Münster before and after the destruction in World War II. Photographs from a private photo album.

World War II originated from the criminal National Socialist (Nazi) regime and was carried out by German soldiers and other units (e.g., police battalions or SS and SD task forces), bringing combat operations, destruction, expulsion, deportation and the systematic murder of Jews and other population groups in labor and concentration camps across much of Europe. German war crimes also included the deliberate bombing of civilian targets, for example the Dutch port city of Rotterdam on 14 May 1940 or the English industrial city of Coventry on 14 November 1940. However, this war violence returned to Germany as Allied air superiority grew in the further course of World War II and developed into a systematic bombing campaign against German cities. Münster, too, as an important military center and a major transport hub for rail and canal connections, was the target of devastating American and British air raids. The first bombing raid on Münster took place on 16 May 1940. In total, from mid-May 1940 to the end of March 1945, 102 air raids were carried out against Münster, for example by 230 bombers on 10 October 1943 in two waves of attack. In the hail of tens of thousands of explosive bombs, incendiary stick bombs and incendiary canisters, the historically grown cityscape largely disappeared. As a result, more than 90% of the building stock in the city center was destroyed. By the end of the war only 25,000 people were living in the city; in 1940 there had still been 140,000 inhabitants. It is estimated that the air raids cost approximately 1,600 lives.

Below the contents of a private photo album are shown, which, primarily through small-format photographs, documents Münster before and after the destruction. The images follow the order in the aforementioned photo album. The predominantly private photos thus depict a lost cityscape and the catastrophic destruction caused by the air raids described above. Although there are already numerous illustrated publications on this topic, this photo album as a whole is unique and, as a noteworthy document of Münster's urban history, also belongs to the subject of Münster as a garrison.

Sources used and further reading:

Hans Galen and Michael Schadeitz (eds.), Friedensreiter und Sendschwert. Citizens and Soldiers. Companion book to the exhibition of the City Museum and the I Corps 07.07. - 08.10.1995.

Anja Gussek-Revermann, Münster. A Lost Cityscape, 1994.

Axel Schollmeier, The Lost Münster. Photos from 1940 to 1945, Münster 2014.

City Museum, Bombs on Münster. Exhibition about the air raids on Münster in World War II, 10 October 1983 - 29 April 1984.

Stadtmuseum Münster (eds.), History of the City of Münster in the City Museum Münster, Münster 1989.