The military occupation of Thuringia 


The occupation of Thuringia by the Allied armies took place during the first weeks of April 1945, when the center of Germany became a target for the 12th U.S. Army Group. By the end of March the necessary armies had been formed for the coming offensive. At that time General George S. Patton's Third Army was close by the Thuringia border.

For the liberation of the Thuringia region VIII, XII and XX Corps of the Third Army were involved and were to occupy the area from the West. VIII Corps operated in the center between XX Corps in the North and XII Corps in the South. On March 31st armored units of the XII Corps had reached the Western border of Thuringia and stood ten kilometer west from Eisenach. The operational directives for Patton's army were aimed at occupying the supposed German communications center in the Ohrdruf - Gotha - Erfurt area, as well as a swift advance on the Thuringia capital of Weimar, that was the main seat of the government and important military command structures of the Reichsverteidungskommissars for Thuringia.

The American occupation of Thuringia started April 1st, 1945. Units of the 4th Armored Division passed that day Creuzburg at the Werra River. Armored units of VIII Corps operated on April 3rd and the following days in the area Gotha - Ohrdruf, while the XII Corps continued advancing in the Thuringia Forest near Schmalkalden - Suhl - Meiningen. At the same time, armored units of the XX Corps advanced towards Mühlhausen into Northern Thuringia.

In that time, General Patton received the order, once he arrived at the Meiningen - Ohrdruf - Gotha - Mühlhausen line to stop and to await the arrival of First and Ninth U.S. Army.
Due to this, the advance took a couple of days of delay. On April 8th the spearheads of the three corps waited at the designated line in Thuringia. The occupation of the northern cities and districts continued after April 9th. As of April 12th the advance concentrated onto the area Erfurt - Weimar - Jena. 

The same day, the Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in Thuringia and visited the Merkers site where numerous art collections and gold stocks were discovered, followed by a visit to the camp of Ohrdruf, a commando of Buchenwald concentration camp, that was liberated April 4th. Erfurt and Weimar were taken on April 12th, Jena on the 13th. VIII Corps, advancing in the middle, continued to proceed towards the eastern cities and districts of Thuringia and occupied them until April 16th. The conquest of Thuringia came to an end.

Until the American troops retreated from Thuringia, VIII Corps kept the main part of the region occupied and XXI Corps, belonging to the Seventh Army held the area around Erfurt and Northern Thuringia.