From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of events
Events in the year 1945 in
Germany .
Many events took place in 1945, including the change of the geographical map of Germany.
Incumbents
Pre-surrender
Head of State :
Chancellor
Post-surrender
Events
27 January: The
Soviet Union liberates
Auschwitz
January
February
3 February — World War II: Largest-ever
USAAF daylight
bombing raid on Berlin carried out by one thousand bombers and nearly 600 escort fighters of the
Eighth Air Force
8 February — World War II: A combined British and Canadian front, consisting of 50,000 soldiers with 500 tanks and 1,034 guns, enters
Reichswald , southeast of
Nijmegen .
[1]
9 February — World War II: "
Black Friday ": A force of Allied
Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffers heavy casualties in an unsuccessful attack on
German destroyer Z33 and escorting vessels sheltering in
Førde Fjord ,
Norway .
10 February — World War II: The
SS General von Steuben is sunk by the
Soviet submarine S-13 .
12 February — World War II: The British/Canadian front captures
Cleve , in
western Germany .
13 February — World War II:
Soviet forces capture
Budapest from the
Nazis .
13 February — World War II:
Royal Air Force and
United States Army Air Forces begin
bombing of Dresden , Germany. Over the next three days, more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices are dropped on the city. The resulting firestorm destroys fifteen square miles (39 square kilometres) of the city center. Between 22,000 and 25,000 people are killed in a controversial attack.
14 February — World War II: The British/Canadian front reaches the
Rhine .
21 February — The last
V-2 -rocket is launched from
Peenemünde .
March
March —
Anne Frank , dies in the
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp , located in
Lower Saxony , Germany, due to
typhus . Her sister, Margot, had died not long before.
2 March — The
Bachem Ba 349 Natter is launched from
Stetten am kalten Markt . The Natter is the first manned rocket, developed as anti-aircraft weapon. The launch fails and the pilot dies.
[2]
3 March — World War II: A possible experimental atomic test blast occurs at the Nazis'
Ohrdruf military testing area.
3 March — World War II: Units of the
Canadian First Army capture
Xanten
7 March — World War II: American troops seize the bridge over the
Rhine River at
Remagen , Germany and begin to cross.
19 March — World War II:
Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, machine shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany
be destroyed .
24 March — World War II:
Operation Varsity : Two airborne divisions capture bridges across the
Rhine River to aid the Allied advance.
April
4 April — World War II: American troops liberate their first Nazi concentration camp,
Ohrdruf
death camp in Germany.
6 April — World War II:
Sarajevo is liberated from
Nazi Germany and the
Independent State of Croatia by the
Yugoslav Partisans .
7 April — World War II: The only flight of the German ramming unit known as the
Sonderkommando Elbe takes place, resulting in the loss of some 24
B-17s and
B-24s of the United States
Eighth Air Force .
10 April — World War II: The
Allied Forces liberate the
Nazi
concentration camp ,
Buchenwald .
15 April — The
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated by British forces.
22 April —
Heinrich Himmler , through
Count Bernadotte , puts forth an offer of German surrender to the Western Allies, but not the Soviet Union.
23 April — Russian troops reach
Berlin .
24 April — Retreating
German troops destroy all the bridges over the
Adige in
Verona , including the historical
Ponte di Castelvecchio and
Ponte Pietra .
25 April — World War II:
Elbe Day :
United States and
Soviet troops link up at the
Elbe River , cutting Germany in two.
26 April —
Battle of Bautzen (World War II) : The last "successful" German panzer-offensive in
Bautzen ends with the city recaptured.
27 April — The Western Allies flatly reject any offer of surrender by Germany other than unconditional on all fronts.
29 April —
Adolf Hitler marries his longtime mistress
Eva Braun in a closed civil ceremony in the
Berlin
Führerbunker , on the same day that American forces liberate
Dachau .
30 April — Hitler and Braun
commit suicide as the
Red Army approaches the Führerbunker in
Berlin .
Karl Dönitz succeeds Hitler as
President of Germany ;
Joseph Goebbels succeeds Hitler as
Chancellor of Germany . On the same day, some 33,000 Jews are freed from concentration camps by American troops.
[3]
May
1 May — World War II:
Hamburg Radio announces that Hitler has died in battle, "fighting up to his last breath against
Bolshevism ."
1 May —
Joseph Goebbels and his wife commit suicide after killing their six children. Karl Dönitz appoints Count
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the new
Chancellor of Germany .
1 May — Field Marshal
Gerd von Rundstedt is captured by US troops
1 May —
Mass suicide in Demmin after Soviet troops capture the town and commit atrocities (murders, mass rapes, etc.) on the civilians in retaliation for the killing of some Soviet soldiers there. More than 700 German civilians hang, poison, cut, or drown themselves and loved ones in a panic.
2 May — World War II: The
Soviet Union announces the
fall of Berlin . Soviet soldiers hoist the
Red flag over the
Reich Chancellery .
3 May — World War II: The
prison ships
Cap Arcona ,
Thielbek and
Deutschland are sunk by the
RAF in
Lübeck Bay.
3 May — Rocket scientist
Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to U.S. forces (later going on to help to start the U.S. space program).
3 May — German Protestant theologian
Gerhard Kittel is arrested by the French forces in Tübingen, Germany.
4 May — World War II: The
concentration camp
Neuengamme near
Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
4 May — World War II: The North German army surrenders to Marshal
Bernard Montgomery .
4 May — World War II: Holland is liberated by British and Canadian troops. German forces officially surrender one day later.
5 May — World War II: Denmark is liberated. German forces officially surrender one day later.
5 May — World War II:
Prague rises up against the Nazis.
5 May — World War II: The
US 11th Armored Division liberates the prisoners of
Mauthausen concentration camp , including
Simon Wiesenthal .
5 May — World War II:
Canadian soldiers liberate the city of
Amsterdam from
Nazi occupation.
5 May — World War II:
Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all
U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
7 May — World War II: General
Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at
Reims ,
France , ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
8 May — World War II:
V-E Day (Victory in Europe, as
Nazi Germany surrenders) commemorates the end of World War II in
Europe , with the final surrender being to the Soviets in
Berlin , attended by representatives of the Western Powers.
9 May — World War II:
Hermann Göring is captured by the
United States Army .
9 May — World War II: General
Alexander Löhr , Commander of German Army Group E near Topolšica,
Slovenia , signs the capitulation of German occupation troops.
9 May — World War II: The
German occupation of the Channel Islands ends with the liberation by British troops.
16 May — World War II:
Alderney camps , an annex of the
concentration camp
Neuengamme , is liberated.
23 May —
President of Germany
Karl Dönitz and
Chancellor of Germany Count
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by
British forces at
Flensburg . They are respectively the last German
Head of state and
Head of government
until 1949 .
23 May —
Heinrich Himmler , former head of the
Nazi
SS , commits suicide in British custody.
24 May —
Field marshal
Robert Ritter von Greim commander of the
Luftwaffe in the last days of the
Third Reich , commits suicide.
29 May — German communists, led by Walther Ulbricht, arrive in
Berlin .
June
July
1 July — World War II: Germany is divided between the Allied occupation forces.
16 July — A train collision near
Munich kills 102 war prisoners.
18 October:
Nuremberg trials begin, after
Buchenwald closed.
September
October
November
December
23 December - German broadcaster
Radio Bremen started.
30 December -
Hitler's will is found, confirming his intention of committing suicide.
Births
1 January —
Rüdiger Safranski , German philosopher and author
11 January —
Christine Kaufmann , German actress (died
2017 )
19 January —
Maria Jepsen , German bishop of Hamburg in the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church
21 January
2 February —
Robert Atzorn , German actor
12 February -
Thilo Sarrazin , German politician
21 February —
Walter Momper , German politician
23 February —
Georg Milbradt , German politician
8 March —
Anselm Kiefer , German painter
9 March —
Katja Ebstein , German singer
22 March —
Paul Schockemöhle , German equestrian
27 March —
Harry Rowohlt , German writer and translator (died
2015 )
2 April —
Jürgen Drews , German singer
7 April —
Werner Schroeter , German film director (died
2010 )
11 April —
Christian Quadflieg , German actor and television director (died
2023 )
14 April —
Eva Wagner-Pasquier , German opera manager
26 April —
Winfried Glatzeder , German actor
1 May —
Peter Kiesewetter , German composer (died
2012 )
9 May —
Jupp Heynckes , German football player and football trainer
17 May -
Renate Krößner , German actress
21 May —
Ernst Messerschmid , German physicist and astronaut
24 May —
Baerbel Bohley , 65, German opposition figure & artist (died
2010 )
31 May —
Rainer Werner Fassbinder , German film director (died 1982)
9 June —
Nike Wagner , German dramaturge, arts administrator and author
14 June —
Jörg Immendorff , German painter (died
2007 )
22 June —
Rainer Brüderle , German politician
6 July —
Horst Metz , German politician (died
2022 )
15 July —
Jürgen Möllemann , German politician (died
2003 )
14 August —
Wim Wenders , German film director and producer
11 September —
Franz Beckenbauer , German footballer and coach (died
2024 )
3 November —
Gerd Müller , German footballer (died
2021 )
2 December —
Lisa Kreuzer , German actress
Deaths
Adolf Hitler , along with his wife
Eva Braun ,
committed suicide on 30 April 1945.
22 January —
Else Lasker-Schüler , German poet (born
1869 ), died in Palestine
23 January
2 February —
Adolf Brand , German writer (born
1874 )
3 February —
Roland Freisler ,
Nazi German judge (born
1893 )
23 January —
7 February —
Halfdan Jønsson , Norwegian trade unionist (born
1891 in Norway )
[4]
13 February —
Dorothea Köring , German tennis player (born
1880 )
14 February —
Georg Kelling , German surgeon (born
1866 )
15 February —
Helmut Möckel , youth leader and politician (born
1909 )
21 February —
Adolf Brand , German writer (born
1874 )
3 February —
Roland Freisler ,
Nazi German judge (born
1893 )
February /
March —
Margot Frank , Anne Frank's old sister (born
1926 )
March —
Anne Frank , German-born Jewish diarist (typhus) (born
1929 )
7 March —
Albrecht Penck , German geographer and geologist (born
1858 )
14 March –
Mary Helen Young , Scottish nurse and resistance fighter during World War II (born
1883 in Scotland )
[5]
16 March —
Börries von Münchhausen , German poet (born
1874 )
19 March —
Friedrich Fromm , German Nazi official (born
1888 )
29 March —
Karl Sapper , German explorer, antiquarian and linguist (born
1866 )
31 March :
April —
Auguste van Pels , German-Jewish housemate of
Anne Frank (born
1900 )
9 April :
13 April —
Ernst Cassirer , German philosopher (born
1874 )
14 April —
Albert Vögler , German politician, industrialist and entrepreneur (born
1877 )
15 April —
Curt Joël , German jurist (born
1865 )
18 April
20 April —
Erwin Bumke , German judge (born
1874 )
20 April —
Hans Steinhoff , German film director (born
1882 )
21 April —
Walter Model , German field marshal (born
1891 )
22 April —
Käthe Kollwitz , German artist (born 1867)
23 April —
Klaus Bonhoeffer , German jurist (born
1901 )
24 April —
Ernst-Robert Grawitz , German Reichsphysician (S.S. and Police) in the Third Reich (born
1899 )
28 April –
Franz Brantzky , German painter, sculptor and architect (born
1871 )
29 April –
Franz Breithaupt , German SS general (killed) (born
1880 )
30 April —
Adolf Hitler , Austrian-born German Nazi dictator (suicide) (born 1889)
30 April —
Eva Braun , German wife of Adolf Hitler (suicide) (born
1912 )
30 April —
Friedrich Kayßler , German actor (born
1874 )
1 May —
Joseph Goebbels , German Nazi propagandist (suicide) (born
1897 )
1 May —
Magda Goebbels , wife of Joseph Goebbels (suicide) (born
1901 )
2 May -
Wilhelm Burgdorf , German general (born
1895 )
2 May —
Martin Bormann , German Nazi leader (suicide) (born
1900 )
2 May —
Hans Krebs , German general (born
1898 )
2 May —
Max de Crinis , German psychiatrist (suicide) (born
1889 )
4 May —
Fedor von Bock , German field marshal (born
1880 )
[6]
4 May —
Karl Dannemann , German actor (born
1896 )
5 May —
Peter van Pels , German-Jewish love interest of diarist
Anne Frank (born
1926 )
8 May —
Paul Giesler , German politician (born
1895 )
8 May —
Ernst-Günther Baade , German general (gangrene) (born
1897 )
8 May —
Wilhelm Rediess ,
SS and Police Leader of Nazi-occupied Norway (suicide) (born
1900 )
8 May —
Josef Terboven ,
Reichskommissar of Nazi-occupied Norway (suicide) (born
1898 )
8 May —
Bernhard Rust , Education Minister of
Nazi Germany (suicide) (born
1883 )
19 May —
Philipp Bouhler , German Nazi leader (suicide) (born
1899 )
20 May —
Otto von Feldmann , German
Imperial Army officer (born
1873 )
23 May —
Heinrich Himmler , German head of the
SS (suicide) (born
1900 )
27 May —
Rudolf Querner , Waffen-SS general (born
1893 )
25 June —
Friedrich von Lindequist , German colonial administrator (born
1862 )
6 July —
Adolf Bertram , German cardinal of Roman Catholic Church (born
1859 )
12 July —
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen , German field marshal (born
1895 )
29 August —
Fritz Pfleumer , German engineer (born
1881 )
31 August —
Friedrich Syrup , German politician (born
1881 )
10 September —
Karl Kimmich , German banker (born
1880 )
15 September —
Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer , German physician (born
1858 )
20 September —
Eduard Wirths , German doctor, chief SS doctor at
Auschwitz concentration camp (suicide) (born
1909 )
24 September —
Hans Geiger , German physicist (born
1882 )
9 October —
Gottlieb Hering , German Nazi concentration camp commandant (born
1887 )
25 October —
Robert Ley , German Nazi politician (suicide) (born
1890 )
7 November —
Wilhelm von Gayl , German politician (born
1879 )
8 November —
August von Mackensen , German field marshal (born
1849 )
17 November —
Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (born
1882 )
22 November —
Hans Winkler , German botanist (born
1877 )
3 December —
Adam Stegerwald , German politician (born
1874 )
28 December —
Hermann Oncken , German historian (born
1869 )
Date unknown —
Hasso von Wedel , World War I German flying ace (born
1893 )
References
Further reading
19th century 20th century 21st century