| The Berghof | |
|---|---|
Berghof | |
 | |
  Location within Germany | |
| Former names | Haus Wachenfeld |
| General information | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Type | Chalet |
| Location | Obersalzberg |
| Town or city | Berchtesgaden |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 47°38′01″N13°02′31″E / 47.63361°N 13.04194°E /47.63361; 13.04194 |
| Elevation | 921 m (3,022 ft) |
| Construction started | 1916 |
| Renovated | 1935–1936 |
| Demolished | 1952 |
| Owner | Adolf Hitler |
| Landlord | Unknown |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Unknown |
| Architecture firm | Hochtief AG |
TheBerghof (German pronunciation:[ˈbɛʁkhoːf]) wasAdolf Hitler's holiday home in theObersalzberg of theBavarian Alps nearBerchtesgaden,Bavaria, Germany. Other than theWolfsschanze ("Wolf's Lair"), his headquarters inEast Prussia for theinvasion of the Soviet Union, he spent more time here than anywhere else during his time as theFührer ofNazi Germany. It was also one of the most widely known ofhis headquarters,[1] which were located throughout Europe.
The Berghof was rebuilt and renamed in 1935 and was Hitler's holiday residence for ten years. It was damaged by British bombs in late April 1945, and again in early May by retreating SS troops, and it was looted after Allied troops reached the area. The Bavarian government demolished the burned shell in 1952.
The Berghof began as a much smaller chalet calledHaus Wachenfeld, a holiday home built in 1916 (or 1917) byKommerzienrat Otto Winter, a businessman fromBuxtehude. It was located near thePlatterhof, the formerPension Moritz where Hitler had stayed in 1922–23. By 1926, the family running the pension had left, and Hitler did not like the new owner. He moved first to theMarineheim and then to a hotel in Berchtesgaden, theDeutsches Haus, where he dictated the second volume ofMein Kampf in the summer of 1926. Hitler met his girlfriend at that time,Maria Reiter, who worked in a shop on the ground floor of the hotel, during another visit in autumn 1926. In 1928, Winter's widow rentedHaus Wachenfeld to Hitler, and his half-sisterAngela came to live there as housekeeper, although she left soon after her daughterGeli's 1931 death in Hitler'sMunich apartment.[2]
By 1933, Hitler had purchasedHaus Wachenfeld with funds he received from the sale of his political manifestoMein Kampf. The small chalet-style building was refurbished and much expanded by architectAlois Degano during 1935–36 under the supervision ofMartin Bormann, when it was renamedThe Berghof (English: "Mountain Court").[3] The renovated interiors were designed byGerdy Troost.[4]
A large terrace was built and featured big, colourful, resort-style canvas umbrellas. The entrance hall "was filled with a curious display ofcactus plants inmajolica pots."[5][6] A dining room was panelled with very costlycembra pine. Hitler's large study had a telephone switchboard room. The library contained books "on history, painting, architecture and music." A great hall was furnished with expensiveTeutonic furniture, a large globe, and an expansive red marble fireplace mantel. Behind one wall was a projection booth for evening screenings of films (often, Hollywood productions, includingMickey Mouse).[7]
A sprawling picture window could be lowered into the wall to give a sweeping, open-air view of the snow-capped mountains in Hitler's nativeAustria.[3] The house was maintained much like a small resort hotel by several housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, and other domestic workers.
The Berghof became a centrepiece of Nazi propaganda. The Nazi-controlled German press as well as the English-language international press covered Hitler's life at home in a positive light. These stories helped to soften his image by portraying him as a man of culture, dog lover, and good neighbour.[8] Writer William George Fitz-Gerald, under the pseudonym Ignatius Phayre, published many articles about visiting Hitler at home that were fabricated from Nazi propaganda sources.[8][9][10]
Based on German propaganda sources, Fitz-Gerald, writing for the BritishHomes & Gardens magazine, described Hitler as "his own decorator, designer, and furnisher, as well as architect", and the chalet as "bright and airy" with "a light jade-green colour scheme"; cagedHarz Rollercanaries were kept in most of the rooms, which were furnished with antiques, mostly German furniture from the 18th century. Old engravings hung in the guest bedrooms, along with some of Hitler's small watercolour sketches. His personal valetHeinz Linge stated that Hitler and his longtime companionEva Braun had two bedrooms and two bathrooms with interconnecting doors, and Hitler would end most evenings alone with her in his study drinking tea.[11]
Though Hitler did not smoke, smoking was allowed on the terrace.His vegetarian diet was supplied by nearby kitchen gardens and, later, a greenhouse. A large complex of mountain homes for theNazi leadership, and many buildings for their security and support staff, were constructed nearby. To acquire the land for these projects, many neighbours were compelled to sell their properties and leave.[12] A mountaintop structure, theKehlsteinhaus, nicknamedEagle's Nest byAndré François-Poncet, a French diplomat, was built in 1937–38 above the Berghof, but Hitler rarely went there.[13]
The area became a German tourist attraction during the mid-1930s, after Hitler came to power as dictator.[15] Visitors gathered at the end of the driveway or on nearby public paths in the hope of catching a glimpse of Hitler.[16] This led to the introduction of severe restrictions on access to the area and other security measures.[3] A large contingent of theLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was housed in barracks adjacent to the Berghof. Under the command ofObersturmbannführerBernhard Frank, they patrolled an extensive cordoned security zone that encompassed the nearby homes of the other Nazi leaders. With the outbreak of war extensive anti-aircraft defences were also installed, including smoke-generating machines to conceal the Berghof complex from hostile aircraft.
The nearby former hotel "Türken" was turned into quarters to house theReichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD) SS security men who patrolled the grounds of the Berghof.[17] It was later occupied by theGeneralmajor of the Police. (The hotel was rebuilt in 1950 and reopened as a hotel before Christmas, the Hotel zum Türken. Visitors can still explore the historic underground hallways and tunnels that had been used by the Nazis.)[18][19][20]
Whenever Hitler was in residence, members of the RSD andFührerbegleitkommando (Führer Escort Command; FBK) were present. While the RSD men patrolled the grounds, the FBK men provided close security protection for Hitler.[21] Several Wehrmacht mountain troop units were also housed nearby. Hence, the British never planned a direct attack on the compound.[22]
Guests at the Berghof included political figures, monarchs, heads of state, and diplomats along with painters, singers, and musicians. The important visitors personally greeted on the steps of the Berghof by Hitler includedDavid Lloyd George (3 March 1936), theAga Khan (20 October 1937),Duke andDuchess of Windsor (22 October 1937),[23]Kurt von Schuschnigg (12 February 1938),Neville Chamberlain (15 September 1938), andBenito Mussolini (19 January 1941). At the end of July 1940, Hitler summoned his military chiefs fromOKW andOKH to the Berghof for the 'Berghof Conference' at which the 'Russian problem' was studied. On 11 May 1941,Karlheinz Pintsch visited the Berghof to deliver a letter fromRudolf Hess informing Hitler of his illegal flight toScotland.
Hitler's social circle at his Berghof retreat – which his intimates referred to as "on theBerg"[24] – included Eva Braun and her sisterGretl, Herta Schneider and her children, Eva's friend Marion Schönmann,Heinrich Hoffmann, and the wives and children of other Nazi leaders and Hitler's staff who would all pose for an annual group photograph on the occasion of Hitler's birthday. The social scene at the Berghof ended on 14 July 1944, when Hitler left for his military headquarters in East Prussia, never to return.[25]
Silent colour films shot by Eva Braun survived the war and showed Hitler and his guests relaxing at the Berghof.[26] In 2006, computerlip-reading software identified several parts of their conversations. Among those identified in the films wereJoseph Goebbels,Reinhard Heydrich,Heinrich Himmler,Joachim von Ribbentrop,Albert Speer, andKarl Wolff.[27]
Two guests planned to use a visit to the Berghof as an opportunity to assassinate Hitler. On 11 March 1944, CaptainEberhard von Breitenbuch arrived with a concealed pistol with the intention of shooting Hitler in the head, but guards would not allow him into the same room.[28] On 7 June 1944, ColonelClaus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg planned to detonate a bomb at a meeting there, but his fellow conspirators would not give him approval to do so because Himmler andHermann Göring were not also present.
The Allies rejected suggestions about derailing Hitler's train to Obersalzberg and using poison in the train's drinking water, but the British developed a plan namedOperation Foxley in 1944. This called for a sniper to kill Hitler[29] on his daily 15–20 minute walk from the Berghof residence to theTeehaus on the Mooslahnerkopf Hill, which had been revealed by a prisoner of war. The operation would be undertaken by a German-speaking Pole and a British sniper wearing German uniforms after being parachuted into Austria. They would be housed and led to the area by an anti-Nazi, identified as "Heidentaler" who lived nearby inSalzburg.[29] The Foxley plan did not proceed, due to a dispute as to whether killing Hitler was a prudent idea and the lack of intelligence about his exact daily routine. By the time that the plan might have proceeded, Hitler had stopped visiting his mountain retreat; he never returned to the compound after 14 July 1944.[30]
The Obersalzberg was bombed by hundreds of British RAFLancaster heavy bombers, including aircraft fromNo. 617 Squadron RAF (the "Dambusters"), whichattacked Obersalzberg on 25 April 1945. At least two bombs struck the Berghof and did considerable damage to the building. Retreating SS troops set fire to the villa on 4 May, four days after Hitler's suicide in Berlin. Only hours later, theU.S. 3rd Infantry Division arrived at Berchtesgaden along with theFrench 2nd Armoured Division. The Americans having only invested the town of Berchtesgaden, the French took advantage of this to attack Obersalzberg where the Berghof was located. In their Jeep, Captain Laurent Touyeras and his driver, Brigadier François Borg, overtook the half-tracks of the 2nd DB which were struggling to climb the slope. They were thus the first Allied soldiers to reach the chalet which was still burning. The French discovered kilometers of underground bunkers housing art objects looted from all over Europe, but also thousands of bottles of fine wines, tons of provisions and more surprising pieces, such as a collection of bras amassed by Göring. Allied soldiers thoroughly looted and stripped the house over the next few days.[31] The American 1st Battalion of the506th Infantry Regiment arrived on 8 May. The 3rd Battalion of the 506th came into Berchtesgaden by a different route and sustained casualties in a skirmish with the crews of two German88mm anti-aircraft/anti-tank guns. One of the most notable artifacts taken by American soldiers was theColumbus Globe for State and Industry Leaders, known more commonly as "Hitler's Globe".
Theteahouse on Mooslahnerkopf hill was unscathed in the April 1945 bombing raid, but the Bavarian government knocked it down by 1951 because of its link with Hitler. For 55 years, the ruins lay in the woods by the 13th hole of the Gutshof golf course, but these were taken away altogether during the summer of 2006. The Berghof's shell survived until 1952, when the Bavarian government demolished it with explosives on 30 April.[32] The Berghof, the houses ofGöring and Bormann, the SS barracks, theKampfhäusl, and the teahouse were all destroyed. This had been part of an agreement under which the Americans handed the area back to the Bavarian authorities. There was fear that the ruins would become aneo-Nazi shrine and tourist attraction.[33]
More than 50 Obersalzberg Nazi buildings were destroyed. The Platterhof had been a nearby hostel for visitors to the area, and it was turned into the General Walker Hotel for American troops after the war. It was demolished in 2001.[34][35]
The Berghof was one of the headquarters used by Hitler during the war. There were about 14 known completedFührer Headquarters.[36]
For example, in 1938 Fitz-Gerald wrote "Hitler's Mountain Home" for Homes & Gardens. It was written in a tone which has been described as "breathless... Hello!-style." The photographs had all been taken byHeinrich Hoffmann (many of them years earlier) and given to the magazine as publicity handouts. The article happened to surface in 2003 after decades of obscurity, see the Guardian reference below.
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