Battle of Berlin

The Red Army begins the Vistula-Oder offensive across the Narew River and, from Warsaw, a three-day operation on a broad front which incorporated four army Fronts

Starting on 16 January 1945, the Red Army breached through the German front as a result of the Vistula-Oder Offensive and rapidly advanced westward as fast as 30-40 kilometres a day

Starting on 16 January 1945, the Red Army breached through the German front as a result of the Vistula-Oder Offensive and rapidly advanced westward as fast as 30-40 kilometres a day

The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler,attemped a counter-attack but failed by 24 February

General Gotthard Heinrici is appointed Commander in Chief of Army Group Vistula replacing Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler

The Red Army start the Battle of Berlin by attacking German front line positions on the rivers Oder and Neisse

Soviet spearheads had break through the German lines and start to encircle Berlin

On his birthday Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to some boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth

Marshal Ivan Konevs 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed in the north through the last formations of Army Group Centre

The German defences are mainly led by Helmuth Weidling and consisted of several depleted, badly equipped, and disorganised Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, as well as many Volkssturm and Hitler Youth members

The 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov starts shelling Berlins city centre

Declares that the war is lost, he blames the generals and announces that he will stay on in Berlin until the end and then kill himself

Each sector was commanded by a colonel or a general, but most of the colonels and generals had no combat experience. The forces available to Weidling for the citys defence included roughly 45,000 soldiers in several severely depleted German Army and Waffen-SS divisions.

These depleted divisions were supplemented by the Berlin police force, boys in the Hitler Youth, and about 40,000 elderly men of the Home Guard (Volkssturm)

Weidling was ordered by Hitler to defend the city of Berlin. Specifically, he was ordered not to surrender, but to fight to the last man. Weidling organised the defences into eight sectors designated "A" through to "H".

Hitler appoints Weidling as the Commander of the Berlin Defence Area. Weidling replaces Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) Helmuth Reymann, Colonel (Oberst) Ernst Kaether, and Hitler himself

1st day of the Battle of Berlin with 1,000,000 plus Russians against 60,000 Germans

1st day of the battle, defends Berlin with 4 Divs, 60,000 men & 50-60 tanks

Hitler summons Field Marshall Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Luftwaffe from Goering

The Soviets had consolidated their investment of Berlin and leading Soviet units were probing and penetrating the S-Bahn defensive ring. Hitler summons Field Marshall Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Luftwaffe from Goering

The US & Russian troops meet at the River Elbe

General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling is appointed commander of the Berlin Defence Area

I have no intentions of wandering around in the woods. I am staying here and I will fall at the head of my troops. You, for your part, will carry on with your defence.".

In the depths of the Bendlerblock, Weidlings staff did not know whether it was day or nigh. Helmuth Weidling is appointed Commander of the Berlin Defence Area

Weidling chose as his base of operations the old army headquarters on the Bendlerstrasse, the "Bendlerblock." This location had well-equipped air-raid shelters and was close to the Reich Chancellery.

Weidling presented Hitler with a detailed proposal for a breakout from Berlin. When Weidling finished, Hitler shook his head and said: "Your proposal is perfectly all right. But what is the point of it all?

By the end of the day on 27 April, Weidling and the forces under his command in Berlin found themselves completely cut off from the rest of Germany

General Hans Krebs makes his last telephone call from the Fuhrerbunker to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel Chief of OKW (German Armed Forces High Command) in Fuerstenberg, Krebs tells Keitel that if relief does not arrive within 48 hours all would be lost

General Hans Krebs makes his last telephone call from the Fuhrerbunker to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel Chief of OKW (German Armed Forces High Command) in Fuerstenberg, Krebs tells Keitel that if relief does not arrive within 48 hours all would be lost

300,000 Russian soldiers are killed

At 04:00 hours, in the Fuhrerbunker, Hitler signs his last will and testament and, shortly afterwards, married Eva Braun

On 29 April, the Soviet Information Bureau announced that troops of the 1st Belorussian Front continued to clear the streets of Berlin, occupied the northwest sector of Charlottenburg as far as Bismarck Street, the west half of Moabit, and the east part of Schoeneberg. Russian troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front occupied Friedenau and Grunewald in northwest Berlin

The Soviet 3rd Shock Army crossed the Moltke bridge and started to fan out into the surrounding streets and buildings

The Soviets rapidly advance through the city and reach the city centre, conquering the Reichstag on 30 April after fierce fighting

After Hitler and Brauns suicides, Weidling reached the Fuhrerbunker and was met by Goebbels, Bormann and Krebs. They took him to Hitler's room, where the couple had committed suicide.

Late in the morning of 30 April, with the Soviets less than 500 metres from the bunker, Hitler had a meeting with Weidling, who informed him that the Berlin garrison would probably run out of ammunition that night.

They told him that their bodies had been burned and buried in a shell crater in the Reich Chancellery garden above.

Weidling asked Hitler for permission to break out, a request he had made unsuccessfully before. Hitler did not answer at first, and Weidling went back to his headquarters in the Bendlerblock, where at about 13:00, he received Hitler's permission to try a breakout that night.

Weidling was forced to swear that he would not repeat this news to anybody. The only person in the outside world who was to be informed was Joseph Stalin. An attempt would be made that night to arrange an armistice, and General Krebs would inform the Soviet commander so that he could inform the Kremlin

The Soviets rapidly advance through the city and reach the city centre, conquering the Reichstag on 30 April after fierce fighting

Chuikov, who commanded his army operating in central Berlin, was the first Allied officer to learn about Adolf Hitler's suicide, being informed by General Hans Krebs who had come to Chuikovs headquarters under a white flag

The meeting between Krebs, who had been sent by Goebbels, and Soviet general Vasily Chuikov ended with no agreement. According to Hitler's personal secretary Traudl Junge, Krebs returned to the bunker complex looking "worn out, exhausted". The surrender of Berlin was thus delayed until Goebbels committed suicide, after which it was left up to Weidling to negotiate with the Soviets

General Weidling finally surrenders with his staff at 06:00 hours, he was taken to see General Vasily Chuikov at 08:23, Weidling agrees to order the citys defenders to surrender to the Soviets

General Weidling had his Chief of Staff, von Dufving, arrange a meeting with General Chuikov. Weidling told the Soviets about the suicides of Hitler and Goebbels, and Chuikov demanded complete capitulation. Accepts the surrender of Berlins forces from General Helmuth Weidling

Berlin surrenders, 17 days after the 1st day of the battle

General Weidling finally surrenders with his staff at 06:00 hours, he was taken to see General Vasily Chuikov at 08:23, Weidling agrees to order the citys defenders to surrender to the Soviets

The Soviet forces took Weidling into custody as a prisoner of war and flew him to the Soviet Union. General Weidling had his Chief of Staff, von Dufving, arrange a meeting with General Chuikov. Weidling told the Soviets about the suicides of Hitler and Goebbels, and Chuikov demanded complete capitulation

The Soviets capture the Reich Chancellery

Takes part in the battle for Berlin