Memorial Plaque for the Liberation of the City of Salzburg in the Toscaninihof

To the right of the entrance to the Old Town garage is a memorial plaque covered with a glass plate, commemorating the liberation of the city of Salzburg by the 3rd Infantry Division (Rock of the Marne) on 4 May 1945. At that time, approximately 80,000 people were in Salzburg, and an additional about 7,000 wounded soldiers. Military units, which could have defended the city against the advancing US Army, did not exist in fact, which is why Wehrmacht General Hans Lepperdinger, who had command over the city, after consultation with his staff, decided to surrender the city to the Allies without resistance. To this day, Lepperdinger is often still referred to as the “Savior of Salzburg”; however, investigations have shown that the conditions for a peaceful surrender of the city had already been prepared by the Salzburg party and Wehrmacht leadership. 65 years after the liberation, the memorial plaque was ceremoniously unveiled at the Toscaninihof in the presence of many veterans of the 3rd Infantry Division. The location of the plaque is due to the fact that there were air-raid shelters nearby the Toscaninihof, in which the surrender of the city was organized.