Küstrin
Already Theodor Fontane wrote in "Walk through the Mark Brandenburg" about Küstrin: “Beyond the river Oder where the Warthe right-angledly enters between shipyard and pastures, rests Küstrin. A name often mentioned through the centuries in the stories of the country, but seldom, however, joyfully. A little darkly sinister around it here and in my memory I see the place which carries the name under an eternal November sky ".
Indeed, the breath of decline surrounds Küstrin. The fortress constructed by the Italian master builder Giromella in the 16th century for the margrave Hans, survived two sieges. The third one should sweep it from the map. The Russians besieged the city of Küstrin first whose fortress they bombed August 15, 1758. The commanding officer, Colonel Schack von Wuthenow rejected the demand to surrender. When Friedrich the Great relieved the fortress August 21, he found it in perfect condition. The town, however, was cremated. The second siege was a thing of hours. The commanding officer, Colonel von Ingersleben, handed over fortress and town to Napoleon`s soldiers October 31, 1806.Without having fired a single shot. Fontane commented the event: Under the most inglorious fortress commanding officers of that epoch, he the most inglorious, because the most ambiguous one. Of what makes and honours the soldier he had nothing"
"Dark and weird" for Fontane was also the decapitation of Leutnant (second lieutenant) Katte, a friend of youth of Prince Friedrich, later Friedrich the Great. Friedrich wanted to escape from the Prussian drill and the influence of his father, accompanied by Katte. In his place Friedrich I. let behead the Leutnant in front of the bastion Brandenburg November 6, 1730. Fontane wrote: "... (this day) ... illustrates in a shattering way that moral strength, from which this to be hated and loved country of Prussia arose". The third siege of Küstrin began "officially" March 22, 1945. At that time Chuikov`s 8. Guard Army coming from the bridgehead at Lebus, united with the troops of the 5. Army of Lieutenant General Bersarin (later the first military governor of Berlin) at the railway station of Golzow on the left shore of the river Oder. From that one single great bridgehead the attack on Berlin should arise. Within the years before 1945 it had remained quiet in Küstrin, with the exception of the first days of the Polish campaign. Apart from a couple of emergency bomb droppings of allied bombers which caused hardly any damage, Küstrin remained an idyll. Incomprehensible, since the town was a prominent traffic junction. Five large and three small railway and highway bridges crossed Oder and Warthe. And a tower railway station, a technical solution seldom practised, crossed important north-south and the east west railway lines about each other.
Already January 31 the first Russian forces put out a few feelers in front of Küstrin. An enormous flow of refugees and Wehrmacht trundles over three big eastern roads on and by Küstrin. However, six Russian tanks, Shermans and British Valentines from Allied deliveries, in cooperation with T 34, try to take the Warthe bridges in a surprise coup but are beaten back. The next day Landsberg, just 40 km from Küstrin falls into the hands of the Red Army. In the early hours Russian tanks bombard the Küstriner Neustadt (new town) once more.
On February 2, the 8.Guard Army crosses the river Oder at the village of Reitwein. 9 km south of Küstrin .Hitler, still furiously about the loss of Landsberg wants no repetition of the events in Küstrin. He is therefore looking for an officer who will not throw the towel so fast. He finds him in the 41-year-old SS Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) of the Waffen SS, Heinz Reinefahrt. In Hitler's eyes the perfect man. He had suppressed the Warsaw rebellion in 1944 anyway and won the epithet "hangman of Warsaw" with the Poles.
In the first February week the 21. Armoured Division tries to extend the tube which forms the connection of Seelow to Küstrin. It approaches Gorgast against tough resistance on February 7. Only in the evening of February 8 the German forces manage to unite at Bleyen. But already on February 10 the Panzers are pulled out and replaced by the 25. Panzergrenadier Division. The Panzers are needed as a "fire brigade" at Glogau.
While the Russian general staff is preparing the taking of Küstrin feverishly, the chaotic evacuation of theKüstrin- Neustadt begins on February 19. About 2 000 to 3 000 persons shall be channelled by the tube without sufficient motorization. The next day it is the 3 000 residents' of the old town turn. From now on Küstrin belongs to the military. The next days are proportionally quiet, only harassing fire falls primarily onto Neustadt.
However, on March 5 a fire storm starts with a 7-hour artillery bombardment and ends with rolling bomb raids. Almost all buildings of the Neustadt are wrecked. The next day is a repetition the previous, with one exception. It is twice as bad. Everything indicates the feared large-scale attack. Reinefahrt wants to transfer his troops from the Neustadt to the old town, however, is impeded by the corps staff. On March 11 the resistance from the Germans in the Neustadt begins to fade. Within the general staff of the XI.. SS Panzerkorps the search for a culprit for the expected loss of the city begins. A scapegoat is needed and Reinefahrt is the chosen one. In the daily OKW report of March 10 "the narrow bridgehead Küstrin" is quoted Reinefahrts is not mentioned, although other commanding officers in similar situations are named for moral strengthening reasons.
On March 11 the 25. Panzergrenadier Division maintains a thin tube as connection between Küstrin and the German hinterland. On the same day Hitler makes a last front visit. At castle Harnekop ten kilometres southwest of Wriezen he meets with the staff of the CI. Army Corps under General of the Artillery, Wilhelm Berlin and General Busse and his staff. This was the last appearance of the Führer. He should not leave the bunker in the Chancellery any more. On March 12 the Russian General Chief of Staff Malinin reports to Moscow that city and fortress of Küstrin have been taken, a false report as it appears soon.
The week from March 13 to March 20 is filled with nervous tension. A non-stop artillery fire tugs at the nerves. The Germans are depressed also about the fact that they are shot at with their own shells. They recognize that from shell fragments with German production signs. They are not aware that the 8. Guard Army collects and fires all captured German guns and ammunition they find in their respective frontline between the city of Poznan and the river Oder. In the fights for Küstrin approximately 65 000 booty shells of the calibres of 10.5 and 15 cm are used up.
March 22 signals the beginning of the last act. Four Russian light-infantry ivisions from the south and two light-infantry divisions from the north supported by 100 tanks and strong air forces sweep aside the 20. Panzergrenadier Division aside, an immediate counter attack by the 25. Panzer Division and parts of the Panzer Division "Müncheberg" fails. The railway line Tucheband-Golzow is the new line of defence.The permanent, nightly supply with food and ammunition as well as the transport of casualties has ended with that. Another German relief attack shall take place on March 24. This time with the help of the"Führer Grenadierdivision" under Otto Ernst Remer who was rewarded by Hitler with a general rank because of his role at the attempted assassination of Hitler, July 20. This attack is postponed until March 27. The attack force consists of the 25.and 20. Panzergrenadier Divisions, the “Führer Grenadierdivision”, the Panzer Division “Müncheberg” and Otto Skorzenys Regiment 1001. But the operation is stopped soon by Russian artillery fire.
The old town lies under intense fire on March 28 and 29. Up to 1 000 shells an hour smash into the completely destroyed city and citadel. Reinefahrt and his SS officers see the withdrawal as their only way out. Even against the order of the Führer. On March 29 the Red Army attacks the remaining defenders after the most intense shelling. The Volkssturm surrenders and Reinefahrts troops also can not stand the ground any more. After a last radio message they announce their withdrawal: "Enemy in front of artillery barracks - mission impossible to hold the island any longer - attack to the west of the river". They retreat over the main drainage-channel and blow up the bridge. They assemble in the cellars of the few farmsteads later. Then an attempt is made to reach the German lines seven kilometres to the east. The first two kilometres are covered easily, but then the "quiet close combat" with knives, spades and butts turns into a wild shoot-out which alerts the complete front sector. Finally, 32 officers and 965 non-commissioned officers and soldiers reach the German lines completely exhausted.
Within the two months of the fight for Küstrin 5 000 German soldiers and 6 000 Soviets lose their life. Heinz Reinefahrt reaches the German lines at Seelow. He is arrested, but obviously remains without any measure regulation for leaving Küstrins contrary to orders. He becomes a mayor of Westerland (Sylt) in 1951 and gets elected for the Schleswig Holsteiner Landtag (parliament) in 1958.