| Original caption: “The war over, German soldiers here are crossing a pontoon bridge from Branau, Austria to Simbach, Germany. Soldiers of 245th Engineers, who made the bridge, watch the trucks go by.” A convoy of medical trucks and ambulances cross a United States Army pontoon bridge next to the destroyed Inn Bridge just after the surrender of Nazi German forces in Europe. Nazi German Heer (“Army”) Major Wilhelm Grünwaldt (July 15, 1916 – May 15, 1983) was appointed Stadtkommandant (“City Commander”) of Branau-am-Inn only a few days before the United States Army 13th Armored “Black Cats” Division arrived in Simbach, Germany, across the Inn River from his new post. During Anschluss in March 1938, Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler’s (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) entered Branau am Inn over the 5-arched, steel girder and stone pier bridge. The Inn Bridge had an ornate portal and was next to a railway bridge. On May 1, 1945, the Schutzstaffel SS determined to prevent the Americans from entering Austria. They destroyed both bridges with explosives. Branau’s Burgomeister since August 1938, Fritz Reithofer (May 12, 1894 – after December 13, 1966), extorted its citizens to fight to the last man; he threatened to shoot women begging him to surrender. A group of civilians threatened him with death if he resisted. He agreed to surrender and then he fled. On May 1, the “Black Cats” of the 13th Armored Division arrived, and issued an ultimatum: “Surrender by 1200 Hours or be destroyed!” Meanwhile, Grünwaldt and a group of Branau’s leading citizens ferried across the Inn River to convince the Americans that the city would surrender. They convinced the Americans at 1157 Hours. The 636 foot M-2 Tredway Bridge over the Inn River between Simbach, Germany and Braunau, Austria built by the 245th Engineer Combat Battalion with assistance from the 179th Engineer Combat Battalion and the 995th Tredway Company. It was built on May 3-4, 1945, in just 17 hours during adverse weather conditions. This was the 1st bridge built by United States Army Engineers across the Inn River from Germany into Austria. The image, from the 245th battalion history book, is looking across the river from Simbach towards Braunau. The bridge washed away on May 12. The span has clearly begun to bow in the middle as a result of the river current and there appears to be erosion of the river bank at the bridge abutment. The remains of the 1894 Inn Bridge were demolished from 1947 to 1949. Reithofer would be declared dead on December 8, 1951, but he had actually crossed the border near Burghausen on May 3, 1945, becoming an agricultural laborer in Bavaria until 1956, when police discovered he was alive when he wrote a letter to the Regional Court of Linz. His Nazi crimes of the 1930s against Jews were vacated in 1966. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0873.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.20 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2214 x 2904 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 11, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Simbach am Inn |
| State or Province | Bavaria |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-206125 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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