Flensburg Government
Adolf Hitler died in the Führerbunker on the 30th of April 1945. His political testament named Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor to the presidency and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Joseph Goebbels was designated Chancellor, but he committed suicide the following day. Dönitz accepted these offices in separate broadcast addresses to the German armed forces and people on the 1st of May. Residual ministers from the previous cabinet fled Berlin to join him at Plön. They resigned their posts the next day. Dönitz then met with former Finance Minister Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk. He asked this man to constitute a new Reich government. This appointment had no legal basis under Nazi law or the Weimar Constitution. Hitler had appropriated presidential powers after Paul von Hindenburg died in 1934. No legal challenge was ever mounted against this succession.
Dönitz moved his command to the Mürwik Naval School near Flensburg on the 3rd of May 1945. The sports school building became the headquarters for the administration. Administrative offices were established on the liner Patria moored in Flensburg harbour. This location sat near the Danish border. Forces loyal to the regime still held Austria and Sudetenland at formation. They controlled most of Bohemia and Moravia though SS oversight was minimal there. German military occupied disparate territories including Denmark and Norway. They held Atlantic pockets in France and British Channel Islands. Yet German forces had been driven out of vast majority of post-Anschluss territory. A narrow wedge of land ran from Austrian borders through Berlin to the Danish border. These lands were cut in two by American advance joining Soviet forces at Torgau on the 25th of April 1945. The nominal civil jurisdiction shrank rapidly as Allied armies advanced.
Schwerin von Krosigk formed a new cabinet on the 2nd of May 1945. He remained Minister of Finance and replaced Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Foreign Affairs Minister. Wilhelm Stuckart took Interior and Culture portfolios replacing Paul Giesler and Gustav Adolf Scheel. Julius Heinrich Dorpmüller returned as Transport Minister while Herbert Backe kept Food and Agriculture duties. Albert Speer replaced Walther Funk in Economics. Franz Seldte took Labor and Herbert Klemm assumed Justice. Three ministries were abolished including Air Ministry and Public Enlightenment. Dönitz avoided prominent Nazi leaders except Speer but included serving officers in the SS. Herbert Backe authored the Hunger Plan of 1941 targeting Soviet prisoners. Otto Ohlendorf directed murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews in occupied Soviet territory. Wilhelm Stuckart participated in the Wannsee Conference of January 1942 regarding Final Solution. Of 350 staff working in Flensburg offices, 230 had been members of SS or security services.
Dönitz sent Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Lüneburg on the 3rd of May. The offer surrendered German forces in northwest Germany plus Army Group Vistula elements. Montgomery refused surrender of forces fighting Eastern Front. He proposed accepting all military forces in Northwestern Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Netherlands and Denmark. Friedeburg signed instrument of surrender for these areas on the 4th of May effective 8:00 am the 5th of May. Dönitz ordered ships involved in Operation Hannibal to undertake covert final evacuation voyage. All U-boat actions ceased unilaterally. On the 5th of May German forces in Bavaria and South West Germany signed act of surrender to Americans at Haar outside Munich. Jodl arrived at Eisenhower headquarters at Reims France on the 5th of May. He drew out negotiations so troops could move west. Eisenhower threatened closing western front to all surrendering Germans from east. Dönitz radioed Jodl full powers to sign unconditional Instrument of Surrender at 1:30 am the 7th of May. Jodl signed documents just over an hour later. A second amended instrument was signed at Karlshorst Berlin on the 8th of May shortly before midnight.
The Reichssender Flensburg broadcast from main post office between the 3rd of May and the 13th of May 1945. It used medium wave frequency 1330 kHz featuring announcements from prominent government members. Listenership remained limited due to low transmission power and failed radio power supplies. Broadcasts reached declining German Reich with better quality in northern Germany. British subjected station to censorship starting the 10th of May. They finally shut it down on the 13th of May. This facility stood alongside Prague as last propaganda available to Nazi regime. The diplomatic staffs of neutral countries still in Germany were recalled after the 8th of May 1945. Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland announced breaking off relations. Consequently the German state ceased as diplomatic entity on that date. Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Oshima and his legation were taken into custody despite objections. Empire of Japan denounced German surrender and seized embassy in Tokyo plus seven U-boats. No former protecting powers accorded recognition to Flensburg government.
Winston Churchill proved reluctant to close the government immediately following victory speech on the 8th of May. He specified surrender authorized by Grand Admiral Dönitz designated Head of State. Churchill urged letting things slide for a while citing great advantages. His attitude conditioned by concern Soviet forces might establish themselves in Denmark. He saw temporary continuation as bargaining counter regarding Soviet intentions in western Baltic. Conversely Soviet statements characterized government as anti-Soviet clique pursuing truce west only to maintain resistance east. On the 20th of May USSR made clear its position attacking Dönitz Administration calling it Dönitz Gang. Pravda harshly criticized any idea allowing retention of power. Eisenhower tended to agree with Soviet position if not reasoning behind it. He suspected Dönitz and cabinet could be front while real leadership remained operating behind scenes. With ill-disguised reluctance Eisenhower agreed defer to British view short period. He issued clarifying statement continuing government did not constitute recognition as head of state but only temporarily under instructions Allied Commanders.
British troops of Cheshire Regiment entered sports school in Flensburg-Mürwik at 10:00 am the 23rd of May 1945. They were supported by tanks of 15th/19th Hussars during Operation Blackout. Two Royal Navy destroyers Zodiac and another deployed in Flensburg Fjord ensuring no escape by sea. By 11:30 am, 5,000 German prisoners had been taken. Dönitz, Friedeburg and Jodl taken aboard Patria where Rooks informed them of dissolution. Placing them under arrest ordered they be stripped and searched for concealed phials of poison. Friedeburg committed suicide facing prospect being strip-searched. Dönitz, Schwerin von Krosigk, Speer, Jodl and other members taken prisoner under responsibility RAF Regiment task force commanded by Squadron Leader Mark Hobden. Prisoners later handed over to King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Some such as Speer moved to British POW camp Dustbin in Kransberg Castle. Others including Dönitz transferred to US-led Camp Ashcan. Later all Camp Ashcan prisoners moved to Nuremberg to stand trial.
The Berlin Declaration signed on the 5th of June 1945 gave legal recognition state of affairs existing from the 23rd of May at latest. It stated Germany did not possess native government. Complete authority and sovereignty thereafter assumed by Allied Military Occupation Government. Four Powers jointly discharged supreme authority via Allied Control Council during initial occupation stage. This council immediate successor of Dönitz Administration governing national territories. Potsdam Agreement after the 2nd of August 1945 limited jurisdiction to pre-war German territory west Oder-Neisse Line. Lands east placed under direct Polish and Soviet administration. The declaration contained statement disclaiming usual result unconditional surrender permanent destruction surrendering state. Yet it effectively recognized state of affairs existed for practical purposes since arrest. The contention German state ceased existence the 5th of June 1945 generally accepted though subsequently challenged legal political debate. In any event declaration recognized continued existence Germany as national territory implying continued existence German nation inhabiting that territory.
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Common questions
Who succeeded Adolf Hitler as president of Nazi Germany on the 1st of May 1945?
Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz was named successor to the presidency and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces in Adolf Hitler's political testament. Joseph Goebbels was designated Chancellor but committed suicide the following day before assuming office.
Where did the Flensburg Government establish its headquarters after leaving Berlin?
The administration moved to the Mürwik Naval School near Flensburg on the 3rd of May 1945 with administrative offices established on the liner Patria moored in Flensburg harbour. This location sat near the Danish border while residual ministers from the previous cabinet fled Berlin to join him at Plön.
When did the British Cheshire Regiment arrest Grand Admiral Dönitz and dissolve the government?
British troops entered the sports school in Flensburg-Mürwik at 10:00 am the 23rd of May 1945 during Operation Blackout. By 11:30 am, 5,000 German prisoners had been taken including Dönitz who were subsequently transferred to US-led Camp Ashcan for trial.
What legal status did the Reichssender Flensburg broadcast hold between the 3rd of May and the 13th of May 1945?
The station used medium wave frequency 1330 kHz to feature announcements from prominent government members until British censorship shut it down on the 13th of May. Listenership remained limited due to low transmission power and failed radio power supplies while broadcasts reached declining German Reich with better quality in northern Germany.
On what date did the Berlin Declaration legally recognize the end of the German state authority?
The Berlin Declaration signed on the 5th of June 1945 gave legal recognition to the state of affairs existing from the 23rd of May at latest. It stated that Germany did not possess native government and complete authority was assumed by Allied Military Occupation Government.