Hitler at the Obersalzberg: With Perceptions

Copyright © 2008 by J.C. Boone.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Epilogue

End Notes

Sources Consulted

Acknowledgments

During the years 1958-1960, I served the United States Army as Director of Publicity for the Armed Forces Recreation Center located in Berchtesgaden, Germany. My position and experiences there led me to investigate the Obersalzberg and to seek out individuals who were acquainted with the area during the Hitler era. Astonished by the tales told by tour guides and by myths that had been propagated through the years, I sought to uncover facts that would present an accurate perspective of the area, an endeavor that has continued since.

Whatever success I have had in putting together the bits and pieces for this undertaking is due to the efforts of a number of people. I am greatly indebted to Freddie, my photography technician in Berchtesgaden, who, as a resident of the area, assisted me in making numerous contacts with such people as Paula Wolf, Hans Baur, Johann Langwieder, and Otto Widl. There were numerous German nationals who came forward with photos and memorabilia once they knew about my research, and they insisted that I accept their gifts. I no longer remember their names, but their faces remain imbedded in the walls of my memory. Thanks to all of them!

Most of all, I am grateful to my family, whose willingness to sacrifice made studying for my doctorate possible. Their patience and understanding as I put together my dissertation, also about the Obersalzberg, made my research and writing more enjoyable. To my wife, Ann, who has supported all my efforts through nearly fifty years of marriage, I can only express my deep love and appreciation.

A view of the medieval Bavarian village Berchtesgaden, Germany, with the Watzman Mountain in the background.

Introduction

While serving in the U.S. Army, I was assigned to the Berchtesgaden Recreation Center in Germany, in 1958. Not long after my arrival, Garmish was combined with Berchtesgaden, with headquarters for the German recreation areas located in Berchtesgaden. I was named director of publicity for the central headquarters and was responsible for promoting the hotels and activities to U.S. service personnel in Europe. I had a sizable support staff of German personnel who worked in the photo lab, art department, and print shop. It was a very unusual assignment for the military, especially considering my rank of specialist fourth class.

One of my primary responsibilities was to write articles and pamphlets about the recreation areas. As I researched material about the Obersalzberg, which overlooked Berchtesgaden, I began to discover myth after myth about the area. That began my interest in the Nazi activities there.

Located near the medieval German village of Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, the Obersalzberg became well-known during the Nazi era as a retreat area for Adolf Hitler and his closest associates. Hitler first went there in 1923, following the Munich Putsch, and returned again in 1925 after being released from prison. From then and until the end of World War II, there developed a community of Nazi VIPs surrounding Hitler’s villa, the Berghof. Hitler considered the Berghof his home, although he had a residence in both Berlin and Munich.

The Fuehrer felt an extremely strong attachment to his Obersalzberg home and expressed fear over what would happen to it at his death.

I can already see the guide from Berchtesgaden showing visitors over the rooms of my house: This is where he had breakfast . . . I can also imagine a Saxon giving avaricious instructions: Don’t touch the articles, don’t wear out the parquet, stay between the ropes . . . In short, if one hadn’t a family to bequeath one’s house to, the best thing would be to be burned in it with all of its contents—a magnificent pyre!1

During the war years, Hitler often reminisced about the Obersalzberg during his teatime monologues at his eastern headquarters in Rastenburg. On August 12, 1942, Hitler told his listeners that although he found mountain life satisfying, it was not good for everyone. For example, after spending six weeks at the Obersalzberg, his sister, Elli, had to go to Nauheim for a cure. Hitler went on to explain how life in the mountains had influenced him in designing clothing for the Alpine troops. He spoke fondly of his preference for leather shorts, shoes, and socks as the best mode of dress, even at low temperatures.2

On another occasion the Fuehrer recalled,

Those rainy days at Berchtesgaden, what a blessing they were! No violent exercise, no excursions, no sunbaths—a little repose! There’s nothing lovelier in the world than a mountain landscape.3

Hitler spent a considerable amount of time at the Obersalzberg, but little has been written of his activities there. Whenever authors have mentioned the Obersalzberg, they have done so in a rather superficial manner. Alan Bullock, who wrote one of the definitive biographies of Hitler, is a good example. He described Hitler’s stays at the Obersalzberg as those of a visionary and prophet.

This was the mood in which Hitler indulged, talking for hours into the night, in his house on the Obersalzberg, surrounded by the remote peaks and silent forests of the Bavarian Alps; or in the Eyrie he had built six thousand feet up on the Kehlstein, above the Berghof, approached only by a mountain road blasted through the rock and a lift guarded by doors of bronze. There he would elaborate his fabulous scheme for a vast empire embracing the Eurasian Heartland of the geopoliticians; his plans for breeding a new elite biologically preselected; his design for reducing whole nations to slavery in the foundation of his new empire.4

Bullock, like many others who have commented on the Obersalzberg, has erred on three points; or has, at least, misled the reader. He has led the reader to believe that Hitler confined his activities at the Obersalzberg to prophesying, that Hitler built his mountain eyrie, the Eagle’s Nest, and that the Fuehrer spent a great deal of time at the Eagle’s Nest. None of these is accurate.

In writing this book, the overriding purpose has been to provide the reader with a vicarious experience based on the actions and activities, which took place at the Obersalzberg from 1925-1945. To achieve this purpose, some of the legends surrounding the area of Berchtesgaden (Berchtesgadenerland) are presented along with the influence Wagnerian opera had on the German people as a whole and on Hitler in particular. At the Berghof, the conflict of personalities is reflected among the Nazi leadership: the major conferences and decision making, which took place there are highlighted and discussed; and through the unfolding drama at the Obersalzberg, Hitler emerges as a personable host, a diplomatic intriguer and a military strategist.

Interviews, which the author conducted in 1959, are included as Perceptions. Those, include discussions with Paula Wolf, Hitler’s younger sister; Hans Baur, Hitler’s personal pilot from 1932-45; and Johann Langwieder, Hitler’s immediate superior during World War I.

The most obvious question should be why after some fifty years are these interviews being made public? First, they were used in writing my doctoral dissertation, but they were never presented in their entirety. Secondly, as a history professor, there were pitfalls to presenting this kind of information to academia because it may or may not be totally accurate—the interviews are perceptions of Hitler and events.

However, the author is no longer in academia, and this study is intended for a much broader readership.

In addition, as I have matured and observed events around the globe, more than ever I am convinced that people (leaders) take action based on their perceptions of events and circumstances. Those perceptions are conditioned by culture and life experiences. Consequently, there are multiple interpretations of the same facts at hand. Hitler, for instance, got his way in the Rhineland, he met no opposition to the Anschluss of Austria, and there was no military opposition to his moving into the Sudetenland. His perception, then, was there would be little if any reaction to the invasion of Poland, despite warnings to the contrary. Today, the United States is at war in Iraq because the Bush administration had the perception that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and sold that perception to Congress and tried to convince the UN of the same. Consequently, the United States went to war when the perception of the same facts and conditions were interpreted differently by most other major powers. There are also those historians and diplomats who would argue that the Korean War resulted from the North Korean perception that the United States was tired of war and would not militarily oppose their crossing the 38th Parallel. What is perceived true, is true, whether it is real or not.

Therefore, accurate or not, the interviews herein are recollections of three people close to Hitler. In some instances, their memory may be misleading, but it is their perception of reality.

There was another interesting interview with a man who worked in maintenance at our headquarters building. His name was Otto Widl; he joined the NSDAP in 1923 and was member 87200. The party at that time was viewed as the protectorate of the people. According to Widl,

Around noon on November 9, 1923, we (the NSDAP) were ordered to march on Kriegministerium (War Administration Building) in Munich. General von Epp then told us to wait, that arrangements were incomplete, but it was too late. Shots were heard and we lost around two men. We then prepared to march on the Feldherrnhalle without any weapons. Suddenly, the police fired on us and around 16 men were killed and another 20 or so were wounded. Hitler himself was wounded in the arm but he stepped in front of the crowd and proclaimed that he was the leader of the People’s Protectorate. That led to his arrest.

That was Widl’s perception of the Munich Putsch, but it was not totally accurate. We know that Hitler was walking arm in arm with a comrade when the comrade was shot. When he fell, he pulled Hitler down with him. Hitler was not shot. But to Widl and others in the crowd, Hitler, their leader, was shot. It all depends on your vantage point as to how you perceive events.

The narrative that follows, therefore, is the story of Adolf Hitler at the Obersalzberg along with interviews with his sister, Paula, Johann Langwieder, and Hans Baur. It is a fascinating story, one that brings some understanding of the complexity of Hitler’s personality and his attraction to the German people and insight into how the Nazi phenomenon manipulated the German populace.

Chapter I

The Obersalzberg: Its Setting

Berchtesgaden is a medieval German village nestled deep in the Bavarian Alps near Salzburg, Austria. Lying in the shadows of the Watzmann and Kehlstein mountains, it became prominent during the years 1933-1945 as the location of the Nazi installation known as the Obersalzberg. Specifically, the Obersalzberg is the plateau area of the Kehlstein, located about halfway from the summit.

To the outside world, it was Adolf Hitler who first brought recognition to Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg. Germans, however, were well aware of the area long before because of its rich heritage.1

Berchtesgadeners date their beginnings to the early eighth century when the Bavarian duke Theodor gave the woodlands Ganzo and Ladusa—now Goetschen and Larosbach—to Rupertus, bishop of Salzburg.2 It was not until the turn of the twelfth century that four Augustinian monks were sent into the area to build a monastery, and with its founding the settlement of Berchtesgaden began. Until the early nineteenth century, the history of the area was one predicated upon poverty and hardship. In 1805, Berchtesgaden became part of Austria for four years, but by the terms of the Peace of Vienna in 1809, it was reunited with Bavaria. With development of salt mines and woodcarving as the two major income-producing industries, the village of Berchtesgaden began to thrive economically.

Until 1877, the Obersalzberg was little more than a barren area where a few hardy farmers struggled to make a meager living. It was then that Mauritia Mayer (called Moritz, which was her father’s name), at the age of forty-four, purchased the Steinhauslen, an old farmhouse, and began a new era on the mountain. A spinster in debt and mistrusted by the Berchtesgadeners, Moritz took scythe and plow and with her hired help accomplished what appeared to be the impossible. She drained the meadows, built paths, renovated the Steinhauslen, converting it into a boarding house, and opened a restaurant, which she called the Pension Moritz. The old farmhouse, she named the Platterhof.

The area was now opened as a haven for vacationers and mountain recreation. There were numerous, well-known personalities who began to frequent the area. One of Moritz’s favorite guests was Ludwig Ganghofer who chose the vicinity as the setting for his novel, Das Golleslehen. The Bavarian prince regent Luitpold often visited the pension, and Johannes Brahms reportedly composed several songs in her home.

Richard Voss, author of Zwei Menschen, was closely linked with Moritz and the Obersalzberg. There has been considerable speculation that in this notable novel, the character Judith was actually Moritz, and the young Rochus von Enna was Voss. The setting was definitely the Obersalzberg, and the tangled affair between the two main characters was representative of the relationship between Moritz and Voss who had great admiration for each other. While preparing to visit Voss and his wife, Moritz died of a heart attack on March 1, 1897. She was buried in the Berchtesgaden cemetery near the Franciscan church, and on her memorial tablet were engraved the words of Richard Voss:

True in friendship, wise in advice, Kind in heart, and strong in action.3

Following the death of Moritz, life at the Obersalzberg and at the Pension Moritz continued much as before. Her younger sister Antonie, at the time working as a governess for a count in Italy, inherited the boarding house and continued to operate it in the gracious tradition of her sister. Distinguished guests continued to visit the pension. With the completion of the railroad linking Munich and Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, being en route, attracted larger numbers of visitors, many of which found their way to the Obersalzberg. However, with the coming of the First World War and difficult times, Antonie was forced to sell the estate in 1917 to Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. Until 1919, the boarding house was part of the navy sanatorium.

Dr. Ernst Josef and Eugen Josef bought the Pension Moritz in May 1919 and operated it until September 1921, when Bruno Buechner took possession of the whole estate. Buechner was the major figure on the Obersalzberg when Hitler first visited there in 1923.

Just as Berchtesgadenerland was rich in heritage, it was as greatly endowed with legend and folklore. Christmas has especially been an occasion for the enthusiastic display of such folklore.4

As a custom observed traditionally by the people of Berchtesgaden, the Christmas shooting has taken place for centuries. Its origin sprang from the belief on the one hand that the demons hostile to vegetation had to be banished, and on the other hand that the sleeping spirits of growth had to be awakened when the sun turns at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, shooters from the various communities gather at designated spots on the hills around Berchtesgaden. At first, only single shots sound through the night; then the actual shooting begins, reaching its climax at midnight. At exactly midnight, the shooting ceases and silence prevails, except for the faint whispers of midnight Mass.

Hitler indirectly participated in the Christmas shootings during his early years at the Obersalzberg. Speaking to his guests during one of his many tea hours, he related:

The fact was, that it was my yearly custom to give sacks of gunpowder to our village shots. They fired them off to their hearts’ content, playing havoc everywhere with their old rifles and sixteenth century arquebuses . . . .5

One of the original children’s Christmas festivals is St. Nikolaus and the twelve Buttenmandl, which takes place on December 5 and 6. The twelve Buttenmandl (little men) are clothed in dresses of straw and wore masks of deerskin pulled over their heads. Horns are sewn to their caps. Around their waists are worn heavy cowbells, and long tails are attached to the seats of their garments. In these uncommon costumes, the Buttenmandl, along with St. Nikolaus, visit each house, and with their switches mete out punishment for the year’s misdeeds and rewards for the well-behaved children.

Another custom is the Klocklsingen, which dates back to the mythological god of thunder, Thor, who knocked on all local doors with his hammer. In this festivity, boys and girls wander from house to house on the first three Thursdays in Advent, knocking on doors and singing their Klocklsongs. The caroling youths are rewarded with apples, cookies, and other treats.

Aside from its affect upon the people and their activities, the air of mystery introduced into Berchtesgadenerland through such folklore has little historical value. A mood, however, is captured that seems pervasive throughout the area, one that is heightened and climaxed by the legend of Siegfried-Barbarossa, and which ironically may have a bearing on Adolf Hitler’s appearance at Obersalzberg. According to Richard Wagner, the medieval kaiser, Frederick Barbarossa, was a mystic, spiritual, reincarnation of Siegfried, the legendary warrior and first noted superman.6 As the legend goes, Siegfried-Barbarossa would someday return to save his German people in their time of deepest need. The site where the sleeping Barbarossa is to reawaken and resume his rule over Germany is Berchtesgaden.

In Berchtesgaden . . . among its limestone crags in a spot scarcely accessible to human foot, the