Max Poepel (21 October 1896 – 28 August 1966) was the acting Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Aue in the German federal state of Saxony from the end of 1945. In this capacity he prevented the destruction of the most important bridges in the industrial town by German Wehrmacht forces. Life and works Poepel was born on 21 October 1896 in Aue in the German state of Saxony, the son of a smith, Albin Poepel. At 18 years of age Max Poepel became a soldier in the First World War, where he obtained a driving licence and worked as a vehicle driver. Following his return to his home town he finished his education and became a master smith. He eventually took over his father's horseshoe workshop and smithy and developed it into a car workshop because of increasing motorisation. In the 1930s he had the Ford franchise for Aue and the surrounding area. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Motor Corps (NSKK). Due to differences of opinion with the leadership of the Corps he was later banned. In the same period Poepel was elected to the town council. When the Lord Mayor, Paul Geipel, was called up for Wehrmacht service in 1940 Poepel deputised as Lord Mayor and, from January 1945, he became the acting Lord Mayor (kommissarischer Oberbürgermeister). In spring of 1945 he learned that a unit from the American Army was advancing on the town from the west. A Wehrmacht combat commander who had only just been appointed, and who was subordinated to a unit of SS storm troopers, had ensured that Aue was ready to defend itself, true to the Führer's orders. As part of the defensive preparations the key bridges were fitted with explosive charges and three twin machine guns were placed around the railway station. At the final council meeting on 25 April 1945 the military situation was discussed. The combat commander reported on the planned defensive measures and the consequences of surrender: the Mayor of Lößnitz, Rudolf Weber, had just been shot because he had surrendered the town to the Americans without a fight. Although Poepel was a member of the Nazi Party and in spite of the threat of coercion he took responsibility for the inhabitants and the refugees staying in the town. When he heard of the refusal of the Head of the Technical Emergency Service (Technische Nothilfe) to blow up the bridges,