Theft at Dillingen an der Donau

by Marc Masurovsky

Map of Dillingen an der Donau

The final Allied military push against Nazi Germany unfolded in March 1945 when American troops crossed the Rhine river, which acts as a natural border with France and Belgium, pushing towards Berlin in a mad race to reach the German capital. Likewise, the British forces broke through further up north and the Soviets entered Germany from the East. The race was on to reach Berlin at all cost.

On Sunday 22 April 1945, an American Sanitary Unit reached Dillingen an der Donau and set up its quarters at the Lamm Brewery, owned by Mr. Probst. The brewery’s cellar contained 14 crates from the Historic Museum of Dillingen which had been left there for safekeeping against aerial bombings. The crates stored objects that had been extracted from an ancient Alemanic cemetery nearby. 

Seal of the Lamm Brewery in Dillingen

After the Americans left, Mr. Probst, the brewery’s owner, resumed control of his business and, upon inspection of the cellars, noticed that 6-8 crates from the Historic Museum had been broken into and their contents scattered about the cellar floor. He repacked the crates not knowing if anything had gone missing from them.

On 20 May 1946, Robert Roeren, a Bavarian official responsible for the protection of cultural monuments, went to Dillingen to survey the former cemetery of Schreitsheim [Schretzheim]. He observed the absence of numerous items and concluded that these items had been stolen. Furthermore, the looting of the Museum in Dillingen had threatened the integrity of archaeological digs which involved 640 graves at Schreitsheim [Schretzheim] and some 400 “Alemanic” burial sites uncovered near Dillingen an der Donau. Among the stolen objects were bronze pieces from the Roman era and precious incised silver objects. These losses included “valuable gold and silver objects” which had been extracted from 11 graves explored during archaeological expeditions in and around Dillingen for the benefit of the Historic Museum of Dillingen.

In June 1946, Mr. Probst recounted the incident in the cellar to a local high school headmaster named Menz. The headmaster recruited some of his students to inspect the crates, draw up an inventory and return them to the Historic Museum. Later in the summer, Mr. Roeren conducted his own audit of the losses to assess the damage inflicted to the cultural heritage of the area.

The only hope for recovering these items rested with the US army. But because of the massive departure of American military personnel returning to the United States who had participated in the March 1945 campaign against Germany, it was unlikely that any investigation into looting by American soldiers and officers would produce any tangible results.

 

Inventory of missing items

Sources:

Memo from OMGB Capt. Edwin Rae, Chief of MFA&A Section, Restitution Branch, 30 July 1946, RG 260 M1921 Roll 14, NARA (National Archives, College Park, MD, USA).

Major L. B. LaFarge, chief of MFA&A Section, OMGUS, to MFA&A Division of OMG Bavaria, 22 July 1946. RG 260, Educational Division, Box 236, 5347-1, NARA (National Archives, College Park, MD, USA).

Reports submitted by Captain Edwin C. Rae, chief, MFA&A Section of OMGB, regarding looting at Wittislingen, 30 July 1946 and 5 September 1946, RG 260, Educational Division, Box 236, 5347-1, NARA (National Archives, College Park, MD, USA).

Report by Dr. Friedrich Wagner, Munich, 3 août 1946, ‘Disappearance of items discovered during excavations of Alemanic graves in Schreitseim [Schretzheim], Dillingen district, owner: Historischer Verein Dillingen, RG 260, Educational Division, Box 236, 5347-1, NARA (National Archives, College Park, MD, USA).

RG 260 M1921 Roll 14, NARA (National Archives, College Park, MD, USA).

Photo of Lamm Brewery seal courtesy of https://www.ebay.com/itm/205638892105

Map courtesy of Google Maps.