End of the War

Heart of old city centre in ruins

Blesius Studio, June 1946

The market church and town hall were destroyed shortly before the end of the war. Lord Mayor Walter Harm, appointed in June 1945, thus meant it literally when he wrote to Carl Müller, living in Lübeck – both driven out of their positions in 1933 – in July 1945 of “the wreckage of our previous city administration”. 

Hamelin City Archive

Allied bullet case

around 1945

A week after crossing the Rhine, the Allied troops reached the Weser. At the beginning of April 1945, in front of the house of August Rabe from Haverbeck, who sought protection in the cellar with his family, an American tank was positioned and fired at the east bank of the Weser. After the capture of Hamelin, the tank withdrew, leaving behind the cases of fired ammunition. 

Wilhelm Rösemeier donated the souvenir to the museum in 2010.

Ending of the war and captivity: German soldiers are led over the Weser 

N.N., 7.4.1945

Hamelin railway station shortly before the ending of the war

Blesius Studio, March 1945

The Allies bombed Hamelin on 14.3.1945 to disable the railway station as an important transport node. The price was terribly high: Over 200 people were killed – most of them on the platforms or in nearby buildings. 

Hamelin City Archive

Blowing up of Hamelin bridges 

Blesius Studio, 1945/46 (2x) | Anna Elisabeth Appold, 1945/46

During the night of 5.4.1945, both Weser bridges were blown up by German units; an attempt, in vain, to halt the Americans at the Weser. On the same day, they constructed a pontoon bridge south of the city. After the end of the war, a pedestrian footbridge was built along the bridge ruins and later a temporary bridge for street traffic.  

Hamelin City Archive (2x) | Manfred Krüger

British garrison kitchen shift in Hamelin 

N.N., 1945

Directives of the British city commander Major Lyndon-Bell and Lord Mayor Harm in 1945

Hamelin City Archive

Fake stamp

Hamelin, 1945

Whoever wished to travel across the state after the end of the war required the approval of the military authorities. A Hamelin citizen forged permits using a home-made stamp, into which the numbers of various military units could be inserted. From the summer of 1945, as a precaution he no longer used the stamp: The turmoil of the first months had passed and the military administration was noticeably better organised. 

List of those executed in Hamelin

Hamelin, after 1949

Hamelin prison continued to serve law enforcement after the ending of the war.  It gained sad notoriety through the ca. 200 death sentences that the British carried out here until 1949. The exact number can no longer be determined, as the list was also compiled subsequently.  It began with the condemned in the Bergen-Belsen trial, observed worldwide, who were executed on 13.12.1945.

Item on loan: Hamelin juvenile institution

Certificate

Hamelin, 7.9.1945

In the first months after the war, the administration initially had to gain an overview to be able to organise the provision of supplies for the population, accommodation of refugees and reconstruction. Anna Lange also filled in an employment office questionnaire on “work planning” in September 1945, since only then would she receive food coupons.

Weapons delivery certificate

Hamelin, 1945

The Allies set up offices at the registry office on 8.4.1945. The disarming of the Germans was one of the first objectives. Martin Lange arrived one day later and handed over a total of ten weapons – hunting rifles and pistols – and two bayonets.

 

Hamelin, 7[th of April 1945] 19.00 town captured by troops of 30 US Inf Div. Arrival of 123 Det [= British unit] after dark […]. New Lord Mayor Herr W. Grote installed.

Hamelin, 8[th] 8.30 offices established at town hall [= registry office].

Hamelin, 9th 10.00 flags of United Nations hoisted on town hall. Proclamations & ordinances given out. Much looting & disorder in the town

Commanding Officer Major P. Lyndon-Bell, War Diary

By order of the military government I draw your attention to the fact that in future the use of official stamps with the national emblem and the Swastika is unconditionally and permanently forbidden […]

Lord Mayor Wilhelm Grote to the city administration, 28.5.1945

On behalf of the military government and district president, once again it is stated clearly that the military government rules, while the German government administrates.

Dewezet, 19.6.1945

Here are answers to the questions many Germans are asking today about the present severe food shortage crisis […]. Are British troops living from German provisions?

All requirements of the occupying army are met through imports.

Supporting argument on the food situation, around 1946

By order of the military government I draw your attention to the fact that in future the use of official stamps with the national emblem and the Swastika is unconditionally and permanently forbidden […]

Lord Mayor Wilhelm Grote to the city administration, 28.5.1945