The Reich Chancellery and Fuhrerbunker Complex

The Reich Chancellery and Fuhrerbunker Complex PDF

Author: Steven Lehrer

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-04-18

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780786477333

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Germany's Nazi government initially made its primary headquarters in one of Berlin's oldest buildings, the Old Reich Chancellery. Unsatisfied with the building, Adolf Hitler commissioned Albert Speer to design and build a newer, grander structure, and his New Reich Chancellery was completed in early 1939. Hitler described his New Reich Chancellery and other Nazi buildings as his "words of stone," eternal monuments to the work that he and the Nazi party intended to perpetuate. Frequented by Hitler and his inner circle, the Chancellery witnessed their fanatical plans and was an architectural reflection of Hitler's megalomania. The Fuhrerbunker, built underneath the Chancellery, became the last refuge of a dying regime; it was here that Hitler retreated to order the destruction of Germany and ultimately to take his own life. This book is a virtual tour of the now demolished Chancellery and Fuhrerbunker. It covers the history of each structure, notes the architectural changes that Hitler made to suit his purposes, and describes the historical events that took place within each building's walls. Appendices contain a chronology of Reich Chancellors (1871-1945), a detailed list of renovations to the Chancellery, and a register of notable gatherings that took place in the Old Reich Chancellery prior to 1914. Texts of various speeches by Hitler are reproduced, along with a copy of his agreement to occupy Czechoslovakia, which was signed in the Reich Chancellery.

The Final Archives of the Führerbunker

The Final Archives of the Führerbunker PDF

Author: Paul Villatoux

Publisher: Casemate

Published: 2020-10-28

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1612009050

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Collected documents offering a look into the minds of the Third Reich’s leaders in their final days, and at Berlin following the end of World War II. In November 1945, two French officers secretly entered the Führerbunker, the air raid shelter near the Chancellery in Berlin. The bunker was the last home of Adolf Hitler; the background of the last months of his life and the war; where he married Eva Braun on April 29, 1945; and where he killed himself less than two days later. In the middle of a heap of furniture and broken objects, the two officers found hundreds of documents littering the ground. Among the documents that they retrieved were a dozen telegrams of historic importance that allow us to understand the spirit of the last leaders of the Third Reich as well as the events that took place between April 23 and 26, 1945. These and other documents are presented for the first time in this book, shown in their proper context with an expert commentary. “But although the building may have gone, troves of historic documents survived. Now, many have been published for the first time in this new visual history, an excellent guide to the horrendous final days, hours, and minutes of the Third Reich.” —Military History Matters

Escaping Hitler's Bunker

Escaping Hitler's Bunker PDF

Author: Sjoerd J. de Boer

Publisher: Frontline Books

Published: 2021-07-30

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1526792729

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As the Soviet troops fought their way ever closer to the Reich Chancellery in the final days of the Third Reich, deep underground in Hitler’s bunker fateful decisions were being made. Hitler and some of those closest to him resolved to commit suicide, whilst others sought to try and escape. But who did manage to slip past the Russian soldiers and reach freedom? How did they escape, and what routes did they take through the ruined streets of Berlin? Equally, what became of those who escaped, where did they go, and what happened to those who did not get away? All of these questions are answered in this book. Following years of research in Berlin, the author has been able to identify the various groups and individuals that left the bunker and has traced the paths taken by those who escaped and those that perished. The final days in Hitler’s bunker are revealed in atmospheric detail, as the Red Army closed in and the inevitable end loomed menacingly nearer with the passing of every hour. Many notable persons, such as Bormann, Speer, Göring and Hanna Reitsch, went to say a last farewell to the Führer, while others, such as Goebbels, prepared themselves for suicide rather than being taken prisoner by the Russians. By using detailed maps showing the escape routes, first-hand testimony from those who survived, photographs of the devastated German capital in 1945, as well as images of the various routes as they can be followed through Berlin today, the author explores the last moments of the Third Reich in startling clarity.

Inside Hitler's Bunker

Inside Hitler's Bunker PDF

Author: Joachim C. Fest

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780330431705

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In this compelling new reconstruction, Germany’s greatest historian of Nazism describes in vivid detail the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Fuhrer's bunker during the bitter last days of the war when, drugged and enfeebled, Hitler veered between hysterical despair and lunatic optimism while his regime disintegrated amid desperate acts of betrayal, recrimination and suicide. 'vivid and creepy, as well as darkly comic' – Mail On Sunday 'unputdownable' - Sunday Times 'Nobody has written a better account' – Observer 'such pace, drama and immediacy that one could almost believe he had been an eye-witness' - The Spectator 'moves like a blood racing thriller' - Catholic Times 'There has never been a more evocative account' - Daily Mail

Hitler's Headquarters

Hitler's Headquarters PDF

Author: Blaine Taylor

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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Blaine Taylor has written and assembled a fascinating photographic history of Adolf Hitler's many headquarters, both before and during World War II. Taylor includes all of the private residences, offices, command posts, and even mobile headquarters from which the Nazi dictator planned his rise to power and the conquest of Europe. Taylor recounts the background and physical description of each headquarters while also relating these locations' importance to the larger story of Nazi Germany and World War II. Restless, Hitler rarely worked at a desk and was almost always on the move during the war, with headquarters scattered throughout Germany and across the continent from the Ukraine to Belgium. Taylor describes the best-known headquarters, such as Wolf's Lair, the Berchtesgaden complex, and the Berlin bunker, but he also includes many lesser-known ones such as Hitler's armored train Amerika, Felsennest near the Belgian border, and the compound codenamed Tannenberg in the Black Forest. Hitler spent a fortune on these varied sites, some of which he never used. Ultimately, and perhaps fittingly, he spent his final days before committing suicide holed up in his extensive bunker deep beneath Berlin.

New Images of Nazi Germany

New Images of Nazi Germany PDF

Author:

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-10-15

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 0786469668

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With its battlefields paved over and its bunkers crumbled, the Third Reich of Nazi Germany nevertheless lives on in countless photographs that record an era of extraordinary brutality. This collection of more than 500 photographs taken by amateurs and professional propagandists provides a panoramic overview of Nazi Germany, offering intimate glimpses into living rooms and killing grounds, kitchens and concentration camps, movie theaters and battle fronts. The explanatory text explores the context of the images. Together, these photographs, most never before seen, create a time capsule, capturing the faces of Hitler's soldier's as well as those who suffered under the Nazi onslaught on humanity.

In Hitler's Bunker

In Hitler's Bunker PDF

Author: Armin Lehmann

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2011-08-12

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1780573022

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During the last months of Hitler's Berlin, an estimated 30,000 German teenagers perished defending their beloved Fhrer in the Russian onslaught. Armin Lehmann was one of the few boy soldiers who escaped the bloodbath. Like every other member of the Hitler Youth, Armin would have given his life gladly for his leader, but he was not to be sacrificed to the enemy at the gate. Instead, he was chosen to serve in the German High Command's bunker complex. It was a stroke of fate that brought him into the company of the most notorious Nazis of Hitler's hated Reich, including Martin Bormann, Goebbels and, of course, the Fhrer himself. When Hitler greeted Armin, the 16-year-old boy knew he had been granted a unique part in history.In Hitler's Bunker is Armin's eyewitness account of the Nazi apocalypse. It is also the story of how his unquestioning fanaticism won him that role in the final act of the Third Reich. It takes us back to his boyhood and the brutal SS father who instilled the Nazi's hateful creed in his son. It follows Armin's odyssey through the ranks of the Hitler Youth and shares his teenage anguish over his doomed love for a beautiful German nurse. It is the story of Armin's gradual realisation of the full horror of what he had been part of, and recounts his quest for the truth, which took him in the footsteps of Mahatma Ghandi and to a meeting with Albert Schweitzer, the missionary and theologian. Above all, In Hitler's Bunker is the story of how one man, instead of running away from his past, confronted it and found peace, at last.

Architecture in Berlin 1933–1945

Architecture in Berlin 1933–1945 PDF

Author: Matthias Donath

Publisher: Lukas Verlag

Published: 2006-07-01

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13: 3936872937

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Many of the buildings erected during the era of National Socialism are still standing in downtown Berlin today. In this architecture guide Matthias Donath, building and art historian, presents thirty typical examples of Third Reich architecture. Almost all of the buildings from this period are preserved except for the Reich Chancellery where only traces remain. In addition to ministries, administration centers and embassies, the author describes bunkers, office buildings and a house of the Hitler Youth. The Tempelhof Airport and Olympic grounds are well-known even outside of Berlin. The buildings presented in the book show how diverse the architecture was during these years. The author explains their different functions as well as their intended political message and how they were used for propaganda. Historical photos show the original buildings. Visitors to Berlin and Berlin residents curious about their city’s history will find this book illuminating. The sites are easy to find with the help of a map. Thirty buildings from Berlin’s inner districts are described in this architecture guide, including traces of the Reich Chancellery, various ministries, the Reich National Bank, air-raid and anti-aircraft bunkers, embassies, the Tempelhof Airport, the exhibition and convention grounds, business offices, a model house for the Hitler Youth, the Reich Sports Field (Olympic stadium) and the ensemble at Fehrbelliner Platz.

Hitler's Wehrmacht

Hitler's Wehrmacht PDF

Author: James Steiner

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-02-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780786475056

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On August 2, 1934, Hitler required all members of Germany's re-emerging military to take an oath of allegiance to his regime. As the war progressed and Hitler's commands became more erratic and less humanitarian, his better generals were left to a moral predicament--live up to their oath and follow the questionable commands of the Fuhrer or violate their oath and, consequently, one of their most basic beliefs. Through a critical examination of memoirs, postwar trial testimony and peer analysis, this volume explores the motivation behind the Wehrmacht leadership's support of Hitler. Beginning with the atmosphere prevalent in post-World War I Germany, the book details the conditions and mindset which left the whole country--and the military in particular--ready for someone with Hitler's charisma. The author uses contemporary sources to delve into the almost incomprehensible reasoning behind the loyalty of Hitler's chief lieutenants. These include the possibility of personal gain, the natural culmination of their chosen career, and Napoleonic dreams spurred on by Germany's initial victory in Poland. Those who apparently attempted, to no avail, to dissuade Hitler from his course of action are also discussed. The appendices contain a list of postwar indictments; a chronology of the Third Reich; information regarding treaties and agreements; and comparative army ranks.