70 years ago on this
date, January 16, 1945, Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the
so-called Führerbunker. I will post information about this bunker from
Wikipedia and other links.
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July 1947 photo of the rear entrance to the
Führerbunker in the garden of the Reich
Chancellery. Hitler and Eva Braun were cremated in a shell hole in front of the
emergency exit at left; the cone-shaped structure in the centre served as the
exhaust, and as bomb shelter for the guards.
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General
information
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Town or city
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Berlin
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Country
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Germany
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Coordinates
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52.5125°N
13.3815°ECoordinates: 52.5125°N 13.3815°E
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Construction started
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1943
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Completed
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23 October 1944
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Destroyed
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5 December 1947
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Cost
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1.35 million Reichsmarks
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Owner
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Third Reich
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Design
and construction
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Architect
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Albert Speer, Karl Piepenburg
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Architecture firm
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Hochtief AG
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The
Führerbunker (English: "Leader's bunker") was an
air-raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It
was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases which were
completed in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters
(Führerhauptquartiere) used by Adolf Hitler.
Hitler
took up residence in the Führerbunker on 16 January 1945 and it became
the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. Hitler married Eva Braun here during the last week of
April 1945, shortly before they committed
suicide.
After
the war both the old and new Chancellery buildings were levelled by the
Soviets. Despite some attempts at demolition, the underground complex remained
largely undisturbed until 1988–89. During reconstruction of that area of
Berlin, the sections of the old bunker complex that were excavated were for the
most part destroyed. The site remained unmarked until 2006, when a small plaque
with a schematic was installed. Some corridors of the bunker still exist, but
are sealed off from the public.
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Main image 1945 Adolf
Hitler receives the commander of the Navy, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, in the
"Führerbunker". Shortly before the military and political collapse of
Germany and his suicide, Hitler transferred the leadership of the German state
to the Admiral.
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Map of the Reich Chancellery, see legend below
Rot markiert:
Führerbunker
1.
Mittelbau
mit Marmorgalerie (Mittelbau Marble Gallery)
2.
Eingang
zur Reichskanzlei (Entrance to the Reich Chancellery)
3.
Eingang
zur Präsidialkanzlei (Entrance to the Office of the Reich President)
4.
Kasernenbauten
(Barracks Buildings)
5.
Hebebühne
zu den Katakomben (Lift to the Catacombs)
6.
Gartenportal
zu Hitlers Arbeitszimmer (Garden portal to Hitler's Office)
7.
Bauzufahrt
zum Führerbunker (Entranceway to the Fuhrer Bunker)
8.
Zufahrt
– Tiefgarage und Führerbunker (Access - Underground Parking and Fuhrer Bunker)
9.
Einfahrt
– Tiefgarage und Feuerwehr (Entrance - Parking and Fire Brigade)
10.
Zufahrt
Führerbunker (Access - Fuhrer Bunker)
11.
Haus
Kempka (Kempka House)
12.
Gewächshaus
(Greenhouse)
13.
Ehrenhof
(Courtyard of Honor)
14.
Festsaal
mit Wintergarten (Ballroom and Conservatory)
15.
Alte
Reichskanzlei (Old Reich Chancellery)
16.
Speisesaal
(Dining Hall)
17.
Propagandaministerium
(Ministry of Propaganda)
18.
Erweiterungsbau
zur Reichskanzlei (Reich Chancellery Extension)
19.
U-Bahn-Eingang
Wilhelmplatz (Wilhelmsplatz Subway Entrance)
20.
Kaufhaus
Wertheim (Wertheim Department Store)
21.
Leipziger
Platz (Leipziger Plaza)
22.
Ministergärten
(Ministry Garden)
23.
Tiergarten
(Great landscape park Tiergarten)
24.
Hermann-Göring-Straße
(Herman Goring Street)
25.
Voßstraße
(Voss Street)
26.
Wilhelmstraße
(Wilhelm Street)
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Construction
The
Reich Chancellery bunker was initially constructed as a temporary air-raid shelter for Hitler (who actually
spent very little time in the capital during most of the war). Increased
bombing of Berlin led to expansion of the complex as an improvised permanent
shelter. The elaborate complex consisted of two separate shelters, the Vorbunker ( "forward bunker";
the upper bunker), completed in 1936, and the Führerbunker, located 2.5
metres (8.2 ft) lower than the Vorbunker and to the west-southwest,
completed in 1944. They were connected by a stairway set at right angles and
could be closed off from each other by a bulkhead and steel door.
The Vorbunker was located 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) beneath the cellar of
a large reception hall behind the old Reich Chancellery at
Wilhelmstraße 77. The Führerbunker was located about 8.5 metres
(28 ft) beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery, 120 metres
(390 ft) north of the new Reich Chancellery building at Voßstraße 6. Besides being deeper
under ground, the Führerbunker had significantly more reinforcement. Its
roof was made of concrete almost 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick. About
30 small rooms were protected by approximately 4 metres (13 ft) of
concrete; exits led into the main buildings, as well as an emergency exit up to
the garden. The Führerbunker development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive
program of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940.
Hitler's
accommodations were in this newer, lower section, and by February 1945 it had
been decorated with high-quality furniture taken from the Chancellery, along
with several framed oil paintings. After descending the stairs into the lower
section and passing through the steel door, there was a long corridor with a
series of rooms on each side. On the right side were a series of rooms which
included generator/ventilation rooms and the telephone switchboard. On left
side was Eva Braun's bedroom/sitting room (also known as Hitler's private guest
room), an ante-chamber (also known as Hitler's sitting room), which led into
Hitler's study/office. On the wall hung a large portrait of Frederick the Great,
one of Hitler's heroes. A door led into Hitler's modestly furnished bedroom.
Next to it was the conference/map room (also known as the briefing/situation
room) which had a door that led out into the waiting room/ante-room.
As
the Führerbunker was below the water table, conditions were unpleasantly
damp, with pumps running continuously to remove groundwater. A diesel generator provided
electricity, and well water was
pumped in as the water supply. Communications systems included a telex,
a telephone switchboard, and an army radio set with an outdoor antenna. As
conditions deteriorated at the end of the war, Hitler received much of his war
news from BBC radio broadcasts and via courier.
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Map of the Führerbunker
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1: Protective Wall
(2,2 m thick)
2: Ventilation Room (?) 3: Cloak Room 4: Exit to Garden via staircases 5: Goebbels' Bedroom 6: Doctor's Quarters 7: Bed 8: Safe 9: Chair 10: Table 11: Cupboard 12: Goebbels' Office & Doctor's Room 13: Conference Room 14: Conference/Map Room 15: Telephone Switchboard & Bormann's Office & Guard Room (?) 16: Generator/Ventilation Plant 17: Hitler's Office 18: Bathroom/Dressing Room 19: Eva Braun's Room 20: Electricity Switch Room 21: Toilets 22: Corridor/Lounge 23: Gas Door(s) (?) 24: Hall/Lounge 25: To Vorbunker ; Stairs up 26: Desk 27: Couch 28: Leg Chairs 29: Hitler's Bedroom 30: Hitler's Sitting Room |
Events in 1945
See
also: Battle of Berlin and Death of Adolf Hitler
Hitler
moved into the Führerbunker on 16 January 1945. He was joined by his
senior staff, including Martin Bormann. In April 1945 Eva Braun, Joseph Goebbels,
his wife Magda, and their
six children took residence in the upper Vorbunker. Two or three
dozen support, medical, and administrative staff were also sheltered there.
These included Hitler's secretaries (including Traudl
Junge), a nurse named Erna Flegel, and telephonist Rochus
Misch. Early on, Hitler continued to utilize the undamaged wing of the
Reich Chancellery, where he held afternoon military conferences in his large
study. Afterwards, he would have tea with his secretaries before going back
down into the bunker complex for the night. After several weeks of this
routine, Hitler seldom left the bunker except for short strolls in the chancellery
garden with his dog Blondi.
The bunker was crowded and the atmosphere was oppressive; air raids occurred
daily. Hitler mostly stayed on the lower level, where it was quieter and he
could sleep. Conferences took place for much of the night, often until 05:00.
On
16 April the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin and by 19 April the Red
Army started to encircle the city. On 20 April, his 56th birthday, Hitler made
his last trip to the surface. In the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery, he
awarded Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth. That afternoon, Berlin was
bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time.
In
denial about the dire situation, Hitler placed his hopes on the units commanded
by Waffen-SS General Felix Steiner,
the Armeeabteilung Steiner ("Army Detachment
Steiner"). On 21 April, Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the
northern flank of the encircling Soviet salient
and ordered the German Ninth Army,
south-east of Berlin, to attack northward in a pincer attack. By that evening, Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of
Berlin. At his afternoon situation conference on 22 April, Hitler was told
Steiner's forces had not moved. Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he
realised that the attack was not going to be carried out. He openly declared
for the first time the war was lost—and blamed his generals. He announced he
would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself.
On
23 April,[a] Hitler appointed General of the
Artillery (General
der Artillerie) Helmuth Weidling, commander of the LVI Panzer Corps, as the commander of the
Berlin Defense Area, replacing Lieutenant-Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Ernst Kaether. Despite the commands being
issued from the Führerbunker, by 25 April the Soviets had consolidated
their investment
of Berlin, and there was no prospect that the German defence could do anything
but delay the city's capture. Hitler summoned Field Marshal Robert Ritter
von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the
Luftwaffe from Hermann Göring. Along with his mistress and crack test pilot, Hanna Reitsch, he arrived on 26 April.
On
28 April Hitler learned that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, who had
left Berlin on 20 April, was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Western
Allies through Count Folke Bernadotte. Hitler considered this treason.
Enraged, he ordered Himmler's arrest and had Hermann
Fegelein (Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's HQ in Berlin) shot. On
the same day, General Hans Krebs made his last telephone
call from the Führerbunker to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel Chief of German Armed Forces High Command
(OKW) in Fürstenberg. Krebs told him that if relief did
not arrive within 48 hours, all would be lost. Keitel promised to exert the
utmost pressure on Generals Walther Wenck, commander of the Twelfth Army, and Theodor
Busse, commander of the Ninth Army. Meanwhile Hitler's private secretary, Martin Bormann,
wired to German Admiral Karl Dönitz: "Reich Chancellery a heap of
rubble." He said that the foreign press was reporting fresh acts of
treason and "that without exception Schörner, Wenck and the others must
give evidence of their loyalty by the quickest relief of the Führer".
That
evening, von Greim and Reitsch flew out from Berlin in an Arado Ar 96
trainer. Field Marshal von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the
Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamerplatz
(only a city block from the Führerbunker).[b]
During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported to Keitel that his Twelfth
Army had been forced back along the entire front and it was no longer possible
for his army to relieve Berlin. Keitel gave Wenck permission to break off the
attempt.
After
midnight on the night of 28–29 April, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil
ceremony within the Führerbunker. Hitler then took secretary Traudl
Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament.[c]
At approximately 04:00, Hans Krebs, Wilhelm
Burgdorf, Goebbels, and Bormann witnessed and signed the documents. Hitler
then retired to bed.
Late
in the evening of 29 April, Krebs contacted Jodl by radio: "Request
immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of
time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of
the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the
whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste's spearhead." In the early morning
of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged
down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore
unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded.
Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive." [d]
During
the morning of 30 April, SS-Brigadeführer
Wilhelm
Mohnke, commander of the centre (government) district of Berlin, informed
Hitler he would be able to hold for less than two days. Later that morning
Weidling informed Hitler that the defenders would probably exhaust their
ammunition that night and again asked him for permission to break out. At about
13:00 Weidling finally received permission. In the Führerbunker that
afternoon, Hitler shot himself and Braun took cyanide. In
accordance with Hitler's instructions, the bodies were burned in the garden
behind the Reich Chancellery. In accordance with Hitler's last
will and testament, Goebbels became the new Head of Government and Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler).
At 03:15, Reichskanzler Goebbels and Bormann sent a radio message to
Dönitz informing him of Hitler's death. In accordance with Hitler's last
wishes, Dönitz was appointed as the new President of Germany (Reichspräsident).
At
about 04:00 on 1 May, Krebs talked to General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th
Guards Army.[e] Chuikov demanded unconditional
surrender of the remaining German forces. Krebs did not have the authority to
surrender, so he returned to the bunker. In the late afternoon, Goebbels had his children poisoned.
At about 20:00, Goebbels and his wife left the bunker; close to the entrance
they bit on cyanide ampoules and either simultaneously shot themselves or were
given a coup de grâce
by the SS guard detailed to dispose of their bodies.
Weidling
had given the order for the survivors to break out to the north-west; the plan
got underway at around 23:00. The first group from the Reich Chancellery, led
by Mohnke, tried but could not break through the Soviet rings and was captured
the next day. Like others from the Führerbunker who were captured, he
was interrogated by SMERSH. On the third break-out attempt from
the Reich Chancellery, made around 01:00 (2 May), Bormann managed to cross the Spree.
Arthur Axmann, who followed the same route,
reported seeing Bormann's body a short distance from the Weidendammer bridge. [f]
The
last defenders in the area of the bunker complex were the French SS volunteers
of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne
(1st French), who remained until the early morning of 2 May to
prevent the Soviets from capturing the bunker on May Day.
At
01:00 the Soviets picked up a radio message from the German LVI Corps
requesting a cease-fire. Early in the morning of 2 May, the Soviets captured
the Reich Chancellery. General Weidling surrendered with his staff at 06:00.
Down in the Führerbunker, General Krebs and General Burgdorf committed
suicide by gunshot to the head. Johannes Hentschel,
the master electro-mechanic for the
bunker complex, stayed after everyone else had either committed suicide or
left, as the field hospital
in the Reich Chancellery above needed power and water. He surrendered to the
Red Army as they entered the bunker complex on 2 May at 09:00. The bodies of
Goebbels' six children were discovered on 3 May. They were found in their beds
in the Vorbunker, with the clear mark of cyanide shown on their faces.
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Map of the Vorbunker in Berlin, 1945.
The Vorbunker was the "antechamber"
bunker of the famous Fuehrerbunker.
For more detailed information, please see
below.
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Ruins of the bunker after demolition in 1947
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Post-war events
The
ruins of both Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets between 1945
and 1949 as part of an effort to destroy the landmarks of Nazi Germany. The
bunker largely survived, although some areas were partially flooded. In
December 1947, the Soviets tried to blow up the bunker, but only the separation
walls were damaged. In 1959, the East German government began a series of
demolitions of the Chancellery, including the bunker. Because it was near the Berlin Wall, the site was undeveloped and
neglected until 1988–89. During extensive construction of residential housing and
other buildings on the site, work crews uncovered several underground sections
of the old bunker complex; for the most part these were destroyed. Other parts
of the Chancellery underground complex were uncovered, but these were ignored,
filled in, or resealed.
Government
authorities wanted to destroy the last vestiges of these Nazi landmarks.
The construction of the buildings in the area around the Führerbunker
was a strategy for ensuring the surroundings remained anonymous and
unremarkable. The emergency exit point for the Führerbunker (which had
been in the Chancellery gardens) was occupied by a car park.
On
8 June 2006, during the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup,
an information board was installed to mark the location of the Führerbunker.
The board, including a schematic diagram of the bunker, can be found at the
corner of In den Ministergärten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Straße, two
small streets about three minutes' walk from Potsdamer Platz. Hitler's bodyguard, Rochus Misch, one of the last people living
who was in the bunker at the time of Hitler's suicide, was on hand for the
ceremony.
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Führerbunker
8
Place of Hitler's Bunker in 2007, Place
marked by German government
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Explanatory notes
1.
Beevor
2002, p. 286 states the appointment was 23 April; Hamilton
2008, p. 160 states "officially" it was the morning of 24
April; Dollinger
1997, p. 228, gives 26 April for the appointment.
2.
The Luftwaffe order differs in
different sources. Beevor
2002, p. 342 states it was to attack Potsdamerplatz,
but Ziemke states it was to support Wenck's Twelfth Army attack. Both agree
that von Greim was also ordered to make sure Himmler was punished.
3.
"MI5
staff 2005: Hitler's will and marriage" on the website of MI5, using the sources
available to Hugh Trevor-Roper (a World War II MI5 agent and
historian/author of The Last Days of Hitler), records the marriage as
taking place after Hitler had dictated his last will and testament.
4.
Dollinger
1997, p. 239, says Jodl replied, but Ziemke
1969, p. 120, and Beevor
2002, p. 537, say it was Keitel.
5.
Dollinger
1997, p. 239, states 03:00, and Beevor
2002, p. 367, 04:00, for Krebs' meeting with Chuikov.
6.
Ziemke
1969, p. 126 says that Weildling gave no orders for a break-out.
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