On 30 April 1945, the territory of today's Baden-Württemberg was completely occupied by American and French troops. World War II was over. The surrender of the German Reich on 8 May put the period on it. As our state lay on the Reich border, the borders of 1937 were in effect. Austria and Alsace were foreign again.
While the neighboring state of Bavaria lost the Rhine-Palatinate, almost
nothing changed in the territories of the states of Baden and Württemberg:
only Kehl seemed to become a suburb of Strassbourg. Not until 1953 could
all German inhabitants return to the city.
The zonal borders were now more momentous than the old state borders
in the southwest. They had been determined by the Allies before the Occupation.
The fundamental influence on drawing the borders was the course of the
Reich Autobahn. The Americans wanted to have in hand these and other lines
of communication from the Rhine - Main area to Bavaria. Thus, all counties
that were touched by the Autobahn were tossed into the American zone.
The French in turn demanded the Bavarian county of Lindau as a land bridge
to their zone of occupation in Vorarlberg. There was no responsible German
administration. In their place, there were military governments.
Since the French definitely wanted to conquer Stuttgart in order to carry
out political demands on their allies, the residents of Stuttgart and
the surrounding area experienced both occupational powers, and could compare
them. The French (21 April - 7 July 1945), who had experienced the war
in their own country, in the first days spread fear and terror, mostly
with colonial troops (Foreign Legion) rape of women, deprivation of foodstuffs,
removal of machines (demontage) and deforestation were etched in memory.
The Americans were regarded - not just in Stuttgart - as 'liberators',
although at first they had no desire to play that role. In any case they
conducted themselves more properly than the French, but set to work harder
in administration and undertook more vigorously the prosecution of former
National Socialists. They were soon prepared, through deliveries of foodstuffs,
to help the population, as the supply situation was worse than before
1945, and worst of all in the French Zone. The Occupation Powers again
allowed political parties. The SPD and the KPD continued the tradition
of the Weimar period. The only democratic and liberal groupings were in
the Democratic Peoples' Party (Demokratische Volkspartei - DVP) or the
Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei - FDP). The newly established
Christian Democratic Union (Christlich-Demokratische-Union - CDU) surmounted
the denominational opposition to the earlier Christian parties.
The division into zones hindered the recreation of the old states of
Baden and Württemberg. Depending on the zonal borders, three new states
with very different economic strengths came into being under the supervision
of the military governments:
"Württemberg-Baden" under American occupation with the seat of
government in Stuttgart. In Karlsruhe there was only a state directorate.
In 1950 the 'Hall of Justice' was created there with the federal court
of justice.
"Württemberg-Hohenzollern" under French occupation with the seat
of government in Tübingen. The initial hope for the reunification of southern
and northern Württemberg was not realized. Hohenzollern could no longer
count on independence, as its 'motherland,' Prussia, was dissolved in
1946.
"Baden" under French occupation with the seat of government in
Freiburg. The name Baden (not South Baden) opened up the claim of the
whole of Baden as an expression. The comfortable capitals were initially
the headquarters of the occupation powers: Heidelberg and Baden-Baden.
Both cities were deliberately protected from air attacks.
Each of the three state governments tried with their available means to
overcome the distress of the post-war period and to initiate the
reconstruction. Greater success came only in 1948, when, after the currency
reform, the economy got into gear. The Reichsmark had lost almost
all its value. On 20 June 1948, each resident received 40 DM (Deutsche
Mark - German Marks), in August an additional 20 DM. Reichsmark balances
were only credited in small part: DM 6.50 for RM 100.00. Rationing of
foodstuffs was completely lifted in 1950.
Now the conditions for reconstruction of the ruined cities were improved.
Life was more full of hope for the displaced persons from the former
German territories in the East and the refugees from the Soviet
Zone (by 1951 there had been 1,005,666). From 1945 to the end of 1950
they flowed into the country in several migratory waves, initially almost
only to the American Zone, then through resettlement also into the French
Zone. (By 1961 the count of new citizens, particularly because of refugees
from Middle Germany, rose to 1,620,428. That was almost a fifth of the
total population of 7,759,154 people.)
Reconstruction rose further as the hitherto independent western occupation
zones united (in 1947, Bi-zonal or Bipartite: American and British Zones;
in 1948, Tri-zonal or Tripartite). Then in 1949 the Federal Republic
of Germany was formed. In it, all the federal states were newly conceived
except for a somewhat diminished Bavaria, an enlarged Hessen as well as
the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg.
Even today we are reminded of the partitioning into occupation zones by
the broadcast areas of the Südwestfunk (Radio Soutwest) in Baden-Baden
and the Süddeutscher Rundfunk (South German Radio) in Stuttgart.
