Bombing of Dresden '45 and Bebelplatz in Berlin

 Bombing of Dresden in '45

Source: <http://www.alien8.de>

•  A series of Bombings that took place in February 1945
• American and British Bombers
• 3,300 tons
• Subsequent firestorm
•  Dresden - famous cultural center. 
• Museums and other historic buildings
• Frauenkirche
• Dresden had been largely untouched
• Refugees
•  Figures for the death count range from 35,000 to 135,000
•  The purpose behind the bombings was, "...not to reduce Germany's military potential but to strike terror into the population and leave it demoralized" (Schulze, 278).
• The city also took extensive damage
• 13 square miles (34 square kilometers)
• Bombings were used for a number of different things by the Nazis:
• Propaganda
• Brand air martial Sir Arthur Harris as a war criminal
• Three main reasons are commonly noted why this bombing was legitimate:
• The city was in Nazi Germany
• There were factories producing weapons for the war effort - also, it was a rail base of send troops to the Russian front
• Prove military might
•  Critics question whether these were legitimate reasons to bomb the city
• Didn't end the war
• Using Germany as a  "proving ground"

• Efforts to Rebuild

Source: <http://www.cleanme.us>

Bebelplatz in Berlin

Source: <http://www.monika-gruetters.de>

• Unter den Linen Boulevard
• Opernplatz - 1740; Changed in 1947 to Bebelplatz - August Beble; Social Democratic Party of Germany
• Fredric the II - Forum Fridericianum

• State Opera House of Berlin - initially the only one completed

Source: <http://www.ferienwohnung-zimmer-berlin.de>

•  First building - lead to name change
• Destroyed in WWII
• Rebuilt in the 1950s
• St. Hedwig's Cathedral

Source: <http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de>

•  Began construction in 1747
• Named for St. Hedwig - Duchess of Silesia
• Silesian immigrants
• Principal church of the Berlin diocese
• The Former Royal Library

Source: <http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de>

• First independent library structure
• Fire in 1945
• Restored from 1963 to 1969
• The Old Palace
• Last two are now part of Humboldt University
• May 10, 1933 Book Burning
• Joseph Goebbels - Minister of Propaganda
• "...cultural life in German was largely manipulated and made to serve the needs of the National Socialist state..." (Schulze, 252).
• Weimer culture books (e.g. All Quite on the Western Front; The Magic Mountain) 
• Monument in 1995

Source: <http://people.hsc.edu>

Sources:

 

"Bebelplatz." Berlin. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/bebelplatz.htm>.

 

"Bebelplatz." Berlin. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.visitberlin.de/en/spot/bebelplatz>.

 

"The Bombing of Dresden." The Bombing of Dresden. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/bombing_of_dresden.htm>.

 

"Death Toll Debate: How Many Died in the Bombing of Dresden?" SPIEGEL ONLINE. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/death-toll-debate-how-many-died-in-the-bombing-of-dresden-a-581992.html>.

 

"Forum Fridericianum - "Kommode"" Forum Fridericianum - "Kommode" N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.berlin-experience.de/pictures/fofr_1_fr.htm>.

 

"Information Portal to European Sites of Remembrance." Information Portal to European Sites of Remembrance. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.memorialmuseums.org/eng/staettens/view/1417/Book-Burning-Memorial>.

 

"The National Archives | Heroes & Villains | Churchill & Dresden | What Did the Bombing Achieve?" The National Archives | Heroes & Villains | Churchill & Dresden | What Did the Bombing Achieve? N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g1/cs2/>.

 

"Real History and the Bombing of Dresden." Real History and the Bombing of Dresden. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/05/10/Dresden_011105.html>.

 

"Reconstruction." Staatsoper Unter Den Linden Im Schiller Theater. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en_EN/show/opera_reconstruct>.

 

Schulze, Hagen. Germany: A New History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1998. Print.

"Unter Den Linden." Monuments in Berlin / Senate Department for Urban Development in Berlin. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/bebelplatz.shtml>.

 

"Welcome!" St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/domgemeinde/welcome>.