Gau Cologne-Aachen
Gau of Nazi Germany
1931–1945
Flag of Gau Cologne-Aachen
Flag
Coat of arms of Gau Cologne-Aachen
Coat of arms

CapitalCologne
Area 
• 
7,100 km2 (2,700 sq mi)
Population 
• 
2,300,000
Government
Gauleiter 
• 1931–1945
Josef Grohé
History 
• Established
1 June 1931
• Disestablished
8 April 1945
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Gau Rhineland
North Rhine-Westphalia
Today part ofGermany
Belgium

The Gau Cologne-Aachen (German: Gau Köln-Aachen) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the north-central part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Before that, from 1931 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.

History

Establishment and government

Josef Grohé, Gauleiter of Gau Cologne-Aachen.

The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a party conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. In 1931, the Rhineland Gau was divided in two, and Josef Grohé became Gauleiter of the newly formed Gau Cologne-, a post he would retain until April 1945.[1] From 1933 onwards, after the Nazi seizure of power, the Gaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.[2]

At the head of each Gau stood a Gauleiter, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the Second World War, with little interference from above. Local Gauleiters often held government positions as well as party ones and were in charge of, among other things, propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onward, the Volkssturm and the defense of the Gau.[2][3]

Territorial expansion

Map of territorial changes affecting Eupen-Malmedy between 1920 and 1945, reflecting territorial expansion of Gau Cologne-Aachen.

In World War II, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940 and rapidly defeated and occupied Belgium for a second time. On 18 May, Hitler announced the re-integration of Eupen-Malmedy into Germany while the rest of the country remained under military occupation,[4] leading to the Gau's westward territorial expansion. The Belgian government in exile, however, refused to recognise the German annexation and maintained that Eupen-Malmedy was part of Belgium.[4] Further annexation plans by Grohé, which aimed to include non-German-speaking areas to a greater extent, including places like Vielsalm and Stavelot, did not succeed.

Allied bombardment

The Gau's capital, Cologne, was bombed in 262 separate air raids[5] by the Allies during World War II, all by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A total of 34,711 long tons of bombs were dropped on the city by the RAF.[6] 20,000 civilians died during the war in Cologne due to aerial bombardments.[7]

While air raid alarms had gone off in the winter/spring of 1940 as British bombers passed overhead, the first bombing took place on 12 May 1940.[8] The 30/31 May 1942 attack on Cologne was the first 1,000 bomber raid. Although Grohé was charged with responsibility for civil defense measures, there was little he could do to protect his jurisdiction from Allied air attacks, though he was awarded the War Merit Cross first class with Swords for his efforts in assisting the residents of his Gau.[1]

Allied invasion and occupation

Initial allied incursions

Allied forces crossed into the Gau in September 1944.

Aachen

Allied forces crossed into the border near Aachen on 12 September 1944.[9] On 13 September, von Schwerin was ordered to launch a counterattack against American forces penetrating southwest of Aachen, which he did, using elements of his panzergrenadier forces. The United States' VII Corps continued to probe German defenses, despite the resistance encountered on 12–13 September.[10] Between 14 and 16 September the US 1st Infantry Division continued its advance in the face of strong defenses and repeated counterattacks, ultimately creating a half-moon arc around the city.[11] This slow advance came to a halt in late September, due to the supply problem, and the diversion of existing stocks of fuel and ammunition for Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands.[12]

In October 1944 ensues the Battle of Aachen. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network on Germany's western border; the Allies had hoped to capture it quickly and advance into the industrialized Ruhr Basin. Although most of Aachen's civilian population was evacuated before the battle began, much of the city was destroyed and both sides suffered heavy losses. It was one of the largest urban battles fought by U.S. forces in World War II. The battle ended with a German surrender, but their tenacious defense significantly disrupted Allied plans for the advance into Germany.[13]

Eupen

Eupen, near the German-Belgian border, had been annexed into the Gau in 1940. The German-Belgian frontier was crossed by the allies in September 1944, with Eupen being captured on the 11th.[14]

Geilenkirchen

In November 1944, Operation Clipper led to the allies advancing in the area surrounding Geilenkirchen, in the western part of the Gau.

Allied advance stalls, German counterattacks

In the Battle of Hürtgen Forest from 19 September to 16 December 1944, the Germans successfully held back and stalled allied advance into the Gau.

In December 1944, Germany launched the Ardennes Offensive, putting the allies on the defensive and stalling their advance into Gau Cologne-Aachen. The offensive resulted in parts of the southwestern Gau near Malmedy being retaken by Germany.

Renewed allied advance

Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was conducted by the British Second Army between 13 and 26 January 1945.

On 25 January 1945, the allies captured Brachelen and reached the Ruhr, though advance beyond the Ruhr did not commence until a month later with Operation Grenade.[15]

Gau capital falls to the allies

Allied advance into Cologne, the Gau's capital.

The Battle of Cologne was part of Operation Lumberjack and refers to the Allied advance that took place from 5 to 7 March 1945, which led to the capture of the Gau's capital.[16] The allies captured Bonn shortly after.[17]

Timeline of allied advance

The timeline of the allied advance is detailed in the table below.

Date of capture Location Reference
11 September 1944 Eupen [14]
14 September 1944 Kornelimünster [18]
16 September 1944 Schevenhütte [19]
17 September 1944 Malmedy
2 October 1944 Palenberg [20]
3 October 1944 Übach [21]
4 October 1944 Hoverdor [22]
4 October 1944 Beggendorf [22]
5 October 1944 Merkstein-Herbach [23]
8 October 1944 Verlautenheide [24]
8 October 1944 Hill 231 [24]
12 October 1944 Birk [25]
13–21 October 1944 Aachen [26]
18 November 1944 Rischden [27]
18 November 1944 Tripsrath [27]
19 November 1944 Geilenkirchen [28]
Night of 19–20 November Süggerath [29]
20 November 1944 Prummern [29]
20 November 1944 Bauchem [30]
21-22 November 1944 Mahogany Hill [29]
22 November 1944 Eschweiler [31]
29 November 1944 Hürtgen
3 December 1944 Linnich
6 December 1944 Bergstein [32]
12 December 1944 Strass [32]
12 December 1944 Gey [32]
24 January 1945 Heinsberg
25 January 1945 Brachelen [15]
11 February 1945 Niederzier [33]
23 February 1945 Jülich
25 February 1945 Düren [34]
25 February 1945 Binsfeld (Nörvenich)
26 February 1945 Erkelenz [15]
27 February 1945 Elsdorf [35]
27 February 1945 Vettweiß [36]
27 February 1945 Sindorf (Kerpen) [37]
28 February 1945 Glesch [38]
1 March 1945 Bergheim [38]
2 March 1945 Niederaußem [39]
3-4 March 1945 Weilerswist [40]
5 March 1945 Rösberg [41]
5–7 March 1945 Cologne [16]
8–9 March 1945 Bonn [17]
26 March 1945 Eitorf
8 April 1945 Gau dissolved, some territories remain under German control [1]
9-11 April 1945 Siegburg [42]
12 April 1945 Refrath [43]
12 April 1945 Hoffnungsthal Camp
13 April 1945 Wipperfürth [44]
13 April 1945 Lindlar [44]
13 April 1945 Bensberg [43]
13 April 1945 Overath [45]

Fall of the Gau

With the allies having made significant inroads into the Gau, Grohé dissolved the Gau on 8 April 1945 and fled toward the Ore Mountains where he stayed until the end of the war before returning to western Germany.[1] In his diary entry of 3 April 1945, Joseph Goebbels harshly criticized Grohé's actions:

Our Gauleiters both in the West and the East have acquired a bad habit: having lost their Gau, they defend themselves in long memoranda seeking to prove that they were in no way responsible. For instance there is another one of these exposés, this time from Grohé. It is not in the least convincing. Despite a series of pompous declarations, Grohé has not defended his Gau. He deserted it before the civil population had been removed and now wants to present himself as a great hero.[46]

Grohé made a suicide attempt at the end of the war, escaped under a false name, was arrested in 1946 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison but never repented his views and died in 1987.[47]

Geography and demographics

The Gau had a size of 7,100 km2 (2,741 sq mi) and a population of 2,300,000, which placed it in mid-table for size and population in the list of Gaue.[48]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2012). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945. Vol. I (Herbert Albrecht – H. Wilhelm Huttmann). R. James Bender Publishing. pp. 397–406. ISBN 978-1-932970-21-0.
  2. 1 2 "Die NS-Gaue" [The Nazi Gaue]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Organization of the Nazi Party & State". nizkor.org. The Nizkor Project. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 O'Connell 2013, p. 41.
  5. ↑ Stadtlandschaften versus Hochstadt at www.koelnarchitektur.de "Internet portal for the architecture of Cologne". (In German).
  6. ↑ "Bomber Command Flight Archive". www.flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-10.
  7. ↑ "Cologne Museum: NS-DOK" (in German). Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Kriegserinnerungen 1940". Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Aachen '44 – die Schlacht um Aachen während des 2. Weltkrieges – lange Fassung -
  10. ↑ Hitler's Army, pp. 313–314
  11. ↑ Hitler's Army, pp. 315–318
  12. ↑ Hitler's Army, pp. 318–319
  13. ↑ Video: Allies Set For Offensive. Universal Newsreel. 1944. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  14. 1 2 Beck, Alfred M. (1985). United States Army in World War 2, Technical Services, The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-001938-8.
  15. 1 2 3 "Frühjahrsoffensive 1945 in Erkelenz – Das Virtuelle Museum der verlorenen Heimat". www.virtuelles-museum.com (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  16. 1 2 Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe : an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publications. p. 1644. ISBN 978-0824070298. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  17. 1 2 Balgaranov, Denis (2023-08-15). "Drought is exposing World War II munitions on the banks of the Rhine". www.themayor.eu. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  18. ↑ Paul Fabianek: Folgen der Säkularisierung für die Klöster im Rheinland – Am Beispiel der Klöster Schwarzenbroich und Kornelimünster, 2012, Verlag BoD, ISBN 978-3-8482-1795-3, S. 30/31, mit Auszügen aus den geheimen Tagesberichten der deutschen Wehrmachtsführung zur ‚‘Lage West‘‘ vom 13. bis 15. September 1944 (Heeresgruppe B/LXXXI A. K.).
  19. ↑ MacDonald, Charles B. (1963). The Siegfried Line Campaign. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History. United States Army. p. 80.
  20. ↑ Whitlock (2008), p. 39
  21. ↑ Whitlock (2008), p. 40
  22. 1 2 Whiting (1976), p. 98
  23. ↑ Yeide (2005), p. 68
  24. 1 2 Whiting (1976), pp. 106–108
  25. ↑ Whiting (1976), pp. 115–116
  26. ↑ Combined Arms in Battle Since 1939, p. 169
  27. 1 2 "The Battle for Tripsrath". Worcestershire Regiment. Retrieved 22 Jan 2010.
  28. ↑ "The Battle of Geilenkirchen – Battlefield Tours". 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  29. 1 2 3 MacDonald, Charles B. (1990) [1963]. "Chapter XXIII: The Geilenkirchen Salient". The Siegfried Line Campaign. US Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations. United States Army Center of Military History. pp. 551–555. CMH Pub 7-7-1. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  30. ↑ Hart, Stephen Ashley (2000). Montgomery and "colossal cracks": the 21st Army Group in northwest Europe. Greenwood Press. p. 95. ISBN 0-275-96162-1.
  31. ↑ Laufenberg, Haro von (2017-10-22). "Chronik zur Eschweiler Ortsgeschichte; Neueste und Zeitgeschichte 1930 - 1945". www.eschweilergeschichtsverein.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  32. 1 2 3 Marino, James (October 3, 2016). "Taking Hill 400: Army Rangers vs Fallschirmjägers". Warfare History. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  33. ↑ "VHS Rur-Eifel: Niederzier". www.vhs-rur-eifel.de. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  34. ↑ says, Gunter G. Gillot (2023-02-24). "Operation Grenade: Race to the Roer". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  35. ↑ www.wisoveg.de http://www.wisoveg.de/elsdorf/drucke-texte/elsdf-bomben.html. Retrieved 2023-08-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  36. ↑ "Zeitzeugenberichte in Bearbeitung". www.hgv-vettweiss.de. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  37. ↑ Norbert Kurt: Das Ziel war die Erft: Kölner Stadtanzeiger, 22. Februar 2005
  38. 1 2 "Glesch-Online-Geschichte & Statistiken". www.glesch-online.de. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  39. ↑ "Zweiter Weltkrieg: "Das waren grauenvolle Tage"". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). 2015-03-01. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  40. ↑ mediakustik webdesign, Carsten Arntz (c)2006-2010 (2008-09-20). "Meta-Tags in XHTML korrekt eingesetzt". mediakustik webdesign, Carsten Arntz (c)2006-2010 / http://www.mediakustik.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-24. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ↑ Träupmann-Tietze, Susanne (2020-03-05). "Historischer Blick zurück: Die weiße Fahne beendet den Krieg in Rösberg". General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  42. ↑ Manhold, Jörg (2020-04-09). "Kriegsende 1945: So endete am 9. April der Zweite Weltkrieg für Siegburg". General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  43. 1 2 Müller, Hans Peter (2020-04-13). "Wie der Krieg zu Ende ging". Bürgerportal Bergisch Gladbach (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  44. 1 2 "Christian J. Gabriel | Memorial Book of Wuppertal". www.gedenkbuch-wuppertal.de. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  45. ↑ "geschichtlicher Überblick – Stadt Overath". www.overath.de. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  46. ↑ Hugh Trevor-Roper (editor), Final Entries, 1945: The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels, Avon Books, 1978, pp. 374–375, ISBN 0-380-4-2408-8
  47. ↑ "Josef Grohé (1902–1987), Gauleiter der NSDAP" [Josef Grohé (1902–1987), Gauleiter of the Nazi Party]. rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de (in German). Landschaftsverband Rheinland. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  48. ↑ "Gau Köln-Aachen" [Gau Cologne-Aachen]. rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de (in German). Landschaftsverband Rheinland. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.

Works cited

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