As an administrative centre and a major location for the chemical, steel and engineering industries, Düsseldorf was an important strategic target and was attacked repeatedly by Allied bombers.
The most serious raids included:
19 June 1940
28 December 1941
2 September 1942
1 August 1942
2 September 1942
26 May 1943, 759 bombers and 31 dead
12 June 1943, 783 bombers and 1,212 dead
1 August 1943
2 September 1943
4 November 1943
The raid of 12 June 1943, Whit Saturday/Whitsun weekend, was particularly severe and set large areas of the city ablaze.
The figures presented here give 1,212 deaths and list extensive damage to churches, hospitals and residential districts.
On 2 November 1944 alone, nearly 4,500 tons of bombs were dropped on Düsseldorf, causing another major firestorm in the old city.
Across 243 air raids, 86,500 dwellings were damaged or destroyed, and around 51 per cent of the city was destroyed.
The approximately 18,000 tons of bombs dropped on Düsseldorf killed 5,863 civilians according to the figures cited here.
