Creation of the Bizone

The winter of 1946/47 is unusually severe; Germans are starving and freezing and several thousand die. Ultimately, the coal supply system collapses entirely. Reacting to the catastrophic supply situation, the Americans and British consolidate their occupation zones into a „Bizone“ on 1 January 1947. The French and Soviets protest in vain.

© HHG Düsseldorf Surviving in ruins: the Bismarckstraße in Düsseldorf, winter 1946