German World War II strongholds


German strongholds during World War II were the selected towns and cities so designated by Adolf Hitler to resist the Allied offensives where the defenders were ordered to defend them at all costs. The doctrine of these strongholds evolved towards the end of World War II, when the German leadership had not yet accepted defeat, but had begun to realize that drastic measures were required to forestall inevitable offensives on the Reich. The first such stronghold became Stalingrad.
Subsequently, on the Eastern Front, Warsaw, Budapest, Kolberg, Königsberg, Küstrin, Danzig and Breslau were some of the large cities selected as strongholds whilst on the Western Front locations included the British island of Alderney.
The fate of the strongholds varied. Stalingrad, the first of the "fortresses" to fall, is seen as a crucial turning point in the war, and one of the key battles which led to German defeat. In several cases the fortresses were bypassed by the attackers and did not actually fall until long after they had been neutralised.
LocationCountryCommandantBesiegersDate declaredDate surrenderedNotes
AlderneyBritish Crown dependenciesLieutenant Colonel
Schwalm		Royal Navy16 May 1945Contained until after general German surrender
See German occupation of the Channel Islands
BerlinGermanyHellmuth Reymann,
Helmuth Weidling		Soviet Red Army8 May 1945See Battle in Berlin
BoulogneFranceFerdinand Heimreinforced Canadian 3rd Division22 September 1944Captured after a five-day operation. See Operation Wellhit
Breslau GermanyKarl HankeSoviet 6th Army25 July 19446 May 1945See Siege of Breslau
BrestFranceHermann-Bernhard RamckeUS Third Army19 September 1944Captured after six-week assault. See Battle for Brest
BudapestHungaryKarl Pfeffer-WildenbruchSoviet 2nd Ukrainian Front1 December 194413 February 1945Captured after 102 day long assault. See Siege of Budapest
CalaisFranceLudwig SchroederCanadian 3rd Division1 October 1944See Operation Undergo
CreteGreeceHans-Georg BenthackRoyal Navy, Hellenic Army8 May 1945See Fortress Crete
DieppeFranceCanadian 2nd Division1 September 1944Evacuated before receipt of the relevant Führer Order; liberated without opposition. See Operation Fusilade
DunkirkFranceFriedrich Frisius1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade8 May 1945Contained until general German surrender. See Siege of Dunkirk
KolbergGermanyFritz FullriedeSoviet 1st Belorussian FrontNovember 194414 March 1945See Battle of Kolberg
KönigsbergEast Prussia, GermanyOtto LaschSoviet 3rd Belorussian Front9 April 1945See Battle of Königsberg
KüstrinGermanyHeinrich-Friedrich Reinefarth, Adolf RaegenerSoviet 82nd Guards Rifle DivisionA small number of the German garrison reached German lines after a breakout during the night of March 29/30 1945
Le HavreFranceEberhard WildermuthFirst Canadian Army12 September 1944Captured after 48-hour assault. See Operation Astonia
Posen PolandErnst Mattern until 28 January 1945, then Ernst GonellSoviet 1st Belorussian Front23 February 1945See Battle of Poznań
Saint-MaloFranceAndreas von AulockUS Third Army19 January 194417 August 1944Captured after two weeks
WarsawPolandSoviet Red Army27 July 194417 January 1945Captured hours after the withdrawal of German troops, in violation of Hitler's order to hold the "Fortress". See Festung Warschau