At the beginning of March 1945, the American troops advanced towards Bonn. On March 4, they began to target the city. The Rhine bridge and the goods station were the main targets. Bonn's civilian population sought shelter in cellars and bunkers during these days. Bad Godesberg was already handed over to the Americans on March 8 (extensive information on this can be found at https://www.bonn.de/themen-entdecken/bildung-lernen/zeitfenster.php). (opens in a new tab)
The Americans liberated Bonn on March 9, 1945. In the morning, the handover took place in the Old City Hall (today's VHS) by legal advisor Dr. Horster and city councillor Dr. Hirtz. By the end of March, the American troops had taken Beuel, Pützchen, Vilich, Geißlar and Schwarz-Rheindorf. The war ended for Bonn with the liberation in March, while the signing of the surrender document on May 8, 1945 ended the Second World War in Europe.
Balance sheet for Bonn
Air raids during the Second World War claimed the lives of 1,564 inhabitants in Bonn, 173 in Bad Godesberg and 167 in Beuel. Bonn was one of the most severely affected cities in what later became the Federal Republic of Germany. In terms of civilian casualties from air raids, the city was hit just as hard as its neighboring city of Cologne, which was attacked much more often and suffered more damage. At the end of the fighting, an estimated 43,000 of the 100,800 inhabitants at the beginning of the war were still in the city.
Event organized by the memorial and the NS Documentation Center
On Friday, March 21, 2025, the Bonn Memorial and Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, in cooperation with the German War Graves Commission (Rhineland regional office), is offering a guided tour of the war cemetery at the North Cemetery to mark the 80th anniversary of the local end of the war in Bonn. This is home to the largest of the 21 war cemeteries from the First and Second World Wars in Bonn.
Björn Dzieran, research assistant at the memorial, will give a guided tour of the site and report on its creation, development and significance in Bonn's city history. He will also report on the end of the war and the associated changes and challenges, e.g. for the liberated forced laborers who were now considered "displaced persons".
Start: 4 p.m.
Venue: Nordfriedhof Bonn, Kölnstraße 487, 53117 Bonn (meeting point main entrance)
The 90-minute tour is only partially suitable for people with limited mobility. The number of participants is limited, please register by e-mail to gedenkstaettebonnde.
Event at the Bonn City Museum
On Thursday, May 8, 2025, 80 years after the end of the Second World War in Europe, the Stadtmuseum will be showing visual evidence of Bonn's liberation in March 1945.
Both videographic and photographic evidence convey impressions of the arrival of the American troops, the liberating defeat and the saving collapse in Bonn and the surrounding communities at the time. The city museum (Franziskanerstraße 9) is open on this day from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free.
Other cultural venues in Bonn will also be hosting events to mark the anniversary of the end of the war. Citizens can find out (opens in a new tab) about upcoming dates in advance in the city's online Events Calendar at www.bonn.de/veranstaltungskalender.