World War II Nazi era 1933-1945, Souvenir Photo packet of Bayreuth, Germany. 12 Identified Photos Matted and displayed in a folder with the Bayreuth shield on the front. Packet size approx. 10" wide x 7 1/2" high. Photos are matted and average approx. 4 1/2" x 7"... Photos include : The Festival Theater dedicated to Richard Wagner's Music- The Margravial Opera House- The New Castle- The Old Castle Church Tower- The Gymnasium- The Brides Alley overlooking the Town Church- Gasthof Eule, One of Hitler's hangouts- ... This packet was brought home by a soldier after the war along with many other items documenting his time in the European Campaign... Short History - The Nazi era (1933-1945) Being a stronghold of right-wing parties since the 1920s, Bayreuth became a center of Nazi ideology. In 1933, it was made capital of the Nazi district of Bavaria. Nazi leaders often visited the Wagner festival and tried to turn Bayreuth into a Nazi model town. It was one of several places in which town planning was administered directly from Berlin, due to Hitler's special interest in the town and in the festival. Hitler loved the music of Richard Wagner, and he became a close friend of Winifred Wagner after she took over the festival. Hitler frequently attended Wagner performances in the Bayreuth Festival Hall. Bayreuth was to have received a so-called Gauforum, a combined government building and marching square built to symbolise the centre of power in the town. Bayreuth's first distict leader was Hans Schemm, who was also the head (Reichswalter) of the National Socialist Teachers League, NSLB, which was located in Bayreuth. In 1937 the town was connected to the new Reichsautobahn (empire highway). Under Nazi dictatorship the synagogue of the Jewish Community in Munzgasse was desecrated and looted on Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) but, due to its proximity to the Opera House it was not razed. Inside the building, which is once again used by a Jewish community as a synagogue, a plaque next to the Torah Shrine recalls the persecution and murder of Jews in the Shoa, which took the lives of at least 145 Jews in Bayreuth. During the Second World War a subcamp of the Flossenberg concentration camp was based in the town, in which prisoners had to participate in physical experiments for the V2 rocket. Wieland Wagner, the grandson of the composer, Richard Wagner, was the deputy civilian director there from September 1944 to April 1945. Shortly before the war's end branches of the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) were to have been set up in Bayreuth. On 5, 8 and 11 April 1945 about one third of the town, including many public buildings and industrial installations were destroyed by heavy air strikes, along with 4,500 houses. 741 people were also killed. On 14 April, the U.S. Army occupied the town.