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Führer Headquarters

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Administrative centers used by Nazi leaders throughout World War II

Map showing the locations of theFührer Headquarters throughout Europe

TheFührer Headquarters (German:Führerhauptquartiere), abbreviatedFHQ, were a number of official headquarters used by theNazi leaderAdolf Hitler and various otherGerman commanders and officials throughout Europe duringWorld War II.^[1] The last one to be used, and the most widely known, was theFührerbunker in Berlin, where Hitlercommitted suicide on 30 April 1945. Other notable headquarters are theWolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) inEast Prussia, whereClausGraf von Stauffenberg in league with other conspiratorsattempted to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944, and Hitler's private home, theBerghof, atObersalzberg nearBerchtesgaden, where he frequently met with prominent foreign and domestic officials.

Introduction

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TheBerghof, Hitler's home nearBerchtesgaden, became part of theObersalzberg military complex. Other than theWolfsschanze inEast Prussia, Hitler spent more time at the Berghof than anywhere else duringWorld War II.

At the beginning ofWorld War II there were no permanent headquarters constructed for Hitler. The German leader would visit the frontlines using either aeroplanes or his special train, theFührersonderzug; which could be considered as the first of his field headquarters. The first permanent Führer Headquarters was theFelsennest, used by Hitler during theBattle of France in May 1940. Hitler spent little time in Berlin during the war, and the dwellings he most frequently used were theBerghof and theWolfsschanze, spending more than 800 days at the latter.

TheFührer Headquarters were especially designed to work as command facilities for theFührer, which meant all necessary demands were taken into consideration: communications, conference rooms, safety measures, bunkers, guard facilities, etc. TheBerghof and the Obersalzberg complex were modified and extended with considerable defense facilities (bunkers, guard posts etc.). TheWehrmachtbericht, a daily propaganda broadcast covering the war, was transmitted from theFührer Headquarters.

TheFuhrerhauptquartiere programme used over one million cubic metres of concrete, more than half at Anlage Riese and Wolfsschlucht II. Forced labourers worked for nearly 12 million working days—two-thirds at Anlage Riese, Wolfsschlucht II, and Wolfsschanze.^[2]

TheFührer Headquarters cannot be considered as strict military headquarters; theWehrmacht had their own, distinctly located in other places, yet often in the vicinity of the FHQs. Nevertheless, because Hitler directly controlled much of the German war effort, the FHQs more often than not becamede facto military headquarters. In reality, Nazi Germany's military command during the war generally rested upon Hitler's directives, while the rest of the military command structure, especially theOberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) (directly controlled by Hitler) was reduced to executing his decisions, as compared to most other nations' command structures, which generally had more independence in decision-making.^{[citation needed]}

Terminology

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The location of theFührerbunker andVorbunker in Berlin, 1945

Every place Hitler stayed cannot be considered as aFührer Headquarters, and he did not stay at every official FHQ.Furthermore, some sources may not refer to theBerghof and theFührerbunker as official GermanFührerhauptquartiere at that time in history, but both of them becamede factoFührer Headquarters; thus, they are historically often referred to as such.

TheBerghof was modified in much the same way as other FHQs,^[3] and Hitler had daily conferences on military matters there in the latter part of the war.^[3] The "Eagle's Nest", i.e. theKehlsteinhaus, was rarely used and may not be considered a FHQ as such alone; however, it was associated with theBerghof and part of the Obersalzberg military complex.

TheFührerbunker was located about 8.5 metres (28 ft) beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstraße 77, and 120 metres (390 ft) north of the new Reich Chancellery building atVoßstraße 6 in Berlin.^[4] It became ade factoFührer Headquarters during theBattle of Berlin, and ultimately,the last of his headquarters.^[5]

Brunhilde near Angevillers in France seen in 2011

Headquarters locations

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There were about 14 known completedFührer Headquarters (of about 20 planned):^[6]

Name	Alternative designations	Location	Build started	Completed	Usage as Führer Headquarters
Adlerhorst^[7]	Mühle (OT) Bauvorhaben Z Lager K Bauvorhaben C	Bad Nauheim, Germany	1 Sep 1939	yes	yes – used by Hitler during theArdennes offensive; was too late for invasion of Poland, and Hitler told Speer it was "too luxurious ... the Führer must show Spartan simplicity".^[8]
Anlage Mitte^[7]	Askania Mitte	Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland	1 Dec 1940	yes	no – only industry
AnlageRiese^[6]	none	Wałbrzych (Waldenburg), Poland	Oct 1943	no	no
Anlage Süd^[7]	Askania Süd	Strzyżów, Poland	1 Oct 1940	yes	yes, Hitler met withMussolini here on 27–28 August 1941^[7]
Berghof^[6]	none	Obersalzberg,Berchtesgaden, Germany	?	yes	yes – also thought by theAllies to be within anAlpine Fortress "last stand" territory of the Third Reich
Bärenhöhle^[9]	none	Smolensk, Russia; Platform of Gniesdovo station lengthened for Führersonderzug^[10]	1 Oct 1941	yes	no – used byArmy Group Centre
Felsennest^[11]	none	Rodert,Bad Münstereifel, Germany	1940	yes	yes, used by Hitler during theBattle of France in May, 1940
Frühlingssturm	none	Mönichkirchen, Austria	12 April 1941	yes	yes. TrainsAmerika andAtlas, and Mönichkirchen goods station, forinvasion of Yugoslavia, until 27 April 1941
Führerbunker^[12]	none	Berlin, Germany	1943	yes	yes,Hitler committed suicide here in 1945
Führersonderzug^[1]	(a special train) "Amerika", "Brandenburg"	various (movable)	1939?	yes	yes
Olga^[6]	none	200 km north ofMinsk, Belarus	1 July 1943	no	no
S III^[6]	Wolfsturm, Olga etc.	Ohrdruf, Germany	Autumn 1944 (?)	no	no
Siegfried^[6]	Hagen^[13]	Pullach, Germany (south of Munich)	?	?	no
Tannenberg^[14]	none	Freudenstadt/Kniebis, Germany	1 Oct 1939	yes	yes (27 June – 5 July 1940)
W3	Wolfsschlucht III	Saint-Rimay, 15 km west ofVendôme, France	1 May 1942	no.	no. Built around a railway tunnel with armoured doors to protect the Führersonderzug, with bunkers for Hitler and for his staff at northeast entrance. Had anti-aircraft emplacements.^[15]
Waldwiese^[9]	none	Glan-Münchweiler, Germany	1 Oct 1939	yes	no
Wasserburg^[9]	none	Pskow (Pleskau), Russia	1 Nov 1942	yes	no (assigned toArmy Group North)
Werwolf^[7]	Eichenhain	Vinnytsia, Ukraine	1 Nov 1941	yes	yes, on 28 December 1943 Hitler ordered its demolition after failure ofOperation Citadel^[16]
Wolfsschanze^[17]	Askania Nord, "Wolf's Lair"	Kętrzyn (Rastenburg), Poland	1 Dec 1940	yes	yes, site of the failed20 July plot on Hitler's life
Wolfsschlucht I^[18]		Brûly-de-Pesche nearCouvin,Belgium	1 May 1940	yes	yes. A further bunker planned near the Wolfspalast (formerly the village inn) was not completed.^[19]
Wolfsschlucht II^[7]	W2, later Zucarello^[20]	between villages ofMargival and Laffaux, France. The Führerbunker was 2 km up the track from the Margival train station.^[20]	1 Sep 1942	yes	yes. Built around a railway tunnel with armoured doors to protect theFührersonderzug. The compound had six large bunkers; an OKW bunker was adjacent to the Führerbunker, also signals and guest bunkers and anti-aircraft emplacements.^[20]
Zigeuner^[6]	Brunhilde	Thionville,France; used Maginot Line tunnels^[10]	1 Apr 1944	no	no

Special train (Führersonderzug)

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Main article:Führersonderzug

The Führersonderzug train was namedFührersonderzug "Amerika" in 1940, and laterFührersonderzug "Brandenburg". The train was used as a headquarters until theBalkans campaign. Afterwards, the train was not used as Führer Headquarters, however Hitler continued to travel on it throughout the war between Berlin, Berchtesgaden, Munich and other headquarters.

References

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Notes

^^a ^bRaiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19, Introduction and p. 1.
^McNab 2014, pp. 37, 48.
^^a ^bEberle, Henrik and Uhl, Matthias,The Unknown Hitler, 11th chapter, pp. 199–200.
^Lehrer, Steven,The Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker Complex, p. 123.
^Beevor, Antony,Berlin: The Downfall 1945, p. 357.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gRaiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19, p. 2.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fRaiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No.19, pp. 48–51.
^McNab 2014, p. 18.
^^a ^b ^cDer Kommandant Führerhauptquartier Archived 2010-01-25 at theWayback Machine fromDas Bundesarchiv (German, www.bundesarchiv.de)
^^a ^bMcNab 2014, p. 27.
^Raiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19, p. 4.
^The Berlin Führerbunker: The Thirteenth Hole,After the Battle Archived 2007-12-26 at theWayback Machine, No.61 Special Edition (entire)
^McNab 2014, p. 31.
^Raiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19, p. 18.
^McNab 2014, p. 43.
^McNab 2014, pp. 59, 60.
^Raiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19, p. 28.
^Raiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After the Battle, No. 19, p. 10.
^McNab 2014, p. 38.
^^a ^b ^cMcNab 2014, pp. 39–42.

Bibliography

Beevor, Antony (2002).Berlin – The Downfall 1945. Viking-Penguin Books.ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
Eberle, Henrik; Uhl, Matthias, eds. (2005).The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides. New York: Public Affairs.ISBN 978-1-58648-366-1.
Hansen, Hans-Josef:Felsennest - Das vergessene Führerhauptquartier in der Eifel. Bau, Nutzung, Zerstörung. Aachen 2006, Helios-Verlag,ISBN 3-938208-21-X.
Kuffner, Alexander:Zeitreiseführer Eifel 1933–45. Helios, Aachen 2007,ISBN 978-3-938208-42-7.
Lehrer, Steven (2006).The Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker Complex. An Illustrated History of the Seat of the Nazi Regime. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.ISBN 978-0-7864-2393-4.
McNab, Chris (2014).Hitler's Fortresses: German Fortifications and Defences 1939–45. Oxford; New York: Osprey Publishing.ISBN 978-1-78200-828-6.
Raiber, Richard,Guide to Hitler's Headquarters,After the Battle, No.19, Special Edition, Battle of Britain International Ltd, 1977, London
Ramsey, Winston G. (editor) & Posch, Tom (researcher),The Berlin Führerbunker: The Thirteenth Hole,After the Battle, No. 61, Special Edition, Battle of Britain International Ltd, 1988, London
Pierre Rhode/Werner Sünkel:Wolfsschlucht 2 – Autopsie eines Führerhauptquartiers, Verlag Werner Sünkel Geschichte+Technik, Leinburg 1993,ISBN 3-930060-81-7
Werner Sünkel/Rudolf Rack/Pierre Rhode:Adlerhorst – Autopsie eines Führerhauptquartiers, Verlag Werner Sünkel Geschichte +Technik, Offenhausen 1998,ISBN 3-930060-97-3
von Loringhoven, Bernd Freytag/d’Alançon, François:Mit Hitler im Bunker. Aufzeichnungen aus dem Führerhauptquartier Juli 1944 – April 1945. Berlin 2005, wjs-Verlag,ISBN 3-937989-14-5.
Schulz, Alfons:Drei Jahre in der Nachrichtenzentrale des Führerhauptquartiers. Christiana-Verlag, Stein am Rhein. 2. Aufl. 1997.ISBN 3-7171-1028-4.
Seidler, Franz W./Zeigert, Dieter :Die Führerhauptquartiere. Anlagen und Planungen im Zweiten Weltkrieg. München: Herbig 2000.ISBN 3-7766-2154-0.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toFührer's headquarters.

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Places of
residence

Führer Headquarters	Berghof (Kehlsteinhaus) Reich Chancellery (Führerbunker /Vorbunker) Adlerhorst Anlage Süd Felsennest Tannenberg Werwolf Wolf's Lair Wolfsschlucht I Wolfsschlucht II Special train (Führersonderzug)
Civilian residences	Braunau am Inn Linz Vienna (Meldemannstraße dormitory) Munich (16 Prinzregentenplatz) Obersalzberg (Kampfhäusl)