TracesOfWar.com

Destroyed Evangelical City Chapel Darmstadt

(Germany - Hessen - Darmstadt)

The Evangelical City Chapel in Darmstadt was destroyed in the night of 11 to 12 september 1944. Darmstadt was completely destroyed by a bombardment of RAF Bomber Command on that night. A firestorm was created in the historical city centre, resulting in around 12,000 dead and 70,000 homeless. The total population of the city in those days was only 115,000, The massive destruction of the city can be measured prety clear with these numbers. Almost the entire historical centre was destroyed, it was never rebuild in it's full glory.

In 1954, this ruin was appointed as a war memorial.

Source

• Text: Fedor de Vries & Paul Moerenhout
• Photos: Wikimedia Commons
• BESELER, H., Kriegsschicksale Deutscher Architektur 1/2. Nord und Süd, Panorama Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2000.
• SCHMITH, K., Die Brandnacht. Dokumente von der Zerstörung Darmstadts am 11. September 1944, Reba-Verlag GmbH, Darmstadt, 1964.