Walking the Ground – Bautzen’s Courthouse

A last stand by the Red Army in Bautzen’s courthouse.

On the 24th of April, the tide turned in the Battle of Bautzen when the German 20th Panzer Division and 1st Hermann Göring Division attacked the Soviet forces who were besieging Bautzen.

Within hours, the Soviet commanders ordered their forces to make a hasty retreat from the city centre, towards the northern suburbs.

As part of this retreat, a company of minelayers was ordered to take up position within the courthouse on Lessingstrasse, in order to provide covering fire to other Soviet units retreating to the north of Bautzen.

This minelaying company consisted of only 65 men and their ammunition was so depleted that they only had a handful of grenades, along with a few machine gun belts which were already half-empty.

One tank had been left for support, but its gun had stopped working.

However, despite the odds, this plucky group positioned itself on the first and second floor of the courthouse on Lessingstrasse. And they managed to hold off the German assault on the building for 4 hours, before running out of ammunition.

At 9pm, the remaining Soviet troops in the courthouse made a breakout from their position, and 7 riflemen sitting atop their one tank stormed through the German lines, shooting at anything that moved.

The rest of the surviving defenders split up into small groups and slipped into the side streets.

In the end, only 4 men from this company managed to escape and reach Soviet forces stationed north of the city.

And 80 years later, as you can see, most (but not all!) of the bullet holes on the ground floor facade of the courthouse have been covered-up.

For more drama and tales of heroic last stands during the Battle of Bautzen check out the latest episode of the Europe At War Podcast.