Prüm explosion
On 15 July 1949 an
History
When the
On 15 July 1949, there was a
This was the second time in short succession that Prüm had been devastated. During the war, 92 percent of the town had been destroyed by air raids and ground fighting. As Prüm was not completely rebuilt until 1949, 900 of its former inhabitants still lived outside the town.
After the explosion, the Luxembourg army from the garrison in Bitburg and the French army with its medical services gave assistance to the town. The fire brigades, teams from the German Red Cross from across the Eifel and the fire services of Koblenz and Neuwied were also involved in the rescue operation. Minister-President Peter Altmeier and Minister Johann Junglas hurried to the disaster area at night. There was much sympathy in the country and so the town was able to be rebuilt with the aid of donations.
The cause of the accident, which devastated Prüm and the surrounding area, was never ascertained. The suspicion that it was an act of sabotage was still held by some of the population even 60 years later. At the end of the 1990s, the Minister of Defence, Rudolf Scharping and the French National Archives, worked jointly to try and find an explanation but without success.
In 1979, a seven-metre-high commemorative cross, made of basalt and created by artist, Johann Baptist Lenz from Oberkail, was erected on the Kalvarienberg in remembrance of the explosion.
See also
Literature
- H. Bonus: Erinnerungen an die Explosionskatastrophe in Prüm vor 40 Jahren in: Heimatkalender Landkreis Bitburg-Prüm 1989, published by the Kreisverwaltung Bitburg-Prüm, pp. 54–56, Trier, 1988.
- E. Urbanus: Wie ich die Explosionskatastrophe erlebte in: Der Prümer Landbote. Zeitschrift des Geschichtsvereins "Prümer Land". Das Prümer Land in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 24/89, p. 160, Prüm, 1989.
External links
- The Explosion at Prüm in: Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz
- Und dann wurde es finster ... in: Trierischer Volksfreund, Wochenendjournal, 11/12 July 2009
- Explosion at Prüm in: pruemnetz.de