After thirteen air raids had caused varying degrees of damage, Magdeburg suffered its most devastating attack on 16 January 1945.
The raid became one of the most destructive attacks on the city during the war.
About 4,000 people were killed in this attack alone, many by fire, suffocation or toxic fumes; others died from blast and fragmentation.
6,500 dead
The bunker beneath St Jacobi Church could no longer be reached after the raid because bodies lay piled near the entrances — people who had been trying to reach safety.
Magdeburg’s city centre was almost completely destroyed. The cathedral, containing the tombs of Emperor Otto I and his wife, and the Monastery of Our Lady were also severely damaged.
Relative to the size of the city, the level of structural destruction was extremely high; most of the historic centre was wiped out.
The total number of deaths in Magdeburg caused by the air war is given here as 6,500.
Magdeburg in the spring of 1945
