Weidendammer Bridge

The modern Weidendammer Brücke (Weidendammer Bridge) was erected between 1894 and 1896 and was designed by the German architect Otto Stahn to replace the old bridge. Before the Second World War, the bridge was reconstructed to accommodate the subway line going under it. During the war, the bridge remained intact despite Allied bombings. After Hitler’s suicide on 30 April 1945, the bridge became a crucial point for the groups of German soldiers and the Führerbunker personnel to force their way out of the surrounded city centre. The first group, led by the commander of the Berlin central defence sector SS General Wilhelm Mohnke, avoided the bridge and used a footbridge nearby to cross the Spree untraced.

However, the second group, which included Hitler’s party secretary Martin Bormann, the last Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) leader Artur Axmann, and Hitler’s personal doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger, joined the battle group of the SS Nordland Division, other Wehrmacht soldiers and some civilians. A King Tiger tank commanded by SS NCO Georg Diers and a self-propelled assault gun formed the armoured core of the group, which attacked the Soviet sites on the other side of the bridge in the night between 1 and 2 May 1945. Both armoured vehicles took heavy Soviet fire from the nearby Ziegelstraße, leaving soldiers and civilians mounted on them wounded or killed. Axmann was wounded as well, while Bormann and Stumpfegger were knocked over by the blast after the King Tiger was hit and continued their way after a short recovery. Later, Axmann, who was separated from them for a short time, discovered the bodies of Bormann and Stumpfegger. The two men had committed suicide near the Lehrter Station (now Berlin Central Station).

The breakthrough attempts of the following German groups on the same spot mostly failed. After the war, the bridge was thoroughly repaired by the East Berlin authorities. From 1992 to 1994 it was restored and preserved by the city council of the unified Berlin.