Hitler

by Volker Ullrich

  5 On what follows see Peter Gay, Weimar Culture: The Outside as Insider, new edition, New York, 2002; Ursula Büttner, Weimar: Die überforderte Republik 1918–1933, Stuttgart, 2008, p. 298ff.; Peter Hoeres, Die Kultur von Weimar: Durchbruch der Moderne, Berlin-Brandenburg, 2008, pp. 84ff.

  6 Sebastian Haffner, Geschichte eines Deutschen: Die Erinnerungen 1914–1933, Stuttgart and Munich, 2000, p. 72; see Jürgen Peter Schmied, Sebastian Haffner: Eine Biographie, Munich, 2010, p. 30.

  7 Bayerischer Anzeiger, 21 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Held 730.

  8 Rudolf Hess, Briefe 1908–1933, ed. Rüdiger Hess, Munich and Vienna, 1987, p. 364 (dated 2 March 1925). See G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 7 (entry for 13 March 1925): “Hitler in Berlin…Full of confidence a[nd] strength.” IfZ München, ED 874. Rudolf Hess had been released from Landsberg prison on 30 Dec. 1924, and through Karl Haushofer found part-time employment at the “German Academy.” A position of trust at Hitler’s side seemed more appealing, however, not least because it was better paid. Rudolf Hess to Klara Hess, 11 Jan. 1925; BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 31.

  9 Otto Strasser, Hitler und ich, Konstanz, 1948, p. 82. The previous quote in Bayerischer Anzeiger, 9 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl. Held 730. According to Gregor Strasser, Pöhner had arranged for Hitler to have access to Held at a meeting of the People’s Bloc (Völkischer Block) parliamentary fraction to the Bavarian Landtag. Diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 12 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

  10 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 1 and 2, pp. 1–6 (quote on p. 3). Hitler sent Gregor Strasser an advance copy of the statement with the note: “Only now is he once again a political somebody.” Diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 26 Feb. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

  11 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 4, pp. 7–9 (quote on p. 9).

  12 Ibid., doc. 6, pp. 14–28 (quotes on pp. 20, 21, 27). Gottfried Feder characterised Hitler’s speech as a “masterly mix of the purest demagoguery…and the purest patriotism.” G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 7 (entry for 27 Feb. 1925); IfZ München, ED 874.

  13 Hess, Briefe, p. 363 (dated 2 March 1925); see diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 27 Feb. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82; Brigitte Hamann, Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth, Munich and Zurich, 2002, pp. 134f.

  14 See Mathias Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP 1925–1933: Eine Untersuchung zur inneren Struktur der NSDAP in der Weimarer Republik, Munich, 2002, pp. 170–4. On the foundation of the Nazi faction of the Bavarian Landtag see Rudolf Buttmann’s diary entries for 22 Sept., 24 Sept., 27 Sept. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83. For more on Buttmann’s role see Susanne Wanninger, “Dr. Rudolf Buttmann—Parteimitglied Nr. 4 und Generaldirektor der Münchner Staatsbibliothek,” in Marita Krauss (ed.), Rechte Karrieren in München: Von der Weimarer Zeit bis in die Nachkriegsjahre, Munich, 2010, pp. 80–94. The local chapters of the National Socialist Working Association in northern Germany subordinated themselves to the reconstituted NSDAP in late February 1925. See the circular from Ludolf Haase dated 28 Feb. 1925; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/899.

  15 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 6, p. 20.

  16 Karl Alexander von Müller, Im Wandel einer Welt: Erinnerungen, ed. Otto Alexander von Müller, Munich, 1966, p. 301. See Wolfgang Martynkewicz, Salon Deutschland: Geist und Macht 1900–1945, Berlin, 2009, pp. 412–14; Miriam Käfer, “Hitlers frühe Förderer aus dem Grossbürgertum: Das Verlegerehepaar Elsa und Hugo Bruckmann,” in Krauss (ed.), Rechte Karrieren in München, p. 63.

  17 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 6, p. 28n9.

  18 Ibid., doc. 14–16, pp. 40–7; doc. 19–39, pp. 52–72 (quote on p. 59).

  19 Ibid., doc. 40, p. 73 (dated 4 April 1925).

  20 Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus, p. 180. In his unpublished memoirs, Hanfstaengl quotes Hitler saying with satisfaction: “Finally we’re rid of him.” BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47. See the interview with Hermann Esser dated 13 March 1964, vol. 1: “Hitler was naturally happy as a lark. For him that was the end of the matter.” BayHStA München, Nl Esser.

  21 Escherich’s diaries, looking back at April 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Escherich 12.

  22 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 42, pp. 76f. (dated 28 April 1925). See also Rudolf Hess to his parents, 24 April 1925: “Many obstacles will now be removed for the tribune, and that might even be decisive.” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 35.

  23 See Bettina Amm, Die Ludendorff-Bewegung: Vom natio​nalso​ziali​stischen Kampfbund zur völkischen Welta​nscha​uungs​sekte, Hamburg, 2006.

  24 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 4, p. 9. On what follows see Peter Longerich, Die braunen Bataillone: Geschichte der SA, Munich, 1989, pp. 45–52; Transcript of an interview with Franz Pfeffer von Salomon dated 20 Feb 1953; IfZ München, ZS 177.

  25 R. Buttmann’s diaries, entry for 21 Feb. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82. On what follows see Udo Kissenkoetter, Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP, Stuttgart, 1978, pp. 16–22: idem, “Gregor Strasser,” in Ronald Smelser and Rainer Zitelmann (eds), Die Braune Elite: 22 biographische Skizzen, Darmstadt, 1989, pp. 273ff.

  26 Gregor Strasser to Joseph Goebbels, 11 Nov. 1925; Albrecht Tyrell, Führer befiehl…Selbstzeugnisse aus der “Kampfzeit” der NSDAP: Dokumentation und Analyse, Düsseldorf, 1969, doc. 46, p. 115.

  27 Ibid., doc. 50a, p. 121.

  28 See Hinrich Lohse, “Der Fall Strasser,” undated memorandum (c. 1952); IfZ München, ZS 265. Figures from Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris, London, 1998, p. 270.

  29 Quoted in Ralf Georg Reuth, Goebbels, Munich and Zurich, 1990, pp. 76f.; see also Peter Longerich, Joseph Goebbels: A Biography, London, 2015, pp. 3ff. See Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Aufzeichnungen 1923–1941, ed. Elke Fröhlich, Munich, 1998, vol. 1, p. 108 (entry for 20 March 1924): “Hitler is an idealist who’s full of enthusiasm. When I read his speeches, I’m buoyed by them and allow them to carry me to the stars.”

  30 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1, p. 353 (entry for 11 Sept. 1925).

  31 Ibid., p. 344 (entry for 21 Aug. 1925).

  32 According to Hermann Fobke’s report on the founding of the Working Association Northwest, dated 11 Sept. 1925; Werner Jochmann, Nationalsozialismus und Revolution: Ursprung und Geschichte der NSDAP in Hamburg 1922–1933. Dokumente, Frankfurt am Main, 1963, doc. 66, pp. 207–11 (quote on p. 209).

  33 Ibid., doc. 67, p. 213. See also Gerhard Schildt, “Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nord-West: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der NSDAP 1925/26,” diss. Freiburg, 1964, pp. 105–14.

  34 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/1, p. 365 (entry for 14 Oct. 1925). On the Gauleiter convention in Weimar on 12 July 1925 see ibid., p. 326 (entry for 14 July 1925); G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 7 (entry for 12 July 1925); IfZ München, ED 874.

  35 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/1, p. 375 (entry for 6 Nov. 1925). On 20 Nov. 1925, Hitler and Goebbels met again at an event in Plauen and once again Goebbels noted: “He greeted and welcomed me like an old friend. How I like him! What a fellow!” ibid., p. 379 (entry for 23 Nov. 1925).

  36 Extract from Strasser’s draft manifesto in Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 49a, p. 119; reprinted in full in Reinhard Kühnl, “Zur Programmatik der natio​nalso​ziali​stischen Linken: Das Strasser-Programm von 1925/26,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 14 (1966), pp. 317–33.

  37 See Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 48, pp. 117–19.

  38 See Schildt, “Arbeitsgemeinschaft,” pp. 140–53. Feder’s appearance was by no means a surprise, in contrast to how Goebbels depicted it in his diaries (part 1, vol. 1/1, p. 48, entry for 25 Jan. 1926). Feder had told Goebbels he would be coming in a letter on 23 Dec. 1925; see Longerich, Goebbels, p. 65.

  39 Adolf Hitler, Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 259 (dated 3/4 Feb. 1942). See ibid., p. 307 (dat
ed 28 Feb./1 March 1942). See also Hamann, Winifred Wagner, pp. 138–42; Elsa Bruckmann to Hitler, Bayreuth, 26 July 1925; copy in BA Koblenz, N 1128/30. At an NSDAP event in Bayreuth on 29 July 1925, Hitler declared that “even as a young man, he had wanted to attend the Wagner festival, and now his wish had come true.” Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 58, p. 139.

  40 See the diary entries of Rudolf Buttmann, who visited Hitler three times in Berchtesgaden in Sept. 1925. On 25 Sept., Alfred Rosenberg—the editor in chief of the Völkischer Beobachter—complained that he had not seen Hitler for three months. “Important letters are still going unanswered,” Rosenberg fretted. On the evening of 26 Sept., Hitler went to Nuremberg before heading to a “German Day” in neighbouring Fürth the following day. Buttmann held his first conference with Hitler in the party’s Munich headquarters on 14 Oct. On 18 Dec. Hitler declared that he would remain in Munich until April to “take care of organisational work.” See Buttmann’s diary entries for 4, 9, 11, 18, 25, 26, 27 Sept., 14 Oct., 18 Dec. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83.

  41 Hitler, Reden Schriften Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 74, p. 175.

  42 See Gregor Strasser to Joseph Goebbels, 8 Jan. 1926. Strasser wrote that Feder had received the draft manifesto and would try to “warm Hitler up for it.” Jochmann, Nationalsozialismus und Revolution, doc. 71, p. 220. On 30 Jan. 1926, after the second Hanover conference, Feder told Hitler and Hess about Strasser’s “ambush.” Hitler agreed with Feder’s “annihilating criticism” of Strasser’s draft programme. G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 8 (entry for 30 Jan. 1926); IfZ München, ED 874. See also R. Buttmann to his wife, 11 Feb. 1926: “Strasser has drawn up a draft platform…that is said to be terrible.” BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 63,2.

  43 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 52 (entry for 6 Feb. 1926).

  44 Ibid., p. 53 (entry for 11 Feb. 1926).

  45 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 101, pp. 294–6 (dated 14 Feb. 1926); Hinrich Lohse, “Der Fall Strasser,” undated memorandum (c. 1952); IfZ München, ZS 265. Buttmann, who only grudgingly participated in the Bamberg conference and had driven back to Munich that evening with Strasser and Esser, noted that, in particular, Hitler had rejected “Strasser’s support for the whole business of seizing aristocratic property and his foreign policy fantasies.” See R. Buttmann’s diary entry for 14 Feb. 1926; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83: R. Buttmann to his wife, 11 Feb. 1926; ibid., Nl Buttmann 63,2. On the Bamberg conference see Schildt, “Arbeitsgemeinschaft,” pp. 155–65.

  46 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 55 (entry for 15 Feb. 1926).

  47 Ibid., p. 55 (entry for 15 Feb. 1926). G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 8 (entry for 14 Feb. 1926): “Hitler took him to task sentence by sentence.” IfZ München, ED 874.

  48 BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/900; see also Jochmann, Nationalsozialismus und Revolution, doc. 74, p. 225 (entry for 5 March 1926).

  49 See Joachim Fest, Hitler: Eine Biographie, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1973, p. 342.

  50 Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 2: Vom Weimarer Parteitag bis zur Reichstagswahl Juli 1926–Mai 1928. Part 1: Juli 1926–Juli 1927, ed. and annotated Bärbel Dusik, Munich, 1992, doc. 29, p. 64. See Udo Kissenkoetter, Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP, Stuttgart 1978, p. 31.

  51 Interview with Hermann Esser dated 16 March 1964, vol. 1; BayHStA München, Nl Esser.

  52 For the following quotes see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, pp. 71–3 (entry for 13 April 1926).

  53 Ibid., p. 76 (entry for 19 April 1926).

  54 Ibid., p. 96 (entry for 16 June 1926).

  55 Ibid., pp. 111f. (entries for 23 and 24 July 1926). In December 1926, Hitler gave Goebbels “the very first copy” of the second volume of Mein Kampf. Goebbels read it on his return trip to Berlin “with feverish anticipation.” He wrote: “The real Hitler just as he is! I sometimes almost cried out in joy.” Ibid., p. 159 (entry for 12 Dec. 1926).

  56 Ibid., p. 89 (entry for 24 May 1926): “He heaps praise on me in public.” On the party conference of 22 May 1926 see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 143–146, pp. 428–65 (quotations on pp. 437, 461, 464, 441, 444).

  57 Goebbels, Tagebücher part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 103 (entry for 6 July 1926). On the party rally in Weimar on 3 and 4 July 1926 see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 3–7, pp. 4–25; diaries of G. Feder, vol. 8 (entries for 3/4 July 1926); IfZ München, ED 874. According to Buttmann, the Hitler greeting was trotted out for the first time in Weimar. R. Buttmann’s diary entry for 4 July 1926; BayHStA Müchen, Nl Buttmann 83. See also Volker Mauersberger, Hitler in Weimar: Der Fall einer deutschen Kulturstadt, Berlin, 1999, pp. 222–8.

  58 Quoted in Wolfgang Horn, Der Marsch zur Machtergreifung: Die NSDAP bis 1933, Düsseldorf, 1980, p. 276.

  59 Figures from Ernst Deuerlein (ed.), Der Aufstieg der NSDAP in Augen​zeuge​nberi​chten, Munich, 2nd edition, 1976, pp. 254, 291; Kershaw, Hitler: Hubris, pp. 690–1n250; Ludolf Herbst, Hitlers Charisma: Die Erfindung eines deutschen Messias, Frankfurt am Main, 2010, p. 224.

  60 Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, pp. 213, 529. See also Andreas Heusler, Das Braune Haus: Wie München zur “Hauptstadt der Bewegung” wurde, Munich, 2008, pp. 110, 123. These sources belie Hitler’s contention at an NSDAP event on 13 April 1926 “that the party experienced continuous, major growth in membership both within Munich and without.” Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 123, p. 375.

  61 See Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, pp. 206f., 210f., 530.

  62 R. Buttmann to his wife, 3 Feb. 1927; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 63,2. See Goebbels, Tagebücher part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 179 (entry for 5 Feb 1927): “Hitler is said to be furious with me. We’ll see.”

  63 On the election results see Jürgen Falter, Thomas Lindenberger and Siegfried Schumann, Wahlen und Abstimmungen in der Weimarer Republik: Materialien zum Wahlverhalten 1919–1931, Munich, 1986, pp. 98, 108, 111.

  64 Hess, Briefe, p. 375 (dated 23 Jan. 1927). See also Rudolf Hess to Ilse Pröhl, 23 Jan. 1927: “…the tribune is convinced that this year will be the big year. He was glowing again today: ‘Hess, you will see that I’m not mistaken!!!’ ” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 39. In Nov. 1925 Hitler declared he had a “feeling” that the movement would make a “mighty leap” in 1926. R. Buttmann’s diary for 14 Nov. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83.

  65 Quoted in David Clay Large, Where Ghosts Walked: Munich’s Road to the Third Reich, New York and London, 1997, p. 215.

  66 Theodor Heuss, Politik: Ein Nachschlagewerk für Theorie und Praxis, Halberstadt, 1927, p. 138; quoted in Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, p. 533.

  67 Detlev Clemens, Herr Hitler in Germany: Wahrnehmungen und Deutungen des Nationalsozialismus in Grossbritannien 1920 bis 1939, Göttingen and Zurich, 1996, p. 118.

  68 Deuerlein, Aufstieg, pp. 269–79 (quotes on pp. 270, 271, 272). On the “long wait” for Hitler see the diaries of R. Buttmann, entry for 9 March 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83. The Völkischer Beobachter of 11 March 1927 carried a relatively short report on the meeting because the stenographer had lost her notes (Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 884, pp. 179–81). See also Konrad Heiden, Adolf Hitler: Das Zeitalter der Veran​twort​ungsl​osigkeit. Eine Biographie, Zurich, 1936, p. 226.

  69 For the figures see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 94, 96, 99, pp. 221, 227, 235. The quote in ibid., p. 235n3.

  70 Ibid., doc. 94, 121, pp. 252, 371 (dated 16 Dec. 1925 and 11 April 1926).

  71 Ibid., doc. 128, p. 397 (dated 17 April 1926).

  72 Ibid., doc. 48, 94, pp. 87, 250.

  73 Ibid., vol. 2, part 1, doc. 104, p. 265 (dated 13 April 1927); Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 2: Vom Weimarer Parteitag bis zur Reichstagswahl Juli 1926–Mai 1928. Part 2: August 1927–Mai 1928, ed. and annotated Bärbel Dusik, Munich, 1992, doc. 258,
pp. 779, 789 (dated 17 April 1928).

  74 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 112, p. 354 (dated 18 March 1926); vol. 2, part 2, doc. 199, p. 560 (dated 27 Nov. 1927), doc. 224, p. 654 (dated 26 Jan. 1928); Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 3: Zwischen den Reichstagswahlen Juli 1928–September 1930. Part 1: Juli 1928–Februar 1929, ed. Bärbel Dusik and Klaus A. Lankheit with Christian Hartmann, Munich, 1993, p. 21 (dated 13 July 1928): “Look at our culture: Negro dancing, the jimmy [i.e. shimmy], jazz bands, pathetic cubism, Dadaism, butchered literature, wretched theatre, terrible cinema, cultural devastation as far as you can see.”

  75 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 61, p. 145 (dated 15 Aug. 1925).

  76 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 26, p. 57 (dated 25 March 1925), doc. 145, p. 475 (dated 22 May 1926); vol. 2, part 1, doc. 152, p. 395 (dated 26 June 1927). On the crass anti-Semitism Goebbels propagated in Der Angriff, which began appearing weekly in 1927, see Longerich, Goebbels, pp. 90–2. Goebbels’s hate campaign was directed above all against Berlin Police Vice President Dr. Bernhard Weiss, who was defamed as “Isidor Weiss.” See Dietz Bering, Kampf um Namen: Bernhard Weiss gegen Joseph Goebbels, Stuttgart, 1991, p. 241ff.

  77 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 146, p. 369 (dated 13 June 1927); vol. 2, part 2, doc. 235, p. 674 (dated 24 Feb. 1928).

  78 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 103, pp. 297–330 (quotes on pp. 298, 315, 318, 319f., 325). See Werner Jochmann, Im Kampf um die Macht: Hitlers Rede vor dem Hamburger Nationalklub von 1919, Frankfurt am Main, 1960; Manfred Asendorf, “Hamburger Nationalklub, Keppler-Kreis, Arbeitsstelle Schacht und der Aufstieg Hitlers,” in 1999: Zeitschrift für Sozialgeschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, 2 (1987), pp. 106–50, particularly pp. 107–13; see also Kershaw, Hitler: Hubris, pp. 286f. Hitler also avoided any anti-Semitic statements and held “a moderate and tedious speech” when addressing Rhineland industrialists in the Hotel Düsseldorfer Hof in Königswinter on 1 Dec. 1926. Notes of Wilhelm Breucker dated 22 Oct. 1956; IfZ München, ZS 1193.

  79 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 80, p. 158 (dated 20 Feb. 1927). The above quotations ibid., doc. 94, p. 225 (dated 30 March 1927); doc. 62, p. 111 (dated 1 Jan. 1927).