Час ноль: Германия после капитуляции 1945 года.

German term for midnight on 8 May 1945 in Germany

Zero hour (Stunde Null, ) is a term referring to the capitulation at midnight on 8 May 1945 and the immediately following weeks in Germany. It marked the end of World War II in Europe and the start of a new, non Nazi Germany. It was partly an attempt by Germany to dissociate itself from the Nazis. – which helped the idea that Germany was entering a new phase of history.

The term was first used in World War I, and it was used to say "a time at which some great military action has to take place". This was done, because for the most part (at least on the Allies' side)) famously gave his blessing to those who had to steal in order to feed their family.

The winter of 1945–46 was one of the coldest winters in Berlin. Temperatures plummeted to and there was no protection from the biting cold in the bombed out houses. About 40,000 people suffered from hypothermia and 1,000 died as a result. The Berlin Magistrat (municipal authority) created official Wärmeräume (warm rooms) for people to warm themselves in.

In 1946, Berlin was a haven of crime. There were an average of 240 robberies and five murders a day, and most criminals were the destitute and homeless in Berlin. Western Allied soldiers sometimes harassed German civilians too. Problems with law and order occurred in the areas that had still been controlled by the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945 (e. g. western Austria, Bavaria, South Tyrol (Italy), East Frisia and Schleswig Holstein), the date of the final German surrender.

Also at the time of Stunde Null, Germany lay in ruins after the destruction wrought by World War II. Following the war was a period of massive scale reconstruction. ), implying that a true and total restart never occurred in postwar Germany. The term Stunde null implies that the past is over and nothing from former times continues to exist past the Stunde Null. Experts in German culture find that this term is divisive and is a barrier to the collective German psyche and their ability to deal with the recent past. The concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coping with the past) is what experts allude to and Stunde null conflicts directly with this idea, necessitating its judicious use.

An EP released in 1995 by German techno artist Cosmic Baby was entitled Stunde Null. The English band British Sea Power entitled the fourth track from their 2011 LP Valhalla Dancehall "Stunde Null". The German gothic metal band Eisheilig released a track named "Die Stunde Null" on their 2009 album Imperium.

The 1948 neorealist film Germany, Year Zero by Roberto Rossellini depicts life in Berlin in the year after its near total destruction in World War II.