German Cities

[Ken]

Which cities were the most important cities in the Reich?

It doesn't have to be cities that are important in everything.. you could name cities that are important only industrially, or are important commercial centers, military bases, agricultural markets, ports, communication centers or cities that link railways, etc..

And also.. what cities are important culturally and important for the morale of the people.

Thanks.

[Qvist]

As far as major population centers in Germany and Austria is concerned, it hasn't really changed that much since then - a present-day map will give you an accurate picture. In addition, there were the territories lost in 45, where Stettin (Sczeczyn), Breslau (Wroclaw), Danzig (Gdansk) and Königsberg (Kaliningrad) were the major cities.

cheers

[Pumpkin]

But the cities in the former DDR (the regions Sachsen, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg) have been significantly depopulated in since then, right? First refugees ahead of the Soviet front. Then refugees until the Berlin wall was built. And then again lately, during the unification. Also, the cities of former DDR must've been economically much more important to the Reich than they are today to Germany.

Schlesien in current Poland was an important industrial region.

I would guess that the relative importance of the wealthy Bavaria region has increased since the days of the Reich.

[Benoit Douville]

-Munich because it was the birthplace of Nazi and the Third Reich. All
the big ceremony were taking place there.

-Berlin because it was the capital of the Third Reich and hitler wanted
Albert Speer to rebuild the city.

Regards

[Benoit Douville]

[ihoyos]

The birth place of the Nazi party was Munich ( remember Anton Drexler, party workers, Hoffbrauss, November putsch). etc etc.
Nuremberg was the city for the rallies, big celebrations ( the circus), but not was so important as power center.
Berlin the capital, ( headquarters of the all main nazi and gubernamental offices)
Sintesis
Munich 1919-1924( born place, beerputch, mein kapft)
Nuremberg 1924-1939 ( the way to the power, rallies, meetings etctec)
Berlin 1939 -1945 ( the war)
Abova that formal cities Obersalzberg Hitler favorite.
I think the most important place of Germany 1919-1945 was where Hitler was.

[Stauffenberg II]

Which cities were the most important cities in the Reich?

It doesn't have to be cities that are important in everything.. you could name cities that are important only industrially, or are important commercial centers, military bases, agricultural markets, ports, communication centers or cities that link railways, etc..

And also.. what cities are important culturally and important for the morale of the people.

Thanks.

Hi Ken!

I enclose the largest cities by inhabitants (1939). The cities in red were ethnically cleansed by the Allies in 1945.

Berlin 4.338.858
Wien 1.920.390
Hamburg 1.711.703

München 829.126
Köln 770.466
Leipzig 707.578
Essen 667.004
Dresden 630.300
Breslau (Wroclaw, PO) 630.041
Frankfurt am Main 553.364
Dortmund 541.657
Düsseldorf 541.625

Hannover 471.186
Stuttgart 457.901
Duisburg 435.532
Nürnberg 423.577
Bremen 424.351
Stettin (Szczecin, PO) 381.309
Königsberg (Kaliningrad, RU) 372.270
Chemnitz 337.646
Magdeburg 336.855
Bochum 305.505
Mannheim 286.008
Kiel 273.973 (Fleet Port)
Halle/Saale 220.118
Kassel 216.061
Graz 207.809
Karlsruhe 196.398
Braunschweig 189.628
Augsburg 185.507
Krefeld 171.055
Wiesbaden 170.443
Erfurt 165.693
Aachen 162.124
Mainz 158.306
Lübeck 154.871
Münster in Westfalen 141.161
Solingen 140.442
Potsdam 136.056
Saarbrücken 133.282
Bielefeld 129.474
Mönchengladbach 128.412
Linz an der Donau 128.028
Rostock 121.315
Dessau 119.165
Darmstadt 115.156
Wilhelmshaven 113.490 (Fleet Port)
Plauen 111.891
Freiburg im Breisgau 110.319
Würzburg 107.513
Bonn 100.857
Osnabrück 99.086

The most important German cities (outside Germany since 1918, retaken 1939 and 1940 and lost again in 1945) were:

Straßburg [Strasbourg, FR] 178.891 (as per as 1910)
Danzig [Gdansk, PL] 170.337 (as per as 1910)

Regards!

[ArtLvns]

I was searching information about Hitler plans for Linz and found one short Wiki about "Fuhrer City".
Maybe interesting for someone, so posting this here.
There is mentioned 5 important cities as well as 26 other slated for later reconstruction
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrer_city

The five Führer cities were:

Linz:
The town where Adolf Hitler spent his youth ("Jugendstadt des Führers"), and his planned retirement home after the war. Hitler wanted to turn Linz into a "German Budapest" – a city which, in Hitler's mind, then surpassed German cities of the Danube in beauty. Linz was to be "the new metropolis of the Danube," eclipsing Vienna, a city he hated.
Linz was to expand three or four times from its then current size, with Reichswerke Hermann Göring providing jobs for the laborers relocating from Vienna. The bank of the Danube was to be built up with magnificent private homes, and a new "Hitler Centre" (Hitlerzentrum) was to be furbished with new community buildings.
Major intended building projects were a Strength through Joy hotel, new municipal buildings designed by Hermann Giesler, a NSDAP party house designed by Roderich Fick, a Wehrmacht Headquarters, an Olympic Stadium, and "as a counter to the pseudo-science of the Catholic Church" an observatory representing "the three great cosmological conceptions of history — those of Ptolemy, of Copernicus and of Hörbiger." A new Gau house for Reichsgau Oberdonau was to feature a hall and a tower, under which Hitler's crypt was to be located.
Monuments and buildings to commemorate the Anschluss and Anton Bruckner were also planned. A gigantic suspension bridge was to connect the banks of the Danube, which was to have a decorative frieze depicting the Nibelungen saga with monumental equestrian statues in pairs of Siegfried and Kriemhild and Gunther and Brünhild.The Führermuseum, featuring a 150-metre (490 ft) long colonnade, was to contain the largest and most comprehensive painting collection in Europe, built around the art the Nazis had looted from Western Europe and stolen from rich Jews in Germany. The museum would anchor the planned European Cultural Centre.
Berlin: "Welthauptstadt Germania"
Munich: the "Capital of the [Nazi] Movement"
Hamburg: the "Capital of German Shipping"
Nuremberg: the "City of the Reich Party Conventions"

[Hans1906]

Stadt-Ehrentitel der NS-Zeit https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadt-Ehr ... er_NS-Zeit

Honorary city titles in Nazi Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_ ... zi_Germany


Hans

[daveshoup2MD]

Largest cities by inhabitants (1939).

Berlin 4.338.858
Wien 1.920.390
Hamburg 1.711.703

München 829.126
Köln 770.466
Leipzig 707.578
Essen 667.004
Dresden 630.300
Breslau (Wroclaw, PO) 630.041
Frankfurt am Main 553.364
Dortmund 541.657
Düsseldorf 541.625

Hannover 471.186
Stuttgart 457.901
Duisburg 435.532
Nürnberg 423.577
Bremen 424.351
Stettin (Szczecin, PO) 381.309
Königsberg (Kaliningrad, RU) 372.270
Chemnitz 337.646
Magdeburg 336.855
Bochum 305.505
Mannheim 286.008
Kiel 273.973 (Fleet Port)
Halle/Saale 220.118
Kassel 216.061
Graz 207.809
Karlsruhe 196.398
Braunschweig 189.628
Augsburg 185.507
Krefeld 171.055
Wiesbaden 170.443
Erfurt 165.693
Aachen 162.124
Mainz 158.306
Lübeck 154.871
Münster in Westfalen 141.161
Solingen 140.442
Potsdam 136.056
Saarbrücken 133.282
Bielefeld 129.474
Mönchengladbach 128.412
Linz an der Donau 128.028
Rostock 121.315
Dessau 119.165
Darmstadt 115.156
Wilhelmshaven 113.490 (Fleet Port)
Plauen 111.891
Freiburg im Breisgau 110.319
Würzburg 107.513
Bonn 100.857
Osnabrück 99.086

Interesting list of potential targets.