Würzburg
The rathaus during the Nazi era and today, rebuilt after its wartime destruction. Würzburg was the birthplace
of Colonel General Alfred Jodl, Chief of Operations Staff of
the OKW (the High Command of the Armed Forces) during the war and eventually sentenced to death and hanged in Nuremberg in 1946 as well as of
Gottfried Feder, author of the pamphlet, Brechung der
Zinsknechtschaft, State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Economics
from 1933 to 1934.
A local branch of the Nazi Party was formed by Hitler's supporters in Würzburg in December 1922, founded by Fritz Schillinger with the participation of Robert Reinecke, who had worked as a propaganda speaker in Franconia until the 1940s. A Nazi was elected to the city council for the first time after the election on December 7, 1924. After the Nazi Party, which had been banned in 1923 after the failed Beer Hall Putsch attempt, was re-admitted in 1925, its Würzburg local group was also re-established. In contrast to those in other Bavarian cities, the Nazis initially had relatively little success and the Bavarian People's Party in Würzburg remained the strongest party until 1933. The meeting point of the SA in Lower Franconia, which was formed on January 5, 1923, was at Palais Thüngen which became known as the "Braunes Haus."It was owned by Baroness Margarethe von Thüngen, who was known as "Würzburg's SA mother", and was located opposite the bishop's palace, a site which gave the Nazis access to higher society. It would also later serve as the offices of the Kraft durch Freude at Wilhelmstraße 5.
Hitler returned to Würzburg August 5, 1930 to speak at the Frankenhalle on Veitshöchheimer Straße from 20.00 to 22.30. This time the meeting was almost sold-out in which around 5,000 (the Nazis claimed 6,000) people took part, and was led by Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth and opened with a short speech. 
The admission price for a seat was one Reichmarks, and for standing room 50 pfennigs. The police reported how "[t]he statements were very factual and did not give rise to any complaints. They were received with strong applause by the visitors. After singing the Deutschlandlied together, the rally ended at around 22.31. There were no incidents either in the meeting room or on the street. The masses of visitors left and the trucks left without disturbance. There were never any complaints about the ban on uniforms."
The admission price for a seat was one Reichmarks, and for standing room 50 pfennigs. The police reported how "[t]he statements were very factual and did not give rise to any complaints. They were received with strong applause by the visitors. After singing the Deutschlandlied together, the rally ended at around 22.31. There were no incidents either in the meeting room or on the street. The masses of visitors left and the trucks left without disturbance. There were never any complaints about the ban on uniforms."Hitler returned to the venue, this time with Hermann Göring, on April 6, 1932 where he spoke in front of an audience of four to five thousand. Starting after 18.00, the meeting was chaired by Otto Hellmuth and opened with a speech by Munich City Councilor Hermann Esser. Göring and Gauleiter Adolf Wagner spoke after Hitler.
It was at Würzburg's Ludwigshalle on October 16, 1932 that Hitler declared in front of around 5,000 people
I do not believe that the struggle will ever really come to an end. Just as the peasant must till his field year after year, so must a statesman till his Volk over and over again. I see nothing burdensome, nothing forced in this struggle, but something very natural and necessary, and I am looking forward to duelling with these gentlemen.
In fact, shortly after Hitler's speech began, the loudspeaker cable was cut, so that he had to interrupt his speech for twenty minutes. Admission prices ranged from 10 pfennigs to 2 RM.
At
the site of the May 10, 1933 book burning on Residenzplatz. Here
members of the Nazi Party, SA and ϟϟ burned unwelcome books, especially
files and books of the trade unions. Organised by students- unlike those
attacking free speech and expression today, these from the extreme
right- the book burning took place at the same place on May 10, 1933,
according to the schedule set by the student body. After a march through
the city to Residenzplatz, where the collected books were already piled
up, Dr. Alfons Ilg spoke before the books were set on fire. Fed by the
fire from the books, torches were then lit and a procession through the
city began, which ended again at Residenzplatz, where the torches were
thrown into the remains of the book fire. Five days earlier the Nazis
had won the last reasonably free Reichstag elections although they had
managed only 31.6 percent of the votes in the Würzburg and, despite an
increase of over 11 percent, remained only the second strongest party
after the Bavarian People's Party. Nevertheless, on March 9, the Nazis
unlawfully hoisted the swastika flag on the town hall tower. In the
early morning hours of March 10, they occupied the trade union house in
Augustinerstrasse and the publishing houses of a number of local papers.
Parallel to this blow to the journalism and organization of the SPD, a
wave of arrests began, during the course of which on March 10, 1933 in
Würzburg and the surrounding communities, the functionaries and
well-known members of the SPD and the Reichsbanner as well as around 100
communists were arrested.
Looking
down Domstraße towards the Grafeneckart-Turm of the rathaus. Würzburg
became a major city in 1934 after Heidingsfeld had already been
incorporated with 5,700 inhabitants in 1930, and in the following years
city planners assumed a population of up to 140,000 in 1970. According
to Hitler's decree of February 17, 1939, the Nazi transformation of Würzburg into a district capital was planned, including Hubert Groß as
head of the newly established city planning office with architect and
Reich inspector Albert Speer presenting the drafts. After the German Municipal Code was enacted in 1935, the City Council has only had an “advisory” function. The Lord Mayor alone now made all political decisions in coordination with the party- the so-called Führerprinzip. The Nazis took over all important positions by force in March 1933 . The SA occupied important buildings. Political opponents, especially trade unionists, social democrats and communists, even city councillors, were arrested and imprisoned in "wild" concentration camps at Marienberg Fortress and, here in the city, books were burned. The democratically elected liberal mayor Hans Löffler resigned under massive pressure and Theo Memmel became the new Nazi mayor. 
In addition, numerous streets in the city area were renamed as a visible sign of the "seizure of power" such as Theaterstraße, shown here on the right when it was officially renamed Adolf Hitler Straße and when I cycled through in July 2022.
In addition, numerous streets in the city area were renamed as a visible sign of the "seizure of power" such as Theaterstraße, shown here on the right when it was officially renamed Adolf Hitler Straße and when I cycled through in July 2022. On March 11 and then - as in all of Germany - on April 1, 1933, there were organised boycotts against Jewish shops, medical practices and law firms. Central Church facilities were also repeatedly occupied and searched by force. The
first deportations of Jewish citizens took place on November 27, 1941 followed in 1943 by the Sinti.
Initially, 202 people were transported from the Aumühle goods loading
station to Riga. The sixth and final deportation took place from
Würzburg on June 17, 1943 with one transport going directly to Auschwitz
and another to Theresienstadt. The Platz'sche Garten served as a
collection point for deportations. Würzburg also played an important
role in the so-called Action T4, in which more than 100,000 psychiatric
patients and disabled people were systematically murdered by ϟϟ doctors
and nurses. Here the central figure was Werner Heyde , professor of
psychiatry and neurology at the University of Würzburg and head of the
“medical department” of the euthanasia centre and senior expert on the
euthanasia campaign. From October 1934, Heyde worked as an employee,
later as district office manager in Ludwigstraße 8 until 1938 on
today's Klinikstraße 6, the "Welzhaus," where a house for epileptics
had been set up in 1773, a maternity
clinic in 1805, and which would eventually house the Institute for Heredity Science and Race Research, which
was inaugurated on May 10, 1939. As an assessor in the hereditary health court
there, it was he who decided on applications for forced sterilisation. Because of his connections within the ϟϟ and his experience as an expert in the murder of concentration camp inmates in "Action 14f13", Heyde is also considered the initiator of the idea of setting up a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp on the grounds of the psychiatric clinic of the University Hospital in Würzburg, in which between April 1943 and March 1945 concentration camp prisoners and forced labourers were held. These prisoners were initially housed in their own barracks on Friesstraße, an improvised prison within a detention centre of the Würzburg Secret State Police. Guarded by the ϟϟ and dressed in blue and white striped camp uniforms, the inmates of the satellite camp marched mornings and evenings from this emergency prison through Würzburg to their place of work, the clinic grounds at Füchsleinstraße 15, and back. From the fall of 1943, a basement of a clinic building secured with barbed wire served as accommodation for the prisoners.
The
Gauhaus. Churchill stayed here when it was the former Hotel Kronzprinz in September 1909 whilst observing military exercises of the Prussian army near Würzburg as a guest of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1934 the Nazi Party acquired the hotel, then Kontorhaus Kronprinz, and expanded it with an extension on Theaterstrasse (then Adolf-Hitler-Strasse) based on plans by the architect Fritz Saalfrank. This expansion provided for an honorary hall and flags where the movement honoured their dead 'martyrs' and, from 1936, Würzburg's Olympic champions in its own flag hall. In January 1935
the management of the Gau of Franconia moved here, and on June 13, 1935
the building was officially opened by Reichsleiter Rosenberg. It served
as the seat of government of Gauleiter Dr. Hellmuth at Adolf Hitler Straße 24. The Gauhaus was completely destroyed in the air raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945 and was not rebuilt. Today the site serves as the location for the business customer headquarters of VR-Bank Würzburg.
Gauleiter Hellmuth's wedding procession through the Residenzplatz, allowing him to demonstrate his pronounced fondness for pomp and grand gestures when he married the dentist Erna Maria Stamm from Kassel in a so-called German wedding. The wedding itself took place on June 13, 1936 in the Wenzelsaal of the Würzburg town hall given the actual city wedding hall was judged too small. According to the Fränkisches Volksblatt the day before, the programme of the festival, which had been presented in a press briefing a week earlier, was to be as follows:
Following the civil wedding in the Wenzelsaal in the town hall, the Gauleiter and his bride drive through the streets of the city to the Residenzplatz in a carriage. There, the arrival of the wedding couple is announced by 40 Hitler Youth fanfare players placed around the Franconia fountain. This marks the start of the German wedding celebrations organised by the city of Würzburg and the Gau Mainfranken of the NSDAP. The celebration consists of five sections: The Gauleiter and his bride, followed by his wedding guests, go from the car to the courtyard where they are greeted by the political leaders and delegations of the Nazi organizations. Access to the main courtyard is also possible for the public. The wedding procession proceeds to the sound of the Imperial Army Band in the vestibule of the residence, where the representatives of all estates are arranged in four groups. The poet Nikolaus Fey greets the wedding couple in dialect called the farmers, winegrowers, woodworkers, fishermen and people wearing traditional costumes. The poet Adalbert Jakob [and] BDM girls with oak garlands […] show the bridal couple the way to the White Hall, upon entering which the hymn 'Aufjauchze mein Herz', specially composed by the conductor of the Liedertafel, Oberprofessor Zeller, is sung by the Liedertafel [ ...] After the speech, the wedding procession proceeds through the garden hall into the courtyard garden ...
Large demonstration of the DAF the following month at the Residenzplatz. The DAF was set up as a voluntary labour service in 1933 in which the unemployed were used for construction and cultivation measures. For this purpose, labour service camps were set up, on April 30 one at the Marienberg Fortress and another in Dürrbachau, described as "Germany's most beautiful labour service camp." The Generalarbeitsfuehrer, or General Labour Leader, of the Reich Labour Service, Dr. Waldemar Henrici, resided in the Rosenbach palace seen here serving as the backdrop to the event during the Third Reich. Heinrici would be promoted to Obergeneralarbeitsfuehrer on July 1, 1939 and the following year, as a major general in the reserve, he became the first (and only) commander of the newly formed 555th Infantry Division, which, together with the 557th Infantry Division, served as a position division on the Upper Rhine in the XXV facing the Maginot Line and finally going across the Rhine on June 15, 1940 to attack France during Operation Little Bear. As commander of the XXX. Army Corps stationed in Poland he led this during the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941. Henrici, who had been promoted to Generalleutnant on October 1, 1941, was wounded on October 2 at the start of the German attack on the Vyazma pocket and, after a stay in the hospital and recovery, he was transferred to the Führerreserve on December 5, 1941. He then served as Wehrmacht Commander in Ukraine until October 1942 before retiring on December 31, 1943.
.gif "Hitler Würzburg Residenz")
Hitler speaking at a mass rally on this square in front of the
Würzburg Residenz the following year on June 27, 1937 and my bike at the spot today. This was described as "the biggest rally that ever took place on the Residenzplatz" (Weidisch, 211, Würzburg im Dritten Reich). In the course of the “party
narrative,” Hitler described the Nazi Revolution one of the
most ingenious and important of all times. According to him, the
Revolution had never transgressed the boundaries of legality.
Hence a new Volk was born—painfully, just as everything which is born can only be born in pain. Yet I believe that we can say, as history is our witness, that in no other case in history was this painful process carried out more intelligently, more reasonably, more cautiously, and with more feeling than here.
The future will one day describe this process as one of the most intelligent— and I may say so myself—one of the most brilliant ever to take place. As one of the most tremendous revolutions ever, the course of which did not abandon the premise of unconditional legality for a single second.
Hitler
then proceeded to use the incidents in Spain to again vent his anger at
international organisations. Toward the end of his address, Hitler
spoke of the “resurrection of an entire nation,” which was visible on a
reduced scale in the city of Würzburg. It was the third time Hitler had
spoken there since 1932, although he had never particularly liked the
town. Ignoring the official reception which had been prepared at the
City Hall, he abruptly returned to his car and proceeded to the military
airport on the outskirts of town.
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Celebrating Hitler's 50th birthday on April 20, 1939 at the Residenzplatz. This day was a national public holiday to which representatives of foreign governments and armed forces were invited to Berlin. The evening before young people were solemnly admitted to the Hitler Youth. The Donau-Bodensee-Zeitung reported on one such ceremony with an oath and a subsequent march through the streets of Ravensburg on April 19, 1944: "On the eve of the Fuehrer's birthday, over a million boys and girls across the Reich lined up to be accepted into the large Hitler Youth community. In Ravensburg, too, the ten-year-olds came with shining eyes and beaming hearts to give themselves to the Führer as a birthday present. Our youth vowed themselves to the Führer. A new class has started." On the birthday itself, party celebrations and memorial services were held throughout the Reich. In addition to speeches about the greatness of the leader and his role in history, anti-Semitic diatribes were also the order of the day. It was also common to sing Nazi so-called "songs of the movement", and the national anthems (Deutschlandlied the official anthem and Horst-Wessel-Lied the unofficial anthem).
The bombed building and me in front today. Below is from behind from a Nazi era postcard and how it appears today; the cherubin have been replaced slightly askewed and in some cases incorrectly replaced. Giles MacDonogh writes of
the Residenzen, the former court capitals: Dresden had been smashed to smithereens as a Valentine’s Day present to the Red Army; in Munich the destruction of so many cultural monuments prompted Richard Strauss’s most moving composition, Die Metamorphosen; and the baroque gem of Würzburg, Dresden’s equivalent in the west, had been reduced to rubble by the USAAF in the last days of the war. The Welf capitals of Hanover and Brunswick had suffered the loss of their palaces; Bayreuth was the victim of its Wagner-cult; two-thirds of Weimar was flattened on account of Goethe and Schiller. Cassel was so badly damaged that the Brunswick’s palace was pulled down and replaced by a shopping centre. Chaos ruins were bulldozed. The lack of any remaining infrastructure obliged the American army to plant its HQ in the spa town of Wiesbaden, which had come out of the war only slightly mauled, because bad weather had caused the air force to drop the bulk of its payload on the outlying woods.
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The Gothenhaus, headquarters of the Catholic German Student Association Gothia-Würzburg, founded in 1895. On February 4, 1930 it resolved that none of its members could under any circumstance be a Nazi without at the same time violating the inalienable principle of catholicity before the German Bishops' Conference. In June 1933 under the new nazi regime the organisation was threatened with suspension because of its refusal to dismiss the "non-Aryan" federal brother Norbert Riedmiller. By November 3, 1935 it finally decided to liquidate itself. On June 20, 1938, the forced dissolution and expropriation of all Catholic student and academic associations, led to it becoming the so-called Villa des Gauleiters, private villa of Hellmuth at Rottendorfer- (at the time Ludendorff-) Straße 26. Over most of his term as Gauleiter, Hellmuth was not an impressive personality with Joseph Goebbels describing him as "a most retiring unassuming Gauleiter in whom one had not too much confidence." However, Hellmuth defended his Gau vigorously in the spring of 1945, as Goebbels noted in his diary on April 2. In 1947, Hellmuth was accused of complicity in the murders of Anglo-American aircraft pilots, tried at Dachau and sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in 1955 and died in Reutlingen in 1968.
'Dr.
Goebbels-Haus'- the headquarters of the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher
Studentenbund which had been founded in 1926 as a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating University-level education and academic life within the framework of the Nazi worldview. The building had been completed in 1937 as the NSDStB
camaraderie house and was dedicated to Goebbels because he had studied
for some time before 1922 in Würzburg before moving on to Heidelberg. He had attended lectures and seminars with men as diverse as the liberal professor of civil law, Robert Piloty, and the conservative historian Julius Kaerst, who invited students to his home in Friedenstrasse 45. Whilst Goebbels was unimpressed by Piloty, the more reactionary Kaerst might have influenced him; the history professor openly sympathised with the radical right-wing movement, speaking in December 1919 to student members of the German-Ethnic Protection and Protection Association, the largest forerunner of the Nazi Party, which was founded in Würzburg in 1922. In fact, on October 8, 1918, a month before the end of the Great War, he enlisted at the Würzburg residents' registration office only to be rejected as "unfit for war" on the registration sheet, which is still in the city archives. Organised strictly in accord with the Führerprinzip as well as the principle of Machtdistanz, the NSDStB housed its members in these Kameradschaftshäusern and, from 1930, had its members decked out in brown shirts and its own distinctive Swastika emblems.
After a wing had been added to the north side of the building on what is now Jahnstrasse in 1937 and inaugurated on November 28, the extension building also served the National Socialist Student Union (NSStB) as a "student family house" for which the city of Würzburg had given the land free of charge. The "Dr.-Goebbels-Haus", as it was now called, was described as "the powerful fighter for Germany's freedom." A larger-than-life, naked young man made of limestone was placed into the corner of the house.
After a wing had been added to the north side of the building on what is now Jahnstrasse in 1937 and inaugurated on November 28, the extension building also served the National Socialist Student Union (NSStB) as a "student family house" for which the city of Würzburg had given the land free of charge. The "Dr.-Goebbels-Haus", as it was now called, was described as "the powerful fighter for Germany's freedom." A larger-than-life, naked young man made of limestone was placed into the corner of the house.
The
Neue Universität, when it served the Association of university
professors under the leadership and control of the Nazis, and today.
University teachers were controlled by the
Nationalsozialistische-Dozentenbund (NSDB—Nazi Lecturers League), a
professional association of university lecturers designed to keep them
in line with Nazi ideology. From the time the Nazis “seized power” in 1933, the number of students had fallen continuously due to the numerous restrictions. With the beginning of the war, this trend did not intensify as a result of the drafting of the students but rather reversed itself. The number of students began to increase significantly and remained at a high level up to and including 1944-45. In particular, the number of female students increased significantly. In addition to a slight increase in the importance of the natural sciences, this increase is mainly due to the training of doctors for use in the war. Every year, the university had to inform the Reich Ministry whether the "performance and attitude" of the students justified a further leave of absence to study. However, the university never reported a complaint.
Site of the NS-Lehrerbund - Lehrerhochschule, completed in 1936.
Teachers were encouraged to join the Nazi Party and all of them had to be members of the Nationalsozialistische Lehrerbund (NSLB—Nazi teacher league). The monolithic NSLB, formed in November 1935, rejected the democratic heritage of the Weimar regime, and subjected all teachers to strict Nazi Party control. It had a newspaper, Der deutsche Erzieher and took charge of services to the teaching profession. After 1938, teachers were indoctrinated at a special, compulsory, one-month training course of drills and lectures where they learned what knowledge to pass on the pupils. By 1939 the forty-one NSLB training camps had prepared 215,000 members for their educational tasks—these being spirit of militarism, paganism, anti–Semitism, and the cult of the perfect “Aryan” racial type—by means of ideological instruction, propaganda courses, conferences, group travel, paramilitary physical training and field sports. There was also the Reichslehrerbund, an organisation of teachers devoted to the ideals of Nazism, carefully watched by high Nazi officials.Lepage (90) Hitler Youth, 1922-1945: An Illustrated History
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Fritz-Schillinger-Haus, headquarters of the NS-Volkswohlfahrt
(People's Welfare). Building on it started May 3, 1936 with the topping
out ceremony taking place on October 10, 1936. The NS-Volkswohlfahrt embodied a complex socio-political endeavour for the Nazis through its role in consolidating Nazi power, its contribution to the creation of a 'Volksgemeinschaft', and its utility in war preparation. Evans argues that this welfare organisation served as a mechanism to instil loyalty and commitment within the German populace. By providing a broad range of social services, from child care to healthcare, the NS-Volkswohlfahrt efficiently delivered on the Nazis' promise of an improved standard of living. This was particularly influential among the lower and middle classes, which were severely affected by the economic crises of the Weimar Republic. The implementation of the 'racial hygiene' concept within the welfare system entailed preferential treatment to 'Aryan' Germans, subtly reinforcing the Nazi racial hierarchy. This approach fostered a sense of belonging among racially 'pure' Germans and marginalised those who were deemed racially inferior or undesirable. Moreover, the Nazis leveraged the NS-Volkswohlfahrt to propagate their values of selflessness, community solidarity and racial purity. By invoking the idea of the 'Volksgemeinschaft', the Nazis turned charity into a nationalistic and ideological duty, further ingraining their ethos into the German societal fabric.
The former Gauschule der NSF which served to train those who would become leading functionaries. The Gauschule der Nationalsozialistischen Frauenschaft (NSF), or District Schools of the National Socialist Women's League, represents a pivotal chapter in Nazi Germany's expansive indoctrination machinery. TThe Nazi belief in racial superiority, as articulated by Hitler in Mein Kampf, pivoted on the notion of "Blood and Soil", underscoring the racial purity of the Aryan race and its intimate connection to the German homeland. The Gauschule der NSF, through its various programmes, sought to embed these ideas within German women, effectively making them conduits of Nazi ideology within the family unit and the wider society. However, this purpose was multifaceted and intricately connected with broader Nazi propaganda. The Gauschule der NSF worked tirelessly to cultivate unwavering allegiance to Hitler amongst German women, promoting him as a near-deific entity responsible for the nation's resurrection from the ashes of the Treaty of Versailles. By aligning the schools' teachings with the Fuhrerprinzip, the Nazis effectively utilized the Gauschule der NSF as a tool to sustain the Hitler myth, cementing their power further.
As much as women might busy themselves in the service of Hitler’s movement, the popular consensus was that politics was a man’s game and they had better stay out of it. Thus conditioned, they acquiesced when Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess told comrades at the Nuremberg Party rally of 1938: “Talk to your wives only about such matters which are expressly designated for public discussion.”
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In
1935, with the reintroduction of general conscription in the Würzburg
city administration, the Wehramt was set up. From the outbreak of war,
this was responsible for the entire war management and managed, among
other things, ration cards. From
1942, the lack of everyday necessities became more and more noticeable.
Actions to save energy have been started. For goods that could not be
obtained on cards, prices rose excessively. Overall, however, the supply
of the population could be maintained relatively well until the major
attack on March 16, 1945. In
addition, further war offices were set up in 1939: the economics and
nutrition office, district distribution offices, the city office for war
welfare, the military service office, the war damage office and a motor
pool. With the beginning of the war, the Main Franconian Museum closed
and the removal of its exhibits began. Finally, in 1944, the entire city
administration was significantly reduced and adapted to the war
situation. Other municipal cultural institutions such as the theatre
ceased operations. Tourism came to a complete standstill during the war
years.
Meanwhile
construction work was only allowed to be carried out on projects that
were directly important to the war effort. About 430 employees of the
city administration were drafted into the Wehrmacht as more men were
seconded to armaments factories. From the fall of 1944, men who were not
called up also had to do entrenchment duties, and schoolchildren became
anti-aircraft helpers. Gauleiters were appointed "Reich Defence
Commissars" by Hitler and were given the task of building the Volkssturm
involving men aged 16-60. For Lower Franconia this was organised by the
district administration on behalf of Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth. From
December 1944, two Volkssturm battalions were issued with theoretical
and practical training and transferred to the threatened Eastern Front
in January 1945. At least one battalion there was almost completely
destroyed by Russian tanks when it was unloaded in Frankfurt/Oder. Few
of the men returned in late March 1945. Indeed, large parts of the
Volkssturm that had been set up were not available for the battle for
the city. 
Through
it all the Gestapo pursued and fought everything that was considered
dangerous to the state. In 1941 it was significantly reduced in terms of
personnel and assigned to the Nuremberg-Fürth State Police Office. From
September 1942 there was a special court for proceedings against the
so-called “Public Pest Ordinance” and the War Economy Ordinance for the
district court districts of Würzburg and Aschaffenburg. Between 1941 and
1943 there were a total of six deportations of Jews from the city area.
Most of the 2,063 Jews were taken to the Theresienstadt concentration
camp. For a short period of time, around 59 prisoners from the
Flossenbürg concentration camp were housed in the Gestapo emergency
prison in Friesstrasse until the subcamp in Füchsleinstrasse, in the
basement of what was then the psychiatric clinic, was set up. During
the war years, thirteen prisoner of war camps were set up in the city,
housing Russians, French and Belgians as forced labour. In addition,
around 6,000 to 9,000 foreign workers were deployed in industry and
commerce. Forced labourers were also employed in large numbers. 
The
Standortlazarett, a large military hospital complex, was built in 1937,
becoming one of the most notable construction works of this period.
After taking power, the Nazis quickly established good relations with
the former Reichswehr. Würzburg was an old garrison town since the time
of Balthasar Neumann and a connection with military traditions gave the
system support the national bourgeoisie. The first Würzburg hospital was
set up in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By 1933 it had a capacity of
55 beds, which was expanded to 95 beds in 1934. With the expansion of
the Wehrmacht, Würzburg needed a larger hospital. A new military
hospital was built on the northeast side of the Galgenberges hill, a
site belonging to the Mariannhill Institute. 
Initially
it was planned to hold three hundred beds. The foundation stone was
laid on December 24, 1935. On the right it's shown during
the Nazi era with its Reichsadler on the façade and today. Construction
began on January 7, 1936. The new hospital was opened on November 11,
1937 and became part of the Würzburg medical squadron. Initially, this
was subordinate to the medical department 15. When it was moved to
Frankfurt, the relocation of the squadron relocated to the medical
department 17 in Nuremberg. From July 1938 the squadron then belonged to
the medical department 40, which was stationed in the Red Building in
Würzburg. In 1939 the hospital was reclassified to the reserve hospital.
The number of beds increased from 300 to 700. Towards the end of the
war, the bed size had increased to 2,000. After the
war it was taken over by the American 107th EVAC Hospital.
Initially
it was planned to hold three hundred beds. The foundation stone was
laid on December 24, 1935. On the right it's shown during
the Nazi era with its Reichsadler on the façade and today. Construction
began on January 7, 1936. The new hospital was opened on November 11,
1937 and became part of the Würzburg medical squadron. Initially, this
was subordinate to the medical department 15. When it was moved to
Frankfurt, the relocation of the squadron relocated to the medical
department 17 in Nuremberg. From July 1938 the squadron then belonged to
the medical department 40, which was stationed in the Red Building in
Würzburg. In 1939 the hospital was reclassified to the reserve hospital.
The number of beds increased from 300 to 700. Towards the end of the
war, the bed size had increased to 2,000. After the
war it was taken over by the American 107th EVAC Hospital. In total, hospitals- military, emergency and regular- with a capacity of 6000 beds
were located in Würzburg. They were clearly overcrowded during the war
years, and even the sick and wounded were housed in the rock cellars.
Nevertheless, Würzburg was not recognised as an official hospital city
given that there was also a military airfield and barracks in which
replacement troops for infantry and artillery, amongst other things,
were stationed as well as the fact that there were numerous
armaments-related companies found in the city area. These included
Koenig & Bauer and Noell, an ammunition plant and companies
relocated from Schweinfurt. Even the city's own companies were actively
involved in armaments production.
This concrete bunker was located in the immediate vicinity of the Villa des Gauleiters
beside the normal air-raid shelter, serving during the war as a
command post in the district leadership. The bunker was demolished in
June 1988. Würzburg
was targetted as a transport hub with port and railway facilities
although the residents seem to have led themselves to believe that it
would somehow be spared any bombing. A rumour was spread that Churchill
had studied in Würzburg and had even been a friend of Bishop Matthias
Ehrenfried, and had therefore given the order that the city should not
be attacked. Another rumour circulated that Britain had agreed to
respect Würzburg as a “hospital city” given the numerous military
hospitals in the clinics and schools at that time even though the Hague
Convention on Land Warfare did not apply to air warfare. Nevertheless, after the first major air raid on July 21, 1944, it became clear that Würzburg was one of the key targets of the Allied forces. On February 8, the
name Würzburg was already in 10th place on the list of the "Combined
Strategic Target Committee" and was thus officially declared as a
substitute target at the RAF Bomber Command in High Wycombe, due to the predicted favourable weather conditions. .gif) |
Looking towards St. Kilian from Domerschulstraße |
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Remains of the Falkenhaus and reconstruction |
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| The Bechtolsheimerhof on Hofstraße in 1959 |
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Birthplace of rococo sculptor Johann Peter Wagner on Stephanstraße in 1958 and today |
However,
further air raids followed until the city was conquered by American
troops in early April. On the night of April 2, the 222nd American Infantry
Regiment reached the banks of the Main below the historic fortress. All
bridges had already been blown up as a defensive measure, and the city
centre had been extensively destroyed. At dawn on April 3rd, the 42nd
Infantry Division "Rainbow Division" crossed the river in the area of
the Löwenbrücke and attacked the defenders in the city on the right
side of the Main with three infantry regiments during the course of
April 4th. Wehrmacht soldiers dug in on the Frankfurt-Würzburg-Nuremberg
railway line to form a new collection line. The American 222, 232 and
242 regiments fought their way through the devastated neighbourhoods
from house to house and finally took the entire city. On April 6,
Würzburg, including the Galgenberg air base, was in American hands and
eight days later the Nazi Party in Lower Franconia was officially
dissolved.
The hauptbahnhof after being bombed by the RAF in 1945 and its current incarnation.The attack on Würzburg on March 16, 1945, was far more ferocious—ninety percent of the city lay in ashes on the next morning. Würzburg was destroyed to a disproportionate extent, far greater than any other city in Germany. The outcome was all the more horrendous, as neither of the cities was prepared for such an attack at this late stage in the war. There is no substance to rumours then in circulation relating that the raids had been prompted by the extraordinary concentration of refugees at these sites. Neither do the facts support any of the other speculations current at the time, for instance the claim that the Soviet Union had a particular, though mysterious, interest in the destruction of these two sites and had pressured the Allies to make a last determined offensive there.Domarus (3243)
The kriegerdenkmal then and now, unchanged. The memorial in the Husarenwäldchen was created between 1925 and 1931 by the sculptor Fried Heuler and initially dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. According to Josef Kern, the stone monument dedicated on All Saints Day in 1931 was initially rejected by the Nazis before being adopted by them as an "hero's memorial". Today it is considered a memorial to the fallen soldiers and memorial to peace. In contrast to many other war memorials that were created during this time, the monument in the Hussar grove presents itself as neither particularly martial nor heroic - but its size radiates a certain majesty. It consists of a group of shell limestone sculptures of six soldiers carrying a fallen comrade on a stretcher. Their steel helmets weigh heavily on their faces and they wear long, heavy military robes. Their appearance looks uniform - the sculptor deliberately avoided details. Wearing the dead man on their shoulders symbolises strength on the one hand, and their kneeling positions on the other hand appear wistful and respectful. Every Memorial Day ("Sunday of the Dead") the soldiers of the wars are remembered here at a commemoration ceremony when government representatives and various associations place wreaths in front of the sculpture group. The mayor speaks and representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches together offer prayers whilst the monument itself is flanked by four Bundeswehr soldiers with torches. There have been disturbances of the commemoration as well as desecration of the war memorial by extreme leftist groups who see in the commemoration and the monument an "historical revisionist mentality.".gif)
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The Studentenstein, honouring the so-called kindermord at Langemarck during the First Battle of Ypres (which Hitler refers to in Mein Kampf), was later altered to sport swastikas and other Nazi iconography during the Nazi era. It consists of a 22-tonne block of Odenwald granite and was was unveiled on July 17, 1927 on the occasion of the tenth German Students' Day. The stone had a pyramidal roof upon which was a gilded eagle with splayed wings. The front of the stone block showed hands that - arranged in a semicircle - reached for a sword shown on the left with the reverse bearing the inscription: ""Deutschland muß leben, und wenn wir sterben müssen. Die deutsche Studentenschaft ihren Gefallenen" in memory of the fallen in the First World War students. Below was a symbolic oak with war years 1914-1918. During Nazi era the Studentenstein was celebrated as a so-called "Langemarckstein" and used as a destination for party marches. A swastika was attached and the eagle enlarged- both have been removed along with the base. It is shown on the right after its desecration on January 27, 2012 after damage costing roughly 300 euros by left-wing extremists. More desecration occurred on the night of January 13, 2013 by more extremists.
Americans marching away German PoWs in front of the bombed Löwenbrücke with Festung Marienberg behind on the left with identical views of the city from the fortress overlooking the same bridge immediately after the war and today.
era of the National Socialist regime began in Würzburg with the forced resignation of the mayor Hans Löffler on March 23, 1933. The National Socialist Theo Memmel took over the office. Otto Hellmuth had been Gauleiter of the NSDAP since 1928. Cultural life and education were "coordinated" under National Socialist leadership, and the population was prepared for wartime by means of political propaganda. The totalitarian regime had the Jewish population deported and critics massively persecuted. During the Second World War, the city of Würzburg was largely destroyed in a major attack. The NSDAP in Lower Franconia was officially dissolved on April 14, 1945 . For information about the war years in Würzburg, see also Würzburg in the Second World War . Individual references and explanations chronology On the evening of 10 March 1933, the National Socialists burn confiscated material on the Residenzplatz When the NSDAP Gau Mainfranken celebrated its 10th anniversary on June 27, 1937, Adolf Hitler made his last appearance in Würzburg. He drove through the city in an open Mercedes; afterwards he gave a speech on the Residenzplatz . Some facts about Würzburg in the Third Reich in chronological order: September 3, 1928: Otto Hellmuth is appointed Gauleiter of the NSDAP in Lower Franconia. November 19, 1930: Habima scandal March 5, 1933: Reichstag elections. The NSDAP receives 31.46% of the votes in Würzburg (national average 43.9%). March 10, 1933: Book burning on the Residenzplatz . [1] March 11, 1933: Jewish shops and the CC variety theater must remain closed for one day. April 1, 1933: Boycott measures against Jewish shops, practices, law firms, etc. March 23, 1933: Forced resignation of Mayor Hans Löffler, succeeded by Theo Memmel. May 2, 1933: Adolf Hitler and Paul von Hindenburg become honorary citizens of Würzburg. May 10, 1933: Book burning on the Residenzplatz . [2] [3] 1934: The Mainfränkische Zeitung appears for the first time as a propaganda organ of the National Socialists. 1934: Construction of the Hindenburg Barracks begins . 1935: Start of construction of the Ritter-von-Horn barracks and establishment of an air base on the Galgenberg. June 27, 1937: The NSDAP Gau Mainfranken celebrates its 10th anniversary. November 10, 1938: Pogrom Night in Würzburg : National Socialists destroy Jewish shops and the interior of the Würzburg synagogue. A fire is set in the Heidingsfeld synagogue. Four people die in the pogrom. 1938: The English Fräulein girls' grammar school and the Poor School Sisters' high school in Heidingsfeld are stripped of their teaching permits. The entire girls' school system is transferred to municipal ownership. Denominational elementary schools are converted into community elementary schools. 1941: The local daily newspaper “ Würzburger General-Anzeiger ” is banned. November 27, 1941: First deportation of 202 Jewish residents to Riga. February 21, 1942: First air raid on Würzburg. March 16, 1945: Major attack on Würzburg . Heidingsfeld is also hit hard. April 5, 1945: Gustav Pinkenburg is appointed as the first post-war mayor. April 6, 1945: The entire city area of Würzburg is occupied by American troops. April 14, 1945: The NSDAP in Lower Franconia is officially dissolved. Hitler visit, Galgenberg 1937 Hitler visit, Galgenberg 1937 Hitler visit, Galgenberg 1937 Hitler visit, Galgenberg 1937 Return of the Spanish fighters, Residenzplatz 1939 Return of the Spanish fighters, Residenzplatz 1939 Return of the Spanish fighters, Residenzplatz 1939 Return of the Spanish fighters, Residenzplatz 1939 Taking power in the town hall On March 23, 1933, the previous mayor, Hans Löffler, was forced to resign. The Reich Governor appointed the district leader of the NSDAP, senior teacher Theo Memmel , as acting mayor. The city council - which at that time included representatives of the BVP and the SPD as well as National Socialists - unanimously approved his appointment as mayor on April 27. On June 20, 1933, a decree forced the SPD city councilors to resign their seats. A short time later, the same was true for the BVP city councilors. On August 30, 1933, the Würzburger General-Anzeiger published the list of the now purely National Socialist city council. It consisted of 26 people instead of the previous 40 and was made up entirely of men. It is also noted about the plenary session: “With the exception of the city councillors Bergdolt and Kreisel, the city councillors appeared in SA uniform, St.R.Jungkunz was the only one in SS uniform.” [4] Houses and facilities of the NSDAP Institutions and offices of the NSDAP and the buildings they used (street names correspond to today's names): German Labour Front (DAF), the unified trade union: Hotel Schwan Reich Labor Service (RAD): The General Labor Leader Dr. Waldemar Henrici resided in the Rosenbach Palace . Gauhaus Mainfranken: Located on the corner of Theaterstraße / Residenzplatz Villa of the Gauleiter: former Villa Mandelbaum Rottendorfer Straße 26 Alfred Rosenberg House : Valentin-Becker-Straße 3 “Brown House” [5] : Former Palais Thüngen , Herrngasse 2 (today: Kardinal-Döpfner-Platz 8/9) SA Location: Residence Administrative building of the NS-Volkswohlfahrt (NSV): Ludwigkai Dr. Goebbels House of the NS Student Union (NSStB), today Student House : Jahnstraße Racial Policy Office of the NSDAP : until 1938 Ludwigstrasse 8, then Klinikstrasse 6 Military District Medical Park XIII Würzburg-Heidingsfeld [6] , Mergentheimer Straße 184 (today the Reuterhaus is located on this site ) Military facilities Barracks Airport Site hospital, Marianhillstrasse Army Food Main Office , Friedrich-Koenig-Straße Army Swimming School, Mergentheimer Straße 10 Persecution of Jews and regime critics Habima scandal Pogrom night in Würzburg Several Jewish deportations were carried out between 1941 and 1943. 2063 Jews were affected, most of whom were taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In Würzburg, they had to gather at the Platz'schen Garden or at the Schrannenhalle before being transported away. The deportation memorial at the Platz'schen Garden commemorates this today , and a memorial plaque on Spiegelstrasse . Numerous stumbling blocks in Würzburg’s streets commemorate victims of the Nazi regime Concentration camp prisoners, victims of the Nazi camps who died: Georg Häfner (* 19 October 1900 in Würzburg; † 20 August 1942 in the Dachau concentration camp), priest from the diocese of Würzburg Leopold Obermayer (* 10 May 1892 in Würzburg; † 22 February 1943 in Mauthausen concentration camp; lawyer, Swiss citizen persecuted as a Jew and homosexual. Initially imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp) Contemporary witnesses of the Nazi regime in Wü. (Contemporary witnesses provide information about historical events they experienced themselves or only experienced from afar) Leonhard Frank (* 4 September 1882 in Würzburg; † 18 August 1961 in Munich), went into exile, writer. (a literary contemporary witness) Compare the publications of Roland Flade literature Review literature Peter Weidisch: Würzburg in the Third Reich . In: History of the City of Würzburg. Volume III. Ed. Ulrich Wagner , Theiss-Verlag Stuttgart 2007, pp. 196 - 289 Dieter W. Rockenmaier : The Third Reich and Würzburg. An attempt at an inventory. Würzburg, Mainpresse Richter, 1983. Peter Moser: Würzburg. Everyday life in difficult times (1933-1945) . Babenberg-Verlag, Bamberg 2003. 319 pp. ISBN: 3-933469-06-6 ( Würzburg City Library Dek 3 Mos ) Fries, Pagel, Roedig, Scheidenberger (eds.): Würzburg in the Third Reich , exhibition catalogue, Würzburg 1983, ISBN: 3-88479-114-1 Further literature (incomplete) Daniel Gerken and Ulrich Wagner (eds.): The self-government of the city of Würzburg in the Weimar period and in the “Third Reich”. Publications of the Würzburg City Archives Volume 17. Schöningh, Würzburg 2011. ISBN: 978-3-87717-835-5 ( online version as pdf ) Roland Flade : The same eyes, the same soul. Theresia Winterstein and the persecution of a Würzburg Sinti family in the “Third Reich”. Publications of the Würzburg City Archives Volume 14. Schöningh, Würzburg 2008. ISBN: 3-87717-796-9 Highlights of the city’s history, spotlight 32 on the end of the Nazi regime How was it with us 1933-45. Under the spell of the swastika, CSU district council faction, Würzburg 1985, ca. 70 p. Lars Buschbom: Study on the membership development in the NSDAP in the Würzburg area , thesis Würzburg 1990 Rotraud Ries and Elmar Schwinger (eds.): Deportations and memory processes in Lower Franconia and at the destinations of the transports. Publications of the Johanna Stahl Center for Jewish History and Culture in Lower Franconia, Volume 1, Ergon-Verlag GmbH, Würzburg 2015, ISBN: 978-3-95650-066-4 Herbert Schultheis: Jews in Mainfranken 1933-1945 with special reference to the deportations of Würzburg Jews. (Bad Neustadt contributions to the history and local history of Franconia. Vol. 1). Verlag Max Rötter, Bad Neustadt ad Saale 1980. Herbert Schultheis (ed.): The Reichskristallnacht in Germany according to eyewitness reports. (Bad Neustadt contributions to the history and local history of Franconia. Vol. 3). Rötter Druck und Verlag GmbH, Bad Neustadt ad Saale 1986. Herbert Schultheis: Würzburg Catholic theologians and the Jews. Rötter Druck und Verlag GmbH, Bad Neustadt ad Saale 1988. Herbert Schultheis / Isaac E. Wahler: Pictures and files of the Gestapo Würzburg on the deportations of Jews 1941-1943 (Bad Neustadt contributions to the history and local history of Franconia. Vol. 5). Rötter Druck und Verlag GmbH, Bad Neustadt ad Saale 1988. Herbert Schultheis: Honorable arsonists. P. 18-26, in: Kristallnacht in Bavaria. Jewish pogrom on November 9, 1938. A documentation. Edited by Friedrich Kraft (Sonntagsblatt paperback). Claudius Verlag, Munich 1988. Germany - black and white, colorful, sonorous. Volume 2: Israel Schwierz / Herbert Schultheis: On the trail of Jewish history in Würzburg. A city tour; Herbert Schultheis: The seven-branched candlestick in St. Kilian's Cathedral. Herbert Schultheis: Jews in the Diocese of Würzburg 1933-1945. Contents: 2 CDs audio book with computer-animated voice, 1 data CD (pdf file). This CD edition also includes the 32-page brochure Jews in the Diocese of Würzburg 1933-1945. Georg Häfner 1900-1942. A historical documentation of the Würzburg Diocesan Archives. With a foreword by Auxiliary Bishop Ulrich Boom , Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2011. Weblinks Period of National Socialism (Wikipedia) Memorial Aumühle National Socialist institutions in Würzburg. (Thesis from the history department at FKG 1999/2000) Würzburg at thirdreichruins.com Individual references and explanations On March 10, 1933, SA and SS formations occupied the buildings of the Fränkisches Volksblatt , organ of the Bavarian People's Party , and the "Fränkischer Volksfreund", organ of the Social Democrats. On the Marienberg Fortress they hoisted the swastika flag; on the Residenzplatz they burned socialist propaganda material. On May 10, 1933, the ceremonial burning of confiscated books took place on the Residenzplatz "in the presence of the professors and the entire student body." The burning of at least 280 books was followed by a torchlight procession through the city. On May 13, all of Würzburg's libraries received the "black list" with the message that the books on the list could neither be borrowed nor kept. Würzburger General-Anzeiger : “The pyre for un-German literature.” (11 May 1933) Fries, Pagel, Roedig, Scheidenberger (eds.): Würzburg in the Third Reich. Exhibition catalogue, Würzburg 1983, ISBN: 3-88479-114-1 . p. 28 Name for the party headquarters of the NSDAP Between about 1937 and 1945, the Wehrkreis-Sanitätspark XIII Würzburg-Heidingsfeld was responsible for the production and supply of bandages, medicines and medical equipment for the Wehrmacht. See also: Wikipedia: Wehrkreis XIII (Nürnberg) Alfred Rosenberg House (RAD) Labor service camp (Marienberg Fortress, New Harbor) Labor Front (DAF) B Station service (NSV) Concrete bunker (Gauleiter's command post) Company Cell Organisation (NSBO) League of German Girls (BDM) C / D / E / F German Labor Front (DAF) German Women’s Work Air Corps (NSFK) Women’s League (NS-Women’s League) Fritz Schillinger House (NS People's Welfare) G Gaubildstelle and Gaufilmstelle (Gauhaus) Gauhaus Mainfranken (Gauhaus) Gauleitung Mainfranken (various departments) District Court Secret State Police (Gestapo) Goebbels House (NSDStB) H Hellmuth, Dr. , (Villa of the Gauleiter) HJ - Hitler Youth I / J / K Deportation of Jews in Würzburg Young People (JV) Comradeship home HJ (bridge guardhouse at Burkarder Gate) Strength through Joy (KdF) Motor Corps (NSKK) District leadership of the NSDAP in Würzburg with various offices L Teachers' college of the NSDAP M Mainfranken, Gauhaus (Adolf-Hitler-Straße 24) Main Franconian Youth Home (WHW collection point) Motor-SA, (National Socialist Motor Corps) N National Socialist Factory Cell Organisation (NSBO) NS-League of German Technology NSDAP (local groups) National Socialist German Doctors’ Association (NSD Doctors’ Association) National Socialist German Lecturers' Association (NSD Lecturers' Association) National Socialist German Lawyers’ Association (NSDJB) National Socialist German Student Union (NSDStB) NS-Fliegerkorps (NSFK) National Socialist Women’s League (NSF) National Socialist Crafts, Trade and Industry Organisation (NS-Hago) National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) National Socialist War Victims Welfare (NSKOV) National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB) NS-Rechtswahrerbund NS Student League (after 1933 in the Hitler Youth) NS-Schoolgirls’ League (after 1933 in the BdM) National Socialist street renamings NS-Volkswohlfahrt (NSV) National Socialist Watermen of the HJ O / P / Q Local groups of the NSDAP , (offices) Palais Thüngen (SA location) Pestalozzi School (WHW collection point) Petrinischule (WHW collection point) R Racial Policy Office of the NSDAP Heidingsfeld Town Hall (WHW collection point) Würzburg Town Hall Reich Labor Service (RAD) Reich Association of German Civil Servants (RDB) Imperial Colonial League Reich Chamber of Culture (RKK) Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) Rosenbachpalais (residence square) Rosenberg House (RAD) Red Cross District Office (WHW collection point) S Collection points of the Winter Relief Fund (WHW) SA locations (Residenz, Palais Thüngen) Security police/security service Sophienschule (WHW collection point) Playground of the Hitler Youth (Mergentheimer Straße) SS location Site hospital Street renamings by the National Socialists Student Union (NSDStB) T / U / V / W Theatre and Municipal Public Library Villa of Gauleiter Dr. Otto Hellmuth Public Library Public Welfare (NSV) Winter Relief Fund (WHW) X / Y / Z Zellerau School (WHW collection point)
Ochsenfurt
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Ochsenfurt belongs to thedistrict of WürzburginLower Franconia. Its old town lies on the left bank of theMainto the west of the southern tip of theMain triangle, southeast ofWürzburgand southwest ofKitzingen. The town also gives its name to theWürzburg-Ochsenfurt Main valley . The most important of the small tributaries of the Main in its district is the Thierbach , which flows into it from the left one kilometer downstream of the old town. Other streams have cut bladesinto the slopes of the Main valley . The town is surrounded by manyvineyardsand is the economic center of the fertile agricultural regionof Ochsenfurter Gau. Community structure Half-timbered houses in the center of Ochsenfurt. View from the new town hall to the Klingentor. The municipality of Ochsenfurt has 16parts(thesettlement typeis in brackets ): [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Blunzenmühle(wasteland) Darstadt(parish village) Erlach(parish village) Fuchsenmühle(wilderness) Goßmannsdorf(parish village) Hohestadt (parish village) Hopferstadt(parish village) Kaltenhof(hamlet) Kleinochsenfurt(parish village) Mönchsmühle, (wilderness) Ochsenfurt (capital) Oelmühle(desolation) Rothmühle(wilderness) Scheckenmühle(wilderness) Tückelhausen(parish village) Zeubelried(parish village) Ochsenfurt Over 60% of the population lives in the core city, which had 7,169 inhabitants as of December 2023. [ 4 ] High City Hohestadt is located southwest of the city center at 275 m above sea level on the edge of the plateau above the valleys of the Main and Thierbach. It has 599 inhabitants (January 2020). On July 1, 1971, Hohestadt was one of the first surrounding villages to be incorporated. [ 5 ] In addition to the old town and the settlement with the flower names, the district has a not insignificant industrial area with the following companies, among others: Maschinenfabrik Kinkele, Kneipp GmbH, Fa. Herrhammer, Triltsch Druck and digital media. There is also a kindergarten. Tückelhausen Tückelhausen is located southwest of Ochsenfurt on the Thierbach and is inhabited by 295 people (January 2020). The place goes back to theTückelhausen monasteryof theCarthusian order. The church dates back to the 18th century. With thesecularizationIn 1803, the monastery was dissolved and themonks' cellswere converted into apartments. The village still has a monastery-like structure and a Carthusian museum. On July 1, 1972, Tückelhausen became a district of Ochsenfurt. [ 5 ] Goßmannsdorf Goßmannsdorfis located downstream from Ochsenfurt on the left bank of the Main and has a stop on theTreuchtlingen–Würzburgrailway line. Since July 1, 1972, the village has become a district of Ochsenfurt. [ 5 ] Goßmannsdorf has 1,100 inhabitants (January 2020). Darstadt The westernmost part of the municipality, Darstadt, has 202 inhabitants (January 2020), is located at the height of the Ochsenfurter Gau and is crossed by the Saarbach, which joins the Muckenbach on the eastern edge of the village to form the Schafbach, which flows into the Main near Goßmannsdorf. It has belonged to the city since January 1, 1972. [ 5 ] Hop City Hopferstadt is the southernmost part of the municipality of Ochsenfurt and is located on the plateau of the Ochsenfurter Gau. It has 640 residents (January 2020). It was the last village to be incorporated on May 1, 1978. The Middle Neolithicdoublecircular ditch systemnear Hopferstadt is one of the largest such systems in Germany. Kleinochsenfurt Kleinochsenfurt is located a little downstream from Ochsenfurt on the opposite bank of the Main. Until the 13th century, it was not clearly separated from Ochsenfurt. It was incorporated on July 1, 1971. [ 5 ] The village borders directly on the town. Kleinochsenfurt has 1,132 inhabitants (January 2020). The local association is the Kleinochsenfurt 1929/49 e. V. sports club. Zeubelried Zeubelried is located on the plateau of the Main triangle north of Ochsenfurt and has 161 inhabitants (January 2020). It was incorporated on July 1, 1971. [ 5 ] Well-known in the area is the Zeubelrieder "Linsenspitzer Festival", which always takes place on the third weekend in August. The organizers are the volunteer fire brigade and the "Die Zeubelrieder" music band, which is well known beyond the borders of the district. Several thousand people visit the village square on the two festival days. Erlach Erlach is located 3 km north of Ochsenfurt on the plateau of the Main triangle and is the northernmost part of the municipality of Ochsenfurt. It has been part of the city since July 1, 1972. [ 5 ] Erlach has 346 inhabitants (January 2020). name View of Ochsenfurt (mid 20th century) Ochsenfurt is one of at least seven places on the Main named afterfords : Haßfurt,Schweinfurt, Ochsenfurt,Lengfurt,Kirschfurt,TrennfurtandFrankfurt. And it is one of two fords on this river named after animals.Oxenwere once important both asdraft animals and as meat suppliers. story View of Ochsenfurt (1623) Until the 19th century The first documented mention was in 725, when a monastery was founded in the town on the orders ofBoniface, in whichThekla of Kitzingen,among others, what abbess. It is possible that there was a royal court in Ochsenfurt until the 11th century. Around 1295, the town's property passed from the table property of the Bishop of Würzburg to the property of the Würzburg cathedral chapter. [ 6 ] The walls and towers date from the 14th century. Since then, the town was part of theBishopric of Würzburg, which also belonged to theFranconian Imperial Circle. It was not until the construction of the bridge in 1512 that Ochsenfurt gained economic importance. In 1525 there were uprisings during thePeasants' War. The new town hall was completed in 1497. St. Andrew's Church was consecrated in 1288. In Ochsenfurt there existed a medievalleprosarium, which was probably founded in the 14th century. [ 7 ] Ochsenfurt first fell toBavariain 1803 , then to theGrand Duchy of Würzburgin 1806 , but it reverted toBavariain 1813 . 20th century Economic development led to a change in the labor market. Jobs such as sand scooping , [ 8 ] auxiliary work in river shipping, and agricultural jobs disappeared. They were increasingly replaced by industrial jobs and jobs in the service sector (administration, tourism). As American troops approached during theSecond World War, the Volkssturm secured the gates of the city fortifications with tree barriers. When the imminent departure of District Leader Stoll became known, numerous women went to the district leadership on March 29, 1945 (Maundy Thursday), demanding that the city gates be opened and the city surrendered without a fight. In the afternoon, they cleared all the barricades at the Bulwark , as the fortified gate on the banks of the Main was called [ 9 ] , despite threats of execution. First, the children loosened the soil unnoticed and pulled stones out of the ground; then the women removed the stones with a human chain and used ropes to pick out the loosened trunks; Finally, the men from Ochsenfurt supported the women's civil courage with rifles. When the Nazi administration fled, they plundered a supply depot in the basement of the NSDAP district leadership; several men defused stored anti-tank weapons. The central arch of the old Main Bridge was blown up on March 31, 1945 by a Wehrmacht pioneer commando. [ 10 ] The city was surrendered without a fight, so that the old town remained undamaged. On Easter Sunday, the city was occupied by the Americans. The former mayor Peter Wesselowsky (SPD) dedicated a monument to the courageous women of Ochsenfurt at the Bollwerk. [ 11 ] On 28 June 1953, the Ochsenfurt casearose in connection with the inauguration of the new sugar factory in Ochsenfurt, a religious dispute over the participation of the Protestant dean Wilhelm Schwinn in the blessing of the sugar factory. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] The matter triggered a national response in the press. On July 1, 1972, thedistrict of Ochsenfurtwas dissolved. Since then, the city has belonged to the district of Würzburg. 21st century In 2014 the 9th Franconian Daytook place in Ochsenfurt under the motto Franconia – here beats the heart of the Main . Incorporations In the course of theadministrative reform in Bavaria,the communities Hohestadt,KleinochsenfurtandZeubelriedwere incorporated on July 1, 1971.Darstadtwas added on 1 January 1972.Erlach,Goßmannsdorf am MainandTückelhausenfollowed on July 1, 1972. [ 5 ] Finally,Hopferstadtwas added on May 1, 1978. [ 18 ] Population development Between 1988 and 2018, the population fell from 11,525 to 11,319 by 206 inhabitants or 1.8%. In 1996, the city had 12,013 inhabitants. Source: BayLfStat Denominational statistics According to the2011 census, 20.3% of the population wereProtestant, 59.9%Roman Catholicand 20.0% werenon-denominational, belonged to anotherreligious communityor did not provide any information. [ 19 ] The number of Protestants and Catholics has since declined. As of July 2019, Ochsenfurt had 12,340 inhabitants, 51.9% (6,399) Catholics, 17.7% (2,184) Protestants and 3,757 (30.4%) had either another or no religious affiliation. [ 20 ] policy Local elections 2020 [ 21 ] Voter turnout: 62.13% % 40 30 20 10032.13%22.79%32.03%13.05% CSU SPD UWG-FW Green New town hall with moon clock Old town hall withpillory Ochsenfurtmanhole coverwith coat of arms Powder Tower City Council After thelocal elections on March 15, 2020,the city council is composed as follows: Party /List CSU SPD UWG-FW GREEN Seats 8 5 8 3 mayor Peter Juks (UWG) has been the first mayor since 2014. [ 22 ] He defeated Rainer Friedrich (CSU), who was in office from 2008 to 2014. [ 23 ] In theelection on 15 March 2020,he received 47.88% of the votes out of three candidates [ 24 ] and was finally re-elected on March 29, 2020 in the runoff election with 56.38% of the votes. [ 25 ] Rainer Friedrich's predecessor was Peter Wesselowsky (SPD) from 1984 to 2008. [ 26 ] coat of arms Wappen von Ochsenfurt Blazon: "In silver a red castle with a broad central tower and two pointed side battlement towers, all with blue roofs; emerging from the gate a golden-armored black ox." [ 27 ] The coat of arms from the 13th century is first documented by a seal impression from 1316. Town twinning Frankreich CoutancesinFrancesince 18 June 1983 England Wimborne MinsterinEnglandsince 12 November 1989 Sachsen ColditzinSaxonysince October 3, 1990 Italien BibbienainItalysince May 14, 2016 Business Jobs According to official statistics, in 2017 there were 4,025 people in the city who were subject to social insurance contributions. Since a total of 4,706 people of the resident population were employed in a job that required social insurance contributions, the number of commuters out of the city was 681 higher than the number of commuters in the city. There were 209 unemployed people. agriculture In 2016, there were 111 farms. tourism TheMain Cycle Route, theMain-Tauber-Franconian Cycle Routeand theFranconian Marienweglead through Ochsenfurt. traffic Theport of Ochsenfurtconnects the city to the European waterway network. Ochsenfurt stationis on theTreuchtlingen–Würzburg railway line(timetable route 920), an important transport axis in the Deutsche Bahn rail network. Regional trains run every hour, connecting Ochsenfurt with Treuchtlingen and the major center of Würzburg; in the afternoons there are trains betweenWürzburgand Marktbreit approximately every half hour. TheGaubahnfrom Ochsenfurt viaGaukönigshofenandRöttingento Weikersheim and the branch line to Creglingen were closed and dismantled in the 1990s. Several bus lines run from here, particularly to the southern district of Würzburg. The city belongs to theMainfranken Transport Association(VVM), so that allpublictransport can be used at uniform rates. Ochsenfurt is connected to an important road traffic axis in a north-south and east-west direction via the nearbyA 7andA 3 motorways. The nearest junction of the A 7 is in Marktbreit, around eight kilometers away , and the A 3 is around twelve kilometers north inEibelstadt. Thefederal highway 13runs through Ochsenfurt. Resident companies Südzucker Chimney of the Ochsenfurt sugar factory In Ochsenfurt,SüdzuckerAG operates Germany's third largestsugar factory. The factory was built in 1953. [ 28 ] Around 6,200 farmers from the surrounding area deliver around 1.5 million tons of sugar beet every year from mid-September to early January. (As of January 2010) This factory also has a 115-meter-high chimney. [ 29 ] The Ochsenfurt incidentoccurred in connection with the inauguration of the factory in 1953 . On 17 June 2017, a major fire broke out on the company premises, causing damage worth several million euros. The fire in a noise barrier made of straw bales that had been erected as a "temporary measure" for several years spread to buildings and a conveyor tunnel. [ 30 ] Kneipp GmbH Kneipp GmbH, based in Würzburg, has its administrative headquarters and part of its production facility in Hohestadt-Ochsenfurt. Around 700 employees work for Kneipp GmbH worldwide, around 500 of them in Germany. [ 31 ] More The world's largest producer ofmachinesfor industrialcandle production,Herrhammer, has its headquarters in the Hohestadt district. The mechanical engineering company Kinkele is based in the Hohestadt district of the municipality. As a supplier for mechanical engineering, equipment construction, steel construction and conveyor technology, the company had a turnover of 76.9 million euros in 2008 with around 500 employees. The company was also previously active in inland waterway shipbuilding [ 32 ] [ 33 ] In 1960, the architect Helmut Knaus founded the caravan company Knaus KG in Marktbreit, eight kilometers away. One of the best-selling Knaus models to date (“Südwind”) was produced in the production facility in Ochsenfurt until the entire production was relocated to Jandelsbrunn in 1970. The Knaus Center and the Knaus campsite remained from the caravan manufacturer, which now operates under the nameKnaus Tabbert . Of regional importance are the twobreweriesKauzen Bräu GmbH & Co. KG and Privatbrauerei Öchsner GmbH & Co. KG Broadcasting Broadcasting facility for the distribution of the radio program of Radio Charivari in Ochsenfurt In Ochsenfurt there is a transmitter for the broadcast of the radio programRadio Charivarion 92.6 MHz with 50 Weffective radiated power. [ 34 ] Educational institutions Ten child day care facilities with a total of 465 approved places and 401 children (1 March 2018) Ochsenfurt Primary School Goßmannsdorf Primary School Ochsenfurt Middle School with intermediate school-leaving course, open and compulsory all-day school Secondary school at the Main Triangle State Vocational School Kitzingen-Ochsenfurt State vocational school for child care Statevocational school for home economics VHS Adult Education Center Ochsenfurt City Library Buildings The city church of St. Andras. St. Nicholas byRiemenschneiderin the parish church Cathedral Chapter Palatium → Main article :List of monuments in Ochsenfurt Churches Catholic Parish Church of St. Andreas Michaels Chapel St. Blasius (Zeubelried) Kreuzkirche, formerly hospital church Wolfgang Chapel St. Thekla (Bierental/Lindhart) Maria Schnee (Kleinochsenfurt) St. Burkard (West Settlement) Protestant Christ Church St. John's Church (Erlach) Evangelical Free Church New Apostolic Church St. Melke Church (Syrian Orthodox) Secular buildings New Town Hall with moon clock on the Lance Tower Old town hall with pillory Cathedral Chapter Palatium Castle, now a local museum Kastenhof Greisinghaus, now a costume museum The Local History Museum Museum Traditional costumes Ochsenfurt (Kiliani parade 2015) Local History Museumin the Castle Costume Museumin the Greisinghaus Carthusian Museum (Tückelhausen Monastery) Triassic Museum in the Kleinochsenfurt district School Shop (School Museum) Fire Department Museum Estate Photo Knittel (Photo Museum) City fortifications A large part of the medieval city fortifications with ring wall, moat and city moat are still preserved. These include numerous towers and three of the original four city gates: Western city wall with the red painted Klingentor Lower gate with triple-secured gate bastion,“bulwark”, historic open-air forge and modern monument to the brave women of Ochsenfurt Upper Gate: claw stones from the former portcullis can still be seen on the massive tower Klingentor: it was a prison and became a youth hostel Pigeon tower at the Lower Gate Thick Tower and St. Nicholas Tower at the Palatium. The St. Nicholas Tower shows clear traces of theSeven Years' War. Powder tower, former ammunition depot and prison; used by the local Boy Scouts Centturm Main bridges Old Main Bridge Old Main Bridge (1939) Old Main Bridge (2007) Old Main Bridge (2014) The stone pillars of theOld Main Bridgewere built between 1200 and 1350. From 1512 to 1520, the wooden superstructure was replaced by stone arches. On March 31, 1945, theWehrmachtblew up the middle arch. In 1957, the Old Main Bridge was rebuilt with a concrete beam over the main opening after two pillars had been removed to enable modern shipping. In September 2006, the structure was completely closed due to the risk of collapse, and in April 2007 the concrete support was demolished. In the same year, the remaining demolition and subsequent new construction in a similar form was planned. After construction research had demonstrated the historical value of the structure and placed the bridge on a par with theOld Main Bridgein Würzburg and theStone Bridgein Regensburg, a general renovation was carried out. With funding from the Free State of Bavaria, grants from the Office for Monument Protection, the federal government and the city of Ochsenfurt, the bridge was rebuilt from 2010 and was ceremoniously inaugurated at the end of June 2012 with a middle section made ofprestressed concrete. The tourist association set up a ferry connection underneath the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists during the reconstruction period. After completion of the bridge renovation, the ferryNixe, whose resale had initially been discussed, remained in Ochsenfurt. New Main Bridge TheNew Main Bridgewas built in 1954 to carryfederal highway B13. The steel bridge was demolished in 2016 due to severe damage and replaced by a new construction in 2019. Goßmannsdorf Main Bridge At the end of December 2009, theGoßmannsdorf Main Bridgewas opened to traffic. It connects the districts of Goßmannsdorf and Kleinochsenfurt and is part of the Goßmannsdorf bypass. It is also intended to accommodate traffic during construction work on the other two bridges. It serves as a diversion for the B 13. Personalities Sons and daughters Hieronymus Dungersheim(1465–1540), Catholic theologian Kilian Leib(1471–1553), Prior of the Augustinian Canons' Monastery of Rebdorf Georg Hutter(c. 1472–1531), theologian and book collector Hans Keesebrod(1537–1616), Renaissance architect, had citizenship in Ochsenfurt, built the market fountain in 1573 Johann Dauth(1544–1621), professor in Leipzig, author of the monograph De testamentis tractatus methodicus (1594) Kaspar Hofmann(around 1551–1623), Benedictine abbot at Melk Abbey Johannes Kassian Speiser(1583–1640), abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Münsterschwarzach Johann Nicolaus Seitz(1646–unknown), doctor in Würzburg, member of the Leopoldina Academy of Scholars Johann Christoph Fesel(1737–1805), court painter of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg Johann Adam Geßner(1755–1807), sculptor and wayside shrine master Adam Ulsamer(* 1795), physician, professor of obstetrics in Landshut Johann Eck(1832–1920), Mayor of Hopferstadt and member of the German Reichstag Joseph Roß(1836–1923), domain administrator and member of the German Reichstag Adam Grünsfelder(1861–1934),organ builder [ 35 ] Josef Dünninger(1905–1994), folklorist and philologist, author of “Wayside Shrines in Franconia”, born in Goßmannsdorf Edi Hornischer(1934–2001), composer and for 47 years “poetic office manager” of an Ochsenfurt law firm Manfred Ragati(1938–2023), former Federal Chairman of the Workers' Welfare Association Karl Hillenbrand(1950–2014), 1983–1996 rector of the Würzburg seminary, from 1996 until his sudden death vicar general of the diocese of Würzburg Volkhard Rührig(1953–1990), chess player Joachim Vetter(* 1957), President of the Nuremberg Regional Labor Court Paul Lehrieder(* 1959), politician (CSU) Klaus Ott(* 1959), journalist Volkmar Halbleib(* 1964), politician (SPD) Ulrich Riegel(* 1966), Catholic theologian and university professor Robert Weber(* 1966), radio playwright Christian Reichert(* 1971), concert guitarist Peter Freitag(* 1972), artist Thomas Neeser(* 1973), chief Tomas Oral(* 1973), football coach Markus Frenzel(* 1976), journalist and author Robert Garrett(* 1977), national basketball player Christian Grabau(* 1982), educator Maximilian Götz(* 1986), racing driver Carolin Veeh(* 1987), football player Tim Kleinwächter(* 1989), paracyclist Christian Rasp(* 1989), bobsleigh athlete, world and European champion Connected to Ochsenfurt Leopold Kurzhammer(around 1683–1749), sculptor and wayside shrine master, lived in Ochsenfurt from 1731 Johann Michael Pfeuffer(1742–1805), sculptor and wayside shrine master, Pfeuffer lived in what is now the municipality of Hopferstadt from 1772 and also had his workshop here Simone Barrientos(* 1963), politician, Member of Parliament (2017–2021), has lived in Ochsenfurt since 2014 literature
Bad Kissingen
Shortly
prior to the war, Manteuffel Kaserne was
established at the eastern edge of the Bad Kissingen town centre by the
German military as part of Hitler's program to expand the Wehrmacht. In 1945, the American military entered the town
peacefully, and took over the Kaserne, which was renamed Daley Barracks
in 1953.
Schweinfurt
Hitler was not particularly popular in the early 1930s in Schweinfurt, although he still enjoyed a not inconsiderable number of followers. When he visited Schweinfurt for the second time on October 16, 1932, a huge tent with a capacity of 15,000 people had been built on the Schützenplatz. However, there were only about 8,500 visitors in a large catchment area without the 500 SA and ϟϟ persons. Hitler had just come from Coburg, where 70,000 to 80,000 people had heard him. Hitler was said to have been extremely displeased about the bad visit, especially since he had been accompanied by many "phony" calls at the entrance to Schweinfurt. At the time unemployment was enormously high in Schweinfurt - as it was throughout the entire territory of Germany. Many had to repeatedly sign up as a jobseeker; the demand for work and the receipt of support had to be proven by a registration card. Social hardship blinds many people. Social misery and the feeling of being worthless provide fertile ground for extremism. The vast majority therefore ran after a "strong leader", which ultimately led Germany into even greater misery.
The
rathaus on March 9, 1933. On the following day the Nazi seizure of
power was manifested at 6.30 in the morning when the Social Democratic mayor and
several city councillors of Schweinfurt were arrested and taken into
so-called "protective custody". After the 1933 Reichstag election, all
provincial and municipal parliaments were simply "brought into line",
according to the Nazi language. In Schweinfurt, they arbitrarily
increased the number of Nazi city councillors from two to nine. Five of
the then thirteen SPD city councillors were expelled from the council
and of the remaining half had already been taken into "protective
custody."A mere two months later the newly-elected Nazi mayor Pösl
declared that seven of the SPD city councillors had announced their
resignations from the City Council. The eighth was Georg Groha who was
on the wanted list of the Nazis and had already fled to France, where he
died in 1941.
In 1939 Schweinfurt produced most of Nazi Germany's ball bearings, and factories such as the Schweinfurter Kugellagerwerke became a target of Anglo-American strategic bombing during the war to cripple tankand aircraft production. Schweinfurt was bombed 22 times during Operation Pointblank by a total of 2,285 aircraft. The Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission caused an immediate 34% loss of production and all plants but the largest were devastated by fire. Efforts to disperse the surviving machinery began immediately and the Luftwaffe deployed large numbers of interceptors along the corridor to Schweinfurt.
Bombing also included the Second Raid on Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943 (called Black Thursday because of the enormous loss of sixty aircraft and over six hundred lives) and Big Week in February 1944. Although losses of production bearings and machinery were high and much of the industrial and residential areas of the city were destroyed, killing more than a thousand civilians, the factories were restored to production and the industry dispersed. Although German planners initially thought it essential to purchase the entire output of the Swedish ball-bearing industry, losses in the production of bearings were actually made up from surpluses found within Germany in the aftermath of the first raid. The decentralised industry was able to restore output to 85% of its pre-bombing level. Hitler made restoration of ball bearing production a high priority and massive efforts were undertaken to repair and rebuild the factories, partly in bomb-proof underground facilities. The American 42nd Infantry Division entered Schweinfurt on April 11, 1945 and conducted house-to-house fighting.
The
rathaus on March 9, 1933. On the following day the Nazi seizure of
power was manifested at 6.30 in the morning when the Social Democratic mayor and
several city councillors of Schweinfurt were arrested and taken into
so-called "protective custody". After the 1933 Reichstag election, all
provincial and municipal parliaments were simply "brought into line",
according to the Nazi language. In Schweinfurt, they arbitrarily
increased the number of Nazi city councillors from two to nine. Five of
the then thirteen SPD city councillors were expelled from the council
and of the remaining half had already been taken into "protective
custody."A mere two months later the newly-elected Nazi mayor Pösl
declared that seven of the SPD city councillors had announced their
resignations from the City Council. The eighth was Georg Groha who was
on the wanted list of the Nazis and had already fled to France, where he
died in 1941. In 1939 Schweinfurt produced most of Nazi Germany's ball bearings, and factories such as the Schweinfurter Kugellagerwerke became a target of Anglo-American strategic bombing during the war to cripple tankand aircraft production. Schweinfurt was bombed 22 times during Operation Pointblank by a total of 2,285 aircraft. The Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission caused an immediate 34% loss of production and all plants but the largest were devastated by fire. Efforts to disperse the surviving machinery began immediately and the Luftwaffe deployed large numbers of interceptors along the corridor to Schweinfurt.
Bombing also included the Second Raid on Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943 (called Black Thursday because of the enormous loss of sixty aircraft and over six hundred lives) and Big Week in February 1944. Although losses of production bearings and machinery were high and much of the industrial and residential areas of the city were destroyed, killing more than a thousand civilians, the factories were restored to production and the industry dispersed. Although German planners initially thought it essential to purchase the entire output of the Swedish ball-bearing industry, losses in the production of bearings were actually made up from surpluses found within Germany in the aftermath of the first raid. The decentralised industry was able to restore output to 85% of its pre-bombing level. Hitler made restoration of ball bearing production a high priority and massive efforts were undertaken to repair and rebuild the factories, partly in bomb-proof underground facilities. The American 42nd Infantry Division entered Schweinfurt on April 11, 1945 and conducted house-to-house fighting. 
Westend Apotheke at Luitpoldstraße 20 in 1933 with Nazi flags and slogans reading "Mit Hitler gegen Rüstungswahnsinn der Welt" (With Hitler against the world's armament mania).
This was in support of a "YES" vote in the referendum for the withdrawal from the League of Nations on November 12, 1933, as well as the Reichstag election taking place. The Nazi government was assisted by leading public figures and the campaign began on October 26, 1933 with a published vow of faithful allegiance through which the 88 writers of the German Academy of Poetry promised Hitler their unconditional support. On November 1, the same association called explicitly for the election of the "People's Chancellor Adolf Hitler" and for a "yes" to the withdrawal from the League of Nations. On November 11, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg called for approval in one of his rare radio speeches. That day in Leipzig the confession of the German professors to Hitler took place, with which high-ranking German scholars and scientists pointedly put themselves behind Hitler. Support was also provided by the surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch, the philosopher Martin Heidegger and the writer Gerhart Hauptmann. Even the leaders of the economy and the churches called for a vote. In the case of the Catholic Church, the conclusion of the Reich Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich in July 1933 helped the bishops to call for a "joyful vote for the Führer". Even some national opponents of the regime were in agreement, because they wanted to support a national foreign policy. The rooms of the General German Trade Union Confederation were on the first floor.
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The same chemist's after the war.
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In front of the town walls
The former Hitlerjugend schule still has its Nazi eagle above the door...
... as does the former entrance to the Willy-sachs-Stadions
Keßlergasse 22 with the original Jewish-owned establishment (note shield of David on façade), after its 'aryanisation', and today. At the beginning of the Nazi era, the municipal council of the Jewish community consisted of six people with Dr. Moses Hommel serving as its president. In 1933, there were 363 Jewish inhabitants, making up 0.9% of a total of 40,176 locals. Due to the consequences of the economic boycott, increasing deprivation of rights and reprisals, some of them have moved or emigrated from Schweinfurt in the following years. Other Jewish people (from rural communities) are still partially moved in Schweinfurt. On April 1, 1935 318 Jewish inhabitants were counted, in January 1936 319, in January 1937 308, in January 1938 260. In 1942, the community was dissolved. Until then, about 225 were able to emigrate the Jews who lived or moved there in 1933. In 1942, 30 Jews were deported via Würzburg to the transit camps Krasniczyn and Izbica near Lublin. In September 1942, sixty Jews were sent to Theresienstadt. Three Jewish persons were able to survive in Schweinfurt because of their "privileged mixed marriage".
The
former Schrannengebäude, now used by the Sparkasse bank, after the war
and today- its entrance still graced with the eagle dating from 1935
Meanwhile a memorial to the destroyed synagogue is hidden away in the rear. During the November pogrom of 1938, Jewish inhabitants - including the sick and elderly - were taken from their homes and dragged through the streets of the city under insults and stone throwing. Significant damage was done to Jewish homes and buildings. On the evening of November 9, 1938, some 2,800 Nazis marched with anti-Jewish slogans from Marienbach to the market square. That evening a national memorial service was planned for the murdered embassy secretary Ernst von Rath in front of the brewery, to which all Nazi members were obliged to attend. The next morning, the synagogue was smashed and torah scrolls thrown into the dirt and trampled. The police seized a number of valuable items that were transferred from the communities Arnstein, Gochsheim and Ebelsbach to Schweinfurt. Only a few prayer books and Torah robes could be saved. Shop windows of Jewish shops were smashed and furniture was thrown out of the houses of Jewish citizens. On Theresienstraße, the bakery of the Jewish baker Max Schlorch was destroyed. Jewish citizens were stoned, some were arrested and about thirty men were taken to the Dachau concentration camp.
Schweinfurt's industrial significance can't be overstated, particularly its role in the production of ball bearings, a crucial component in machinery and weaponry. The city was home to major factories like FAG Kugelfischer and VKF, which were integral to Germany's war efforts. Ball bearings were used in everything from tanks to airplanes, making Schweinfurt a linchpin in the Nazi military-industrial complex. This industrial capacity did not go unnoticed by the Allies, who identified the city as a strategic target to disrupt Germany's war capabilities. Overy posits that the destruction of Schweinfurt's factories would cripple the German war machine. His analysis suggests that the city's industrial output was so vital that even a temporary halt in production would have far-reaching consequences. This perspective is supported by the multiple air raids conducted by the Allies, most notably the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission in 1943. The mission aimed to destroy ball-bearing factories and thus impede the production of German aircraft and other military hardware. However, Zaloga offers a counterpoint, arguing that while the factories were indeed important, their destruction did not significantly alter the course of the war. He contends that Germany had other means of obtaining the necessary materials and that the focus on Schweinfurt was somewhat misplaced. The air raids had a devastating impact on the city and its inhabitants. Not only were the factories severely damaged, but the civilian population also suffered immense losses. The raids resulted in a significant number of casualties and left the city in ruins, affecting the morale of the people. The experience of living under constant threat of bombardment created a sense of collective trauma, which has been explored by historians like Kershaw. He argues that the psychological impact of the air raids was profound, affecting not just the immediate victims but also shaping the collective memory of the city.
The Zeughaus amidst the destruction and today. The Anglo-American
bombing of Schweinfurt began in 1943 and would rival the earlier
catastrophes the town had previously endured in 1250 and 1554. On
October 14, 1943, the US Air Force flew a devastating air strike whilst
suffering their most grevious losses during the war. The 8th US Air
Force had already attacked Schweinfurt in August and she now returned to
complete the work of devastation. First, the bomber squadron was
expecting a large number of fighters, which already decimated the fleet.
Part of the big bomber squadron was destroyed and as the bomber squad
approached the city, they expected a massive barrage of air defence. On
no day of the war did the Americans lose as many bombers as on October
14, 1943, which entered the American Air War history as "black Thursday."
Sixty flying fortresses were shot down, twenty others returned as
wrecks, and 600 crew members were either dead or trapped. As far away as
Würzburg one could see the columns of smoke above the burning town. For Schweinfurt, the attack was terrible: many homes were destroyed, 198 German civilians, nine Wehrmacht members, 43 foreigners and 45 foreigners who could no longer be identified were killed. February 1944 saw the "Big Week" - the biggest attacks on Germany. Although German fighters shot down 226 bombers and 28 fighter planes, killing 2,600 Americans that week, attacks continued unabated. Schweinfurt experienced on February 24, 1944, the "black Friday", violent attacks during the day and at night, as the Allies wanted to make the Schweinfurt ball bearing industry the utter annihilation. 1,100 four-engined bombers were deployed to three massive attacks and brought the city the third city spoilage. It did not just hit the city. The surrounding communities near the industrial area were almost completely destroyed. 3,600 blast bombs and 32,500 fire and phosphorous bombs fell on the city and surrounding communities. 
Maxbrücke, blown up on April 11, 1945, before the arrival of the Americans, and the same scene today. A last swastika flag hanging over the ruins was handed over to the 8th US Air Force, which had flown heavy bombing raids on the city. The dedication was: The Rainbow Division has avenged your losses over Schweinfurt. "
On April 12 an internment camp at Goethe-Schule held male civilians aged 16–60.
On April 12 an internment camp at Goethe-Schule held male civilians aged 16–60.
Clearing up the debris on the Marktplatz April 1945 and today
Johanniskirche from an engraving by Johann Herman dating from 1646, after the war, and today and, on the right, Johanniskirche from the ruins
The Fichtel & Sachs factory on Ernst-Sachs-Straße after heavy bombing, and today, now the ZF-Sachs factory.
Spitalstrasse then and now
[P]recision attacks could go wrong precisely because the Germans could work out where to expect them - as the Americans discovered to their cost when they attacked Schweinfurt, a centre of ball-bearing production in northern Bavaria, on August 17 and October 14, 1943. In the first raid, thirty-six B-17S were shot down out of an initial strike force of 230; twenty-four were lost the same day in a similar attack on Regensburg. In the October attack -the 8th Air Force's 'Black Thursday' - sixty out of 291 B-17S were shot down and 138 badly damaged.Ferguson (566) War of the World
On the Schweinfurt raids, see Thomas M. Coffey, Decision over Schweinfurt: The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing (New York: McKay, 1977); Friedhelm Golücke, Schweinfurt und der strategische Luftkrieg 1943: der Angriff der U.S. Air Force vom 14. Oktober 1943 gegen die Schweinfurter Kugellagerindustrie (Paderborn: Schöningh, 1988); Martin Middlebrook, The Schweinfurt-RegensburgMission (New York: Scribner, 1983). See also Hinsley, British Intelligence, 3/1: 293-96, 308-16; Murray, Lufiwaffe, pp. 164-68.
The Adolf Hitler military barracks during the Third Reich and today, after the American army finally relinquished control. Nevertheless a Nazi eagle remains on the façade of a barracks building as seen clearly on the right of the period photo.
Hammelburg
The
swastika-bedecked townhall and today, with the fountain in the
background- given the summer festival taking place, I was unable to get a perfect angle for either image. During the war, Hammelburg was the site of the PoW
Camps OFLAG XIII-B and Stalag XIII-C, as well as the attempted rescue of
PoWs from these camps by Task Force Baum in 1945. The American
television sitcom Hogan's Heroes featured a fictional Luft-Stalaid to be near Hammelburg. The
German Army's Infanterieschule is located in this
town.
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The 1.Kompanie Leibstandarte ϟϟ Adolf Hitler arriving at the main station in June 1935. They are regarded as the nucleus of the later Waffen-ϟϟ. From the first 117 volunteers, more than fifty higher ϟϟ officers emerged, who held high ranks in the later 38 divisions of the Waffen ϟϟ and were given the highest awards for bravery. .gif)
The main station is shown here embalzoned with the Nazi eagle during the time and as it currently appears today. The 1. ϟϟ-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte ϟϟ Adolf Hitler was established on March 17, 1933 as ϟϟ-Stabswache Berlin by Sepp Dietrich on Hitler's orders, with the intention of having a full-time armed force of complete loyalty to him. It was eventually redesignated ϟϟ-Sonderkommando Zossen and a new unit, ϟϟ-Sonderkommando Jüterbog, was raised, both of which merged in September 1933 as the ϟϟ-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Their members took an oath of loyalty to Hitler on the tenth anniversary of the failed Beer Hall Putsch and was redesignated Leibstandarte ϟϟ Adolf Hitler in 1934. They played an active role during the Night of Long Knives. As a result, the following year they were motorised and expanded.
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The main station is shown here embalzoned with the Nazi eagle during the time and as it currently appears today. The 1. ϟϟ-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte ϟϟ Adolf Hitler was established on March 17, 1933 as ϟϟ-Stabswache Berlin by Sepp Dietrich on Hitler's orders, with the intention of having a full-time armed force of complete loyalty to him. It was eventually redesignated ϟϟ-Sonderkommando Zossen and a new unit, ϟϟ-Sonderkommando Jüterbog, was raised, both of which merged in September 1933 as the ϟϟ-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Their members took an oath of loyalty to Hitler on the tenth anniversary of the failed Beer Hall Putsch and was redesignated Leibstandarte ϟϟ Adolf Hitler in 1934. They played an active role during the Night of Long Knives. As a result, the following year they were motorised and expanded..gif)
The three Tiger I tanks in the 1970 movie "Kelly's Heroes" are from the LSSAH as seen by the skeleton key markings and the 1989 movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" feature several LSSAH members amongst the villains, including ϟϟ-Standartenführer Ernst Vogel, as shown by the cuff titles. The LSSAH after all was notorious for having committed numerous war crimes from the very start of the war- the day the Germans invaded Poland the LSSAH murdered 34 civilians in Torzeniec under the command of ϟϟ-Obersturmführer Christian Hansen. ϟϟ-Obermusikmeister Hermann Müller-John ordered fifty civilians shot at Błonie, Poland that month as more atrocities were committed as soldiers from the unit advanced. For reasons unknown, on September 3-4, 1939 close to 200 civilians in Złoczew were summarily murdered. Indeed, Generalmajor Herbert Loch, commander of 17. Infanterie-Division whcih operated closely with LSSAH during the invasion of Poland, complained about the LSSAH's wildness and tendency to reflexively set villages alight as they passed through them.Miltenberg
Nazi flag suspended beside the Hotel Zum Riesen, described on this Nazi-era postcard as the oldest guest house in Germany and known as the "Fürstenherberge". The inn has hosted emperors such as Barbarossa in 1158, Frederick III, King Ludwig the Bavarian in 1314, shortly after his election, Charles IV in 1368 and Empress Maria Theresia. The legend that Martin Luther convinced the Count Erbach of Protestantism in Miltenberg comes from the book "Martin Luther and Grafenbach" by Hermann Nietschmann under the pseudonym Armin Stein. During the Thirty Years' War, Gustav II. Adolf, Pappenheim, Piccolomini and Wallenstein spent the night here. In the 20th century Richard Strauss, Theodor Heuss, Hans Albers, Heinz Rühmann and Elvis Presley were among the guests.
Kitzingen
Portraits of Hitler no longer grace the walls of the Hotel Fränkischer Hof. On February 23, 1945, a sunny winter day, a squadron of four-motor bombers from the USAAF approached the city from the east and began bombarding Kitzingen from an altitude of about 2,500 to 3,000 metres. This was followed by a second, approximately 180 aircraft, after about half an hour. It was estimated that 2,500 heavy explosive bombs were dropped. The attack took place within the framework of the Operation Clarion, a series of air raids on southern German long-distance and rail connections, with the stated objective of disturbing or preventing the transfer of troops within southern Germany. In Kitzingen, the Reichsstraße 8 (now the B8) and the railway line Nuremberg-Würzburg crossed the Main and yet whilst the destruction of the bridges and the railway station was the stated goal, none of the four main bridges were hit, and the damage on the station ground was not so great that after a few days the long-distance traffic could not continue. On the other hand, the inner city and buildings were largely destroyed near the railway station. 809 residential buildings with a total of 2020 apartments were destroyed, including 206 buildings with 520 apartments total, thirty public buildings, three industrial facilities and sixty auxiliary buildings. Among other things, the upper school for boys was razed to the ground, although it served as a hospital and was marked as such. Schloss Friedenstein was also destroyed with only the lookout tower, the Deusterturm, preserved in the former castle grounds. More than 700 fell victim to the attack in Kitzingen, including all children and carers of a kindergarten; 2/3 of the approximately 48 boys who had lessons on that day were killed whilst the Luftwaffe barracks on the western edge of the city and the Kitzingen airfield east of the city were not bombed. About a month later the airfield was attacked on March 22. Eight bomber units with a total of 168 aircraft flew from the south. Due to the eastern location of the airfield, no damage occurred in Kitzingen. The bombs destroyed the rolling field, only a few buildings were damaged. Only a few of the Bf 110 night-hunters stationed on the airfield and the new jet fighters Me 262 were hit.
Lohr am Main
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At the Forstverwaltung (Forestry Service), built in 1937 and the official opening inset.
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During the Nazi regime, nineteen Jewish patients were deported from the sanatorium and nursing home in Lohr to the Hartheim killing centre near Linz and murdered in September 1940 as part of the T4 "euthanasia" killing campaign. In October and November 1940, 451 non-Jewish children, women and men followed. They were deported to the killing centres in Pirna-Sonnenstein and Grafeneck and also murdered. In the spring of 1944, eighteen women and men were transferred from the correctional facility of the then mental hospital to the Auschwitz and Mauthausen concentration camps. Three men and two women would survived. From
the start of 1945 there were several air raids on Lohr, and at the end
of March German troops blew up the Lohr and Main bridges. 
On April 2-3, 1945, heavy fighting took place in Lohr between the Wehrmacht and the American army, the latter ending up losing eight Sherman tanks here as seen in these images showing the main street during the fighting as provided in Geoff Walden's page for Third Reich in Ruins and how it appears today. At first the Americans operating under Task Force Baum weren't prepared as they reached motorway 26 at 2.30 am, moving at a speed of fifteen mph as the lead light tanks knocked down telephone poles along the highway to disrupt the enemy's communications in the area. Hanging in the windows of homes in some of the towns they passed through were white flags, suddenly broken as Baum ran into the enemy's first organised resistance on the western approaches to Lohr am Main, the command post of General Hans von Obstfelder, commander of all ground forces in southern Germany. Here the Americans lost their first M4A3 to panzerfaust fire from Hitler Youth at a roadblock as seen here. The task force quickly suppressed such resistance and by 9.00, the task force cleared Lohr, engaged its lightly-armed defenders with overwhelming firepower, and continued its advance eastward to the critical town of Gemunden.
Gemünden
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During the war
numerous Soviet prisoners of war involved in forced labour in
facilities that were important to the German war effort were sited here. Located at the confluence of the Sinn, Main, and Frankische Saale Rivers, Gemunden's bridge had to be captured intact to facilitate Baum's movement east along Highway 26 to Karlstadt. However, due to the skilled direction of Eugen Zoller, an experienced 25 year-old NCO of the German Army Pioneers, the teenaged defenders, armed with more than 200 panzerfausten, aggressively counterattacked the American armoured column's drive for the bridge before blowing it up just before Baum's first Sherman reached the western edge of the bridge. Due to the Germans' fierce resistance, the loss of three medium tanks as well as the loss of the bridge, Baum was forcd to withdraw and move northward toward the town of Burgsinn and its bridge, which spanned the Sinn River. But not before the town itself was utterly wiped out after heavy bombardment on March 26, 1945 and subsequent two days of fighting. .gif)
Five residents were killed in the attack, 41 of them due to the collapse of the district court bunker, and five left missing. Two days earlier seven had been killed. When
the town was taken on April 4 29 civilians were killed, including 26
suffocated in the school tunnel, and five soldiers killed. In total over 200
inhabitants were killed with two thirds of the town destroyed in the March 16 bombing by American fighter- bombers and artillery fire on April 4 and 5, 1945. The extensive destruction covered the entire western and central area of the old town, which had a closed development from the 16th and 17th centuries which included the market square and its town hall, fish market, Badgasse, Kärrnersgasse and Wirthsgasse). The parish church of St. Peter and Paul, the witches' tower, the mill gate, the historic town hall were all completely demolished after the occupation in April. Among the citizens of Gemünden was John Löwer, who had lived in the United States for a long time and was therefore called the "American". He was commissioned to confront the American troops at Struthmühle with a white cloth as Sherman tanks came towards him on today's old Wohraer Straße. The first tank passed, the second stopped and he told the commander that Gemünden would surrender. 
The destroyed town centre, already partially rebuilt, shortly after the end of the war and as it appears today. The October 15, 1944 air attack destroyed a warehouse, the goods hall and some residential barracks. The March 16, 1945 attack obliterated the town hall, the church of St. Peter and Paul, the Adelmann house, the Wurzgarten house (formerly the courthouse ) and badly hit the central and western old town area. On March 18 the district office- today's court building- and the Hamm brothers' factory was damaged. The March 24 bombing caused substantial damage in today's Friedenstraße, at the post office, and in Hindenburgstraße (today Bergstraße). On March 26 the area around the station and old town was bombed, When the city was taken the Gerlach department store and the kindergarten (in today's Wernfeld district) was damaged as were several houses in today's Wernfeld district, the parish church of St. Peter and Paul and the school at the Obertor burned down after the entrance was hit. Finally on April 5 severe fires broke out in the old town in the market square, fish market, Badgasse, Kärrnersgasse, and Wirtsgasse. All this left 167 buildings totally destroyed with a damage rate of 65% of all its buildings.
The reconstruction after planning 1946-1950 in the old town area was carried out with simple plaster buildings. The streets were greatly changed, and the town hall on the market square was not rebuilt. In the 1980s, the old town was extensively renovated as seen in these GIFs.
Pompejanum
The Pompejanum (or Pompeiianum) is an idealised replica of a Roman villa, located on the high banks of the river Main in Aschaffenburg. It was commissioned by King Ludwig I and built in the 1840s. The Pompejanum was not intended as a royal villa, but as a demonstration that would allow art lovers in Germany to study ancient culture. The building is a symbol for the enthusiasm for antiquity in the 19th century. The villa is a replica of a house in ancient Pompeii, the so-called House of Castor and Pollux (Casa dei Dioscuri), so named after a wall drawing which was found in the entrance area of the ruined building.
Pompejanum
The Pompejanum (or Pompeiianum) is an idealised replica of a Roman villa, located on the high banks of the river Main in Aschaffenburg. It was commissioned by King Ludwig I and built in the 1840s. The Pompejanum was not intended as a royal villa, but as a demonstration that would allow art lovers in Germany to study ancient culture. The building is a symbol for the enthusiasm for antiquity in the 19th century. The villa is a replica of a house in ancient Pompeii, the so-called House of Castor and Pollux (Casa dei Dioscuri), so named after a wall drawing which was found in the entrance area of the ruined building. 
On March 29, 1933 Franz Ritter von Epp was made an honorary citizen of the city of Aschaffenburg. On July 7 that year, on behalf of Lord Mayor Wohlgemuth, party members of the NSDAP Erich Schohe, city councilor Ernst Hild, actor Josef Gurk, teacher Benno Hain, and teacher Dr. Kurt Speyerer founded a local group of the “Combat League for German Culture” whose aim was to set up an institution to standardise and promote cultural endeavours in the city area. During the war it, along with much of Aschaffenburg, was heavily damaged by Anglo-American bombing. From September 27, 1944 to March 25, 1945, Aschaffenburg was the target of no less than twenty air raids; on November 21, 1944, the Royal Air Force dropped 14 tonnes of high-explosive bombs on large parts of Aschaffenburg, especially in the Damm district. About half of Aschaffenburgers became homeless and 344 people were killed. When the Americans approached in the spring of 1945, Aschaffenburg was declared a “fortress” to be held under all circumstances with Major Emil Lamberth appointed combat commander. When General Robert T. Frederick noticed that the resistance of fighters there was stronger than elsewhere, he ordered his 157th Infantry Regiment to focus systematic artillery fire and air raids on Aschaffenburg and surrounding villages in order to lose as few soldiers as possible in the house-to -house fighting that followed. 
On March 25, 1945 at the beginning of the Battle of Aschaffenburg the Yanks established a bridgehead after taking the Nilkheim railway bridge, which remained undestroyed, south of the city on the right-eastern bank of the Main. Fighting broke out around the southern Aschaffenburg district of Schweinheim before the Allies could advance to the city centre, which was the subject of fierce fighting on Easter Day 1945. After nine days the garrison capitulated on April 3, 1945. After the destruction of the air war, important cultural and architectural monuments such as Johannisburg Castle and the Pompejanum were even more severely damaged or destroyed by artillery fire when the city was captured; it wasn't until 1960 that work was started to restore it seen in my GIFs here showing how it appeared after the war and when visited it. Aschaffenburg belonged to the American occupation zone and the US military administration set up a DP camp to house mostly Ukrainians and Poles. The Aschaffenburg barracks from before 1918 and above all from the Third Reich were occupied by the American Army throughout the period of the Cold War.
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On the left showing the building after the bombing and today when I visited July 2022, restored. Since 1994, the Pompejanum houses original Roman art works from the collections of the Staatliche Antikensammlungen and the Glyptothek in Munich. The building also hosts temporary exhibitions. In addition to Roman marble sculptures, small bronzes and glasses as well as two rare marble goddesses make up the most valuable exhibits. Upstairs, Roman-style utensils, which can be seen in display cases, give an insight into the life of a Roman family. Since
July 2014, the Munich State Antiquities Collection has issued a Roman
military diploma consisting of two bronze plates which testify to the
award of Roman citizenship in 78 CE to the soldier Octavius from his
station at Moesia Cohors I Cantabrorum.
On March 25, 1945 at the beginning of the Battle of Aschaffenburg the Yanks established a bridgehead after taking the Nilkheim railway bridge, which remained undestroyed, south of the city on the right-eastern bank of the Main. Fighting broke out around the southern Aschaffenburg district of Schweinheim before the Allies could advance to the city centre, which was the subject of fierce fighting on Easter Day 1945. After nine days the garrison capitulated on April 3, 1945. After the destruction of the air war, important cultural and architectural monuments such as Johannisburg Castle and the Pompejanum were even more severely damaged or destroyed by artillery fire when the city was captured; it wasn't until 1960 that work was started to restore it seen in my GIFs here showing how it appeared after the war and when visited it. Aschaffenburg belonged to the American occupation zone and the US military administration set up a DP camp to house mostly Ukrainians and Poles. The Aschaffenburg barracks from before 1918 and above all from the Third Reich were occupied by the American Army throughout the period of the Cold War..gif)
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An antiques dealer made the find of a lifetime at a Texas Goodwill store that had a direct connection to this site-: a 2,000-year-old priceless work of Roman art that she scooped up for a mere $35. Laura Young, of Austin, Texas found the 52-pound Roman bust at the thrift store in her hometown in 2018 and figured it was worth such a modest investment. The earliest record of this Roman bust appears in an 1833 inventory of King Ludwig I of Bavaria's art collection. It was displayed in a courtyard in the Pompejanum near the tablinum and probably depicts Sextus Pompey, according to a Roman art specialist at the San Antonio Museum of Art. The bust disappeared after the war and its location was unknown until 2018, when Young ound it in a Goodwill Store. After the war the American Army established various military installations in Aschaffenburg, many of which remained until the end of the Cold War, and most likely a returning soldier brought the sculpture to Texas. Ms. Young notified the German government of the portrait's surprising rediscovery and made arrangements to return it to its rightful owner. According to her agreement with the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens, and Lakes, the bust will remain on display at the San Antonio Museum of Art until its return to Germany in 2023.
See my special page on Pompeii during the war and today!