Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (190 page)

144 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 67f.; 77.

145 
See Josef Henke, “Die Reichsparteitage der NSDAP in Nürnberg 1933–1938: Planung, Organisation, Propaganda,” in
Aus der Arbeit des Bundesarchivs
, ed. Heinz Boberach and Hans Booms, Boppard, 1977, p. 496; Centrum Industriekultur Nürnberg (ed.),
Kulissen der Gewalt: Das Reichsparteitagsgelände in Nürnberg
, Munich, 1992, pp. 41f.

146 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 350 (entry for 19 Dec. 1935). On Hitler’s visits to Nuremberg see Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, pp. 173f.; Henke,
Die Reichsparteitage
, pp. 406f.; Centrum Industriekultur (ed.),
Kulissen der Gewalt
, p. 45.

147 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 305 (entry for 10 Sept. 1937). Hitler told his finance minister Schwerin von Krosigk that while it was Krosigk’s duty to voice his concerns “he would never let his plans fail for lack of funds.” Schwerin von Krosigk to Lennart Westberg, 24 Feb. 1976; BA Koblenz, N 1276/36.

148 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 80f.; Fest,
Speer
, p. 83.

149 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 280. See Jost Dülffer, Jochen Thies and Josef Henke,
Hitlers Städte: Baupolitik im Dritten Reich. Eine Dokumentation
, Cologne and Vienna, 1978, pp. 223–8 (minutes of Professor Ruff’s presentation of his plans for the Nuremberg Congress Hall to the Führer in the Reich Chancellery, 1 June 1934).

150 
Domarus,
Hitler
, vol. 1, part 2, p. 527; see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 291 (entry for 13 Sept. 1935).

151 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 82.

152 
For this connection see Jochen Thies,
Architekt der Weltherrschaft: Die “Endziele” Hitlers
, Düsseldorf, 1976, particularly pp. 69, 103f.

153 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 84.

154 
See Centrum Industriekultur (ed.),
Kulissen der Gewalt
, pp. 44f.; Henke,
Die Reichsparteitage
, pp. 403f.

155 
See Dülffer et al.,
Hitlers Städte
, pp. 159ff., 191ff., 251ff.; Michael Früchtel,
Der Architekt Hermann Giesler: Leben und Werk 1898–1987
, Munich, 2008, pp. 145ff., 284ff.; Speer,
Fest
, pp. 118f.; for Hamburg see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 322 (entry for 9 Jan. 1937).

156 
Report on the meeting in the Reich Chancellery, 19 Sept. 1933; Dülffer et al.,
Hitlers Städte
, pp. 90–3 (quotation on p. 92).

157 
Minutes of the meeting in the Reich Chancellery, 29 March 1934; ibid., pp. 97–9 (quotations on pp. 97, 99).

158 
Minutes of the meeting in the Reich Chancellery, 28 June 1935; ibid., pp. 112–16 (quotation on p. 115). On Hitler’s meetings with the Berlin city council between 1933 and 1935 see Kellerhoff,
Hitlers Berlin
, pp. 122–4; Thomas Friedrich,
Die missbrauchte Hauptstadt: Hitler und Berlin
, Berlin, 2007, pp. 458–60. 464–9, 475f.

159 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 87f.; see Fest,
Die unbeantwortbaren Fragen
, pp. 31f.

160 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 253 (entry for 16 Nov. 1936). In a similar vein see ibid., pp. 317 (entry for 5 Jan. 1937), 343 (entry for 25 Jan. 1937).

161 
According to Speer’s memoirs, Hitler was initially “almost shocked” by the blueprints for the Great Hall and was sceptical about whether the dome could bear the weight it had to support. But when Speer assured him that the structural questions had been examined and the plans deemed sound, Hitler “enthusiastically approved” them. Fest,
Die unbeantwortbaren Fragen
, p. 79.

162 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 90; Fest,
Speer
, p. 95. On Speer’s appointment see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 354 (entry for 31 Jan. 1937).

163 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 147d.; see Sereny,
Albert Speer
, pp. 144f. (recollections of Willi Schelkes and Rudolf Wolters, two of Speer’s colleagues).

164 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 148; see also
idem
,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 551 (entry for 21 Jan. 1962); Sereny,
Albert Speer
, p. 158.

165 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 89f.; Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 52 (entry for 15 March 1937): “It will be a street of the most monumental proportions. We will immortalise ourselves in stone.”

166 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 149f.

167 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 100 (entry for 20 April 1937). See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 167f.; Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 101 (dated 21/22 Oct. 1941): “The Great Hall will be so large that it could swallow up St. Peter’s Cathedral and the square in front.”

168 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 171–4 (quotation on p. 173); see
idem
,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 167 (entry for 24 Oct. 1948).

169 
See Jürgen Trimborn,
Arno Breker: Der Künstler und die Macht. Die Biographie
, Berlin, 2011, pp. 144ff., 204ff.

170 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 153.

171 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 52 (entry for 15 March 1937).

172 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 175; see
idem
,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 247 (entry for 2 Nov. 1950).

173 
Sereny,
Albert Speer
, p. 186.

174 
Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 101 (dated 21/22 Oct. 1941), p. 318 (dated 11/12 March 1942). On the renaming of Berlin as “Germania,” see
Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier
, ed. Henry Picker, Stuttgart, 1976, p. 366 (dated 8 June 1942).

175 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 5, p. 345 (entry for 15 June 1938). On the above see the German News Agency, 27 Jan. 1938. The programme for the redesign of Berlin is reprinted in Dülffer et al.,
Hitlers Städte
, pp. 134–41; see also the articles in
Deutsche Bauzeitung
, 2 Feb. 1938, in the weekly newspapers
Koralle
, 22 May 1938, and
Berliner Illustrierte
, 15 Dec. 1938, quoted in Friedrich,
Die missbrauchte Hauptstadt
, pp. 486–9.

176 
Speer,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 31 (entry for 1 Nov. 1946). See Schlie (ed.),
Albert Speer
, p. 57: “He always said his fondest wish was to see his construction projects completed.” Hitler intended to celebrate completion in 1950 with a World Fair to be held at “a gigantic site along the River Havel.” Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 347 (entry for 7 Oct. 1937).

177 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 5, p. 333 (entry for 4 June 1938).

178 
Minutes of a meeting with the General Building Inspector on 14 Sept. 1938; reprinted in Breloer,
Die Akte Speer
, pp. 92–5 (quotations on pp. 93, 94). See Susanne Willems,
Der entsiedelte Jude: Albert Speers Wohnungsmarktpolitik für den Berliner Hauptstadtbau
, Berlin, 2000, pp. 71ff.

179 
Willems,
Der entsiedelte Jude
, pp. 86f.

180 
Facsimile of the decree of 15 June 1940 in Breloer,
Die Akte Speer
, p. 100. See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 188, 192.

181 
See Schmidt,
Albert Speer
, pp. 199–206; Willems,
Der entsiedelte Jude
, pp. 158ff.; Breloer,
Die Akte Speer
, pp. 199–206.

182 
Willi Schelkes, notes on a “visit from the Führer” dated 15 March 1941; reprinted in Breloer,
Die Akte Speer
, pp. 121–4 (quotations on pp. 122, 123, 124).

183 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 116.

184 
See Angela Schönberger,
Die Neue Reichskanzlei: Zum Zusammenhang von nationalsozialistischer Ideologie und Architektur
, Berlin, 1981, pp. 37–44; Dietmar Arnold,
Neue Reichskanzlei und “Führerbunker”: Legende und Wirklichkeit
, Berlin, 2005, pp. 62–7. On the demolition of the Gau headquarters see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 41f. (entry for 8 Dec. 1937).

185 
Hitler’s speech at the topping-out ceremony of the New Chancellery, 2 Aug. 1938; Schönberger,
Die Neue Reichskanzlei
, pp. 177–82 (quotation on pp. 179f.).

186 
Hitler’s speech at the official opening of the New Chancellery, 9 Jan. 1939; ibid., pp. 183–6 (quotation on p. 186). On the opening celebrations see the German News Agency report of 9 Jan. 1939; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, R 43 II/1054.

187 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 117. On the rooms in the New Chancellery see the brochure, “Der Erweiterungsbau der Reichskanzlei: Einweihung am 9. Januar 1939,” as well as Otto Meissner’s instructions of 22 Feb. 1939 with reference to the description of the Führer’s official rooms in the rebuilt Chancellery; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, R 43 II/1054. See also Fest,
Speer
, pp. 144–6; Wilderotter,
Alltag der Macht
, pp. 310–12; Schönberger,
Die Neue Reichskanzlei
, pp. 87–114; Arnold,
Neue Reichskanzlei
, pp. 93–100. On the Breker sculptures see Trimborn,
Arno Breker
, pp. 222f.

188 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 128.

18
The Berghof Society and the Führer’s Mistress

1 
Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Aufzeichnungen 1923–1941
, ed. Elke Fröhlich, Munich, 1998, vol. 3/2, p. 132 (entry for 17 July 1936). See ibid., p. 123 (entry for 4 July 1936): “The Führer is happy because the Berghof is finished. I will be with him as of 15 July with my family.”

2 
Albert Speer,
Erinnerungen: Mit einem Essay von Jochen Thies
, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin, 1993, p. 59. On the purchase of Haus Wachenfeld see the title deeds of the Munich Notary’s Office VI dated 26 June 1933 and Max Amann’s letter to Julius Schaub, 28 May 1934; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/117. See also Anton Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste: Ein Dokument persönlicher Beziehungen
, Munich, 2003, p. 294; Ulrich Chaussy,
Nachbar Hitler:
Führerkult und Heimatzerstörung am Obersalzberg
, 6th revised and extended edition, Berlin, 2007, p. 44.

3 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 99; Chaussy,
Nachbar Hitler
, pp. 110f., 137; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, p. 304. See the architect Alois Degano’s final bill of 17 July 1936; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/117.

4 
For full details see Chaussy,
Nachbar Hitler
, pp. 94–107, 121–30; Otto Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, Munich, 1955, pp. 211–14; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 98; Jochen von Lang,
Der Sekretär: Martin Bormann. Der Mann, der Hitler beherrschte
, 3rd revised edition, Munich and Berlin, 1987, pp. 102, 105f.; Volker Koop,
Martin Bormann: Hitlers Vollstrecker
, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 2012, pp. 27, 31, 33.

5 
Handwritten memoirs of Therese Linke, cook on the Obersalzberg from 1933 to 1939 (undated, post-1945); IfZ München, ZS 3135. See Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, pp. 212f.; Christa Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef: Aus dem Nachlass der Sekretärin von Adolf Hitler
, ed. Anton Joachimsthaler, 3rd edition, Munich and Vienna, 1985, p. 175; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 60f., 98; Karl Wilhelm Krause,
10 Jahre Kammerdiener bei Hitler
, Hamburg, 1949, p. 40; Heike B. Görtemaker,
Eva Braun: Leben mit Hitler
, Munich, 2010, pp. 147.

6 
Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 212.

7 
Ibid., p. 211. Hitler’s servant Heinz Linge quoted the Führer saying of Bormann: “This mole has moved mountains overnight.” Heinz Linge,
Bis zum Untergang: Als Chef des Persönlichen Dienstes bei Hitler
, ed. Werner Maser, Munich, 1982, p. 44.

8 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, pp. 222 (entry for 22 Oct. 1936), 316 (entry for 5 Jan. 1937). On Bormann’s rise see Robert Ley, “Gedanken um den Führer” (1945); BA Koblenz, N 1468/4; transcript of an interview with Nicolaus von Below dated 7 Jan. 1952; IfZ München, ZS 7.

9 
See Horst Möller, Volker Dahm and Hartmut Mehringer (eds),
Die tödliche Utopie: Bilder, Texte, Dokumente. Daten zum Dritten Reich
, 3rdrd edition, Munich, 2001, pp. 42, 68; Chaussy,
Nachbar Hitler
, pp. 83f.; Gitta Sereny,
Albert Speer: His Battle with the Truth
, new edition, London, 1996, pp. 117f.; Margarete Nissen,
Sind Sie die Tochter Speer?
, Munich, 2005, p. 16.