Schillerplatz (Iserlohn) than and now images?

[egonzinc]

I have been looking around the internet for any "Then(1945) and Now" images of Schillerplatz in Iserlhon.
In the videos of the surrender on April 16, 1945, the Panzer Jager Abt 512's JagdTigers are seen lining up for surrender in a large plaze in Iserlohn.
When I look at the current map of Iserlohn, Schillerplatz is there, but it looks quite small and none of the buildings are recognizeable from the images of 1945.
I did find a mention of someone who many years ago went to Iserlohn to get some "Then and Now" images and he mentioned he had been unsuccessful.
Could it be that there was major construction in the area after the war and that the large plaza is gone?
Thanks in advance for any insight.

[GregSingh]

Yes, just Google it.
There are several good quality photos on the internet showing reconstruction works in 1966.
Eg. here: Iserlohn - Schillerplatz: Karstadt-Baustelle und Feuerwache

And tens of photos from 1945 as well...1945

[egonzinc]

Thanks!
Of course I Googled it.
And I had found that image of 1966, although I had not recognized the building in the background.

But I can't find CURRENT images of that building or ANY other building when compared to the many 1945 videos and images.
The town surrendered and was not destroyed so you would imagine there would be some buildings from 1945 still there now(2017).

Is that building shown in background of both images, still there now?

[GregSingh]

Part of old Sparkasse seems to be included in a new one erected in 1967. Old Fire Station seems to be gone.
Buildings on the southern side of the square still look pretty much the same as in 1945.

Also Town Hall building visible on one of 1945 photos is still there (not on the square).
There are plenty of current photos on the internet, Google Street View does not work there, but you can see images in Google maps.

Here is a view from where old Fire Station was, towards South.

Schillerplatz South 2015

Source: http://www.ikz-online.de/

And in 1945...

Schillerplatz South 1945

video1.jpg (29.22 KiB) Viewed 3776 times

Now towards West.

Schillerplatz West 2015

picture-82414132.jpg (40.01 KiB) Viewed 3771 times

And in 1945...

Schillerplatz West 1945

[egonzinc]

Thanks a lot for your help!

[egonzinc]

Any idea of the name of the street where the first part of the surrender video mas taken, which shows the JagdTigers rolling by with other armoured and non armoured vehicles?
From the video the street looks to be wide, straight and with vegetation on each side. I guess it could be Mendener Strasse to the east of Shcillerplatz?

Thanks in advance!

[Alex Tijerina]

Yes, just Google it.
There are several good quality photos on the internet showing reconstruction works in 1966.
Eg. here: Iserlohn - Schillerplatz: Karstadt-Baustelle und Feuerwache

And tens of photos from 1945 as well...1945

Only one picture is shown.

[egonzinc]

Another interesting image, not one of the images off the video, but one that might help figure out the route of the JagdTigers to Shillerplatz



The building on the left is the old Rathaus. This building is to the southwest of Schillerplatz

Here an image of the building today:



Here the old rathaus is to the right, showing the plaza in front of the building:



Here another image of the building:



Yet another image, from much earlier, seems to be a postcard. Here you can see the trolley tracks that are visible on the image with the JagdTigers:



Looking at the map, it would make sense that the column moved from here to Schillerplatz along Wermingster Str. but the video shows a very wide street with vegetation on both sides and this street does not look the part...

Here a current map of Iserlohn. Marked with pink to the left is the area of the old Rathaus. Marked in green is Schillerplatz. Wermingster Str is also marked with pink...



Another current map, wider shot of the area. Marked in light blue is the only street in the area that looks like it could have been the one in the video, but it is not the route from the old Rathaus to the Schillerplatze. Of course I do not know the chronology of the events and the video itself seems to be a compilation of several lops of film...

[GregSingh]

Yes, it could be Mendener Straße.
Wide enough, with trees on both sides and only long straight street as on 1945 video.

Lack of Google Street View does not help, but some nice soul made a video from a traveling car in 2015.
See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEB9p33758
That longer part of Mendener Strasse starts at around 3:13.

Nice photo of the Old Town hall from Getty Images! Must be from early Weimar Republic. Is there a gun/MG in front of Town Hall?

[egonzinc]

Found that video yesterday and watched it for about an hour, stopping along the way to check the route in Google maps.
The Mendener street in the modern video is not the area of the street I marked on the map, it is the piece of the street just southeast of Schillerpkatz that somewhat merges into Wergmingser Str.
From the 1945 video, some of the buildings are very distinctive. If they are still there, the street couod be identified.

There is something that looks lije a weapon there indeed! Small cannon or a wheeled mg... very dark...

Would like to see a video of the area of Mendener I marked light blue, although it would make for a convoluted route from there to the plaza in front of the old Rathaus, then switch direction for the 45 image and then going on to Schillerplatz. And some of those streets are too narrow for the Jagdtigers...
Hopefully smeone who lives close by can see this and clarify the route. I'm sure to the locals the details are well known.

[egonzinc]

My mistake! That is ANOTHER video! Wow, that indeed is the area I marked in light blue above. On first view, none of the buildings look like the ones across the camera in 1945 video, but the street itself does seem to have the proper width, and of course the vegetation has grown considerably.
Thanks again... now to watch that film 20 more times!
What now does not make sense is when the image of the Jagdtigers were in front of the old Rathaus were taken. Maybe AFTER the surrender ceremony. In one of the 1945 videos it appears the men, get back on the vehicles and leave Schllerplatz after apparently leaving all the weapons behind...

[GregSingh]

I took two stills from the 1945 video of that corner where camera operator was standing. There is a business name on corner building - Bäckerei Conditorei. Although war time address book for Iserlohn is no longer available on line, you can still e-mail them for an information, details on Stadt Iserlohn. They also sell historical maps for 3.50 Euro, I think.

Unidentified corner building 1, Iserlohn 1945

Unidentified corner building 2, Iserlohn 1945

[egonzinc]

Well thanks to that last current video I feel confident that the drive by video was taken in Mendener Str.!

From the 45 video, this is one of the buildings in the background. Not many four story buildings in the area, so that helped...



From the current video:





The frames of the windows and the distinctive moulding between floors makes me feel this is the same building. Of course if I could go there and see the gabled piece over the central window, that would comfirm it!

The building is shown in the rectangle here, and everything seems to fit.



Here a Google map, showing Mendener Str today. I believe, maybe in 1945 the street was straight into downtown area, and a direct route to the old Rathaus. Maybe they went there first... who knows



That last video was the clincher at least for the pass by video.

Thanks for the help!

[egonzinc]

Posted before seeing your post... there is more than one photographer and they seemed to have moved.
That is the most distinctive building in the video, with those designs under the windows, and also four levels. I could not find anything similar in the current video, but they could have reconstructed that particular building. I feel confident that that building is in the same block as the one I posted. There are only a couple of blocks on that street that have buildings with four levels...
Might try to get a historical map. Now I only wonder about the image with the vehicles in front of the old Rathouse, but the surrender in Schillerplatz and the drive by videos are clear...

THANKS AGAIN! This has been fun!

[GregSingh]

You're welcome!

My guess for that corner building would be Mendener Str./Elisabethstr.
Front matches that from drive-by recent video (at 3:33-3:36 from my link) and has a bakery - Woeste Vollkornbäckerei. Unfortunately could not find a recent photo taken from the same angle...yet.