WW2 Tabakgasse - Additional Photos & Information

The city of Klagenfurt is in southern Austria, near the border with Slovenia. On 4/5th April Hitler visited Klagenfurt soon after the Anschluss (Annex) of Austria. There he addressed the crowds from the balcony of the Sandwirth Hotel which is just a few minute’s walk from Tabakgasse. Klagenfurt was a hotbed for the Nazi regime during WW2. A sub camp for the Mauthausen (concentration camp) was also established as well as the Gestapo HQ on for the region complete with with interrogation cells, the latter being on Burggasse, again just a few minutes away from Tabakgasse.

On 8 May 1945, members of the 8th Army entered Klagenfurt accepting the surrender of the 438th German Division. A short time later members of the regular Yugoslav forces as well as members of Tito’s partisans arrived to claim Klagenfurt for themselves. After a few tense days and under political pressure from the US the Yugoslav forces left. Klagenfurt remained part of British occupation zone until 1955.

Code: 51372