Flensburg thereby lost its function as a district seat, but it remained an independent (district-free) town. The coat of arms was granted the town by King Wilhelm II of Prussia in 1901, and once again in modified, newly approved form on 19 January 1937 by Schleswig-Holstein's High President (Oberpräsident). Eisenhower made it clear that the Allies demanded immediate unconditional surrender on all fronts. However, he now realized that the Wehrmacht's position in the West was untenable. Their response was that all these atrocities had been undertaken in secret, and entirely by Himmler and the SS. The administration was referred to as the "Flensburg Government" because Dönitz's headquarters had been relocated to the port of Flensburg in northern Germany on 3 May 1945.[1]. But the same was not true of any other arm of government. When the streets became really bad, the citizens had to make the dung-filled streets passable with wooden pathways. Later, all Camp Ashcan prisoners were moved to Nuremberg to stand trial. on alcohol) or do not exist (on e.g. Jerome “Jerry” Golombiecki, 90 year old resident of Flensburg, MN, passed away Tuesday, December 1, 2020, at his residence. Flensburg was thereby, for a few weeks, the seat of the last Third Reich government. Cast your vote now to tell us how you think will win tonight. In 1945, Admiral Karl Dönitz, who was briefly President (Reichspräsident) of Nazi Germany once Adolf Hitler had appointed him his successor and then killed himself, fled to Flensburg with what was left of his government where they were taken prisoner by British troops and deposed in Mürwik at the Navy School in Mürwik (German: Marineschule Mürwik). Tedder signed on behalf of the Western Allies (Tedder acted as Eisenhower's representative at the Berlin ceremony, and signed "on behalf of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force", in his capacity as Deputy Supreme Commander). The United States Department of State had prepared for the diplomatic consequences of the war ending on the assumption that there would have been an explicit statement of unconditional surrender of the German state in accordance with the terms of a draft surrender text jointly agreed by the Allied powers in 1944. Conversely, Soviet statements consistently characterised the Flensburg government as an anti-Soviet clique, pursuing a truce in the west only to maintain resistance against Soviet forces in the east. During the Second World War, the town was left almost unscathed by the air raids that devastated other German cities. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third largest town in Schleswig-Holstein. When a further telegram from Bormann that day confirmed both the dismissal and Dönitz's appointment as Hitler's successor, Himmler's position became untenable, and Dönitz summoned him to Plön that night to tell him so. Some estimates put the percentage of Flensburgers who belong to it as high as 25%; other estimates put that percentage much lower. In a 1920 plebiscite, the city voted to remain a part of Germany. However, since 1999, the Oberbürgermeister has been chosen directly by the voters as once before. Dönitz had hoped to be able to appoint Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as Commander in Chief of the Army and Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), to which the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres) had been subject since 28 April 1945, but he could not be contacted on 2 May, and so Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was kept in the post; and in this capacity Keitel signed the act of surrender for the German High Command in Berlin on 8 May. Flensburg is home to Schleswig-Holstein's Central State Library, a university library, a town bookshop and the Danish Central Library for South Schleswig. The ploy was proposed as being put into effect on 5 May, but was overtaken by the outbreak of the Prague uprising on that date; and over the succeeding three days, far from surrendering Prague as an open city, SS forces launched a savage response to the insurgents, with brutal reprisals against Czech civilians and widespread destruction in central Prague. As they were leaving Rheinsberg on 28 April, Himmler asked Dönitz to confirm that he would be willing to serve in a successor government that Himmler might form. It works both ways, of course, and a rider boarding any bus in Flensburg need only name his destination anywhere in Schleswig-Holstein or Hamburg, pay his fare, and travel all the way to that destination on the one ticket. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) runs one of its oldest studios right near the Deutsches Haus. While on a GPS treasure hunt in the Palatinate forest (Pfaelzerwald), four teenagers come across an abandoned US military radio tower station that once was … Following a plea from Speer, Dönitz on 2 May rescinded the infamous 'Nero Decree' ordering scorched earth destruction of German infrastructure and industrial plants; but it was not until 6 May that counterpart destruction orders were rescinded for those territories remaining under German occupation, such as Norway. Thereon he assumed direction of further German surrender initiatives, exploring opportunities for partial surrender in the West. Antonov's response also noted that von Friedeburg had been referring matters back to Dönitz over the radio; and that Dönitz, in direct breach of the signed surrender terms, had still not issued orders for German forces in the east to remain in their positions but was instead instructing them to continue their resistance and flee westwards. Oluf-Samson-Gang, picturesque lane with little half-timbered houses, Flensburg's historic red light district. Himmler had retained his personal powerbase in the offices of the SS and security apparatus, which had been established in Lübeck in the north and then relocated to Flensburg. That day however, the British and Americans published Himmler's secret proposals for a separate peace in the West (which they had rejected). Scanty ruins of the town wall, at the Nikolaikirche and at the Franciscan friary, Deutsches Haus, gathering and event hall in the town core, Town Hall, seventeen-floor cube from 1964, in 1997 totally renovated, Gertrudenkirche, church in the Ramsharde (former neighbourhood where Neustadt now stands), folded after the, Jürgen-Hospital, abandoned after the Reformation, the new St. Jürgen-Kirche stands there today, Old Town Hall, 15th century, demolished in 1883, Government building, appellate court and house of the estates, from 1850 to 1864 political centre of the Duchy of Schleswig, gave way to a department store in 1964, Speicher Johannisstraße 78 (warehouse), bombed in 1945, Old Cemetery, parkland with noteworthy grave markers from the 19th century, October: "Flensburg Shortfilmfestival" (yearly), 1851: Friedrich Ferdinand Tillisch, Minister for the Duchy of Schleswig, 1911: Friedrich Wilhelm Selck, Commercial Councillor, Lütke Namens (1497–1574), the last Franciscan friar in Flensburg and critic of the, This page was last edited on 23 January 2021, at 01:12. Therefore, from 5 June 1945, Germany did not possess a native government; complete authority and sovereignty being thereafter assumed by the Allied Military Occupation Government. In addition, the German military continued to occupy considerable non-German-speaking territories in disparate locations across Europe. The Air Force had largely been destroyed or grounded due to lack of fuel, so no new appointment was made. Flensburg is situated in the very north of the German state Schleswig-Holstein, on the German-Danish border. In 1867 it passed from the Danish crown to Prussia. Once serious negotiations were underway for surrender to Eisenhower, Himmler and the SS apparatus had to be got out of the way. On 5 May Von Krosigk had dispatched Walter Schellenberg to Sweden as a personal emissary via Folke Bernadotte, hoping to establish diplomatic relations and to expedite a partial surrender of German forces in Norway. Jodl was to represent Dönitz in negotiations with the Allies in Reims, France. Townsfolk furthermore had their own cowherds and a swineherd. In the municipal election in 2003, Hans Hermann Laturnus was elected Stadtpräsident. In particular, the SS leadership had access to armed forces that were not under Dönitz's control, and remained firmly loyal to Himmler, whom Dönitz had surmised was personally unacceptable now to both the Western Allies and to the Wehrmacht. The place I was looking for was the Hans Christiansen Haus. Amalgamations Edit. The International Institute for Management and Economic Education is based in this building. The tower recalls Flensburg's old town rights and the old castle that was the town's namesake (Burg means "castle" in German). When it became obvious that the Germans were stalling, Eisenhower threatened to close the western front to all surrendering Germans from the east. Its goal was for the town and all or most of Schleswig, the whole area north of the Eider River, to be united with Denmark. Virtually unscathed in the Second World War, Flensburg, like other places in Germany, adopted a policy of getting rid of old buildings and building anew in the style of the times. On 27 April Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl, of the Army High Command, met at Rheinsburg with Karl Dönitz and Heinrich Himmler to discuss the war situation now that the fall of Berlin could not be averted. Then, the intact German Army units were used for new adventures in the East, immediately after capitulation. It is boondit bi the destricts o Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Dithmarschen an Nordfriesland, the Region Syddanmark in Denmark, the ceety o Flensburg an the Easter Seas. When Dönitz learned this, he radioed Jodl full powers to sign the unconditional German Instrument of Surrender at 1.30 am on the morning of 7 May. From there, trains run on the main line to Neumünster and on to Hamburg and to Fredericia, among them some InterCity connections as well as trains serving the line running to Eckernförde and Kiel. In group A, it is crunch time again for Szeged. Szeged aim to extend unbeaten streak in Flensburg. After Westerland on the island of Sylt it is Germany's northernmost town. From October 2006 Radio Flensburg broadcast as an internet radio. The present campaign has similar objectives. Before 1864, more than 50% belonged to what is now the minority, witnessed even today by the great number of Danish surnames in the Flensburg telephone directory (Asmussen, Claussen, Jacobsen, Jensen, Petersen, etc.). Another stop for regional trains to Neumünster is to be found in Flensburg-Weiche. The dissolution was carried out on 23 May. Himmler took the chair as the acknowledged deputy Führer; and, since the disgrace and dismissal of Hermann Göring, Hitler's expected successor. Himmler argued for a move to Prague, then the last major central European capital city in German hands, and closer to advancing American forces with whom he hoped to negotiate personally, but Dönitz refused to sanction any move outside the borders of Germany. from Maik Vukan PRO . Churchill's attitude in this was conditioned by his concern that Soviet forces might seek to establish themselves in Denmark; and he saw the temporary continuation of the Flensburg government in territory under British control as establishing a bargaining counter for the British in any negotiations regarding Soviet intentions in the western Baltic, while also facilitating the disbanding of German forces. [citation needed], Final dissolution of the Flensburg Government. In 1970, the Flensburg district was expanded to include the municipalities in the Amt of Medelby, formerly in the Südtondern district, and in 1974 it was united with the Schleswig district to form the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, whose district seat was the town of Schleswig. This power vacuum continued for almost two weeks until 5 June 1945, when the representatives of the Allies signed the Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Authority by Allied Powers, also known as the Berlin Declaration. From this position came what was later known as the First Mayor. Imperial Japan, the only remaining Axis belligerent, had already denounced the German surrender and Flensburg government, and seized the German embassy in Tokyo and seven U-boats. [22] By the time Dönitz emerged from the ship, the town's main street was filled with British tanks and troops rounding up the Germans. Flensburg's coat of arms shows in gold above blue and silver waves rising to the left a six-sided red tower with a blue pointed roof breaking out of which, one above the other are the two lions of Schleswig and Denmark; above is a red shield with the silver Holsatian nettle leaf on it. Flensburg's eastern shore is part of the Anglia peninsula. Flensburg is the site of a number of radio transmission facilities: on the Fuchsberg in the community of Engelsby, Norddeutscher Rundfunk runs a transmission facility for VHF, television and medium wave. In his speech announcing victory to the British people on 8 May, Churchill specified that the surrender had been authorised by “Grand Admiral Dönitz, the designated Head of the German State”. The town was becoming Protestant and thereby ever more German culturally and linguistically, while the neighbouring countryside remained decidedly Danish. Next to him was an Oberstadtdirektor ("Higher Town Director") who was leader of administration. Scenes as if in these locations, the time stand still. Heiliggeistkirche (Flensburg) Heiliggeistkirche (Danish: Franziskanerkloster Flensburg Franziskanerkloster, ruins from 1263, Kompagnietor another gate, built in 1602, shipping company and harbour gate, Alt-Flensburger Haus, where the Eckener brothers' parents lived, Norderstraße 8, Flensborghus, a former orphanage, today seat of the Danish minority, Norderstraße 76, Many merchants' houses running from the main streets, Südermarkt 9 (market) with the town's oldest house. Their mission was to liaise with the Dönitz "acting government" (as it was then referred to by the SHAEF) and to impose the will of the victorious Allied Powers on the German High Command. For the first few days the post of Minister of the Interior was kept vacant. On 3 May Dönitz sent Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, his successor as naval commander in chief, to the headquarters of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Lüneburg, with an offer to surrender the German forces in northwest Germany, together with the remaining elements of Army Group Vistula. Between 16 and 28 April, the prisoners had been moved eastwards and concealed by the SS in a flotilla of unseaworthy ships anchored in the Bay of Lübeck, where they then remained without food or medical attention. After the Second World War, the town's population broke the 100,000 mark for a short time, thereby making Flensburg a city (Großstadt) under one traditional definition. In Flensburg, the Flensburger Tageblatt, from the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (newspaper publisher) is published daily, as is the bilingual (German and Danish) Flensborg Avis. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig. He proposed instead, following discussions between Eisenhower and the British government, that he would accept the surrender of all German military forces in Northwestern Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, the Netherlands and Denmark, including naval forces and warships in those areas. Even the tramway, which opened in 1881 to horse-drawn trams, was electrified in 1906 and at one point ran four lines was replaced with buses in 1973. The rum blended in Flensburg then became a secondary industry in West Indian trade, as of 1864 no longer with the Danish West Indies, but with Jamaica, then ruled by the British. Also, on 5 May 1945, all German forces in Bavaria and South West Germany signed an act of surrender to the Americans at Haar, outside Munich, coming into effect on 6 May. Instead, a simplified, military-only version had been produced by the SHAEF, based largely on the wording of the partial surrender instrument of German forces in Italy that had been signed at Caserta. Sedcards. [10] Complying with that demand Dönitz issued a telegraphed communication from his "Supreme Commander Headquarters" (Der Oberste Befehlshaber Hauptquartier) granting the necessary full powers,[10][16] and accordingly the second Act of Military Surrender was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces and as acting Commander in Chief of the Army; by Admiral von Friedeburg as the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine (navy), by General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe (air force) as Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim, the Air Force Commander, had been injured. 13:15. During the Third Reich, the town head was appointed by those who held power locally at the time. However, in addition to losing most of its wartime conquests by this point, German forces had already been driven out of the vast majority of Germany's pre-Anschluss territory, in addition to Luxembourg as well as the Polish and French territories Germany had either annexed or placed under direct German administration in the early stages of the war. Here future managers can [...] know each other. Only in the 19th century, as a result of industrialization, was the town at last outstripped by the competition from cities such as Copenhagen and Hamburg. This definition of the surrender as an act of military capitulation side-stepped any Allied recognition of the German Government, or of Dönitz as Head of State. This trend was limited in Flensburg by a lack of money, but before the policy was finally stopped in the late 1970s, countless old buildings had been demolished in the north and east Old Town to be replaced by newer structures. Genealogy website FamilyTreeNow.com scours billions of birth, marriage, … Information about... Doctoral Study Dierk Hansen Phone: +49 461 805 2772 Fax: +49 461 808 952772 E-Mail: zulassung -PleaseRemoveIncludingDashes- @ uni [...] hours Monday 12:00 - 13:00 Wednesday 16:00 - 17:00 M.A. With ill-disguised reluctance Eisenhower agreed to defer to the British view for a short period, but issued a clarifying statement that the continuation of the Dönitz government did not constitute his being recognised as a head of state "but only and temporarily under the instructions of the Allied Commanders to carry out duties concerning the feeding, disarming and medical care of the German Armed Forces. In 1485, a great fire struck Flensburg. On 28 October 1412, Queen Margaret I of Denmark died of the Plague aboard a ship in Flensburg Harbour. [10] Some six hours after the signing, a response came from Antonov that terms of surrender were unacceptable, and that Susloparov could not sign it. [25], The declaration, issued in Berlin at 18:00 on 5 June 1945, and signed by General Eisenhower on behalf of the United States, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery on behalf of the United Kingdom, Marshal Georgiy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union, and by General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny on behalf of the French Provisional Government, contained the following statement:[25]. As was Dönitz's intention, this broadcast exacerbated Stalin's suspicions of the partial capitulations, especially as the greater parts of the 3rd Panzer Army and 21st Army had indeed been able to surrender to the British and Americans, rather than the Soviets. Eisenhower promptly agreed, and undertook to attend together with the rest of the SHAEF for the definitive signing in Berlin two days later. U.S. Army General Walter Bedell Smith (Eisenhower's chief of staff at SHAEF) signed on behalf of the Western Allies, and General Ivan Susloparov (the Soviet liaison officer at SHAEF) signed on behalf of the Soviets. [21][22], The communication regarding the dissolution of the acting government and the arrest of its members was made in a formal manner, around a table on Patria's deck: Dönitz, Jodl and Von Friedeburg sat on one side, with Major General Rooks, British Navy Captain Mund and Soviet General Trusov on the other. The B5253 stretch of Flensburg Way from the Farington household waste recycling centre to Longmeanygate would also be turned into a dual carriageway under the plans. The prisoners were later handed over to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. In Denmark, Flensburg seems to be mainly known for its "border shops" where, among other things, spirits, beer and candy can be purchased at cheaper prices than in Denmark. After Westerland on the island of Sylt it is Germany's northernmost town. From time to time plagues such as bubonic plague, caused mainly by rat fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis, a parasite found on brown rats), "red" dysentery and other scourges killed a great deal of Flensburg's population. Historians presume that there were several reasons for choosing this spot for settlement: Herrings, especially kippered, were what brought about the blossoming of the town's trade in the Middle Ages. Otherwise neither the Reims nor Berlin surrender instruments provided explicitly for the surrender of the German State, because the draft surrender document prepared by the European Advisory Commission (EAC) was not used. Beginning in 1874, however, the following communities or rural areas (Gemarkungen) were annexed to the town of Flensburg: Population figures are for respective municipal areas through time. At the time of its formation, forces loyal to the Nazi regime still held control of most of Austria and the Sudetenland, which had been annexed by Germany in 1938. Local transport is provided by several buslines such as "Aktiv Bus GmbH" and "Allgemeinen Flensburger Autobus Gesellschaft" (AFAG) along with others. In 1950, when Schleswig-Holstein brought its new laws for municipalities into force, the title Oberbürgermeister was transferred (once again) to this latter official. Jodl arrived a day later, ostensibly to sign such a general surrender. This transmitter is successor to the Flensburg transmitter through which the announcement of Germany's surrender was broadcast on 8 May 1945. [4] Nevertheless, since the WiF-group was divided into two different caucuses, the SSW-group has been the largest group in the Council Assembly. [19] Equally, following the unconditional surrender, Churchill was instrumental in urging that the Flensburg Government should not immediately be closed down, saying that he could see "great advantages in letting things slide for a bit". The Danish minority's archive is housed at the Danish Central Library. The SSW political party representing the minority usually gains 20–25% of the votes in local elections, but by no means are all of its voters Danes. This came too late for the concentration camp prisoners within the area who were now within Dönitz's nominal authority, while under the actual control of the SS. In the East, however, he continued to order German armies to fight on. Consequently, authorized by Dönitz, von Friedeburg returned on 4 May and signed an instrument of surrender for all German troops and ships in the Netherlands, Denmark and Northwestern Germany. Lepers were strictly isolated, namely at the St.-Jürgen-Hospital (Helligåndshospital, built before 1290), which lay far outside the town's gates, where the St. Jürgen Church is nowadays. Flensburg has no local transmitter of its own because Schleswig-Holstein's state broadcasting laws only allow transmitters that broadcast statewide. There is also a Danish Consulate-General in Flensburg.[3]. Flensburg (German pronunciation: [ˈflɛnsbʊʁk] (listen); Danish, Low Saxon: Flensborg; North Frisian: Flansborj; South Jutlandic: Flensborre) is an independent town (kreisfreie Stadt) in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. model-kartei.de ist die große Community für Models, Fotografen, Visagisten, Fotostudios und viele andere mehr. The departure of the SS leadership from Flensburg opened the way for the Dönitz government to offer its own version of how the murder squads, concentration camps and killing facilities had come into being. Antonov stated that, while the internal discussions of the German military in no way obligated the Allied Powers, Jodl's signature could not be accepted as valid if he was doing so as Dönitz's representative since Dönitz himself was clearly acting in bad faith. Just over an hour later, Jodl signed the documents. Prague was finally relieved by General Konev's forces on 9 May 1945. From 1993 to 1996, "Radio Flensburg" tried to establish a local Flensburg radio station by using a local transmitter just across the border in Denmark. The protecting powers complied fully with the Allied demands: Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland announced the breaking off of relations; consequently the German state ceased as a diplomatic entity on 8 May 1945. The waves refer to the town's position on the Flensburg Fjord. Fast forward two years and they have two kids and a new place in Flensburg, next to a fjord in Northern Germany. Burial took place in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Flensburg, MN. In any event, the Berlin Declaration maintained the continued existence of Germany as a national territory, implying the continuation of a German nation. Von Friedeburg asked for 48 hours to consider this; Montgomery allowed him 24. Since 25 April 1945, these lands had been cut in two by the American advance to join with Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe. The prices are lower because the value-added tax is lower and excise taxes are either lower (e.g. On 3 May 1945, the prison flotilla was sunk by the Royal Air Force in the mistaken belief that the ships were being prepared to evacuate leading SS personnel. The western Allies allowed the Flensburg government to continue to meet and conduct what business it could until 23 May when they arrested its members as prisoners of war, effectively dissolving the government although the dissolution was not formally recognized by the Allied Powers until 5 June.[2]. Home. [3] Goebbels committed suicide in the Berlin Führerbunker on 1 May. Heading the town stood foremost the Oberbürgermeister, who was chosen by the town council and whose job was as chairman of council and the municipality. Until the middle of the 19th century Flensburg's municipal area comprised a total area of 2 639 ha. Orders to fire-bomb the whole of the Old Town were only averted due to lack of fuel for Luftwaffe bombing units. Dönitz proposed that Frank should dissolve the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and resign in favour of a puppet Czech government, who would then declare Prague an open city and invite the Americans in. Dönitz's initial priority was to open communication with the commanders of German armies, and to establish with them their acknowledgement of his new authority as sole Supreme Commander of all German armed forces. The first directly elected Oberbürgermeister Hermann Stell died on 4 May 2004 of a stroke. The regime was officially dissolved on 23 May. On 21 May the SHAEF acceded to Soviet proposals that the Flensburg Government be dissolved and its members arrested as POWs. Ein Foto von Orexi aus 24937 Flensburg. Hotel am Fjord: Good hotel in central Flensburg - See 292 traveler reviews, 110 candid photos, and great deals for Hotel am Fjord at Tripadvisor. The question of the civil effects of the unconditional surrender was only settled later, when the Allies decided to dissolve the Flensburg Government (23 May) and issued the Berlin declaration, proclaiming the direct assumption of the supreme governmental authority in Germany by the Allied Powers (5 June). The upper classes and the learned at that time, however, were German, and since 1864, the German language has prevailed in the town.