Memorial Plate for the Reconstruction at House Kajetanerplatz 5

The black board above the entrance to the building at Kajetanerplatz 5 was likely installed in 1955, only a few weeks after the rebuilding of the house. For a long time, it was believed that the festival city of Salzburg would not be a target for Allied air raids. And indeed, the danger was relatively low until 1943, primarily because the bombers did not yet have such a great range. This changed in 1944, after the US Air Force had taken control of southern Italian territories and the airplanes could now reach Austrian territory. Between October 1944 and May 1945, 15 air raids on Salzburg took place. During these attacks, around 7000 buildings in the city were damaged and over 400 were completely destroyed. So-called "clean-up crews," consisting of prisoners of war, forced laborers, and concentration camp prisoners, were compelled to remove rubble and damage after each attack as well as to defuse unexploded bombs; these tasks led to countless casualties even in the final weeks of the war. Although in the post-war years countless memorial plaques, dedicated to remembering the air raids and the rebuilding efforts, were installed on numerous buildings, they nevertheless gradually fall into oblivion.