bombers was conducted in retaliation for the killing of a parachuted pilot by farmers. In addition to the 1,000 lives that perished that day, the entire inner city and the baroque château were destroyed. On April 2, 1945, allied forces took Bruchsal without resistance. On March 1, 1945, shortly before 2 p.m., a bomb attack by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) with 116 heavy bombers killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed the entire city center immediately before the end of the war (the Allies were already away on the Rhine) and the castle of the then 12,000-strong city. On April 2, 1945, associations of the 1st French Army entered Bruchsal without a fight. In the following days, there were numerous rapes of Bruchsal girls and women by the French colonial troops (see Sexual Violence in World War II # French and British Army). Between November 1945 and March 1946, 13 people, who had been sentenced to death by American military courts for their involvement in National Socialist war crimes, were executed in Bruchsal. These included those involved in aviation murders and three employees of the Hadamar Nazi killing center, in which over 600 forced laborers had been murdered. 1946 to the present Starting from 1 April 1956 Bruchsal was awarded the Große Kreisstadt status, as its population had passed the 20,000 mark in 1955. Between 1971 and 1974 the local government reform incorporated 5 neighbouring communities into the city of Bruchsal, including the cities of Heidelsheim and Obergrombach. Under a further reform in 1973, Bruchsal was incorporated into the district of Karlsruhe. Thus Bruchsal lost its district seat status, though it still remains a major economic centre of the region. Local government reform In the local government reform in the early 1970s the following cities and towns became part of the city of Bruchsal. Before the district reform they were all part of Bruchsal district. July 1, 1971: Obergrombach and Untergrombach July 1, 1972: Büchenau and Helmsheim October 1, 1974: Heidelsheim Demographics Figures reflect the city limits at the time and are estimates or Census data (¹), or official extensions thereof, counting only primary residences. ¹ Census data Government Under the local government reform in the 1970s, borough councils were introduced in Baden-Württemberg. Residents of each borough elect their Borough Council at each municipal election. The Borough Council must be consulted on issues that significantly affect the