1967.
  • Town houses on the west and east sides of the market destroyed, including the council and farm pharmacy.
  • High timber market: destroyed in the air raid on April 16, ruins removed
  • Schleibank (Zerbst) (east of the town hall): destroyed on April 16, ruins removed
  • Fish market (Zerbst) (east of Nikolaikirche): destroyed on April 16, ruins removed
  • Destroyed town houses : Fischmarkt, Alte Brücke, Breite Straße, Brüderstraße, Heide, Jüdenstraße, Marktstraße Im Ankuhn 1, Rennstraße, Schulstraße 1, Wegberg 15

"Picturesque medieval town center, famous for numerous charming building ensembles from the 15th to 19th centuries" (Renate Kroll).

Images Zerbst before and after destruction

  • Castle from destruction

  • Market square with town hall before destruction (around 1910)

  • Ruin east wing castle (2005)

  • St. Nikolai (2016)

  • Partial ruin of St. Bartholomäi

Sacrifice and burial place

The official death toll from the attacks is given as 574. This is how many candles burned at a commemoration ceremony held by the city on the 50th anniversary of its destruction. This did not include the unknown (refugees, evacuees) and those who were not found again, not even the soldiers. "According to the latest findings (2009), 500 to 600 bomb victims are assumed". The city's memorial book (bound death certificates) is therefore not complete. On the other hand, those Zerbster residents were counted as bomb victims in the time of the Soviet occupation zone, who in reality later perished in Soviet special camps.

434 of the (574 or more) aerial warfare victims (from bombs and artillery) were buried in row graves in the Heidetorfriedhof . They received individual wooden crosses with names and year of birth. Today you can find granite crosses in the style of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge on a manicured lawn, inscribed on both sides with two names (also "unknown") . The grave field, surrounded by a hedge, is now a memorial cemetery of honor with a large central block of stone bearing the inscription: "This is where the victims of April 16, 1945 rest." It is assumed that the cemetery visitor knows what happened on that day (and thereafter) in Zerbst. There is no explanation board (2017).

16 people in Zerbst (as far as known) died voluntarily - under the impact of the inferno. There are also reports of "numerous victims who have committed suicide". It took weeks to recover them, as did that of the direct air war victims.

  • Cemetery of honor for the bomb victims in 1945 in Zerbst Heidetorfriedhof

  • Memorial stone at Heidetorfriedhof Zerbst

  • Grave crosses for bomb victims at Heidetorfriedhof Zerbst

Quotes

  • "... since the terrible April days of 1945, when our beautiful old city sank to rubble and ashes under the American bombs". (Hermann Maenicke, head of the Zerbst City Museum, contemporary witness, in Zerbst in April 1945. Zerbst 1955. p. 3)
  • "Zerbst was devastated on April 16, 1945 in a way that has left its deep mark to this day." (unknown author)

literature

  • Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . Jane's, London, 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
  • Olaf Groehler : Anhalt in the air war 1940-1945. Approach to IDA-EMIL . Ed. Technology Museum "Hugo Junkers" Dessau, Förderverein eV, Anhaltische Verlagsgesellschaft, Dessau 1993. ISBN 3-910192-05-X
  • Renate Kroll: Zerbst (Zerbst district) . In: Fate of German Monuments in World War II . Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 1, pp. 275-292
  • Udo Pflegehar: The Zerbst bridgehead . Extrapost publishing house, Zerbst 2007. ISBN 978-3-9811559-0-7
  • Zerbst in April 1945. A chronicle based on reports from eyewitnesses . Ed. Heimatmuseum der Stadt Zerbst, director Hermann Maenicke. In: Contributions to the history of Zerbster. Issue 2. Zerbst, April 1955, pp. 1-57
  • Zerbst in April 1945. A chronicle based on reports from eyewitnesses . Edited by Claus Blumstengel. Extrapost, Verlag für Heimatliteratur, Zerbst 2009. 5th, revised and expanded edition based on the original manuscript. April 2009. ISBN 978-3-9811559-1-4

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 104 ff
  2. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. pp. 50, 51
  3. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 54
  4. ^ [1] Toni Haderer: Landing was no longer possible . Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, April 10, 2006
  5. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. pp. 93, 94
  6. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 97
  7. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2009. p. 110
  8. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 112
  9. ^ Zerbst in April 1945. A chronicle based on reports from eyewitnesses . Extrapost Verlag, Zerbst 2009. pp. 243, 285, 289
  10. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 190
  11. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 193
  12. ^ Udo Pflegehar: Zerbst bridgehead . Zerbst 2007. p. 208
  13. ↑ Renate Kroll: Zerbst. In: Fate of German Monuments in the Second World War. Berlin 1978. Volume 1, p. 275
  14. ↑ Marlene Köhler: Katharina's castle . Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 18./19. November 2017
  15. ↑ Schautafel Schloss Freiheit Zerbst 2017
  16. ^ Zerbst in April 1945 . Zerbst 2009. p. 175
  17. ^ Zerbst in April 1945. A chronicle based on reports from eyewitnesses . Zerbst 1955. p. 54
  18. ^ Zerbst in April 1945. A chronicle based on reports from eyewitnesses . Extrapost, Zerbst 2009. p. 249

Web links

Commons : Air raids on Zerbst  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files