A day-by-day account of the Battle of Berlin, 16 April – 2 May 1945, by Matt Robinson.https://battleofberlin.com/en-GBhttps://battleofberlin.com/days/introduction/https://battleofberlin.com/days/introduction/Our in-depth day-by-day coverage of the largest confrontation of the Second World War to be fought in Germany – the Battle of Berlin in 1945.Sun, 15 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-16/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-16/…Start of the Soviet offensive …Georgy Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front struggles to reach the 2nd German defensive line…the 1st Ukrainian Front push through the left flank of the German 9th Army…Hitler issues a call to arms…Mon, 16 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-17/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-17/…The second German defensive line at the Seelow Heights is broken…Ivan Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front is given permission to push towards Berlin…An RAF Mosquito raid arrives and attacks Berlin in the evening…Tue, 17 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-18/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-18/…1st Belorussian reaches the third defensive line of the 9th Army’s preparations …Stalin orders Marshal Rokossovsky to begin his part of the operation, two days ahead of schedule…1st Ukrainian cross the river Spree…a Royal Air Force Mosquito raid hits Berlin from the night of the 18th to 19th…Wed, 18 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-19/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-19/…Soviets troops break through the final line of Heinrici’s Seelow Heights defenses …German forces attempt to defend Berlin’s eastern approaches…the 1st Belorussian Front threatens to surround the German 9th Army…Royal Air Force Mosquito attack on the city (79 bombers)…Thu, 19 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-20/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-20/…Adolf Hitler’s birthday…Soviet artillery hits Berlin’s suburbs…execution of Operation Clausewitz…the Berlin Zoo closes…Hitler orders an evacuation of government departments…the Soviets launch a large-scale offensive south of Stettin…the battle of Bernau takes place as the 2nd Guard Tank Army reaches the town…Hermann Göring demolishes his Carinhall residence…Ivan Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front races to Zossen…Fri, 20 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-21/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-21/…The Red Army reaches Berlin…the Flight of the Golden Pheasants…the German Army Headquarters at Zossen is overrun…Hitler orders SS leader Felix Steiner to carry out a relief attack on Berlin…the evacuation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp concludes…Sat, 21 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-22/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-22/…Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is liberated by the Soviet and Polish armies……Ivan Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front arrives in Berlin reaching the Teltow canal near Klein-Machnow…Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian moves into Weissensee and Pankow and crosses the River Havel north of Spandau…Hitler breaks down at his daily briefing in the Führerbunker…the German Army High Command moves to Krampnitz near Potsdam…the Siemensstadt Volkssturm participate in their first firefight…Sun, 22 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-23/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-23/…The Soviet 3rd Shock Army take Berlin’s northern suburb of Pankow…Stalin’s orders redrawing the lines between the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian come into effect…Ivan Konev learns that his 1st Ukrainian Front may be able to take the Reichstag…Hitler descends into the Führerbunker for the last time…Hermann Göring attempts to take control…Mon, 23 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-24/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-24/…General Helmuth Weidling assumes control of the Berlin defence forces…Soviet troops cross the Teltow canal…Troops of the 5th Shock Army reach the Berlin S-bahn ring network…the SS Charlemagne arrives in Berlin…the Soviets advance on Spandau aiming to close off Berlin from the west…Theodor Busse’s 9th Army is encircled in the Halbe Pocket…Hitler distributes cyanide capsules to his entourage…Tue, 24 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-25/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-25/…Soviet troops complete the encirclement of Berlin…Soviets and US forces meet at the Elbe…SS Charlemagne leader, Krukenberg, is appointed commander of Defence Sector C and arrives in Neukölln…the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute is captured…the Karstadt Department Store is destroyed…the Soviet armies attack the Halbe Pocket…Army Group Centre retakes the city of Bautzen…Wed, 25 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-26/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-26/Tempelhof Airport falls to the Soviets…General Wenck’s forces recapture the Beelitz Hospital…Chuikov’s 8th Guards Army reach the Kreuzberg, the highest point in the city centre…Soviet troops infiltrate the underground train network…Berlin’s telephone system is disconnected from the outside world…Thu, 26 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-27/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-27/…Soviet tanks appear on Wilhelmstrasse…SS Nordland retreat into the central government district of Defence sector Z…Berlin’s underground train tunnels are flooded..Himmler’s SS adjutant Hermann Fegelein is caught trying to escape…Vasiliy Chuikov moves his headquarter to near Tempelhof Airport…Fri, 27 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-28/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-28/…Word of Heinrich Himmler’s betrayal reaches Hitler…Himmler’s adjutant, Hermann Fegelein, is executed…Youth Divisions attempt to relieve Berlin from the south-west but are pushed back…Ivan Konev talks to Stalin and is assigned to take Prague…the Soviets arrive at the Moltkebrücke leading to the Reichstag…General Heinrici is relieved of command of Army Group Vistula…Konev is given orders for a new boundary in Berlin…Soviet General Berzarin takes control of Berlin…Sat, 28 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-29/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-29/…Soviet forces drive into the west of the city and capture the Charlottenburg Palace…Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun…Hitler dictates and signs his political testament…the 3rd Shock Army crosses the Moltkebrücke and starts its assault on the buildings surrounding the Reichstag…Hitler hears of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini’s execution in Milan…Sun, 29 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-30/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-04-30/…The Soviets enter the Reichstag building and raise the flag of the Red Army…General Weidling informs Hitler that the defenders will soon exhaust their ammunition…Hitler gives permission for an attempted breakout…Field Marshall Schörner, still struggling further south of Berlin, is made the last Commander in Chief of the German Army…the Glienicke Brücke is destroyed…Hitler and Eva commit suicide…liberation of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp…Mon, 30 Apr 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-05-01/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-05-01/…The remnants of the Berlin Defence Area attempt to break out…Joseph Goebbels commits suicide…General Krebs meets Vasily Chuikov to try to negotiate a ceasefire…Stalin is informed of Hitler’s suicide…the Zoologischer Garten is taken…Spandau Citadel surrenders…Hitler’s death is announced to the world…Tue, 01 May 1945 00:00:00 GMThttps://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-05-02/https://battleofberlin.com/days/1945-05-02/…General Weidling surrenders with his staff to the Soviets…Weidling orders that the city’s remaining defenders should surrender…the storming of the Reich Chancellery…the Red Army control the Reichstag entirely…the Zoo Flak tower is taken…Soviet artillery stops firing…Wed, 02 May 1945 00:00:00 GMT