THE following chart provides an overview of the cities in Germany that were defended and those that surrendered in 1945. It is not a comprehensive list but, rather, a preliminary survey based on the research done for this project. With the exception of those examples discussed at length in the book, it is based on secondary literature. A comprehensive work, especially one taking into account a wide breadth of local archives, would be a valuable asset.
A few considerations should be borne in mind when reading the list:
- The distinction between defense and surrender is not perfectly clear. In some cases, there was a token defense; in other cases, the majority of the city surrendered while pockets continued to resist.
- Many cities (as evidenced by their official histories online) claim a “peaceful surrender”. It seems that in some cases, this is a rather narrow view, meaning that the act of surrender itself was peaceful, but that it followed a prolonged and bloody defense. I have coded such cities as “defended.” When “surrendered” is indicated, it means that there was little to no defense before the surrender occurred.
- The actors named here should not universally be regarded as heroes. There are, for example, NSDAP mayors among these listed. The only criterion was action: did they act in a manner that contradicted military and political (NS) directives, either to defend and/or to carry out destructive measures?
- The success of disobedience is not a prerequisite for being on this list (an uprising in Munich failed, for instance, but it still deserves mention). There is nonetheless an unavoidable selection bias in that successful disobedience was more frequently recorded than disobedience that failed to ensure the surrender of a city.
- The Volkssturm has been considered a civilian organization.
| City/Town | surrendered or defended | civilian or military disobedience | Main actor(s) |
| Aachen | defended | see Chapter 14 | |
| Ahlen | surrendered | military | Oberfeldarzt Dr. Paul Rosenbaum |
| Altenberge (Münsterland) | surrendered | civilian | Mayor Bohn and other residents |
| Altenstadt (Bavaria) | surrendered | military | Oberst Kretschmann |
| Amrichshausen | surrendered | civilian | Local residents |
| Ansbach | surrendered | civilian | Robert Limpert |
| Aschaffenburg | defended | both | unidentified soldiers and civilians hanged for attempting to surrender |
| Aub | defended | military | Alfred Eck (soldier) |
| Augsburg | surrendered | civilian | Deutsche Freiheitsbewegung (German Freedom Movement); see Chapter 21 |
| Aurich | surrendered | both | Friedrich van Senden, Heinrich Alberts; Kampfkommandant Jaehnke |
| Bad Godesberg | surrendered | both | see Chapter 16 |
| Baden Baden | surrendered | ||
| Baldersheim (Unterfranken) | surrendered | both | Robert Limpert (see entry for Aub), two unnamed German soldiers |
| Beckum | surrendered | military | Maj. Rudolf Dunker (after being convinced by Dr. Paul Rosenbaum of Ahlen) |
| Berlin | defended | ||
| Bielefeld | defended | civilian | deputy mayor of Brackwede district; Bielefeld Mayor Budde |
| Binswangen | defended | ||
| Bonn | surrendered | ||
| Borghorst | defended | civilian | Mayor Reinbrecht, Pastor Kaup, unidentified factory owner, citizens (who deterred German soliders by keeping them drunk!) |
| Braunschweig (Brunswick) | defended | ||
| Braunsdorf | defended | ||
| Bremen | defended | military | unidentified Oberst |
| Bad Brückenau | defended | civilian | Mayor Dr. Trost, Deputy Mayor Karl Müller, Karl Schöppner, other residents |
| Brettheim | defended | Friedrich Hanselmann, Friedrich Uhl, Leonhard Gackstatter, Leonhard Wolfmeyer, other residents | |
| Butzdorf | defended | ||
| Chemnitz | defended | civilian | Otto Schmerbach, Erich Gatsche, various city officials and anti-fascist activists |
| Cologne (Köln) | partially defended | ||
| Coswig (Anhalt) | surrendered | civilian | local women, Acting Mayor Briedenhahn |
| Cottbus | defended | ||
| Crailsheim | surrendered once, defended once | See Chapter 20 | |
| Demmin | surrendered (abandoned) | civilian | Dr. Achterberg. Mass suicides also occurred. |
| Dillingen | surrendered | civilian | local mayor |
| Donauwörth | defended | ||
| Dortmund | defended (some districts surrendered) | civilian | local miners/engineers, Mayor Dr. Willi Banike |
| Dresden | surrendered (abandoned) | ||
| Duisburg | surrendered (mostly) | civilian | Volkssturm units (refused to report for duty) |
| Düsseldorf | defended | civilian | See Chapter 18 |
| Emden | defended | civilian | Mayor Carl Renken |
| Emsdetten | surrendered | civilian | Mayor Hülsmann |
| Erfurt | defended | ||
| Erlangen | defended | both | City commander Werner Lorleberg finally convinced by local mayor to surrender |
| Essen | surrendered | ||
| Frankfurt (am Main) | defended | both | Peter Fischer and other residents; Generalmajor Friedrich Stemmermann and a Major Umbach withdrew troops against orders |
| Freiburg | surrendered | both | Philomene Steiger, local commander Rudolf Bader; see Chapter 22 |
| Freising | surrendered | ||
| Füssing | surrendered | civilian | two groups of civilian negotiators |
| Gallin | surrendered (abandoned) | civilian | Volkssturm disbanded and fled |
| Garmisch | surrendered | civilian | unidentified civilian envoys |
| Gemünden | defended | ||
| Gera | defended | both | Wehrmacht and Volkssturm units (quickly dispersed) |
| Gollhofen | defended | civilian | local residents |
| Gotha | surrendered | military | Oberstleutnant Josef Ritter von Gadolla |
| Göttingen | surrendered | ||
| Greifswald | surrendered | both | see Chapter 24 |
| Halle (Saale) | defended | ||
| Hamburg | surrendered | see Chapter 25 | |
| Hannover | surrendered | ||
| Heidelberg | surrendered | see Chapter 20 | |
| Heilbronn | defended | see Chapter 20 | |
| Herbolzheim | defended | ||
| Hillmitzheim | defended | ||
| Holzheim | surrendered | ||
| Ingolstadt | defended | military | local commander Maj. Paul Weinzierl |
| Iserbegka | surrendered (abandoned) | civilian | Volkssturm disbanded |
| Jena | half surrendered, half defended | civilian | see Chapter 19 |
| Karlsruhe | surrendered | both | see Chapter 22 |
| Kassel | defended | see Chapter 19 | |
| Kellmünz | defended | ||
| Kerzendorf | surrendered (abandoned) | ||
| Kiel | surrendered (undefended) | Kapitänleutnant Otto Schlenzka, Charlotte Helen Rodewald, Kapitän zur See Wolfgang Kähler, commander Victor Petersen | |
| Koblenz | defended | ||
| Königshofen (ob der Tauber) | defended | ||
| Konstanz | surrendered | both | Mayor Mager, Major Brune |
| Kolberg | defended | ||
| Köpnick | defended | civilian | local residents (prevented erection of tank barricades) |
| Külso | surrendered | civilian | Volkssturm fled |
| Leipzig | defended | both | many unidentified residents, large numbers of anti-fascist activists (incl. Nationalkommitee “Freies Deutschland”), soldiers of the 662th Motorized Flak Regiment |
| Lemgo | defended | civilian | Mayor Wilhelm Gräfer |
| Lippstadt | surrendered | civilian | Franz Engelhardt and other union organizers/anti-fascists |
| Lohr | defended | civilian | six influential (but “defeatist) local citizens |
| Lörrach | surrendered | ||
| Lübeck | surrendered | ||
| Luko | surrendered | civilian | unidentified stove maker (Ofensetzermeister) |
| Magdeburg | defended | Cathedral Pastor (Domprediger) Martin, local lawyer named Ackermann, other local residents | |
| Mainz | defended | ||
| Mannheim | defended (then abandoned) | civilian | local mayor and other residents; see Chapter 20 |
| Memmingen | surrendered | both | Mayor Berndl (convinced to surrender at last minute; Wehrmacht allowed retreat) |
| Mühlanger | surrendered (abandoned) | civilian | Volkssturm fled |
| Münster | surrendered | civilian | unidentified city officials |
| Munich | defended | both | Hauptmann Rupprecht Gerngross, Freiheitsaktion Bayern; see Chapter 21 |
| Nennig | defended | ||
| Nienborg | surrendered | civilian | Jop Horstmöller, other local residents |
| Nuremburg | defended | both | see Chapter 20 |
| Oberstdorf | surrendered | military | Oberleutnant Karl Richter and other local soldiers |
| Ochsenfurt | defended | civilian | local women |
| Oldenburg | surrendered | both | Mayor Dr. Heinrich Rabeling and Oberstleutnant H.-H. Sander |
| Orscholz | defended | ||
| Osnabrück | surrendered (mostly) | ||
| Paderborn | defended (in suburbs) | military | unidentified soldiers |
| Passau | defended | civilian | Deputy Mayor Dr. Carl Sittler, Volkssturm commander Friedrich Stuis |
| Penzberg | civilian | Local miners | |
| Pforzheim | defended | ||
| Pfullingen | defended | civilian | local women |
| Potsdam | defended | ||
| Regensburg | surrendered | both | local women; Cathedral Pastor (Domprediger) Dr. Maier; Major Hüsson, Major Bürger, Gen. Tolsdorff; see Chapter 20 |
| Rostock | surrendered | civilian | Wilhelm Hörning and other anti-fascist activists, other local residents |
| Saarbrücken | defended (then abandoned) | civilian | Remaining Volkssturm disbanded |
| Schwäbisch Hall | surrendered | both | Mayor Wilhelm Prinzing und Police Captain Bulling, Leutnant Hüfner (convinced commander not to defend the city) |
| Schwäbisch Gmünd | surrendered | both | local Wehrmacht and Volkssturm commanders |
| Schweinfurt | defended | civilian | Speer (convinced Gauleiter to prevent destruction) |
| Schwerin | surrendered | ||
| Sindelfingen | defended | ||
| Soest | defended | civilian | local residents |
| Straach | defended | ||
| Stralsund | defended | civilian | Paul Reetz and other local residents |
| Staufen | defended | civilian | Mayor and local farmer |
| Stuppach | defended | ||
| Stuttgart | surrendered | both | Mayor Dr. Karl Strölin, Oberstleutnant Paul Marbach and General Kurt Hoffmann, local industrialists and residents |
| Treuenbrietzen | defended | ||
| Trier | surrendered | ||
| Tübingen | surrendered | both | Dr. Theodor Dobler, Oberst Schütz |
| Ulm | surrendered | both | Karl Eychmüller, local commander Oberst Fritz Teichmann |
| Ummeln | surrendered | civilian | three local women and an unidentified carpenter |
| Urlau (im Allgäu) | surrendered | military | Maj. Günter Zöllner, Sanitätsoffizier Friedrich Jung |
| Waldkirch | surrendered | military | soldiers assigned locally |
| Weimar | surrendered | civilian | Mayor Karl Otto Koch, Troistedt mayor Richard Weyde, other unidentified civilians |
| Wiesbaden | surrendered | both | Hermann Roos and other local resisters, commander Oberst Wilhelm Karl Zierenberg |
| Wittenberg | defended | both | local women, Leutnant Hermann Puhlmann and his units |
| Woltersdorf | surrendered | civilian | local residents, including a Frau Dorn |
| Würzburg | defended | ||
| Zerbst | surrendered | ||
| Zörnigall | surrendered (abandoned) | ||
| Zwickau | surrendered | civilian | Luftschutzpolizist Arno Rau, church caretaker (Kirchendiener) Fritz Schubert, and Schubert’s son |