1940 in Germany

none 1940 Events in the year 1940 in Germany. Incumbents National level Head of State and Chancellor Adolf Hitler (the Führer) (Nazi Party) Events January 4 January – World War II: (Axis powers): Luftwaffe General Hermann Göring assumes control of most war industries in Germany. 10 January – World War II: Mechelen Incident: A German plane carrying secret plans for the invasion of western Europe makes a forced landing in Belgium, leading to mobilization of defense forces in the Low Countries. February 16 February – World War II: Altmark Incident: The British destroyer Cossack F03 6 pursues the German tanker Altmark into the Jøssingfjorden in southwestern Norway.The Altmark Affair Willi Frischaur & Robert Jackson 1955 Macmillan New York, NY 246 March 18 March – World War II: Axis powers: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom. 31 March – World War II: Commerce raiding hilfskreuzer Atlantis, leaves the Wadden Sea for what will become the longest warship cruise of the war. (622 days without in-port replenishment or repair).Muggenthaler, August Karl German Raiders of World War II Prentice-Hall 1977 978-0-13-354027-7 14 April 9 April World War II: Germany carries out Operation Weserübung, and invades Denmark and Norway. German forces land in several Norwegian ports and take Oslo; The Norwegian Campaign lasts two months. The Allied campaign in Norway is simultaneously commenced. German invasion of Norway: German heavy cruiser Blücher is sunk by gunfire and torpedoes from the Norwegian coastal fortress Oscarsborg in the Oslofjord. Of the 2,202 German crew and troops on board, some 830 died (at least 320 of them crewmen). Most either drowned or burnt to death in the flaming oil slick surrounding the wreck. 20 April – On his 51st birthday, Hitler orders the formation of a new SS regiment, containing Norwegians and Danes as well as Germans. May 10 May – World War II: Battle of France begins – German forces invade Low Countries. 13 May – World War II: German armies open a 60 mi km on wide breach in the Maginot Line at Sedan, France. 13–14 May – Rotterdam is subjected to savage terror bombing by the Luftwaffe; 980 are killed, and 20,000 buildings destroyed.https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/first-official-list-of-victims-of-rotterdam-bombing-published-after-82-years/ First official list of victims of Rotterdam bombing published after 82 years DutchNews.nl 12 April 2022 12 April 2022 live https://web.archive.org/web/20220412132124/https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/first-official-list-of-victims-of-rotterdam-bombing-published-after-82-years/ 2022-04-12 17 May – Brussels falls to German forces. 20 May World War II: German forces (2nd Panzer division), under General Rudolf Veiel, reach Noyelles on the English Channel. Holocaust: The Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the German concentration camps, opens in occupied Poland near the town of Oświęcim. Between May 1940 and January 1945, around 1.1 million people were killed there. June 3 June The Holocaust: Nazi leader Franz Rademacher proposes the Madagascar Plan, under which the Jewish population of Europe would be relocated to the island of Madagascar. Longerich Peter Peter Longerich Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews 2010 978-0-19-280436-5 Oxford University Press Oxford; New York 162 World War II: Paris is bombed by the Luftwaffe for the first time. 10 June – World War II: Norway surrenders to German forces. 14 June – World War II: Fall of Paris to German occupation. 15 June – World War II: Verdun falls to German forces. 17 June – A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bomber sinks the British ship RMS Lancastria, which was evacuating troops from near Saint-Nazaire, France, killing some 5,800 men.Hooton E.R. Luftwaffe at War: Blitzkrieg in the West Chevron/Ian Allan 2007 London 88 978-1-85780-272-6 (Wartime censorship prevents the story from becoming public.) 21 June – World War II: Vichy France and Germany sign an armistice at Compiegne, in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to accept the surrender of Germany in 1918. 23 June – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler38.htm Essential Facts About the Holocaust 2011-02-10 2008-10-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20081005022240/http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler38.htm dead 30 June – World War II: German forces land in Guernsey, marking the start of the 5-year Occupation of the Channel Islands. July 14 July – World War II: Winston Churchill, in a worldwide broadcast, proclaims the intention of Great Britain to fight alone against Germany whatever the outcome. 19 July – World War II: Adolf Hitler promotes 12 generals to field marshal during the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony following the swift victory over France, and makes a peace appeal to Britain in an address to the Reichstag. Lord Halifax, British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms in a broadcast reply on 22 July. August 8 August – World War II: Wilhelm Keitel signs the "Aufbau Ost" directive, which eventually leads to the invasion of the Soviet Union. 30 August – Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy compel Romania to cede half of Transylvania to Hungary. September 5 September – World War II: Commerce raiding hilfskreuzer Komet enters the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait after crossing the Arctic Ocean from the North Sea with the help of Soviet icebreakers Lenin, Stalin, and Kaganovich.Muggenthaler, August Karl German Raiders of World War II Prentice-Hall 1977 978-0-13-354027-7 58 7 September – World War II: The Blitz – Germany begins to rain bombs on London (the first of 57 consecutive nights of strategic bombing). 22 September – The first flight of Heinkel He 280 occurs. 27 September – World War II: Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. October 18–19 October – World War II: Thirty-two ships are sunk from Convoy SC 7 and Convoy HX 79 by the most effective wolfpack of the war including Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke. November 11 November – World War II: The German Hilfskreuzer (commerce raider) Atlantis captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan. 14 November – World War II: The city of Coventry, England is destroyed by 500 German Luftwaffe bombers (150,000 fire bombs, 503 tons of high explosives, and 130 parachute mines level 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people are killed). 16 November – World War II: In response to Germany levelling Coventry 2 days before, the Royal Air Force begins to bomb Hamburg (by war's end, 50,000 Hamburg residents will have died from Allied attacks). 18 November – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece. December 12 December & 15 December — World War II: "Sheffield Blitz" – The City of Sheffield is badly damaged by German air-raids. 16 December – World War II: Operation Abigail Rachel – RAF bombing of Mannheim. 29 December – World War II: Luftwaffe carries out a massive incendiary bombing raid on London, UK, starting 1,500 fires. Many famous buildings, including the Guildhall and Trinity House, are either damaged or destroyed. Date unknown In 1940, German optometrist Heinrich Wöhlk invented plastic Contact lenses. Hülsta (hülsta-werke Hüls GmbH & Co. KG), a German furniture manufacturer is founded in Stadtlohn.http://www.land-der-ideen.de/365-orte/preistraeger/huelsta-werke Land der Ideen | Deutschland | hülsta-werke Land-der-ideen.de 2012-09-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20120402195229/http://www.land-der-ideen.de/365-orte/preistraeger/huelsta-werke 2012-04-02 dead Births 4 January — Helmut Jahn, German architect (died 2021) 14 January — Siegmund Nimsgern, German bass-baritone (died 2025) 16 January — Franz Müntefering, German politician 22 January - Eberhard Weber, German double bassist and composer 23 January - Armin Maiwald, German author, television director and producer 24 January — Joachim Gauck, President of Germany 28 January - Bernd Klingner, German sport shooter 31 January - Werner Franke, German biologist (died 2022) 9 February — Hubert Burda, German publisher 17 February Willi Holdorf, German athlete (died 2020) Winfried Hassemer, German judge (died 2014) 18 February - Peter Meyer, German footballer (died 2026) 19 February - Renate Hellwig, German politician 20 February - Christoph Eschenbach, German conductorRoy Hemming Discovering Great Music: A New Listener's Guide to the Top Classical Composers and Their Best Recordings Newmarket Press 9781557042101 1994 248 29 February - Margit Carstensen, German actress (died 2023)Fassbinder Star Margit Carstensen Dead At 83 2 March — Lothar de Maizière, German politician 4 March — Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German judge 7 March — Rudi Dutschke, German radical student leader (died 1979)Rudi Dutschke Dutschke-Klotz Gretchen Kiepenheuer und Witsch 1996 978-3-462-02573-6 Köln 38-,53-,172, 227, 459 https://archive.org/details/wirhatteneinbarb0000duts/page/38 16 March — Claus Offe, German sociologist (died 2025) 17 March — Gottfried Münzenberg, German chemist (died 2024) 21 March — Paul Friedrichs German motocross racer (died 2012) 26 March — Victor von Halem, German operatic bass (died 2022) 4 April — Michael Ruetz, German photographer (died 2024) 19 April — Reinhard Bonnke, German Pentecostal evangelist (died 2019) 22 April — Berndt Seite, German politician 3 May — Conny Plank, German musician (died 1987) 18 May – Anita Kupsch, German actress (died 2025) 7 June — Lambert Hamel, German actor (died 2026) 11 June — Volkmar Sigusch, German sexologist, physician and sociologist (died 2023) 15 June — Franz Wegner, German physicist 20 June — Eugen Drewermann, German theologian 21 June Brigitte Boehme, German lawyer and church administrator in Bremen Notker Wolf, German monk (died 2024) 22 June — Egon Henninger, German Olympic swimmer (died 2025) 25 June — Peer Augustinski, German actor and comedian (died 2014) 7 July Wolfgang Clement, German politician (died 2020) Rosel Zech, German actress (died 2011) 26 July Jürgen Kesting, German journalist and music critic (died 2026) Jürgen Kurbjuhn, German footballer (died 2014) 27 July — Pina Bausch, German choreographer (died 2009) 7 August — Martin Heisenberg, German neurobiologist 9 August — Marie-Luise Marjan, German actress 13 August — Dirk Sager, German journalist (died 2014) 15 August — Dietmar Schwager, German football player (died 2018) 18 August — Sigrid Metz-Göckel, German sociologist (died 2025) 25 August — Wilhelm von Homburg, German boxer, actor and wrestler (died 2004) 25 September — Werner Münch, German politician 27 September — Rudolph Moshammer, German fashion designer (died 2005) 1 October — Gertrude Degenhardt, German artist (died 2025) 2 October — Werner Dörflinger, German politician (died 2021) 18 October — Ruth Wagner, German politician (died 2025) 26 October — Tilo Prückner, German actor (died 2020) 29 October — Heinrich Mussinghoff, German bishop of Roman Catholic Church 2 November — Carolin Reiber, German television presenter 15 November — Klaus Ampler, German cyclist (died 2016) 22 November — Frank Duval, German composer, conductor, songwriter and singer 24 November — Hermann Otto Solms, German politician 7 December — Klaus Tschira, German entrepreneur (died 2015) 12 December — Ulla Wiesner, German singer 18 December — Klaus Wennemann, German actor (died 2000) 22 December — Eberhard Schöler, German table tennis player 29 December — Brigitte Kronauer, German writer (died 2019) 30 December — Renate Jaeger, German judge Deaths 2 January — Albert Richter, German cyclist (born 1912) 2 February — Carl Grünberg, German philosopher (born 1861) 9 February — William Dodd, United States Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, historian and author (born 1869) 27 February — Peter Behrens, German architect (born 1868) 29 February — Josef Swickard, German actor (born 1866)https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/03/archives/joseph-swickard-veteran-screen-actor-73-had-roles-in-many.html 30 July 2021 JOSEPH SWICKARD; Veteran Screen Actor, 73, Had Roles in Many Productions 3 March 1940 The New York Times 3 March — Karl Muck, German conductor (born 1859)New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/05/archives/karl-muck-dies-noted-wagnerian-former-conductor-of-boston-symphony.html Karl Muck Dies; Noted Wagnerian March 5, 1940 January 13, 2010 15 March — Robert Leffler, German actor and singer (born 1866) 20 March — Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (born 1860) 25 April Otto Hintze, German historian (born 1861) Wilhelm Dörpfeld, German architect and archaeologist (born 1853) 26 April — Carl Bosch, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Bosch Carl Bosch German chemist Encyclopedia Britannica 9 December 2017 en 26 May — Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (born 1906) 6 June — Arthur Zimmermann, German diplomat (born 1864) 22 June — Walter Hasenclever, German poet and playwright (born 1890)Taussig Michael April 13, 2010 Walter Benjamin's Grave https://books.google.com/books?id=ki6fD2DUZP8C&pg=PT24 University of Chicago Press 12 978-0226790008 5 July — Friedrich Robert von Beringe, German army officer (born 1865) 19 July — Max Bodenheimer, lawyer (born 1865) 21 July — Elisabeth von Eicken, painter (born 1862) 1 August — Paul Hirsch, German politician (born 1868) 24 August — Paul Nipkow, German technician and inventor (born 1860) 26 September — Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and cultural critic (born 1892)Witte Bernd Walter Benjamin: An Intellectual Biography (English translation) https://archive.org/details/walterbenjaminin0000witt registration 1991 Wayne State University Press Detroit, MI 0-8143-2018-X 9 11 October – Adolf von Trotha, German admiral (born 1868) 28 November — Helmut Wick, wing commander in the Luftwaffe (born 1915) 1 December — Johann Viktor Bredt, German jurist and politician (born 1879) 3 December — Wolff von Stutterheim, Wehrmacht general and Knight's Cross recipient (born 1893) 11 December — Fritz Erler, German painter (born 1868) References Further reading Bloch, Leon Bryce and Lamar Middleton, ed. The World Over in 1940 (1941) detailed coverage of world events online free; 914pp 1940 Category:Years of the 20th century in Germany Germany Germany