In ruins: Freiburg’s desecrated Old City after the air raid of November 27, 1944. Photo credit: Freiburg City Archive (Stadtarchiv Freiburg), M72, B271
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Out of the Ruins, New Beginnings

Founding of Kurt Neuberger KG, 1946

Freiburg gets bombed on a day like any other, characterized only by calm, late-fall weather. The date is November 27, 1944. Many families are at home having dinner together or are still wandering the city streets when their evening is suddenly interrupted by the thundering of the Allied Powers’ air squadron overhead. Heads turn skyward, concerned faces appear in window frames, and the rest happens very quickly. Bombs rain down upon the city, and it breaks out in flames. Within 20 minutes, Freiburg’s historical city center and the neighboring districts are reduced to rubble and ash. People flee into shelters and cellars. Nearly 3000 people die that day, and large portions of the once flourishing market and university town are destroyed. Only the cathedral stands tall and unscathed, surrounded by the burning debris.

The first years – and especially the first winters – following the devastating air raid are plagued with starvation and misery. There is barely any food to be had, and many are forced to turn to the black market to get anywhere near enough to eat. People drive out to the countryside to forage for food; quite a few leave the city behind entirely. The French occupation forces impose curfews and seize apartments and the few other commodities anyone has left. Many of Freiburg’s residents are still looking for missing relatives. Some lack a roof over their heads, and most have simply given up hope. It’s no wonder, as these people are living the most challenging chapter of Freiburg’s then 800-year-old history.

First advertisement: Kurt Neuberger founds his company in 1946, originally located on Gundelfinger Strasse in Freiburg.
First advertisement: Kurt Neuberger founds his company in 1946, originally located on Gundelfinger Strasse in Freiburg.

Today, it is hard to imagine that someone could have the courage and energy under these circumstances to recognize an opportunity for a new beginning amidst the reigning chaos. Kurt Neuberger, born in Mingolsheim, originally comes to Freiburg in 1940 after being hired to work for MAN, an engine manufacturer. The trained mechanical engineer has long dreamed of becoming self-employed, but his Jewish heritage had made this impossible for him. In the spring of 1946 – just one year after the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender – he takes advantage of the opportunity which had now presented itself and founds Kurt Neuberger KG. The makeshift workshop specializes in engine repair and engine cylinder grinding. But commissions are rare and there is barely enough money in it to survive. And yet, in a city covered in rubble, Kurt Neuberger manages to lay the cornerstone for the present-day KNF Neuberger GmbH.

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