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The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every Pentecost weekend,[122] and the Christopher Street Day are both supported by the city's government.[123] Sony Vaio VGN-SR57S Battery Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival, Berliner Festspiele, which include the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress. Sony Vaio VGN-FW56Z Battery [edit]Gay life Gay Bear in the gay area at Nollendorfplatz Berlin has a long history of gay culture and influence on popular entertainment, and according to some authors, in the 1920s the city was the Gay Capital of Europe.[124] Today, the city has a huge number of gay clubs and festivals, HP Pavilion dv6-1210SA Battery such as Easter fetish week (Easter in Berlin), Berlin Pride (Christopher Street Day) central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event celebrated on the last weekend of June Folsom Europe and Hustlaball. Berlin is also leading Europe in the number of fetish clubs. HP Pavilion dv6-1215SA Battery Easter in Berlin and "Folsom Europe Berlin" are the biggest gay fetish festivals in Europe.[citation needed] Annual gay highlights in Berlin are also the gay and lesbian street festival in Berlin-Sch neberg (Lesbisch-schwules Stadtfest) and Kreuzberg Pride in June. The largest gay areas in Berlin are located in Sch neberg close to Nollendorfplatz and in Prenzlauer Berg at the Sch nhauser Allee subway station.[125][126] HP Pavilion dv6-1120EA Battery [edit]Galleries and museums See also: List of museums and galleries in Berlin The Jewish Museum presents an exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. Berlin is home to 153 museums.[55] HP Pavilion dv6-1120SA Battery The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben.[19] As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the Altes Museum (Old Museum) was built in the Lustgarten. HP Pavilion dv6-1140EA Battery The Neues Museum (New Museum), which displays the bust of Queen Nefertiti,[127] Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of their collections. HP Pavilion dv6-1210EA Battery Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The Gem ldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, HP Pavilion dv6-2010sa Batterywhile the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th-century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, located in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Bauhaus Archive is an architecture museum. HP Pavilion dv6-1108ca Battery The reconstructed Ishtar Gate of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum. The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history.[128] The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. > HP Pavilion dv6-1025ef BatteryThe Museum f r Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a brachiosaurus), and a preserved specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.[129] HP Pavilion dv6-1216SA Battery HP Pavilion dv6-1005ea Battery In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War) and the Br cke Museum (an art museum). In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi), HP Pavilion dv6-1330SA Battery is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum, a private venture which exhibits comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East. HP Pavilion dv6-1010ea BatteryThe Beate Uhse Erotic Museum near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.[130] [edit]Performing arts See also: Music in Berlin Sir Simon Rattle conducting the renowned Berlin Philharmonic. Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters.[55] The Deutsches Theater in Mitte was built in 1849-50 and has operated continuously since then, except for a one-year break (1944-45) due to the Second World War. HP Pavilion dv6-1013ea Battery The Volksb hne at Rosa Luxemburg Platz was built in 1913-14, though the company had been founded in 1890. The Berliner Ensemble, famous for performing the works of Bertolt Brecht, was established in 1949, not far from the Deutsches Theater. HP Pavilion dv6-2110EA Battery The Schaub hne was founded in 1962 in a building in Kreuzberg, but in 1981 moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurf rstendamm. Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin has three major opera houses: the Deutsche Oper, the Berlin State Opera, and the Komische Oper. The Berlin State Opera on Unter den Linden opened in 1742 and is the oldest of the three. HP Pavilion dv5-1044ca Battery Its current musical director is Daniel Barenboim. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in operettas and is located at Unter den Linden as well. The Deutsche Oper opened in 1912 in Charlottenburg. HP Pavilion dv6-2114A Battery During the division of the city from 1961 to 1989 it was the only major opera house in West Berlin. The city's main venue for musical theatre performances is the Theater des Westens (built 1895). HP Pavilion dv5-1034ca Battery There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world;[131] it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan.[132] HP Pavilion dv5-1015ea BatteryThe current principal conductor is Simon Rattle.[133] The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin, since the Philharmonic was based in West Berlin. Its current principal conductor is Lothar Zagrosek. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.[134] HP Pavilion dv6-2112SA Battery [edit]Cuisine The currywurst was invented in Berlin Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Twelve restaurants in Berlin have been included into the Michelin guide, which ranks the city at the top for the number of its restaurants having this distinction in Germany.[135] HP Pavilion DV4-1190EA Battery Apart from that, Berlin is well known for its vast offering of vegetarian, vegan and otherwise sustainability-oriented food, such as fair trade goods or organic food. Berlin is one of the cities with the most vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the world.[136] HP Pavilion dv5-1007ca Battery Many local foods originated from north-German culinary traditions and include rustic and hearty dishes with pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers or potatoes. Typical Berliner fares include Currywurst, invented in 1949,[137] Eisbein, the Berliner known in Berlin though as a Pfannkuchen, and Leber Berliner Art (Berlin-style liver).[138] HP Pavilion DV4-1210EA Battery Turkish and Arab immigrant workers brought their culinary traditions to the city; for example, the d ner kebab, falafel and lahmacun, which have become common fast-food staples. The modern fast-food version of the d ner was invented in Berlin in 1971.[139] HP Pavilion DV5-1002EA Battery [edit]Recreation The Zoologischer Garten Berlin is the most visited zoo in Europe and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world.[140] It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut,[141] HP Pavilion dv5-1008ea Battery born in December 2006.[142] The city's other zoo is Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 on the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of Lichtenberg. HP Pavilion dv5-1010ea Battery Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of 43 hectares (110 acres) and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world.[citation needed] Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, site of the 1985 Bundesgartenschau, and the Erholungspark Marzahn, promoted under the name Gardens of the world.[143] HP Pavilion dv5-1012ea Battery The Tiergarten is Berlin's largest park located in Mitte and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenn .[144] In Kreuzberg the Viktoriapark provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin. Treptower Park beside the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. HP Pavilion dv5-1015ea BatteryThe Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city. Its summit is man-made and covers a Second World War bunker and rubble from the ruins of the city; at its foot is Germany's main memorial to Polish soldiers. HP Pavilion dv5-1011ea Battery Berlin is known for its numerous beach bars along the river Spree. Together with the countless caf s, restaurants and green spaces in all districts, they create an important source of recreation and leisure time.[145] HP Pavilion dv5-1009ea Battery [edit]Sports The Olympiastadion hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup final. The annual Berlin Marathon is known as a flat and fast course. Berlin has established a high-profile reputation as a host city of international sporting events.[146] Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.[147] The IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in the Olympiastadion in August 2009.[148] The annual Berlin Marathon and the annual F Golden League event ISTAF for athletics are also held here.[149] HP Pavilion DV5-1210EA BatteryThe FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near Alexanderplatz to present a beach volleyball Grand Slam every year. Open Air gatherings of several hundred thousands spectators have become popular during international football competitions, HP Pavilion DV5-1005EA Battery like the World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship. Many fans and viewers come together to watch the matches on huge video screens. The event is known as the Fan Mile and takes place at the Brandenburg Gate every two years.[150] HP Pavilion DV5-1130EA Battery Several major clubs representing the most popular spectator sports in Germany have their base in Berlin. The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II.[f] Starting on 16 April 1945, HP Pavilion dv6-3180ea Battery the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula-Oder Offensive and advanced westward as much as 40 kilometres a day through East Prussia, Lower Silesia, East Pomerania, and Upper Silesia, temporarily halting on a line 60 kilometres east of Berlin along the Oder River.[13] HP Pavilion dv6-3140sa Battery When the offensive resumed, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. The Battle in Berlin lasted from 20 April until the morning of 2 May. HP Pavilion dv6-3130sa Battery The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, when the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici, correctly anticipated that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder River. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, HP Pavilion dv6-3125sa Batterythe Soviets managed to encircle the city as a result of their success in the battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. During 20 April 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov started shelling Berlin's city centre, HP Pavilion dv6-3120sa Batterywhile Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed from the south through the last formations of Army Group Centre. The German defences were mainly led by Helmuth Weidling and consisted of several depleted, badly equipped, and disorganised Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, HP Pavilion dv6-3116sa Battery the latter which ironically included many SS foreign volunteers, as well as many Volkssturm and Hitler Youth members. Within the next few days, the Soviets rapidly advanced through the city and reached the city centre where close-quarters combat raged. HP Pavilion dv6-3115sa Battery Before the battle was over, German F hrer Adolf Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. The city's defenders finally surrendered on 2 May. However, fighting continued to the north-west, HP Pavilion dv6-3110sa Battery west and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May (9 May in the Soviet Union) as German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets. HP Pavilion dv6-3110ea Battery Starting on 12 January 1945, the Red Army began the Vistula-Oder Offensive across the Narew River and, from Warsaw, a three-day operation on a broad front which incorporated four army Fronts.[14] On the fourth day, the Red Army broke out and started moving west, up to 30 to 40 km per day, taking East Prussia, Gda sk and Pozna , drawing up on a line 60 km east of Berlin along the Oder River.[13 HP Pavilion dv6-3100sa Battery The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsf hrer-SS Heinrich Himmler,[15] attempted a counter-attack, but this had failed by 24 February.[16] The Red Army then drove on to Pomerania, clearing the right bank of the Oder River, thereby reaching into Silesia.[13] ] HP Pavilion dv6-3085ea Battery In the south the Siege of Budapest raged. Three German attempts to relieve the encircled Hungarian capital city failed and Budapest fell to the Soviets on 13 February.[17] Adolf Hitler insisted on a counter-attack to recapture the Drau-Danube triangle.[18] HP Pavilion dv6-3070ea Battery The goal set was to secure the oil region of Nagykanizsa and regain the Danube River for future operations, [19] but the depleted German forces had been given an impossible task.[20 HP Pavilion dv6-3065ea Battery] By 16 March, the German Lake Balaton Offensive had failed, and within 24 hours a counter-attack by the Red Army took back everything the Germans had gained in ten days.[21] On 30 March, the Soviets entered Austria, and in the Vienna Offensive they finally captured Vienna on 13 April.[22] HP Pavilion dv6-3060sa Battery Between June and September 1944, the Wehrmacht had lost more than a million men, and lacked the fuel and armaments needed to operate effectively.[23] On 12 April 1945, Adolf Hitler, who had earlier decided to remain in the city against the wishes of his advisers, HP Pavilion dv6-3005sa Battery heard the news that the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died.[24] This briefly raised false hopes in the F hrerbunker that there might yet be a falling out among the Allies and that Berlin would be saved at the last moment, as had happened once before when Berlin was threatened (see the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg).[25] HP Pavilion dv6-3010sa Battery HP Pavilion dv6-3055sa Battery No plans were made by the Western Allies to seize the city by a ground operation.[26] The Supreme Commander of the Western Allied Forces, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, envisioning excessive friendly fire if both armies attempted to occupy the city at once, HP Pavilion dv6-3015sa Battery [27] lost interest in the race to Berlin and saw no further need to suffer casualties by attacking a city that would be in the Soviet sphere of influence after the war.[28] The major Western Allied contribution to the battle was the bombing of Berlin during 1945.[2HP Pavilion dv6-3020sa Battery 9] During 1945 the United States Army Air Forces launched a number of very large daytime raids on Berlin, and for 36 nights in succession scores of RAF Mosquitos bombed the German capital, ending on the night of 20/21 April 1945 just before the Soviets entered the city.[30] HP Pavilion dv6-3025sa Battery [edit]Preparations Further information: Order of battle for the Battle of Berlin The Soviet offensive into central Germany what later became East Germany had two objectives. Stalin did not believe the Western Allies would hand over territory occupied by them in the post-war Soviet zone, HP Pavilion dv6-3050sa Battery so he began the offensive on a broad front and moved rapidly to meet the Western Allies as far west as possible. But the overriding objective was to capture Berlin.[31] HP Pavilion dv6-3050eo BatteryThe two goals were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin were taken. Another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the German atomic bomb program.[32] HP Pavilion dv6-3045sa Battery On 6 March, Hitler appointed Lieutenant General Helmuth Reymann commander of the Berlin Defence Area, replacing Lieutenant General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild.[33] HP Pavilion dv6-3040sa Battery Red Army and 1st Polish Army on the way to Berlin. On 20 March, General Gotthard Heinrici was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula replacing Reichsf hrer-SS Heinrich Himmler.[34] HP Pavilion dv6-3035sa Battery Heinrici was one of the best defensive tacticians in the German army and he immediately started to lay defensive plans. Heinrici correctly assessed that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder River and along the main east-west Autobahn.[35] HP Pavilion dv6-3030sa Battery He decided not to try to defend the banks of the Oder with anything more than a light skirmishing screen. Instead, Heinrici arranged for engineers to fortify the Seelow Heights which overlooked the Oder River at the point where the Autobahn crossed them.[36Sony VAIO PCG-3B1M Battery ] This was some 17 kilometres west of the Oder and 90 kilometres east of Berlin. Heinrici thinned out the line in other areas to increase the manpower available to defend the heights. German engineers turned the Oder's flood plain, already saturated by the spring thaw, into a swamp by releasing the water from a reservoir upstream. Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery Behind plain on the plateau, the engineers built three belts of defensive emplacements[36] reaching back towards the outskirts of Berlin (the lines nearer to Berlin were called the Wotan position).[37] Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery These lines consisted of anti-tank ditches, anti-tank gun emplacements, and an extensive network of trenches and bunkers.[37][36] On 9 April, after a long resistance, K nigsberg in East Prussia finally fell to the Red Army.[38] This freed up Marshal Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front to move west to the east bank of the Oder river.[38] Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery Marshal Georgy Zhukov concentrated his 1st Belorussian Front, which had been deployed along the Oder river from Frankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the Seelow Heights.[3 Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery9] The 2nd Belorussian Front moved into the positions being vacated by the 1st Belorussian Front north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress, gaps were left in the lines and the remnants of General Dietrich von Saucken's German II Army, Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery which had been bottled up in a pocket near Danzig, managed to escape into the Vistula Delta.[40] To the south, Marshal Konev shifted the main weight of the 1st Ukrainian Front out of Upper Silesia and northwest to the Neisse River.[3] Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery The three Soviet Fronts had altogether 2.5 million men (including 78,556 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army), 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 artillery pieces and mortars, 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rocket launchers (nicknamed 'Stalin's Pipe Organs'), and 95,383 motor vehicles, many manufactured in the US.[3] Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery [edit]Battle of the Oder-Neisse Main article: Battle of the Oder-Neisse Soviet artillery bombarding German positions during the battle for Seelow Heights The sector in which most of the fighting in the overall offensive took place was the Seelow Heights, the last major defensive line outside Berlin. Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery [37] The Battle of the Seelow Heights, fought over four days from 16 April until 19 April, was one of the last pitched battles of World War II: almost one million Red Army soldiers and more than 20,000 tanks and artillery pieces were deployed to break through the "Gates to Berlin" Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery which were defended by about 100,000 German soldiers and 1,200 tanks and guns.[41][42] The Soviet forces led by Zhukov broke through the defensive positions, having suffered about 30,000 casualties, while the Germans lost 12,000 personnel.[43]. Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M Battery During 19 April, the fourth day, the 1st Belorussian Front broke through the final line of the Seelow Heights and nothing but broken German formations lay between them and Berlin.[44] The 1st Ukrainian Front, having captured Forst the day before, was fanning out into open country.[45 Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery One powerful thrust by Gordov's 3rd Guards Army and Rybalko's 3rd and Lelyushenko's 4th Guards Tank Armies were heading northeast towards Berlin while other armies headed west towards a section of United States Army front line southwest of Berlin on the Elbe.[46] With these advances, Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery the Soviet forces drove a wedge between the German Army Group Vistula in the north and Army Group Centre in the south.[46] ] Sony VAIO PCG-7141M Battery By the end of the day, the German eastern front line north of Frankfurt around Seelow and to the south around Forst had ceased to exist. These breakthroughs allowed the two Soviet Fronts to envelop the German 9th Army in a large pocket west of Frankfurt. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery Attempts by the IX Army to break out to the west resulted in the Battle of Halbe.[42] The cost to the Soviet forces had been very high, with over 2,807 tanks lost between 1 April and 19 April, including at least 727 at the Seelow Heights.[47] Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery In the meantime, RAF Mosquitoes were conducting large tactical air raids against German positions inside Berlin on the nights of 15 April (105 bombers), 17 April (61 bombers), 18 April (57 bombers), 19 April (79 bombers) and 20 April (78 bombers).[48] Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery Sony VAIO PCG-8152M Battery [edit]Encirclement of Berlin 9 March 1945 photo of Joseph Goebbels handing Iron Cross II class to 16-year-old Hitler Youth Willi H bner after capture of Lauban On 20 April, Hitler's birthday, Soviet artillery of the 1st Belorussian Front began to shell Berlin and did not stop until the city surrendered: the weight of ordnance delivered by Soviet artillery during the battle was greater than the tonnage dropped by Western Allied bombers on the city.[49] Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M Battery While the 1st Belorussian Front advanced towards the east and north-east of the City, the 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed through the last formations of the northern wing of Army Group Centre and had passed north of Juterbog, well over halfway to the American front line on the river Elbe at Magdeburg.[50Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery ] To the north between Stettin and Schwedt, the 2nd Belorussian Front attacked the northern flank of Army Group Vistula, held by Hasso von Manteuffel's III Panzer Army.[47] During the next day, the Bogdanov's 2nd Guards Tank Army advanced nearly 50 km north of Berlin and then attacked south west of Werneuchen. The Soviet plan was to encircle Berlin first and then to envelop the IX Army.[51] Sony VAIO PCG-31311M Battery Volkssturmmann with Panzerschreck, Berlin, April 1945 The command of the V Corps, trapped with the IX Army north of Forst, passed from IV Panzer Army to IX Army. The corps was still holding onto the Berlin-Cottbus highway front line.[52 Sony VAIO PCG-31111M Battery] Field Marshal Ferdinand Sch rner Army Group Center launched a counter-offensive aiming at breaking through to Berlin from the south and making a successful initial incursion (the Battle of Bautzen) in the 1st Ukrainian Front region, engaging the 2nd Polish Army and elements of the Red Army's 52nd Army and 5th Guard Army.[53Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery ] When the old southern flank of IV Panzer Army had some local successes counter-attacking north against 1st Ukrainian Front, Hitler gave orders which showed that his grasp of military reality was completely gone, and ordered IX Army to hold Cottbus and to set up a front facing west.[54] Sony VAIO PCG-81112M Battery Then they were to attack the Soviet columns advancing north. This would supposedly allow them to form a northern pincer which would meet the IV Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it. Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery 55] They were to anticipate a southward attack by the III Panzer Army and to be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack which would envelop 1st Belorussian Front, which would be destroyed by SS-General Felix Steiner's Army Detachment advancing from north of Berlin.[56] Later in the day, Sony VAIO PCG-7186M Battery when Steiner explained that he did not have the divisions to do this, Heinrici made it clear to Hitler's staff that unless the IX Army retreated immediately it would be enveloped by the Soviets; and he stressed that it was already too late for it to move north-west to Berlin and it would have to retreat west.[5 Sony VAIO PCG-7171M Battery6] Heinrici went on to say that if Hitler did not allow it to move west he would ask to be relieved of his command.[57] Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery On 22 April, at his afternoon situation conference, Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he realised that his plans of the day before were not going to be realised. He declared that the war was lost; he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay on in Berlin until the end and then kill himself.[58] Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M Battery In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, General Alfred Jodl speculated that the XII Army, under the command of General Walther Wenck, that was facing the Americans, could move to Berlin because the Americans, already on the Elbe River, were unlikely to move further east. Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M Battery This assumption was based on his viewing of the captured Eclipse documents, which organized the partition of Germany among the Allies.[59] Hitler immediately grasped the idea and within hours Wenck was ordered to disengage from the Americans and move the XII Army north-east to support Berlin.[56Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M Battery ] It was then realised that if the IX Army moved west it could link up with the XII Army. In the evening Heinrici was given permission to make the link up.[60] Elsewhere, the 2nd Belorussian Front had established a bridgehead over 15 km deep on the west bank of the Oder, and was heavily engaged with the III Panzer Army.[61] Sony VAIO PCG-51112M Battery The IX Army had lost Cottbus and was being pressed from the east. A Soviet tank spearhead was on the Havel river to the east of Berlin, and another had at one point penetrated the inner defensive ring of Berlin.[62] Sony VAIO PCG-7196M Battery Soviet Katyusha multiple rocket launchers fire in Berlin, April 1945. This example is a BM-13N, 132 mm rocket launcher mounted on a Lend-Lease U.S. Studebaker truck. Sony VAIO PCG-51211M Battery A Soviet war correspondent gave the following account, in the style of World War II Soviet journalism, of an important event that day the capital was now within range of field artillery:[63] Sony VAIO PCG-7195M Battery On the walls of the houses we saw Goebbels' appeals, hurriedly scrawled in white paint: 'Every German will defend his capital. We shall stop the Red hordes at the walls of our Berlin.' Just try and stop them! Sony VAIO PCG-7194M Battery Steel pillboxes, barricades, mines, traps, suicide squads with grenades clutched in their hands all are swept aside before the tidal wave. Drizzling rain began to fall. Near Bisdorf I saw batteries preparing to open fire. 'What are the targets?' I asked the battery commander. Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery Centre of Berlin, Spree bridges, and the northern and Stettin railway stations,' he answered. Then came the tremendous words of command: 'Open fire at the capital of Fascist Germany.' I noted the time. It was exactly 8:30 a.m. on 22 April. Ninety-six shells fell in the centre of Berlin in the course of a few minutes. Sony VAIO PCG-7192M Battery On 23 April, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front continued to tighten the encirclement, and severed the last link between the German IX Army and the city.[62] Elements of the 1st Ukrainian Front continued to move westward and started to engage the German XII Army moving towards Berlin. Sony VAIO PCG-51111M Battery On this same day, Hitler appointed General Helmuth Weidling as the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, replacing Lieutenant General Reymann.[64] Meanwhile, by 24 April elements of 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front had completed the encirclement of the city.[65] Within the next day, 25 April, Sony VAIO PCG-81212M Battery the Soviet investment of Berlin was consolidated, with leading Soviet units probing and penetrating the S-Bahn defensive ring.[66] By the end of the day there was no prospect that the German defence of the city could do anything but temporarily delay the capture of the city by the Soviets, Sony VAIO PCG-81111M Batteryas the decisive stages of the battle had already been fought and lost by the Germans outside the city.[67] By that time, Sch rner's offensive, initially successful, had been mostly thwarted, although he managed to inflict significant casualties on the opposing Polish and Soviet units, and slowed down their progress.[53] Sony VAIO PCG-41111M Battery Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery The fortified Zoo flak tower, situated next to Berlin Zoo, after the battle. In the foreground two destroyed IS-2 Russian tanks can be seen. The forces available to General Weidling for the city's defence included roughly 45,000 soldiers in several severely depleted German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) and Armed SS (Waffen-SS) divisions.[5] Sony VAIO PCG-71112M Battery These divisions were supplemented by the police force, boys in the compulsory Hitler Youth, and the Volkssturm.[5] Many of the 40,000 elderly men of the Volkssturm had been in the army as young men and some were veterans of World War I. Hitler appointed SS Brigadef hrer Wilhelm Mohnke the Battle Commander for the central government district that included the Reich Chancellery and F hrerbunker.[68Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery He had over 2,000 men under his command.[5][g] Weidling organised the defences into eight sectors designated 'A' through to 'H' each one commanded by a colonel or a general, but most had no combat experience.[5] Sony VAIO PCG-61412M Battery] To the west of the city was the 20th Infantry Division. To the north of the city was the 9th Parachute Division.[69] To the north-east of the city was the Panzer Division M ncheberg. To the south-east of the city and to the east of Tempelhof Airport was the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland.[7Sony VAIO PCG-7Z1M Battery 0] The reserve, 18th Panzergrenadier Division, was in Berlin's central district.[71] On 23 April, Berzarin's 5th Shock Army and Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army assaulted Berlin from the south east and, after overcoming a counterattack by the German LVI Panzer Corps, reached the Berlin S-Bahn ring railway on the north side of the Teltow Canal by the evening of 24 April.[46] During the same period, Sony VAIO PCG-8113M Batteryof all the German forces ordered to reinforce the inner defences of the city by Hitler, only a small contingent of French SS volunteers under the command of Brigadef hrer Gustav Krukenberg arrived in Berlin.[72] During 25 April, Krukenberg was appointed as the commander of Defence Sector C, the sector under the most pressure from the Soviet assault on the city.[73] Sony VAIO PCG-8112M Battery On 26 April, Chuikov's 8th Guards Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army fought their way through the southern suburbs and attacked Tempelhof Airport, just inside the S-Bahn defensive ring, where they met stiff resistance from the M ncheberg Division.[72 Sony VAIO PCG-7134M Battery] But by 27 April, the two understrength divisions (M ncheberg and Norland) that were defending the south east, now facing five Soviet armies from east to west, the 5th Shock Army, the 8th Guards Army, the 1st Guards Tank Army and Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army (part of the 1st Ukrainian Front) Sony VAIO PCG-7131M Battery were forced back towards the centre, taking up new defensive positions around Hermannplatz.[74] Krukenberg informed General Hans Krebs, Chief of the General Staff of (OKH) that within 24 hours the Nordland would have to fall back to the centre sector Z (for Zentrum).[75][76 Sony VAIO PCG-7122M Battery] The Soviet advance to the city centre was along these main axes: from the south east, along the Frankfurter Allee (ending and stopped at the Alexanderplatz); from the south along Sonnen Allee ending north of the Belle Alliance Platz, from the south ending near the Potsdamer Platz and from the north ending near the Reichstag.[77] The Reichstag, Sony VAIO PCG-7121M Batterythe Moltke bridge, Alexanderplatz, and the Havel bridges at Spandau saw the heaviest fighting, with house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The foreign contingents of the SS fought particularly hard, because they were ideologically motivated and they believed that they would not live if captured.[78] Sony VAIO PCG-8Y2M Battery [edit]Battle for the Reichstag See also: Raising a flag over the Reichstag Battle for the Reichstag. In the early hours of 29 April the Soviet 3rd Shock Army crossed the Moltke bridge and started to fan out into the surrounding streets and buildings.[79] Sony VAIO PCG-7113M BatteryThe initial assaults on buildings, including the Ministry of the Interior, were hampered by the lack of supporting artillery. It was not until the damaged bridges were repaired that artillery could be moved up in support.[80] At 04:00 hours, in the F hrerbunker, Hitler signed his last will and testament and, shortly afterwards, Sony VAIO PCG-7112M Battery married Eva Braun.[81] At dawn the Soviets pressed on with their assault in the south east. After very heavy fighting they managed to capture Gestapo headquarters on Prinz-Albrechtstrasse, but a Waffen SS counter-attack forced the Soviets to withdraw from the building.[82] Sony VAIO PCG-8Z3M Battery To the south west the 8th Guards Army attacked north across the Landwehr canal into the Tiergarten.[83] By the next day, 30 April, the Soviets had solved their bridging problems and with artillery support at 06:00 they launched an attack on the Reichstag, but because of German entrenchments and support from 12.8 cm guns two kilometres away on the roof of the Zoo flak tower, Sony VAIO PCG-8Z2M Battery in Berlin Zoo, it was not until that evening that the Soviets were able to enter the building.[84] The Reichstag had not been in use since 1933 when it burned and its interior resembled a rubble heap more than a government building. The German troops inside made excellent use of this and lay heavily entrenched.[ Sony VAIO PCG-8Z1M Battery85] Fierce room-to-room fighting ensued. At that point there was still a large contingent of German soldiers in the basement who launched counter-attacks against the Red Army.[85] Sony VAIO PCG-8Y3M Battery Finally, on 2 May the Red Army controlled the building entirely.[86] The famous photo of the two soldiers planting the flag on the roof of the building is a re-enactment photo taken the day after the building was taken.[87] Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery However, to the Soviets the event as represented by the photo became symbolic of their victory demonstrating that the Battle of Berlin, as well as the Eastern Front hostilities as whole, ended with the total Soviet victory.[88] Sony VGP-BPL22 BatteryAs the 756th Regiment's commander Zinchenko had stated in his order to Battalion Commander Neustroev "...the Supreme High Command...and the entire Soviet People order you to erect the victory banner on the roof above Berlin".[85] Sony PCG-61211M Battery [edit]Battle for the centre Front lines 1 May (pink = allied occupied territory; red = area of fighting) During the early hours of 30 April, Weidling informed Hitler in person that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition during the night. Hitler gave him the permission to attempt a breakout through the encircling Red Army lines.[89] Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery That afternoon, Hitler and Braun committed suicide and their bodies were cremated not far from the bunker.[90].In accordance to Hitler's last will and testament, Admiral Karl D nitz became the "President of Germany" (Reichspr sident) in the new Flensburg government, and Joseph Goebbels became the new Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler).[91] Sony PCG-71213M Battery As the perimeter shrank and the surviving defenders fell back, they became concentrated into a small area in the city centre. By now there were about 10,000 German soldiers in the city centre, which was being assaulted from all sides. Sony VGP-BPS26A Battery One of the other main thrusts was along Wilhelmstrasse on which the Air Ministry, built of reinforced concrete, was pounded by large concentrations of Soviet artillery.[84] The remaining German Tiger tanks of the Hermann von Salza battalion took up positions in the east of the Tiergarten to defend the centre against Kuznetsov's 3rd Shock Army (which although heavily engaged around the Reichstag was also flanking the area by advancing through the northern Tiergarten) Sony VGP-BPL26 Battery and the 8th Guards Army advancing through the south of the Tiergarten.[92] These Soviet forces had effectively cut the sausage-shaped area held by the Germans in half and made any escape attempt to the west for German troops in the centre much more difficult.[93] Sony VGP-BPS26 Battery During the early hours of 1 May, Krebs talked to General Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army,[94] informing him of Hitler's death and a willingness to negotiate a city wide surrender.[95] Sony PCG-91111M Battery However, they could not agree on terms because of Soviet insistence on unconditional surrender and Krebs' claim that he lacked authorisation to agree to that.[96] Goebbels was against surrender. In the afternoon, Goebbels and his wife (after killing their children) committed suicide.[ Sony PCG-61713M Battery97] Goebbels's death removed the last impediment which prevented Weidling from accepting the terms of unconditional surrender of his garrison, but he chose to delay the surrender until the next morning to allow the planned breakout to take place under the cover of darkness.[98] Sony PCG-61714M Battery [edit]Breakout and surrender On the night of 1-2 May, most of the remnants of the Berlin garrison attempted to break out of the city centre in three different directions. Only those that went west through the Tiergarten and crossed the Charlottenbr cke (a bridge over the Havel) into Spandau succeeded in breaching Soviet lines.[99] However, Sony PCG-91211M Battery only a handful of those who survived the initial breakout made it to the lines of the Western Allies most were either killed or captured by the Red Army's outer encirclement forces west of the city.[100] Sony PCG-71911M Battery Early in the morning of 2 May, the Soviets captured the Reich Chancellery. The military historian Antony Beevor points out that as most of the German combat troops had left the area in the breakouts the night before, the resistance must have been far less than it had been inside the Reichstag.[101] Sony PCG-71811M Battery General Weidling finally surrendered with his staff at 06:00 hours. He was taken to see General Vasily Chuikov at 08:23. Weidling agreed to order the city's defenders to surrender to the Soviets.[102] Under General Chuikov's and Vasily Sokolovsky's direction, Weidling put his order to surrender in writing.[96] Sony PCG-71212M Battery The 350-strong garrison of the Zoo flak tower finally left the building. While there was sporadic fighting in a few isolated buildings where some SS troops still refused to surrender, the Soviets simply reduced such buildings to rubble.[103] Sony PCG-71311M Battery [edit]Battle outside Berlin At some point on 28 April or 29 April, General Gotthard Heinrici, Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula, was relieved of his command after disobeying Hitler's direct orders to hold Berlin at all costs and never order a retreat, Sony PCG-71313M Battery and was replaced by General Kurt Student.[104] General Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control, while there remains some confusion as to who was actually in command as some references say that Student was captured by the British and never arrived.[105] Sony VGP-BPS26A Battery Regardless of whether von Tippelskirch or Student was in command of Army Group Vistula, the rapidly deteriorating situation that the Germans faced meant that Army Group Vistula coordination of the armies under its nominal command during the last few days of the war was of little significance.[106] Sony VGP-BPL26 Battery On the evening of 29 April, Krebs contacted General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) by radio:[96] Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the IX Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the IX Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste's spearhead. In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs:[96] Sony PCG-61211M Battery Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, XII Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of IX Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive. Sony VGP-BPS26 Battery [edit]North While the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front encircled Berlin, and started the battle for the city itself, Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front started his offensive to the north of Berlin. Sony PCG-91111M Battery On the 20 April between Stettin and Schwedt, Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front attacked the northern flank of Army Group Vistula, held by the III Panzer Army.[47] Sony PCG-61713M Battery By 22 April, the 2nd Belorussian Front had established a bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder that was over 15 km deep and was heavily engaged with the III Panzer Army.[62] On 25 April, the 2nd Belorussian Front broke through III Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin Sony PCG-61714M Battery crossed the Randowbruch Swamp, and were now free to move west towards Montgomery's British 21st Army Group and north towards the Baltic port of Stralsund.[107] , Sony PCG-91211M Battery The German III Panzer Army and the German XXI Army situated to the north of Berlin retreated westwards under relentless pressure from Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, and was eventually pushed into a pocket 20 miles (32 km) wide that stretched from the Elbe to the coast.[61] Sony PCG-71911M Battery To their west was the British 21st Army Group (which on 1 May broke out of its Elbe bridgehead and had raced to the coast capturing Wismar and L beck), to their east Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front and to the south was the Ninth United States Army which had penetrated as far east as Ludwigslust and Schwerin.[108] Sony PCG-71213M Battery [edit]South See also: Battle of Halbe 2nd Lt. William Robertson, US Army and Lt. Alexander Sylvashko, Red Army, shown in front of sign East Meets West symbolizing the historic meeting of the Soviet and American Armies, near Torgau, Germany. Sony PCG-71811M Battery The successes of the 1st Ukrainian Front during the first nine days of the battle meant that by 25 April, they were occupying large swathes of the area south and south west of Berlin. Their spearheads had met elements of the 1st Belorussian Front west of Berlin, completing the investment of the city.[10 Sony PCG-71212M Battery 7] Meanwhile, the 1st Ukrainian Front's 58th Guards Division of the 5th Guards Army made contact with the US 69th Infantry Division of the First Army near Torgau, on the Elbe River.[107] These manoeuvres had broken the German forces south of Berlin into three parts. The German IX army was surrounded in the Halbe pocket.[10Sony PCG-71313M Battery ] Wenck's XII Army, obeying Hitler's command of the 22 April, was attempting to force its way into Berlin from the south west but met stiff resistance from units of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the area of Potsdam.[110] 9Sony PCG-71311M Battery Sch rner's Army Group Centre was forced to withdraw from the Battle of Berlin, along its lines of communications towards Czechoslovakia.[40] Between 24 April and 1 May, the German IX Army fought a desperate action to break out of the pocket in an attempt to link up with the German XII Army.[11 Sony VGP-BPL26 Battery 1] Hitler assumed that after a successful breakout from the pocket, the IX Army could combine forces with the XII Army and would be able to relieve Berlin.[112] However there is no evidence to suggest that Generals Heinrici, Sony VGP-BPS26A Battery Busse or Wenck thought that this was even remotely strategically feasible, but Hitler's agreement to allow the IX Army to break through Soviet lines did provide a window of opportunity through which sizable numbers of German troops were able to escape west and surrender to the United States Army.[113] Sony VGP-BPS26 Battery At dawn on 28 April, the youth divisions Clausewitz, Scharnhorst and Theodor K rner, attacked from the south west toward the direction of Berlin. They were part of Wenck's XX Corps and were made up of men from the officer training schools, Sony VGP-BPL22 Battery making them some of the best units the Germans had in reserve. They covered a distance of about 24 kilometres (15 mi), before being halted at the tip of Lake Schwielow, south west of Potsdam and still 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Berlin.[114] During the night, Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery General Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command in Fuerstenberg that his XII Army had been forced back along the entire front. According to Wenck, no attack on Berlin was now possible.[115 Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery][116] This was even more so as support from the IX Army could no longer be expected at this point.[96] In the meantime, about 25,000 German soldiers of the IX Army along with several thousand civilians succeeded in reaching the lines of the XII Army after breaking out of the Halbe pocket.[1 Sony PCG-91111M Battery17] The casualties on both sides were very high. There are close to 30,000 Germans buried in the cemetery at Halbe.[50] About 20,000 soldiers of the Red Army also died trying to stop the breakout; most are buried at a cemetery next to the Baruth-Zossen road.[50] Sony PCG-61713M Battery These are the known dead, but the remains of more who died in the battle are found every year so the total of those who died will never be known. Nobody knows how many civilians died but it could have been as high as 10,000.[50] Sony PCG-61714M Battery Having failed to break through to Berlin, Wenck's XII army made a fighting retreat back towards the Elbe and American lines after providing the IX Army survivors with surplus transport.[118] By 6 May many German Army units and individuals had crossed the Elbe and surrendered to the US Ninth Army.[106] Sony PCG-91211M Battery Meanwhile, the XII's bridgehead with its headquarters in the park of Sch nhausen, had come under heavy Soviet artillery bombardment and had been compressed into an area eight by two kilometres (five by one and a quarter miles).[119] Sony PCG-71811M Battery [edit]Surrender On the night of 2-3 May, General Hasso von Manteuffel, commander of the III Panzer Army along with General Kurt von Tippelskirch, commander of the XXI Army, surrendered to the US Army.[106] Von Saucken's II Army, that had been fighting north east of Berlin in the Vistula Delta, surrendered to the Soviets on 9 May.[108] Sony PCG-71212M BatteryOn the morning of 7 May, the perimeter of Wenck's XII Army's bridgehead began to collapse. Wenck crossed the Elbe under small arms fire that afternoon and surrendered to the American Ninth Army.[119] Sony PCG-71911M Battery German women doing their washing at a cold water hydrant in a Berlin street. A knocked-out German scout car stands beside them, 3 July 1945. According to Grigoriy Krivosheev's work based on declassified archival data, Soviet forces sustained 81,116 dead for the entire operation, which included the Battles of Seelow Heights and the Halbe;[120] Sony PCG-71313M BatteryAnother 280,251 were reported wounded or sick during the operational period.[120][h] The operation also cost the Soviets about 2,000 armored vehicles, though the number of irrevocable losses (write-offs) is not known. Initial Soviet estimates based on kill claims placed German losses at 458,080 killed and 479,298 captured,[i] Sony PCG-71311M Battery but German research puts the number of dead to approximately 92,000 - 100,000.[10] The number of civilian casualties is unknown,[121] but 125,000 are estimated to have perished during the entire operation.[122] Sony PCG-61211M Battery In those areas which the Soviets had captured and before the fighting in the centre of the city had stopped, the Soviet authorities took measures to start restoring essential services.[123] Almost all the transport in and out of the city had been rendered inoperative, and bombed-out sewers had contaminated the city's water supplies.[12Sony PCG-71213M Battery 4] The Soviets appointed local Germans to head each city block, and organized the cleaning-up.[123] Further, the Red Army made a major effort to feed the residents of the city.[123] Most Germans, Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery both soldiers and civilians, were grateful to receive food issued at Red Army soup kitchens which began on Colonel-General Nikolai Berzarin's orders.[103] After the capitulation the Soviets went house to house, arresting and imprisoning anyone in a uniform including firemen and railway-men.[125] Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery During, and in the days immediately following the assault,[123][126] in many areas of the city, vengeful Soviet troops (often rear echelon units[127]) engaged in mass rape, pillage and murder,[128][j] Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery and despite Soviet efforts to supply food and rebuild the city, starvation remained a problem.[124] In June 1945, one month after the surrender, the average calorie intake of Berliners was still low as they were getting only 64 percent of a 1,240-calorie daily ration.[129] Further, across the city over a million people were without a home.[130] Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery [edit]Commemoration 1,100,000 Soviet personnel who took part in the capture of Berlin from 22 April to 2 May 1945 were awarded with the Medal For the Capture of Berlin.[citation needed] Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery "Victory Banner #5", raised on the roof of the Reichstag The Victory Banner to be used for celebrations of the Soviet Victory Day was defined by a federal law of Russia,[131] on May 7, 2007, as a copy of the flag was raised on the Reichstag (with the hammer and sickle, Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery and the inscription). This flag is not the first to be hoisted on the Reichstag, but is the first (and the only surviving) of the 'official' flags, explicitly prepared for that purpose, to be raised there.[citation needed] Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery Poland's official Flag Day is held each year on May 2, the last day of the battle in Berlin, when the Polish Army hoisted its flag on the Berlin Victory. 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