In which city did Germany surrender to the allies at the end of World War II?

At 2:41 on the morning of 7 May 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht. General Alfred Jodl, German Chief-of-Staff, signed the surrender at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) as the representative for German President Karl Dönitz.

On May 2, the Soviets had conquered Berlin. Due to the failure of Nazi troops in Berlin and elsewhere, Dönitz and his fellow negotiators lost any leverage in asking for certain conditions in regard to the surrender. Dönitz therefore decided on May 7 to give in to Allied demands of unconditional surrender. The surrender was made official the following day with a signing at a formal ceremony. May 8 was declared Victory-in-Europe (V-E) Day, a day still celebrated as a public holiday in some European countries.

More Info: learning.blogs.nytimes.com

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21 Comments

Ian Swindale

All that is written above is correct with one exception. The Channel Islands (which were occupied during the War) were not liberated until the following day the 9th. The 9th May is known in the Islands as Liberation Day and is a public holiday. It is arguably a holiday that means more to the Islanders than others although the number of survivors now is few.

Karen Vaina

I was born the day the Germans surrended...May 7, 1945! My brother was christened during the attack on Pearl Harbor. I guess we were movers and shaker babies.

Char

Thanks Majority I had no idea

stlmark

What is not widely known is that the Russians threw a fit because they weren't included in the surrender ceremony. As a result, it had to be re-enacted a few weeks later with their participation.

bvspurrell

My wife & I both Veterans visited SHAEF in Riems in 2012. The site was at one time a school before Ike & his staff made it his HQ. It was then eventually turned into a museum with the actual room complete with their positions around the table marked with name cards. History was made right there in that room.