Gaining Strength from Nature

Arnold, Thomas J. (Tom)

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17439-2_7

Thomas J. (Tom) Arnold⁹

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History ((PSWEH))

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Abstract

Munich’s transition from the war-ravaged ruin of 1945 to today’s prosperous cultural capital demanded that its residents endure many hardships, adapt, and find the strength to rebuild. This essay considers the sources of this resilience from the perspective of environmental history, finding them in the experiences of the war years, when the city was subject to increasing damage and disruption from bombing raids. Instead of giving up, Müncheners proved that they could adapt and survive the forces of nature the attacks exposed them to. They turned back the clock to a preindustrial age, showing that years of city life had not weakened their relationship to nature. This quality would serve them well in the difficult years of occupation and recovery to come.

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Notes

1.
The city’s relatively late industrialization diverted the traditional “dirty” industries such as steel plants, to other areas. Lacking a traditional industrial base, Munich welcomed specialized, high-tech companies such as BMW in 1917.
2.
Irmtraud Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München 1942–45: Bomben auf die Hauptstadt der Bewegung (Oberhaching: Aviatic Verlag, 1997), 367. Statistics on deaths from air raids vary from 6200 to 6600; I have split the difference. It is unclear from the statistics as to how many of those made homeless subsequently left the city.
3.
Most famously, Londoners during the “Blitz.” For a nuanced look at the reality of living in London during that time, see Amy Helen Bell, London Was Ours: Diaries and Memoirs of the London Blitz (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011). Berlin, despite heavy bombing, only fell when Soviet troops took the city at great cost. German language readers may enjoy Backfisch im Bombenkrieg (Berlin: Matthes & Seitz Verlag, 2013) a surprisingly breezy diary of a teenage girl who spent the war in Berlin.
4.
C. S. Clauss-Ehlers, “Re-inventing resilience: A model of “culturally-focused resilient adaptation,” in C.S. Clauss-Ehlers and M.D. Weist, eds., Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children, (New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004), 27.
5.
Olena Smyntyna, “Cultural Resilience Theory as an instrument of modeling Human response to Global Climate Change. A case study in the North- Western Black Sea region on the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary,” RIPARIA 2 (January 2016): 1–20. Smyntyna’s study should interest environmental historians. See also A. Himes-Cornell, and K. Hoelting, “Resilience strategies in the face of short- and long-term change: out-migration and fisheries regulation in Alaskan fishing communities,” Ecology and Society 20, no. 2 (2015): 9.
6.
Eva Berthold and Norbert Matern, eds., München im Bombenkrieg (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1983). Two other books (Permooser and Richardi) are discussed below.
7.
The classic work on cities’ connections to natural resources is William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991).
8.
See Roger Chickering, The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg 1914–1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) for a comprehensive study of a city at war before widespread use of strategic bombing.
9.
For a theoretical assessment see W.G. Sebald, On the Natural History of Destruction, translated by Althea Bell (New York: Random House, 2003). For good overview of German cities in World War II, see Hermann Knell, To Destroy a City: Strategic Bombing and its Human Consequences in World War II. (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2003). For the German view of bombing, see Jörg Friedrich, The Fire : The Bombing of Germany 1940–1945. Translated by Allison Brown. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008).
10.
The idea was that urban residents would rise up against their leaders. This fails to take into account the fact that some regimes (especially the Nazis) were very effective in creating fear and repression, punishing anyone who protested. It would have been extremely difficult for any city, especially Munich, which had the title “Capital of the Movement” to demand surrender from their leaders.
11.
Basil H. Liddell Hart, Paris, or the Future of War (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1925), 37.
12.
Douhet’s 1921 book, Command of the Air, is considered one of the classics of interwar bombing theory. Douhet himself started as an artilleryman, but as early as 1909 was speculating on the impact of the airplane in warfare. He later commanded the first Italian air battalion during World War I. See Giulio Douhet, The Command of the Air (Washington, D.C. Air Force History and Museums Program, 1998).
13.
Quoted in Tami Davis Biddle, Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas About Strategic Bombing, 1941–1945 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002), 37.
14.
Given the accuracy (or lack thereof) of bombing during World War II, the term is misleading. “Precision” bombing is better understood as having specific targets in and around a city, whereas “area” bombing simply targets the entire city and its surrounding area. For a complete guide to bombing in World War II, see Charles Webster, and Noble Frankland, History of the Second World War: The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany 1939–1945 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1961.)
15.
The Bomber’s Baedeker: Guide to the Economic Importance of German Towns and Cities: Second Edition (Enemy Branch, Foreign Office and Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944), 487.
16.
Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 379.
17.
Hans-Günter Richardi, Bomber über München: Der Luftkrieg von 1939–1945 dargestellt am Beispiel der “Hauptstadt der Bewegung” (München: W. Ludwig Buchverlag, 1992), 5.
18.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 102.
19.
“Mehr Kohle für Heimat und Rüstung!” Volkischer Beobachter, February 6, 1942.
20.
“Holzgasgenerator-Anhänger bei den Münchener Omnibussen,” Volkischer Beobachter., November 11, 1942. By the end of the war, Germany had over 500,000 such vehicles. See http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-cars.html , accessed April 30, 2017.
21.
Stadtarchiv München, Stadtratbesprechungen, January 18, 1943.
22.
Cities in Allied states had similar concerns. See Matthew Evenden, “Lights Out! Conserving Electricity for War in the Canadian City, 1939–1945.” Urban History Review 34, no. 1 (Fall 2005): 3–124.
23.
Since the VB was official Nazi Party propaganda, it can be problematic as a source. However, the flowery and patriotic language often only thinly veils the truth. It is useful in seeing how the Nazi Party wanted the people of Munich to react to the privations of war. Often people had no choice but to tow the party line. Near the end of the war, those considered “unpatriotic” were executed.
24.
“Spart Strom und Gas: Ein Aufruf des Reichsmarschalls-Alle Energie für den Endsieg.” Völkischer Beobachter, September 8, 1942.
25.
“Total War”: Excerpt from Goebbels’s Speech at the Sportpalast in Berlin February 18, 1943 in Joachim Remak, ed., The Nazi Years: A Documentary History (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969), 91–92.
26.
Franz Weber, interview by author, Munich, Germany, February 6, 2010.
27.
Theo Rosendorfer, interview by author, Munich, Germany, February 10, 2010.
28.
Interestingly, the American occupiers would worry after the war that poor conditions would lead to Germans rejecting democracy in favor of communism.
29.
“Eine Stadt hält Stand: nach dem Terrorangriff auf München,” Völkischer Beobachter, March 31, 1943.
30.
For more information on Dachau, see International Dachau Committee. The Dachau Concentration Camp, 1933 to 1945: Text and Photo Documents from the Exhibition. (Dachau: Comité International de Dachau, 2005). For a more recent work on concentration camps in general, see Nikolaus Wachsmann, KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015).
31.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 150.
32.
100 Jahre Gas in München, 100–102.
33.
Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 378–379.
34.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 147. Shortages of equipment (ladders, hoses, gas masks, protective clothing), plus the refusal of many volunteer fire departments to help made the damage worse.
35.
Theo Rosendorfer, interview by author, Munich, Germany, February 10, 2010.
36.
Max Hastings, Bomber Command (London: Pan Books, 1979), 197.
37.
Quoted in Richardi, Bomber über München, 10. Later the RAF would experiment with low-level marking using the Mosquito, a two-engine bomber constructed mostly out of wood. While such raids earned pilots medals for bravery, the technique was considered ineffective against heavy defenses. See Hastings, Bomber Command, 284.
38.
Ibid., 176–177.
39.
Wilhelm Hausenstein, Licht Unter dem Horizont: Tagebücher von 1942 bis 1946 (München: Bruckmann, 1967), 161–162.
40.
Dotterweich, interview.
41.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 46.
42.
There was one artificial light source. Theo Rosendorfer remembers that at night “there were markers that glowed in the dark so one could see the other passersby, so that people did not run into each other in the dark; people used to make jokes about this.” Rosendorfer, interview.
43.
The firebombing of Hamburg, with its unprecedented level of casualties in June 1943 caused many people to flee Germany’s larger cities. See Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 161.
44.
“Einschränkung des Lichtverbrauchs,” Völkischer Beobachter, April 6, 1943.
45.
“Strom- und Gasverbrauch,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, May 14, 1943.
46.
“Sparsamer Energieverbrauch,” Völkischer Beobachter, July 21, 1943.
47.
“Es können noch Lichtstunden gespart werden,” Völkischer Beobachter, December 3, 1943.
48.
“Spart mit Kohle, Gas und Strom!” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, January 21, 1944.
49.
“Spart Wasser!” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, April 9, 1943.
50.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 238.
51.
Richardi, Bomber über München, 217.
52.
Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 381–382. It is important to point out that Munich suffered fewer casualties than more political targets like Berlin or more industrial targets like cities in the Ruhr.
53.
United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Medical Branch, Report 65: The Effect of Bombing on Health and Medical Care in Germany, Chapter 10: Environmental Sanitation, US National Archives RGB 260: Records of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, folder 200a/148, 237–238.
54.
Hausenstein, Licht unter dem Horizont, 260–262.
55.
“Wieder Einmal!” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, July 22/23, 1944.
56.
Hausenstein, Licht unter dem Horizont, 271.
57.
“Wieder Einmal!” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, July 22/23, 1944.
58.
US Strategic Bombing Survey, Transportation Division, Report #202: Effects of Bombing on Railroad Installations in Regensburg , Nuremberg, and Munich Divisions, Second edition, January 1947, U.S. National Archives RGB 260: Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, folder 200a/148, 2. Innsbruck was the capital of Tyrol in Western Austria and an important link to rail traffic coming from Italy.
59.
Hausenstein, Licht unter dem Horizont, 287.
60.
Weber, interview.
61.
Alfred Haussner, “Der Schutt und das Bleibende,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, November 17, 1944.
62.
“München Heute,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, November 24, 1944.
63.
Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 384–385.
64.
Hausenstein, Licht unter dem Horizont, 286.
65.
“Brennstoffversorgung in Stadt und Land,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, October 14, 1944.
66.
“Mehr Waldholz als Brennmaterial,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, November 20, 1944.
67.
“Kohlenhändler als Tankholz-Hersteller,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, December 20, 1944.
68.
“Erhöhte Holzabführung,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, January 30, 1945.
69.
“1945,” Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, December 30, 1944.
70.
Douhet, The Command of the Air, 202–203.
71.
Permooser, Der Luftkrieg über München, 385.
72.
Karl Ude, “Soldat in einer verdunkelten Stadt,” in Hermann Proebst and Karl Ude, eds., Denk ich an München: Ein Buch der Erinnerungen (München: Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, 1966), 255.
73.
Stadtarchiv München, Stadtrat Dezernatbesprechung, March 12, 1945.
74.
US National Archives, RGB 260: Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, folder 200a/148.
75.
Quoted in Eva Berthold and Nobert Matern, eds., München im Bombenkrieg (Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1983), 78.

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San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA, USA
Thomas J. (Tom) Arnold

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University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Simo Laakkonen
Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
J. R. McNeill
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Richard P. Tucker
Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Timo Vuorisalo

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Arnold, T.J.(. (2019). Gaining Strength from Nature. In: Laakkonen, S., McNeill, J.R., Tucker, R.P., Vuorisalo, T. (eds) The Resilient City in World War II. Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17439-2_7

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17439-2_7
Published: 28 May 2019
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-17438-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-17439-2
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