80 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 57, p. 136 (dated 15 July 1925), doc. 78, p. 202 (dated 8 Oct. 1925), doc. 147, p. 466 (dated 30 May 1926).
81 Ibid., vol. 2, part 2, doc. 168, p. 495 (dated 21 Aug. 1927).
82 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 94, p. 240 (dated 16 Dec. 1925); vol. 2, part 1, doc. 7, pp. 19f. (dated 4 July 1926).
83 Ibid., vol. 2, part 1, doc. 83, p. 167 (dated 6 March 1927); doc. 102, p. 247 (dated 9 April 1927).
84 Ibid., vol. 2, part 2, doc. 197, p. 559 (dated 24 Nov. 1927); doc. 230, p. 662 (dated 1 Feb. 1928).
85 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 136, p. 418 (dated 22 April 1926); doc. 94, p. 261 (dated 16 Dec. 1925).
86 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, pp. 168–73 (quotation on p. 173).
87 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3, p. 103 (entry for 16 Oct. 1928).
88 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 78, pp. 199, 203 (dated 28 Oct. 1925).
89 Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus, p. 190.
90 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 92, p. 237 (dated 12 Dec. 1925); vol. 2, part 1, doc. 59, p. 106 (dated 18 Dec. 1926). See ibid., vol. 3, part 1, doc. 65, p. 350 (dated 11 Dec. 1928): “We intend to wage this struggle exactly the way the Prince of Peace has taught us.” At an SS meeting in Munich on 5 Dec. 1930 Hitler declared that in their political activities National Socialists “advocate principles for which Christ was once born and for which he was persecuted and crucified by the Jews.” Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 4: Von der Reichstagswahl bis zur Reichspräsidentenwahl Oktober 1930–März 1932. Part 1: Oktober 1930–Juni 1931, ed. Constantin Goschler, Munich, 1993, doc. 38, p. 149.
91 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 18, p. 51 (dated 22 May 1925); vol. 2, part 2, doc. 190, p. 544 (dated 9 Nov. 1927), doc. 278, p. 844 (dated 19 May 1928).
92 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 129, p. 398 (dated 7 April 1926); vol. 2, part 1, doc. 140, p. 341 (dated 3 June 1927). For the idea of National Socialism as a political religion see Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich: A New History, London, 2000, pp. 114–20; Herbst, Hitlers Charisma, pp. 196–8, 207. On Hitler’s appropriation of Christianity see Michael Rissman, Hitlers Gott: Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewusstsein eines deutschen Diktators, Zurich and Munich, 2001, pp. 29–33.
93 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 1, p. 3 (dated 26 Feb. 1925).
94 Ibid., vol. 2, part 2, doc. 183, p. 515 (dated 30 Sept. 1927).
95 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 78d, pp. 203–5 (quote on p. 204). Also in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 1, doc. 4, pp. 23–6.
96 Hess, Briefe, p. 386 (dated 20 Nov. 1927).
97 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, no. 65, pp. 169, 171. See also Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 159, pp. 414f.
98 Ibid., vol. 1, doc. 159, p. 482 (dated 24 June 1926). On the “Woltereck case” see Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, p. 206.
99 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 130, p. 321. On the Munich SA rebellion see Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, pp. 157–65.
100 Hess, Briefe, p. 375 (dated 23 Jan. 1927). See Otto Wagener, Hitler aus nächster Nähe: Aufzeichnungen eines Vertrauten 1929–1932, ed. Henry A. Turner, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1978, p. 44; Tyrell, Führer befiehl, p. 148.
101 Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus, p. 182.
102 Rudolf Herz, Hoffmann & Hitler: Fotografie als Medium des Führer-Mythos, Munich, 1994, pp.162–9 (quote on p. 163). See Claudia Schmölders, Hitlers Gesicht: Eine physiognomische Biographie, Munich, 2000, p. 106.
103 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 57b, p. 156 (dated 3 July 1926). In a letter to Rudolf Hess’s fiancée Ilse Pröhl, dated 16 Nov. 1927, Goebbels reported about a meeting with Hitler in Nuremberg the previous day: “What a man he is! I’m almost envious that you can be at his side all the time. We can all be proud of him.” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1993/300, Box 5. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 291 (entry for 16 Nov. 1927): “He is fabulously clear in his vision.” On Goebbels’s propagation of the Führer cult see Thomas Friedrich, Die missbrauchte Hauptstadt: Hitler und Berlin, Berlin, 2007, pp. 200–4.
104 Hess, Briefe, p. 386 (dated 20 Nov. 1927).
105 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 166, pp. 485–7 (quotation on p. 486).
106 Report by the Reich Commissioner for Public Order on the NSDAP rally in Nuremberg on 19–21 Aug. 1927; Deuerlein, Aufstieg, pp. 279–85 (quotation on p. 280). See G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 9 (entry for 21 Aug. 1927): “The entire SA paraded by. Decorated with flowers, they cheered the Führer. Hitler must have felt that this was a great hour.” IfZ München, ED 874. Similar, Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 258 (entry for 22 Aug. 1927). The programme for the rally is in BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/390.
107 Daniel Siemens, Horst Wessel: Tod und Verklärung eines Nationalsozialisten, Berlin, 2009; p. 72.
108 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 68d, p. 185.
109 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 181, p. 514, doc. 216, p. 595, doc. 264, p. 794.
110 Rudolf Hess to his parents, 9 June 1925; BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 35. See Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 52, p. 103; ibid., doc. 135, p. 416 (dated 22 April 1926).
111 Ibid., vol. 2, part 2, doc. 11/12, p. 583 (dated 2 Jan. 1928). On Strasser’s party reform see Kissenkoetter, Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP, pp. 34–40.
112 On this framework see Herbst, Hitlers Charisma, pp. 244f.; Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, pp. 133–7. On the Fighting League for German Culture see Martynkewicz, Salon Deutschland, pp. 439ff.
113 On the concept of the “war youth generation” see Ulrich Herbert, “ ‘Generation der Sachlichkeit’: Die völkische Studentenbewegung der frühen zwanziger Jahre,” in Frank Bajohr, Werner Johe and Uwe Lohalm (eds), Zivilisation und Barbarei: Die widersprüchlichen Potentiale der Moderne, Hamburg, 1991, pp. 115–44.
114 For more on Himmler and the development of the SS see Peter Longerich, Heinrich Himmler: Biographie, Munich, 2008, pp. 18–125.
115 See Stefan Frech, Wegbereiter Hitlers? Theodor Reismann-Grone: Ein völkischer Nationalist 1863–1949, Paderborn, 2009, pp. 263–7, 285f. On Hitler’s speech of 18 June 1926, see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 157, pp. 478–89 (quotation on p. 480). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 97 (entry for 19 June 1926): “Yesterday Hitler spoke to industrialists in Essen. Fabulous!…Hitler is up to all his tasks.”
116 Hess, Briefe, p. 380 (dated 27 April 1927). On Hitler’s speech of 27 April 1927 see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 1, doc. 112, pp. 285f.
117 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 174, pp. 501–9 (quotations on pp. 508, 505). Further, see Henry A. Turner, Die Grossunternehmer und der Aufstieg Hitlers, Berlin, 1986, pp. 113–15; Martynkewicz, Salon Deutschland, pp. 435–7; Käfer, “Hitlers frühe Förderer,” pp. 64f. Later Hitler reported that after their conversation Kirdorf had “paid almost all the party’s debts and got it back on its feet.” Albert Speer, Spandauer Tagebücher, Munich, 2002, p. 123 (entry for 20 Oct. 1947). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 252 (entry for 15 Nov. 1936).
118 Quoted in Turner, Grossunternehmer, p. 111. In a letter to his son Hermann on 29 Nov. 1927, Reusch wrote: “I cannot say that I discovered much intellectual about [Hitler’s ideas].” Christian Marx, Paul Reusch und die Gutehoffnungshütte: Leitung eines deutschen Grossunternehmens, Göttingen, 2013, p. 321.
119 Rudolf Hess to his parents, 14 Dec. 1927; BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 39.
120 Kirdorf to Hitler, 8 Aug. 1929; quoted in Dirk Stegmann, “Zum Verhältnis von Grossindustrie und Nationalsozialismus 1930–1933,” in Archiv für Sozialgeschichte, 13 (1973), pp. 399–482 (quotation on p. 414). In a letter congratulating Kirdorf on his 87th birthday on 8 April 1934, Hitler thanked him again for his contribution to the “revival of our German people and empire.” BA
Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/123. When Kirdorf died on 13 July 1938, Hitler took part in his funeral. See daily diaries of Max Wünsche, dated 13, 14 and 16 July 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/125.
121 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 209, p. 587. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 301 (entry for 12 Dec. 1927): “The boss was generally in good spirits. The cause is coming along well on all fronts.”
122 R. Buttmann’s diary entry for 4 Jan. 1928; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 85.
123 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 272, pp. 836f. (dated 14 May 1928).
124 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 368 (entry for 13 May 1928).
125 On the results of the Reichstag election see Peter D. Stachura, “Der kritische Wendepunkt? Die NSDAP und die Reichstagswahlen vom 20. 5. 1928,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 26 (1978), pp. 66–99 (tables on pp. 84f.).
126 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 279, p. 847 (dated 20 May 1928). See Hess, Briefe, pp. 392f. (dated 28 June 1928): “What is better, stronger and more powerful has prevailed because of natural selection and now exists as a single party with an ethnic orientation.”
127 Deuerlein, Aufstieg, p. 293; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/2, p. 373 (entry for 21 May 1928).
128 See Longerich, Goebbels, p. 100. On the temporary ban between May 1927 and April 1928 see ibid., pp. 104–9. On the development of the Berlin NSDAP under the leadership of Goebbels see Andreas Wirsching, Vom Weltkrieg zum Bürgerkrieg? Politischer Extremismus in Deutschland und Frankreich 1918–1933/39: Berlin und Paris im Vergleich, Munich, 1999, pp. 437–54; Friedrich, Die missbrauchte Hauptstadt, pp. 160ff.
129 R. Buttmann’s diary entries for 4 and 10 July 1928; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 85. On the election results in Munich see Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP, pp. 227, 534.
130 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich, London, 2004, p. 209; see Stachura, “Wendepunkt,” p. 93.
131 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2, part 2, doc. 203, pp. 570–82.
132 Ibid., vol. 2, part 2, doc. 254, pp. 771f. (dated 13 April 1928).
133 Hitler, Monologe, pp. 206f. (dated 16/17 Jan. 1942). On the dating of the rental agreement see Anton Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Liste: Ein Dokument persönlicher Beziehungen, Munich, 2003, pp. 285, 288f. Ulrich Chaussy, Nachbar Hitler: Führerkult und Heimatzerstörung am Obersalzberg, 6th revised and extended edition, Berlin, 2007, p. 46, erroneously gives spring 1927 as the date. Elsa Bruckmann, Winifred Wagner and Helene Bechstein helped with the furnishing of the Wachenfeld guesthouse. See Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Liste, p. 124; Käfer, “Hitlers frühe Förderer,” p. 59. Helene Bechstein shared Hitler’s preference for the Obersalzberg. On 27 July 1926 she told Rudolf Hess that she was delighted that “Wolf” was able to relax there for a few days: “Hopefully he will find a house up there someday. I won’t give up on that plan.” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1993/300, Box 2. In Feb. 1927 the Bechsteins bought a house for themselves on the Obersalzberg from an industrialist from Fürth; see Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Liste, p. 87f.
134 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 6: Register, Karten, Nachträge, ed. Katja Klee, Christian Hartmann and Klaus A. Lankheit, Munich, 2003, doc. 8, pp. 325f. (dated 17 May 1926). See Othmar Plöckinger, Geschichte eines Buches: Adolf Hitlers “Mein Kampf” 1922–1945, Munich, 2006, pp. 159f.; Timothy W. Ryback, Hitler’s Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life, London, 2009, pp.79–84; Heimo Schwilk, Ernst Jünger: Ein Jahrhundertleben, Munich and Zurich, 2007, p. 289.
135 Quoted in Martynkewicz, Salon Deutschland, p. 425.
136 Gerhard L. Weinberg (ed.), Hitlers Zweites Buch: Ein Dokument aus dem Jahr 1928, Stuttgart, 1961. Reprinted in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 2 A: Aussenpolitische Standortbestimmung nach der Reichstagswahl Juni–Juli 1928, ed. und annotated Gerhard L. Weinberg, Christian Hartmann and Klaus A. Lankheit, Munich, 1995.
137 Hess, Briefe, p. 392 (dated 28 June 1928). See the letter from Winifred Wagner dated 24 June 1928: “Wolf is in Berchtesgaden writing a new book, which I’m to receive as a birthday present. Hess, who knows about these things, thinks very highly of it.” Hamann, Winifred Wager, pp. 165f.
138 Adolf Hitler, Die Südtiroler Frage und das Deutsche Bündnisproblem, Munich, 1926; reprinted in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 100, pp. 269–93.
139 See the introduction by Gerhard L. Weinberg in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2A, pp. XVIf.; Kershaw, Hitler: Hubris, p. 291.
140 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2A, quotations on pp. 10f., 19, 60, 66, 119, 183.
141 Ibid., vol. 2, part 1, doc. 2, pp. 11–22. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3, p. 53 (entry for 14 July 1928).
142 See Plöckinger, Geschichte eines Buches, p. 163. In July 1929 Goebbels noted: “He’s writing a new book about foreign policy.” Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1 /3, p. 281 (entry for 5 July 1929).
143 See the introduction by Gerhard L. Weinberg in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 2A, pp. xxIf.; Ryback, Hitler’s Private Library, p. 92.
144 Albert Speer, Erinnerungen: Mit einem Essay von Jochen Thies, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin, 1993, p. 100.
145 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 1, doc. 15, pp. 52f. (dated 2 Sept. 1928).
146 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3; p. 75 (entry for 1 Sept. 1928).
147 Tyrell, Führer befiehl, doc. 74, p. 196 (dated 29 March 1926).
148 Ibid., doc. 82, pp. 211–13 (quotations on pp. 211, 212). It is uncertain whether the letter was sent or not. See ibid., p. 211n31.
149 Ibid., doc. 98, p. 254. See Otto Erbersdobler’s answers to a questionnaire from A. Tyrell, July 1968; IfZ München, ZS 1949.
150 See Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 1, doc. 50, p. 100: “The art of leadership consists of the leader taking the people in their current form as his material and deploying them where they are best deployed.”
151 Albert Krebs, Tendenzen und Gestalten der NSDAP: Erinnerungen aus der Frühzeit der Partei, Stuttgart, 1959, pp. 127f. See Gregor Strasser’s similar statements in Wagener, Hitler aus nächster Nähe, pp. 127f.
152 Krebs, Tendenzen und Gestalten, pp. 128f.
153 Longerich, Deutschland 1918–1933, p. 254; Winkler, Weimar, p. 352.
154 See Rudolf Heberle, Landbevölkerung und Nationalsozialismus: Eine soziologische Untersuchung der politischen Willensbildung in Schleswig-Holstein 1918 bis 1932, Stuttgart, 1963, pp. 124ff., 156ff.; Gerhard Stoltenberg, Politische Strömungen im schleswig-holsteinischen Landvolk 1918–1933, Düsseldorf, 1962, pp. 110ff.; Stephanie Merkenich, Grüne Front gegen Weimar: Reichsland-Bund und agrarischer Lobbyismus 1918–1933, Düsseldorf, 1998, pp. 247ff.
155 Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 3: Zwischen den Reichstagswahlen Juli 1928–September 1930. Part 2: März 1929–Dezember 1929, ed. Klaus A. Lankheit, Munich, 1994, doc. 14, p. 120 (dated 23 March 1920). See ibid., doc. 3, p. 36 (dated 6 March 1929): “What we had been preaching for years, now became reality.”
156 Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich, p. 211.
157 See the results in Tyrell, Führer befiehl, p. 381.
158 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 1, doc. 52, pp. 245–53 (dated 20 Nov. 1928).
159 Hess, Briefe, p. 393 (dated 24 Oct. 1928).
160 Deuerlein, Aufstieg, pp. 299–301. See also Hitler’s account of the trip, in which he gleefully noted “how greatly our National Socialist idea has taken form and shape in people’s heads here.” Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 2, doc. 9 and 10, pp. 105–14 (quotation on p. 111).
161 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3, p. 247 (entry for 14 May 1929).
162 G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 11 (entry for 25 June 1929): “Glorious election victory in Coburg. 13 of 25 s
eats!”; IfZ München, ED 874. On the election results see Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimmungen, pp. 98, 108, 111. See also Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich, p. 211.
163 Hitler’s call of 1 March 1929 for the party rally in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 2, doc. 1, pp. 3–7 (quotation on p. 5). See also Rudolf Hess to his parents, 21 May 1929: “This time it will be a magnificent occasion!” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 43.
164 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 1, doc. 67, pp. 357–60 (quotations on pp. 358, 359). See also Otto Wagener’s report, who had taken part in a rally for the first time. Wagener, Hitler aus nächster Nähe, pp. 9–21; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3, pp. 293–9 (entries for 1–6 Aug. 1929). The day’s programme is in BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/391.
165 See Longerich, Die braunen Bataillone, pp. 94f. According to testimony by Walter Stennes on 29 July 1968, the SA could “hardly be preserved” at that point. Stennes said that Hitler had been “desperate and pale as a sheet” and claimed that only intervention by himself and Salomon von Pfeffer had prevented a catastrophe. IfZ München, ZS 1147.
166 According to sworn testimony by Prince August Wilhelm on 16 May 1947, he was accepted into the NSDAP in April 1930 and into the SA in December 1931. IfZ München, ZS 1318. See also Lothar Machtan, Der Kaisersohn bei Hitler, Hamburg, 2006, pp. 165–7, 171.
167 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 1/3, p. 295 (entry for 3 Aug. 1929).
168 See Winkler, Weimar, pp. 347f.; Longerich, Deutschland 1918–1933, pp. 251f.
169 See Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 3, part 2, doc. 50, pp. 290–2 (dated 9 July 1929), doc. 55, p. 303 (dated 25 July 1929), doc. 56, pp. 304f. (dated 25 July 1929). See also Klaus Wernecke (with Peter Heller), Der vergessene Führer: Alfred Hugenberg—Pressemacht und Nationalsozialismus, Hamburg, 1982, pp. 147ff. On Hugenberg’s media empire see Heidrun Holzbach, Das “System Hugenberg”: Die Organisation bürgerlicher Sammlungspolitik vor dem Aufstieg der NSDAP, Stuttgart, 1981, pp. 259ff.
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