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Munich after World War II is a very interesting, postwar US Military Government English language photo publication on the Bavarian capital Munich, “pauperized by years of mismanagement and a war lasting almost six years”. People with an interest in Third Reich history will note the coat of arms of Munich on the front cover, which is the same as the Nazi version minus the eagle and swastika previously above the monk’s head!

This 9-½ x 13-½ inch, 32-page English language book authorized by Office of Military Government of Bavaria Information Control Division has the history of the former “Capital of the Nazi Movement”, and comparisons and statistics about the growth and/or decline of its population, economy, agriculture, industry, trade and traffic, etc. It contains sometimes mind-boggling information about war casualties, housing war damage and shortages, as well as destroyed public utilities and public services, hospitals, schools, museums and theaters, postal and railway services, making the city virtually unlivable (called “inhospitable” in the book).

The last eight pages of the book deal with the reconstruction plans and its obstacles. Where to start, how to deal with the thousands of people killed in 66 air-raids, the absence of any city administration or usable infrastructure, a chronic lack of supplies, labor, funds, etc.

Any prospective purchaser might be interested to know that we acquired this fascinating publications in a group of rare material that was collected shortly after the end of World War II by an American Army Captain working in both Munich and an office that had been occupied during the Third Reich by staff of NSDAP Ortsgruppe Nürnberg-St. Johannis. We have never seen another example of this rare book!

Interspersed in the text are about 50 pictures of damaged buildings all over Munich as well as many tables and graphs illustrating the problem relating to the economy, rubble, population, and building materials.

This rare example of Munich after World War II was in a damp environment at some point, but the book has NO musty odor and it has dried out completely over the decades. Twelve of the pages were somewhat stuck together and have some ink loss in places where they were pulled apart. This is visible in the photo of the Munich railway station at the top of this USMBOOKS web page. Please note it did NOT result in any major text loss. The book printed by Dr. F.P. Datterer & Cie. in the Munich suburb of Freising, is perfectly readable!