8. September 1944: Als die Nazis Sigmaringen zu Frankreichs Hauptstadt erklärten

From September 1944, the small town of Sigmaringen, nestled on the edge of the Swabian Alps, became the center of Franco-German history for several months. Towards the end of World War II, the Nazi regime relocated the French collaborationist government, also known as the Vichy regime, to the Danube. Although the French had collaborated with the Nazis for years, some of them—including Marshal Philippe Pétain, the government's president—opposed the move. Along with the government came some 2,000 other French citizens who had worked with both the Vichy regime and the Germans during the war. While the Allies, under General Charles de Gaulle, conquered all of France, Sigmaringen became the French seat of government from the perspective of the so-called "Third Reich." Accordingly, the allied Axis powers of Japan and Italy, and even Germany itself, maintained their own embassies in the town. There was also a French newspaper, a French radio station, and much more. At the same time, with the war drawing to a close, hardship and poverty spread to Sigmaringen as well. While the Allies, under General Charles de Gaulle, conquered France, Sigmaringen became the French seat of government from the perspective of the so-called "Third Reich." At the end of April 1945, as French troops approached Sigmaringen, the collaborators left the city. Learn more about this topic in our online dossier: https://www.lpb-bw.de/1944-vichy-regi... #history #badenwuerttemberg #anniversary #worldwar2 #sigmaringen #civiceducation