Ebenthal. They eventually withdrew after the Carinthian Plebiscite in October 1920, when the majority of voters in the Carinthian mixed-language Zone A decided to remain part of Austria.
In 1938 Klagenfurt's population suddenly grew by more than 50% through the incorporation of the town of St. Ruprecht and the municipalities of St. Peter, Annabichl, and St. Martin. But during WWII, the city was bombed 41 times, the bombs killing 612 people, completely destroying 443 buildings, and damaging 1,132 others. 110,000 cubic metres of rubble had to be removed before the citizens could set about rebuilding their city.
In order to avoid further destruction and a major bloodshed, on May 3, 1945 General Löhr of Army Group E (Heeresgruppe E) had agreed to declare Klagenfurt an "open city" "in case Anglo-American forces should attack the city", a declaration that was broadcast several times and two days later also published in the Kärntner Nachrichten.
On 8 May 1945, 9:30 a.m., British troops of the Eighth Army under General McCreery entered Klagenfurt and were met in front of Stauderhaus by the new democratic city and state authorities. All the strategic positions and important buildings were immediately seized, and Major General Horatius Murray was taken to General Noeldechen for the official surrender of the 438th German Division. Three hours later groups of partisans arrived on a train which they had seized in the Rosental valley the day before, and Yugoslav regular forces of the IVth army moved in at the same time, both claiming the city with its South Carinthian hinterland and immediately establishing a Komanda staba za Koroška, afterwards named the "Commandantura of the Carinthian Military Zone" under Major Egon Remec after they had made their way through the streets jammed with tens of thousands of Volksdeutsche refugees and masses of soldiers of all the nationalities that had been fighting under German command and were now fleeing the Russians
