European Theater · Germany · January–May 1945
The Battle of Berlin and the German Surrender, 1945
From the Oder to the Reichstag, and from the Elbe to the surrender tables at Reims and Karlshorst: the last campaign of the war in Europe, told in nine chapters with maps, archival photographs and the documents that ended it.
On 16 April 1945 two and a half million Soviet and Polish soldiers attacked across the Oder and the Neisse toward Berlin. Seventeen days later the city surrendered. In between, the Red Army broke the last German defences on the Seelow Heights, encircled the capital, met the Americans on the Elbe, and fought street by street to the Reichstag, while Hitler killed himself in his bunker. Within a week of Berlin’s fall, Germany’s armed forces had surrendered unconditionally, first at Reims and then at Karlshorst, and the war in Europe was over.
Key facts
What happened
The road to Berlin began in January 1945, when the Vistula–Oder offensive carried the Red Army across Poland in three weeks to the Oder, about 50 miles from the city. In the west, the Americans and British crossed the Rhine in March, encircled the Ruhr, and reached the Elbe in mid-April. Eisenhower decided not to race for Berlin, which lay deep in the agreed Soviet zone of occupation. Stalin, suspicious of his allies, ordered Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev to take it as fast as they could. That story is told in Chapter 1.
Zhukov’s attack on 16 April opened with a vast barrage and a searchlight assault against the Seelow Heights, where the German 9th Army held him for three days. To the south, Konev crossed the Neisse and turned his tanks toward the city. On 25 April their armies met west of Berlin at Ketzin, closing the ring, and on the same day American and Soviet patrols met on the Elbe at Torgau. The German 9th Army, trapped southeast of the city, broke out through the forests at Halbe at terrible cost.
Inside the city, a mixed garrison of soldiers, Volkssturm militia and Hitler Youth fought on under General Helmuth Weidling, while civilians sheltered in cellars and flak towers. Soviet storm groups fought their way to the government quarter. On 30 April, as Soviet soldiers broke into the Reichstag, Hitler shot himself in the bunker beneath the Chancellery. Weidling surrendered the city on 2 May.
Hitler’s successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, tried to surrender to the Western Allies alone. Eisenhower refused. At 0241 on 7 May, at Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces. At Soviet insistence, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed again before Zhukov at Karlshorst in Berlin late on 8 May, when the surrender took effect. The West celebrated VE Day on 8 May; the Soviet Union marked Victory Day on 9 May.
Why it matters
The Battle of Berlin ended Nazi Germany. It was among the largest and costliest operations of the war: by the Russian General Staff’s count, the Soviet and Polish armies lost about 81,000 dead and missing and 280,000 wounded in little more than three weeks. German military and civilian losses were heavy and are still uncertain. The city was left in ruins, and its people endured mass violence, hunger and disease in the weeks that followed, as described in Chapter 9.
The way the battle and the surrender were managed shaped the postwar world. Berlin was divided among the four victorious powers; within three years it was the front line of the Cold War. The two surrender ceremonies, at Reims on 7 May and Karlshorst on 8 May, are the reason the West and Russia still mark the end of the war in Europe on different days. And the photographs taken in those weeks, above all Yevgeny Khaldei’s flag over the Reichstag, became some of the most famous images of the century.
How to use this collection
The nine chapters follow the campaign in order. Chapter 1 covers the Vistula–Oder offensive, Yalta and Eisenhower’s decision; Chapter 2 the Seelow Heights; Chapter 3 the encirclement and Halbe; and Chapter 4 Elbe Day. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are inside the city: the street fighting, the bunker and the Reichstag. Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 cover the surrenders and VE Day, and Chapter 9 the losses, occupation and memory.
The map below shows the movements of the armies from January to May; a second map in Chapters 2 and 3 shows the Berlin operation in detail. For the start of the war in Europe, see the Invasion of Poland; for the earlier battles on the Eastern Front, Operation Barbarossa, Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk; and for the Western Allies’ road to Germany, D-Day and Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. Times are local times as given in the sources: Central European Time for German and Western accounts, which was two hours behind Moscow time.
The collection
9 chapters
Read in order for the full story, or start anywhere. Each chapter has its own photographs, sources and links to the others.
01January–April 1945The Road to Berlin: The Vistula–Oder Offensive and Eisenhower's DecisionHow the Red Army reached the Oder, 50 miles from Berlin, in three weeks in early 1945, and why Eisenhower left the German capital to the Soviets.
0216–19 April 1945The Seelow Heights: Zhukov's Assault on the Oder16–19 April 1945: the opening battle of the Berlin operation, Zhukov's searchlight attack from the Küstrin bridgehead and Konev's crossing of the Neisse.
0320–25 April 1945Encirclement: Konev, Zhukov and the Ring Around Berlin20–25 April 1945: Soviet tank armies sweep around Berlin, Hitler decides to stay in the city, and the ring closes at Ketzin. The 9th Army is trapped at Halbe.
0411–27 April 1945Elbe Day: Americans and Soviets Meet at Torgau25 April 1945: patrols of the U.S. 69th Infantry Division meet Soviet troops on the Elbe at Strehla and Torgau, cutting Germany in two. Why the Ninth Army stopped on the river.
0526 April–1 May 1945The Battle in the Streets: Berlin, 26 April–1 May 1945Inside the encircled city: Weidling's defence sectors, Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, foreign SS volunteers, flak towers and cellars, and the Soviet storm groups that fought their way to the centre.
0628 April–2 May 1945The Reichstag and the Führerbunker: The Last Days of Hitler's Berlin28 April–2 May 1945: Hitler's marriage, testament and suicide in the bunker; the Soviet assault on the Reichstag and the flag photographs; Weidling's surrender of Berlin.
071–7 May 1945Reims: The Surrender at the Little Red SchoolhouseThe Dönitz government, the partial surrenders at Lüneburg Heath and elsewhere, and the unconditional surrender signed by Jodl at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims at 0241 on 7 May 1945.
088–9 May 1945Karlshorst and VE Day: The Second Surrender and the End of the War in EuropeThe definitive German surrender signed by Keitel before Zhukov at Berlin-Karlshorst on 8 May 1945; VE Day in London, New York and Washington; Victory Day in Moscow on 9 May; the last fighting in Europe.
091945–presentBerlin After the Battle: Losses, Occupation and MemoryWhat the Battle of Berlin cost, the violence against civilians, the four-power occupation and the Potsdam Conference, and how the battle and the surrender are remembered in Berlin, Seelow, Halbe, Torgau, Reims and Moscow.Map
The campaign on the map
Select any place for what happened there. Use the numbered buttons to follow the armies phase by phase, or press Play.
Interactive map
From the Vistula to the Elbe and Reims, January–May 1945
Numbers
By the numbers
Every figure below carries its source. Where historians disagree, the chapters give the range.
Forces at the start of the Berlin operation, mid-April 1945
Soviet and Polish dead and missing, by front, 16 April–8 May 1945
People
People and units
Commanders, soldiers and witnesses of the last battle. Select a name for the chapter where they appear.
The Soviet Union's most famous commander, victor at Moscow and co-planner of the Stalingrad counteroffensive. He led the main attack from the Oder, took the Reichstag and the government quarter, and presided at the Karlshorst surrender.
Photo: Grigory Vayl · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsZhukov's rival. His front crossed the Neisse, swept around Berlin from the south, met the Americans at Torgau and took Prague in May.
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe defender of Stalingrad. His army fought from the Seelow Heights to the centre of Berlin, and Weidling surrendered the city at his headquarters.
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsCrossed the lower Oder north of Berlin and pinned down the 3rd Panzer Army; later commanded the Victory Parade in Moscow.
Photo: No author attribution in newspaper; 2019 information shows author to be Grigory Vayl · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHis army was first across the Oder in January. Named Berlin's first Soviet commandant on 24 April, he died in an accident on 16 June 1945.
Photo: Yevgeny Khaldei · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsA defensive specialist who held the Seelow Heights for three days with inadequate forces and was relieved for trying to save his armies.
Commanded the army that defended the Oder; trapped at Halbe, he led its breakout west to Wenck's lines.
Photo: Unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsCommander of the LVI Panzer Corps, appointed to defend Berlin on 23 April. He surrendered the city on 2 May and died in Soviet captivity in 1955.
Photo: Глеб Самсонов (Известия) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsDecided not to race for Berlin and insisted on unconditional surrender on all fronts. "The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7th, 1945."
Photo: T4c. Messerlin. (Army) · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsNegotiated with Friedeburg and Jodl at Reims and signed the Act of Military Surrender for the Allies.
Led the patrol that met Soviet troops on the broken bridge at Torgau on 25 April 1945.
Photo: Pfc . William E. Poulson · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsMade the photograph of the flag over the Reichstag on 2 May 1945, one of the most reproduced images of the war (right, with Roman Karmen and Yevgeny Dolmatovsky).
Photo: Emmanuil Evzerikhin · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsThen and now
The Brandenburg Gate, 1945 and today
Drag the slider to compare.
Right: Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel ( http://www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gallery · 13 photographs · select to enlarge
Berlin, May 1945, in photographs
Quiz
Test yourself
Eight questions. Every answer is explained, and every one is covered in the chapters.
Score: answer a question to begin.
1. On which river did the Red Army halt within about 50 miles of Berlin at the end of January 1945?
The 5th Shock Army crossed the frozen Oder near Küstrin on 31 January.
2. Which ridge did the German 9th Army hold against Zhukov from 16 to 19 April?
The Seelow Heights rise 30 to 50 metres above the Oder valley. The Teufelsberg was built from rubble after the war.
3. Where did Soviet and American troops first meet on 25 April 1945?
Kotzebue’s patrol made first contact near Strehla; Robertson’s met the Soviets on the bridge at Torgau.
4. Which Soviet divisions stormed the Reichstag?
Both belonged to the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army.
5. Who did Hitler name as his successor as head of state?
His political testament of 29 April expelled Göring and Himmler and named Grand Admiral Dönitz Reich President.
6. Who signed the surrender for Germany at Reims?
Jodl signed at 0241 on 7 May. Keitel signed the Berlin act on 8 May.
7. Why was the surrender signed a second time in Berlin?
Moscow regarded Reims as preliminary; Susloparov had signed without instructions.
8. Why does Russia mark Victory Day on 9 May?
Moscow time was two hours ahead of Central European Time.
FAQ
Questions and answers
When was the Battle of Berlin?
The Berlin strategic offensive operation began on 16 April 1945 with the attack across the Oder and the Neisse and ended with the surrender of the Berlin garrison on 2 May; Soviet loss tables count it to 8 May. The fighting inside the city itself lasted about a week, from roughly 23–26 April to 2 May. See Chapter 2 to Chapter 6.
How many soldiers took part?
The three Soviet fronts committed about 2.5 million men, including about 78,500 of the 1st Polish Army, with 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 41,600 guns and mortars and 7,500 aircraft. Estimates of the German forces facing them range from about 750,000 to a million men, many of them poorly armed or untrained. See Chapter 1.
How many people died?
The Russian General Staff study gives 81,116 Soviet and Polish dead and missing and 280,251 wounded and sick. German military deaths are estimated at up to about 100,000, and civilian deaths in Berlin during the fighting at about 20,000 or more, with higher figures for the wider region. See Chapter 9.
Why didn't the Americans take Berlin?
Eisenhower judged that the Red Army was much closer and stronger, that an American attack might cost tens of thousands of casualties, and that the city lay deep inside the Soviet zone of occupation agreed in 1944 and confirmed at Yalta. On 15 April he confirmed that the Ninth Army would hold on the Elbe. See Chapter 1 and Chapter 4.
What happened at the Seelow Heights?
Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front attacked the German 9th Army on a ridge above the Oder valley on 16 April after a massive barrage and a searchlight assault. The Germans had pulled back from their forward line, and it took the Soviets three days and heavy losses to break through. See Chapter 2.
What was Elbe Day?
On 25 April 1945 patrols of the U.S. 69th Infantry Division met soldiers of the Soviet 58th Guards Rifle Division on the Elbe near Strehla and at Torgau, cutting Germany in two. The famous handshake photograph was restaged on 27 April. See Chapter 4.
When and how did Hitler die?
Hitler shot himself in the Führerbunker at about 1530 on 30 April 1945; Eva Braun, whom he had married the day before, took poison. Their bodies were burned in the Chancellery garden. The evidence from witnesses and Soviet forensic files is consistent. See Chapter 6.
Who raised the flag over the Reichstag?
Several groups of Soviet soldiers put flags on the Reichstag on the evening of 30 April. The Soviet state credited Sergeants Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, led by Lieutenant Alexei Berest, with raising the Victory Banner. Yevgeny Khaldei’s famous photograph was staged on 2 May with other soldiers. See Chapter 6.
Was the Khaldei photograph faked?
It was staged and retouched, but it records a real event. Khaldei brought his own flag and posed soldiers on the roof two days after the building was taken; smoke was added and a second wristwatch removed before publication. See Chapter 6.
Who defended Berlin?
About 45,000 soldiers of the army and Waffen-SS, including foreign SS volunteers from Scandinavia and France, together with police, Volkssturm militia and Hitler Youth, under General Helmuth Weidling. See Chapter 5.
When did Berlin surrender?
Weidling went to Chuikov’s headquarters early on 2 May 1945 and ordered the garrison to stop fighting. The Soviets claimed 134,000 prisoners in the city. See Chapter 6.
Why did Germany surrender twice?
Jodl signed the unconditional surrender at Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims at 0241 on 7 May. The Soviet government regarded this as preliminary and insisted that the supreme commanders of the German forces sign again before the Soviet High Command in Berlin. Keitel did so at Karlshorst late on 8 May. See Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
Why is VE Day on 8 May but Victory Day on 9 May?
The surrender took effect at 2301 Central European Time on 8 May, which was already 9 May in Moscow. The Western Allies announced the victory on 8 May; the Soviet Union announced it in the early hours of 9 May. See Chapter 8.
What was signed at Lüneburg Heath?
On 4 May 1945 Admiral von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German forces in northwest Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to Field Marshal Montgomery, effective 0800 on 5 May. It was a partial surrender. See Chapter 7.
What happened to Berlin after the battle?
The Soviets held the whole city until July 1945, when the Americans and British took over their sectors; the French followed in August. The city was governed by the four powers and became a focus of the Cold War. See Chapter 9.
Is there a North Carolina connection?
The 82nd Airborne Division, which returned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after the war, met Soviet forces on the Elbe in early May 1945, accepted the surrender of the German 21st Army, and later served in occupied Berlin. See Chapter 9 and Special Units.
Where can I visit the sites today?
In Berlin: the Reichstag (with preserved Soviet graffiti), the Soviet memorials in the Tiergarten and Treptower Park, the Topography of Terror and the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. Outside it: the Seelow Heights Memorial, the forest cemetery at Halbe and the Torgau memorial. In France: the Musée de la Reddition in Reims. See Chapter 9.
Sources
Sources and further reading
Official histories, archives, documents and museum collections used for this section.
- U.S. National Archives, Milestone Documents: "Surrender of Germany (1945)" — the Reims act and transcript
- Avalon Project, Yale Law School: German surrender documents — Caserta, Lüneburg, Reims and Berlin texts
- Charles B. MacDonald, The Last Offensive, U.S. Army in World War II (HyperWar edition) — the Elbe and the meeting at Torgau
- Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command (HyperWar edition) — Eisenhower, Berlin and the surrender
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Battle of Berlin"
- Ministère des Armées, Chemins de mémoire: "Reims, May 7, 1945. The German surrender"
- Prologue, U.S. National Archives: Eisenhower's victory message
- Museum Berlin-Karlshorst
- Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten, "The meeting on the Elbe"
- Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, "Vor 80 Jahren begann die Schlacht um Berlin"
- Imperial War Museums, "What you need to know about VE Day"
- Topographie des Terrors, Berlin
- Musées de Reims: Musée de la Reddition
- Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State: "The Potsdam Conference, 1945"
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