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In the early 1940s it was the capital of the Prussian province of Kurhessen , seat of a Regional Supreme Court (Oberlandesgericht), and headquarters of the authorities responsible for highway and railway construction for Central Germany
Kassel was home to the Henschel locomotive, engine and vehicle plants, the Fieseler aircraft plant, and several other important industries. The Henschel railway works were considered the biggest in continental Europe. The city was the important transportation and communications centre for Central Germany, with north/south traffic (Hanover-Frankfurt), and east/west traffic, ( Ruhr- Thuringia, Saxony), intersecting there.
Kassel was considered a strategic target for Arthur Harris´ Bomber Command. Both the RAFThe Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF is the air force of the United Kingdom. History Formation and Early History The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912 superseding the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Na and the USAAF had flown several light raids on the city´s industrial areas during 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass and early 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1. Kassel became the target for a major airstrike on the night of October 2October 2nd is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. Events 1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule. 1535 Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec. 1780 American Revolu, 1943. Fortunately for the city the pathfindersFor other meanings see Pathfinder. The Pathfinder squadrons of the Royal Air Force were elite squadrons of RAF Bomber Command during World War II. During World War II the RAF Bomber Command practiced mainly night bombing. This reduced losses, but made hit responsible for marking the target were not able to find the center of the city, so most of the bombing fell into the eastern suburbs of Ihringshausen and BettenhausenThere are commune names that have the name Bettenhausen in Germany Bettenhausen, Thuringia, in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, Hesse Bettenhausen, Hesse, in the Lich district, Hesse Bettenhausen, Baden-Wurttemberg, in the Rottweil district, Baden-Wur, causing considerable damage. An ammunition store was also hit but, in general, the attack by the 444 bomber force was a failure.
Bomber Command returned on October 22October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. Events 362 The temple of Apollo at Daphne, outside of Antioch is destroyed in a mysterious fire. 1383 The 1383-1385 Crisis in Portugal: A peri with a force of 569 bombers, with zero hour being set at 8.45 pm. The main-force attack was covered by a feint attack on Frankfurt am Main which began five minutes before the main raid. German air defence concluded that Frankfurt would be the target so all the defensive night fighters diverted there just as the main raid on Kassel began.
The pathfinders clearly marked the target ( Martinsplatz in central Kassel) so well that within five minutes the whole ancient town was illuminated. Within the next 80 minutes the waves of bombers dropped at least 1,800 tons of high explosives and incendiaries. The high explosive bombs demolished or extensively damaged buildings, but the incendiaries did the worst damage. Ton for ton, they had been found to be four to five times as destructive as high explosive 1.
The heart of Kassel consisted almost completely of wooden houses. The bombing was so intense that incendiary bombs fell with a density of up to two per square meter. Each building in the city center was hit by at least two liquid incendiary bombs and several of the 460,000 fire-sticks rained on the city.
After 15 minutes of attack the whole inner city was ablaze in a firestorm like the one at Hamburg, creating temperatures of 1500°C and above. It was consuming nearly all oxygen and sucking fresh air into the fire. People desperately trying to escape the fire zone were caught by the 100 mph wind, stripped of their clothes, and sucked back into the fire. Most residents who fled into the cellars died from asphyxiation.
Only a few minutes after the attack begun, the main telephone exchange was hit and disabled, so fire brigades could not be directed to the places where they were needed. The firestorm was well underway before police could provide communications for the fire brigades, but even then destruction of the city´s water pipes made it impossible to extinguish the inferno.
Kassel, which had a pre-raid population of 236,000 (1939), burned for seven days. It is believed that at least 10,000 people died and 150,000 inhabitants were bombed-out that night, and the city center was 95 per cent destroyed. It took weeks to collect all the corpses from the streets and out of the ruined cellars.
Many more raids were flown on Kassel before the end of the war, but no one was anywhere near as devastating as the raid of October 22, 1943. When the Americans captured the city in March 1945, only 50,000 people were still residing there.
After the War, Kassel was one of the last major cities in West Germany to be rebuilt. It has never regained either its pre-war population or its importance. Due to the inner-German border, which only ran 30 km east of the city, most of its former hinterland then lay behind the Iron Curtain. Many of the city´s industries moved away, the former Regional Supreme Court moved to Frankfurt, as did the railway authorities.
To stop the decline, the Federal Government decided in 1955 to make Kassel the seat of two federal courts, the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht), and the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht).
After reunification, Kassel became the "boomtown" of central Germany for a few years, with population rising to 207,500. But in recent years Kassel has again fallen back, since the nearby Erfurt in Thuringia is much more attractive to investors.