Was the Feldherrnhalle heavily damaged during WWII?

[Panzer Rob]

Hi guys-

It has always been my understanding that the Feldherrnhalle survived the bombing raids on downtown Munich and at war's end was relatively intact, but if you read post #8 in the following thread you will see that one individual states otherwise:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...rgerbraukeller

Was the Feldherrnhalle in fact heavily damaged and subsequently repaired? Does anyone have any pictures of it from 1942 - 1950?

Thanks in advance.

[Greg]

Hi Rob,

I don't think the Feldherrnhalle was damaged much at all during the war, though the area around it was. Here is a photo taken by my father in 1946. It does look like the statue of General (Prince) von Wrede that would have been on the right pedestal was knocked down.

Best,
Greg

[Panzer Rob]

Hi Rob,

I don't think the Feldherrnhalle was damaged much at all during the war, though the area around it was. Here is a photo taken by my father in 1946. It does look like the statue of General (Prince) von Wrede that would have been on the right pedestal was knocked down.

Best,
Greg

Greg-

I didn't think so! The rear left hand (our right hand) corner looks to be missing, but all-in-all it's pretty much intact, just as I had always believed. Your picture, and this link should be enough proof the doubters. Thanks.


Quite ironic, that such a significant and "iconic" piece of third Reich history would survive the bombings (and the war) virtually unscathed, while the rest of the city was basically leveled to the ground. Granted, it was circumstance that led the FHH to become the "NAZI shrine" it was, but still... makes you think!

Thanks again! BTW, Awesome photo! What unit/branch of service was your father with?

Rob

[Greg]

Hi Rob,

Daddy was in the Army Air Corps, serving in the Occupation Army at that time, in a medium (B-26) bomb squadron stationed at Schliessheim Airfield near Munich. He took some other photos of Munich - here's the Marienplatz.

[Greg]

Someplace else in Munich.

Greg

[Greg]

Greg-

I didn't think so! The rear left hand (our right hand) corner looks to be missing, but all-in-all it's pretty much intact,


Rob

P.S. I don't think any of the Feldherrnhalle building is missing in the photo - the forward "sides" are open, and what we're looking at is just the open area at the side.

Greg

[Panzer Rob]

Greg-


It’s hard to tell- to me it looks like the rear corner section has been damaged, which could explain why the statue has been knocked down. Also, from that angle I don’t think we should be able to see that much of the rear edge… But then again you may in fact be correct! Pictures can be very misleading. Regardless, it appears to have survived relatively intact.

Hi Rob,

Daddy was in the Army Air Corps, serving in the Occupation Army at that time, in a medium (B-26) bomb squadron stationed at Schliessheim Airfield near Munich.

Awesome. My grandfather was in the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division and passed through Munich in April of 1945. He said he was totally shocked by the extent of the damage that had been done to center of the city, that it had basically been reduced to giant heaps of rubble.

When he was visiting my parents in 1968 (while my Dad was stationed in Munich) he said he simply couldn’t believe what an incredible job they did rebuilding the city, and that it was almost as if the war had never happened. “Amazing! You'd never know it was the same city!” he would always say whenever we asked him about it

[DonC]

I looked the Feldhernnhalle over pretty carefully when I was there in 2002. There were plenty of minor repairs, but I don't remember anything looking like an entire corner had been replaced. The shadow where the Nazi memorial plaque had been attrached from 33-45was still very evident...

My uncle was stationed near Munich in 1946-1947 with an Engineer unit. Their billet? The SS Schule at Bad Tolz! He told me that there were SS helmets piled up under lock and key in the basement storeooms of the barracks while they were there but no one was interested in that kind of thing (I can't imagine what else would have been in there as well - well, actually I can, and it is KILLING me! ). All he sent back were Hummel figurines for my grandmother and a nice set of porcellain dishes for my aunt.

[Nick_since_1985]

So the FHH still excist's today?

[TerryG]

Yes indeed. Here it is as seen last summer.

[DonC]

So the FHH still excist's today?

Yup, still there - bigger than Dallas!

Don

[TerryG]

I think Rob may be right about the damage at the rear of the right side. Here's a photo taken before the war.

[Nick_since_1985]

Thx for the pictures Terry

[Scott C.]

Looks like the same pigeons are still there!

Scott

[Nick_since_1985]

you think I see no pigeons on the new pic's...