Johann Maier

On 22 April 1945, Reich Defense Commissioner Ludwig Ruckdeschel took city defence to the extreme in Regensburg when United States Army tanks had already reached the Danube.

The next day, an excited crowd of people gathered at the Moltkeplatz – nowadays known as Dachauplatz.

That evening, Maier was brought before a drumhead court and sentenced to death by hanging.

Michael Buchberger, the Bishop of Regensburg, was frightened into silence and hid himself in a cellar.

Later the Wehrmacht and the SS both fled southwards out of town; Regensburg fell without a fight.