Dictatorship. War. And afterwards. Radolfzell 1933 to 1945.

Radolfzell under the swastika

The Second World War came to an end 80 years ago. Countless documents, books and films are dedicated to this chapter of German history. But what was everyday life like in Radolfzell at that time? What happened on the so-called “home front”? From April 10, 2025, the Radolfzell City Museum will give an impression of this with its new special exhibition “Dictatorship. War. And afterwards. Radolfzell 1933 – 1948”. It sheds light on the years from 1933 to the immediate post-war period in the town on the Lower Lake.

What many people don’t know: Radolfzell played a special role at the time due to the stationing of armed SS units in the specially built barracks. The construction of the barracks was the pet project of NSDAP district leader Eugen Speer, who forced the mayor of Radolfzell, Otto Blesch, out of office in 1934. The project was intended to reduce unemployment in the region and provide the town with long-term economic benefits. On July 31, 1937, the 3rd battalion of the SS “Germania” standard battalion moved into the barracks from Singen with 788 men and 39 horses. The units, which changed several times until the end of the war, would later be responsible for crimes and much suffering in the surrounding area.

The Radolfzell SS was actively involved in the social life of the town and presented itself at traditional festivals and events. SS members carried out their swimming training in the Aachbad Singen, which was built especially for them, celebrated in the “Sennhof” forest home, maintained relationships with young women in Radolfzell and with “work maids” in the Reich Labor Service camp in Wahlwies. There is evidence of several marriages between women from Radolfzell and members of the SS.

Members of the SS units stationed in Radolfzell took part in all military operations of their time. In addition, on November 10, 1938, commandos from the Radolfzell SS Verfügungstruppe blew up and burned the synagogues in Constance, Gailingen, Randegg and Wangen and mistreated Jewish residents. On 22 October 1940, the SS Death’s Head Battalion stationed in Radolfzell organized the deportation of the district’s Jewish inhabitants to the Gurs internment camp in the south of France together with the police and Gestapo. Only a few survived.

From 1941, prisoners from Dachau concentration camp worked on the construction of a shooting range for the SS-Unterführererschule Radolfzell (USR). Numerous abuses, draconian punishments and two arbitrary killings of prisoners are documented. In the final days of the war, members of the Unterführer School attempted to plunge the entire region into senseless resistance through terror. On April 23, 1945, a group of the Radolfzell SS hanged the deputy mayor of Singen, Karl Bäder, because he had previously negotiated the surrender of the town of Singen to the French forces. Another group killed five members of the French army and 16 foreign prisoners of war and forced laborers in Stockach.

Apart from the SS, events in Radolfzell differed little from other small towns in southern Germany. As everywhere else, National Socialists ousted the other parties in the disempowered municipal council and controlled club life after the swift “Gleichschaltung”. The exhibition focuses on how young people were captured and indoctrinated by the regime. It was not only schools that educated young people in the ideology, but also the state youth, the “Hilterjugend” (HJ), which was compulsory from 1939, and then the Reich Labor Service (RAD), which was also compulsory. Numerous loans from the population paint a picture of everyday life between school and “group time”, collection services for the Winter Relief Organization (WHW) and pre-military education in the RAD.

During the war years, the Radolfzell factories were characterized by a shortage of raw materials and thrifty housekeeping on the one hand and efforts to increase productivity on the other. Forced laborers were to replace the conscripted workers and increase production. In total, over 550 forced laborers worked in Radolfzell factories. They came from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, France, Belgium, Bohemia-Moravia, Alsace and the Netherlands. An unknown number of forced laborers worked in agriculture. Although under Swiss management, the Schiesser company also tried to maintain good relations with the regime. In 1940, the “German Labor Front” (DAF) awarded the Schiesser company the title of “National Socialist Model Company”.

Ration cards and air raid drills, field post letters and death notifications in the exhibition provide an insight into the living conditions of the population during the war years. On April 25, 1945, the French forces finally reached the town of Radolfzell. A few days earlier, SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Groß had called for unconditional defense in a public speech. Any resistance to this “Führer order” would be punished with death by a summary court martial. After dramatic hours of firefights and hectic negotiations, vicar Karl Ruby and innkeeper Fritz Volk raised the white flags of surrender. One of them can be admired today in the permanent exhibition of the city museum, on loan from the cathedral parish.

Insights into the immediate post-war period conclude the special exhibition “Dictatorship. War. And afterwards. Radolfzell 1933 – 1948”. It was then that the seeds were sown for the two town twinnings that today link Radolfzell with both Amriswil in Switzerland and the southern French town of Istres. Preparations were already underway in Switzerland at the end of the war for aid campaigns in the spirit of neighborly help for southern Germany. As part of the “Ostschweizerische Grenzlandhilfe”, the Thurgau municipality of Amriswil supported the town of Radolfzell with school meals and aid deliveries. The borderland aid became an informal sponsorship for Radolfzell, which led to the town twinning between Amriswil and Radolfzell in 1999.

In 1945, French forces move into the former SS barracks. The first few weeks under French occupation were strict, but the regulations were soon relaxed. The first rapprochement between the French and Germans in the 1950s developed into the Franco-German Club and finally the town twinning with Istres, which was sealed 50 years ago with the signing of the twinning documents on July 19, 1975 in Radolfzell – another anniversary that the exhibition commemorates.

The Radolfzell City Museum is open Thursdays to Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm. For further information please call Tel. 07732 / 81-530 during opening hours or at www.stadtmuseum-radolfzell.de.