Reichskanzlei Thread

[Mannheim]

I imported (to Australia) three of Christoph Neubauer's DVDs: Die Vossstrasse, Der Wilhelmplatz and Die Reichskanzlei. They are not particularly expensive and are outstanding value. I can't recommend them too highly and plan on buying the whole set.

[Mister S]

Hello Mister S
I am the creator of the videos you are so generously offering here free of charge. This is classic. It must feel great to give something away free of charge. However, it is also very easy if it is not yours. I have spent years of work and tons of money in creating these films. People always ask me how long it will still take until the interior of the Chancellery is released on DVD too, the answer is, it will not because people like you RIP my films and hand them out to others who do not even want to spend 3.95 Euros to watch them on VoD.
Why do you think I have not released anything new for more than eight years? It is because of people like you!
I have finished the whole interior of the Old - and New Reich Chancellery already. You can walk even through the entire building yourself, inside a game engine; see all the official and unofficial rooms of the Reich Chancellery, the bunkers, basement, tunnels, gardens and the Fuhrers apartment.
It would be so easy for me to publish my work online. So that people can experience and discover the entire building as they wish. Walk around and open doors. They could book different tours and getting all the backgrounds from 3d- animated guides specialized in different topics and all this via the internet watching it on their screens or oculus rift.
However, if I would do this, I already know it would only take days until people like you RiP the content and hand the 3d models out, or sell them.
So how would I ever get paid for 15 years of work and research?
Nothing is free if it comes to proper research. Do you think I got my (more than 13.000) photos and construction plans of the Chancellery in my private archive donated? Do you think I will be able to continue to go to Bundesarchiv in Berlin and copy the files regarding the constructions of the Chancellery? I have to pay for all of that because archives do not accept donations. They invoice you big time!
Because of this, it is that people like you stop me from releasing my work of the past eight years. Too sad that some people will never understand that a creator does not need donations, if he is paid fairly for his work.
Because of this, I am planning to open a VR arcade in the US where people can tour the chancellery using headsets like oculus rift. Therefore, if you would like to see one day the interior of the Reich Chancellery, rather ask people to help me to find a partner to open a VR arcade, then offering my videos free to the people who are still willing to pay for my films, and by doing so, keeping my project alive!


Regards


Christoph Neubauer

http://www.atelier-neubauer.de
http://www.reichskanzlei-3d.de

Hello Mr. Neubauer.

I did purchase all three of your videos on the Reich Chancellery, yes. I admire each and every bit of your work, and I am simply amazed at how you recreated every detail of the Chancellery in the videos (even if it only of the exterior for now).

I completely understand what you are saying; I used to always believe piracy was a victim-less crime (silly me), but certainly not when it has to do with recreating the Reich Chancellery in full, and supporting a very hard worker like yourself! I will remove my offer, and keep the copy to myself. Thank you for explaining your progress on the interior as well, it gives me a great understanding of how much work you put into your great films.


If there is anything that I can do to further your progress towards getting virtual reality up and running, I would be honored. If you do not want donations and instead want to gain revenue through sales, I would purchase any archive material that you are willing to share, if it would support you or your project in any way.

As for preventing piracy and sharing as a whole, that would definitely be an impossible task for you. Might I suggest releasing your content as a virtual reality game which would be released on PC sale platforms such as Steam or consoles such as PlayStation. This would greatly decrease the ease of copying and sharing content, and would allow for the Chancellery complex to be viewed much similar to any other virtual reality game. I am sure you have probably already thought about this option, just trying to be of some help!

I very much apologize for offering to share my copy, and I now understand how much it hurts publishers like yourself to have such important and hard work shared, especially in regards to funding new (and awesome) projects.



With kind regards,
Mister S

[Mister S]

While we have all seen many photos of the interior of the main floor of the New Reichschancellery -- though I still don't know where the various Reichsleiters' and Adjutants' offices were in relation to Hitler's vast office -- has anyone ever seen any photos of the upper floors of the New Rreichschancellery, or of the vast basement and garage levels? Even now, over 70 years after the fact, we remain ignorant of those areas that were probably off-limits to most of the general public. And it would be very nice to have a complete list of all of the departmental offices that resided in that building, as well. Any help out there...??

Many thanks,

Br. James

There is little known of where specific offices are in the Reich Chancellery, besides a few large figures in charge of the Chancellery. One of these figures was Otto Meissner, who was head of the Presidential Chancellery. Meissner was responsible for some foreign affairs and representative duties within the Chancellery. I believe he is the one who actually organized the visit of Czech President Emil Hácha in March of 1939. Inside Hitler's Office, Emil Hácha's country suffered a fateful (and quite embarrassing) end. Shown here is Meissner's office within the Chancellery:

Here is where Meissner's office is located within the Chancellery (from what I remember, I cannot remember where I came across this information, nor am I completely certain it is correct):

Another office would be Hans Heinrich Lammers' office, which was located in the middle section of the building (Mittelbau). I do not know if any pictures have been taken from the office, but I am aware of it's location:

The upper floor of the Mittelbau (which was located above the Art Gallery) housed the staff of Reichsleiter Bouhler, who was head of the Party Chancellery. I am unaware if there are any photos of the upper floors of the chancellery. I am skeptical of whether this photo depicts the rooms above the gallery. Take a look and tell me what you think:

Hall above the Gallery.jpg (72.91 KiB) Viewed 4783 times

Here is a photo of the destroyed area of the chancellery with the rooms partially showing (could that be the hallway shown in the picture above?):

Above gallery.jpg (78.16 KiB) Viewed 4783 times

If you would like more information about the basements of the Chancellery (mostly covers bunker area), I would highly suggest buying Christoph Neubauer's film entitled "The Fuhrebunker 1935-1942", which can be purchased from his website here:

http://www.atelier-neubauer-shop.de/

[Sejanus]

Hello Mr. Neubauer.

I did purchase all three of your videos on the Reich Chancellery, yes. I admire each and every bit of your work, and I am simply amazed at how you recreated every detail of the Chancellery in the videos (even if it only of the exterior for now).

I completely understand what you are saying; I used to always believe piracy was a victim-less crime (silly me), but certainly not when it has to do with recreating the Reich Chancellery in full, and supporting a very hard worker like yourself! -snip-
Mister S

So, piracy is a victim-less crime unless it has to do with media "recreating the Reich Chancellery in full?" I see.

Mister S, I want to thank you for your unscrupulous conduct which, as Christoph Neubauer pointed out, prevents him from sharing more of his work so that it can be enjoyed by all.

I also see no sources in many of the images you post. Did you steal those, too??

[Christoph Neubauer]

Hello Mister S.

I did not expect you to reply to my post and see you are not a bad person after all . Even though this is not the forum to discuss the issues about pirating I just would like to reply briefly to your idea regarding Steam or PlayStation. The problem is that you can RiP any 3d model and texture once it is downloaded to your computer, so it doesn’t matter in what way the 3d data gets on your pc, once it is in your graphic card you can rip it. If it comes to VR unfortunately the 3d content has to be first on the user’s computer to be able to play back.
The only way of securing the content is to provide it inside a VR arcade. This means a shop or an office were people can go to and watch the Chancellery on the hardware provided.
This also means that it’s ensured only the best possible hardware is used to run the model. This is important since the Chancellery used to contain more the 2.000 rooms. On top of it comes that my model covers 250 Years of the construction history. I did not only model the New Reich Chancellery but also the Chancellery of the Weimarer Republik as well as the one of Bismarck and even the original version of 1735 and the changes made to it by Fridrich Schinkel for Furst Radziwill in 1822.
The questions of Br. James show me that people are still very interested in the Chancellery. I am therefore also trying since many years to build up a recherché center just for the history of the Chancellery. In 15 years of recherché, I found so many interesting construction plans and photos never seen before. Almost every important room is documented.
I do have construction plans of the air conditioning located in the 3rd level underground. Photos of Hitlers private bathroom, the generators located under the terrace of the New Reich Chancellery, Hitlers private model room (to present the models of Germania) in the New Reich chancellery, the heaters, kitchens, escalator and even the Car –Lift and the engine room located underneath the lift.
Many of the photos are simply not named properly in the archives. This means I had to go through millions of photographs dated 1850-1953 to find the ones showing the Chancellery.
I created my first films (the ones you know) using 250 Photos and plans. Now my archive contains more than 13.000. You can imagine how much more there is to show. Not to mention the more than 21.000 documents (invoices, quotes, reports) I copied from the official files of the Chancellery.
Unfortunately, Germans are very scared of the topic of the Chancellery. Therefore, I am looking for an opportunity to present my recreation permanently in the US.


Regards
Christoph

[Vicctor]

Many of the photos are simply not named properly in the archives.

Unfortunately, Germans are very scared of the topic of the Chancellery.

Absolut korrekte Definition.

Natürlich - völlig von Ihrer Arbeit beeindruckt.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Victor.

[Br. James]

Dear Mister S,

Thank you so much for your good and interesting response. As I have no photographs of the roofs of the New Reichschancellery, I cannot say whether the photo of the long hallway you provided was of the upper floor of the Mittelbau, though the presence of the row of skylights would be most helpful in identifying where that photo was taken...if we could see the roofs. Thank you for suggesting where the offices for Drs. Meissner and Lammers might have been located. Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler was the Chief of the Führer's Private Office -- at least until the functions of that office were absorbed by Reichsleiter Martin Bormann into his Party Chancellery office -- and it is of interest to know that the Führer's Private Chancellery was located on the top floor of the Mittelbau. Is there any information as to where Bormann's Party Chancellery was located?

The photo of the destruction of the Mittelbau is most interesting, though it does not provide any information about the building's roof.

Again, many thanks for your helpful response.

Faithfully,

Br. James

[Mister S]

Dear Mister S,

Thank you so much for your good and interesting response. As I have no photographs of the roofs of the New Reichschancellery, I cannot say whether the photo of the long hallway you provided was of the upper floor of the Mittelbau, though the presence of the row of skylights would be most helpful in identifying where that photo was taken...if we could see the roofs. Thank you for suggesting where the offices for Drs. Meissner and Lammers might have been located. Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler was the Chief of the Führer's Private Office -- at least until the functions of that office were absorbed by Reichsleiter Martin Bormann into his Party Chancellery office -- and it is of interest to know that the Führer's Private Chancellery was located on the top floor of the Mittelbau. Is there any information as to where Bormann's Party Chancellery was located?

The photo of the destruction of the Mittelbau is most interesting, though it does not provide any information about the building's roof.

Again, many thanks for your helpful response.

Faithfully,

Br. James

I do not know if Bormann had an office in the Chancellery. It would seem like he would, but he could also work in some buildings on Wilhelmstrasse. It appears that you also know a great deal on the Chancellery, this will be fun.

I am unaware what you meant by "roof", but this picture may be of help.

So, piracy is a victim-less crime unless it has to do with media "recreating the Reich Chancellery in full?" I see.

Mister S, I want to thank you for your unscrupulous conduct which, as Christoph Neubauer pointed out, prevents him from sharing more of his work so that it can be enjoyed by all.

I also see no sources in many of the images you post. Did you steal those, too??

As I tried to explain, it is not a victimless crime, and even more so when it has to do with the chancellery. It would be a more victim-full crime if it has to do with supporting a small publisher like Neubauer, instead of for example, Warner Bros. Now that doesn't mean they aren't losing money and being victim to piracy, which they are, it is just less noticed if they are a massive and rich company. Now, before you go on telling me that all piracy is bad, I know, and that is why I don't pirate movies and such. The only thing I have ever actually done is shared copies of movies with friends (which is still bad, and I no longer do it). The offer to share the films on the Chancellery were offers that I made late at night, and it was stupid and very rude of me to offer my copy, something to which I deeply regret and frown upon myself for doing so. It would have been very hard for me to share anyways, as it is not a video file, but an iso.

As for you accusing me of stealing the photos, it is nearly impossible to recall exactly where I located photos, as they are all over my computer. I do my best to cite where I found photos if it is possible, but if they are downloaded en mass, it is often hard to recall where you got them from. If you would actually contribute any photos here, you would know that.

[Mister S]

Hello Mister S.

I did not expect you to reply to my post and see you are not a bad person after all . Even though this is not the forum to discuss the issues about pirating I just would like to reply briefly to your idea regarding Steam or PlayStation. The problem is that you can RiP any 3d model and texture once it is downloaded to your computer, so it doesn’t matter in what way the 3d data gets on your pc, once it is in your graphic card you can rip it. If it comes to VR unfortunately the 3d content has to be first on the user’s computer to be able to play back.
The only way of securing the content is to provide it inside a VR arcade. This means a shop or an office were people can go to and watch the Chancellery on the hardware provided.
This also means that it’s ensured only the best possible hardware is used to run the model. This is important since the Chancellery used to contain more the 2.000 rooms. On top of it comes that my model covers 250 Years of the construction history. I did not only model the New Reich Chancellery but also the Chancellery of the Weimarer Republik as well as the one of Bismarck and even the original version of 1735 and the changes made to it by Fridrich Schinkel for Furst Radziwill in 1822.
The questions of Br. James show me that people are still very interested in the Chancellery. I am therefore also trying since many years to build up a recherché center just for the history of the Chancellery. In 15 years of recherché, I found so many interesting construction plans and photos never seen before. Almost every important room is documented.
I do have construction plans of the air conditioning located in the 3rd level underground. Photos of Hitlers private bathroom, the generators located under the terrace of the New Reich Chancellery, Hitlers private model room (to present the models of Germania) in the New Reich chancellery, the heaters, kitchens, escalator and even the Car –Lift and the engine room located underneath the lift.
Many of the photos are simply not named properly in the archives. This means I had to go through millions of photographs dated 1850-1953 to find the ones showing the Chancellery.
I created my first films (the ones you know) using 250 Photos and plans. Now my archive contains more than 13.000. You can imagine how much more there is to show. Not to mention the more than 21.000 documents (invoices, quotes, reports) I copied from the official files of the Chancellery.
Unfortunately, Germans are very scared of the topic of the Chancellery. Therefore, I am looking for an opportunity to present my recreation permanently in the US.


Regards
Christoph

Greetings Mr. Neubauer,

I understood that your work went deep, but the air conditioning rooms in the third level underground? Just miraculous. And I wan't even sure the Chancellery had air conditioning!

Creating a separate facility in the United States would be very interesting, and I would definitely pay a fortune to get though the door. However, for you being a German citizen and all, I would imagine that would be very hard to setup a building for it (getting licensed, etc.), without a partner as you explained. It would also be quite expensive. I am very interested in the Chancellery, so I would definitely visit the archive wherever it is, but I am unsure if others would take the time (and money) to do so. The common people over here in the United States around where such a building would be placed, would probably not know what the Reich Chancellery was, nor would they truly appreciate your reconstruction as others might. Now, I am not saying it wouldn't get any business at all (which it certainly would), it would just be very complicated to manage, especially over seas.

I have not yet heard of people being able to steal the actual plans from games and share or port them elsewhere, especially if they are published on a platform such as Steam. If you put it on PlayStation virtual reality consoles, that would be almost impossible for people to copy, because console games are encrypted and not organized easily like PC games are (this would of course make copying very complicated). I am sure it would be quite complicated to copy a whole building even from PC, but maybe someone knows how. I personally don't think it would be much of an issue of piracy if you released a game allowing others to move around (especially on consoles). You could always have a mix of the two, such as an archive where people can browse photos (but not take any), as well as a virtual reality stand at the archive, combined with a game avaliable for those who live 1.000s of kilometers away to be able to experience. As I have said, I am sure you have thought about many of these options, I am just trying to be of some help.

Since it is your content, really any way you release it would make me (and certainly many others) very excited.


Thanks for your work, and as I said, if there is any way I can help, I would be honored.


Regards,
Mister S

[Br. James]

Hi Mister S,

Thanks for your response, and in answer to your question: "I am unaware what you meant by "roof", but this picture may be of help", I believe the German word for roof or rooftop is "dach." If we could see a photo of the rooftop of the New Reichschancellery then we would have a chance to identify where the hallway with the skylights was located within the building. And I do believe that Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancellery, had an office and staff located in the New Reichschancellery. One of the many reasons for the creation of the New Reichschancellery was to provide appropriate space for the two major governmental office staffs -- that of the Chief of the Reichschancellery (Lammers) and the Chief of the President's Chancellery (Meissner) together in the same building with Hitler's primary office as Führer and Reichschancellor, Hitler's Privat Kanzlei (Bouhler) and the major political office of the Chief of the Party Chancellery (Bormann). The building also provided offices for Hitler's various adjutants such as his primary adjutant SA-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Brückner, his SS adjutant SS-Gruppenfuhrer Julius Schaub, his NSKK adjutant NSKK-Brigadeführer Albert Bormann, his various adjutants for the military branches, and his Press Chief SS-Gruppenführer Otto Dietrich. All under one very large roof!

Br. James

[Mister S]

Hi Mister S,

Thanks for your response, and in answer to your question: "I am unaware what you meant by "roof", but this picture may be of help", I believe the German word for roof or rooftop is "dach." If we could see a photo of the rooftop of the New Reichschancellery then we would have a chance to identify where the hallway with the skylights was located within the building. And I do believe that Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancellery, had an office and staff located in the New Reichschancellery. One of the many reasons for the creation of the New Reichschancellery was to provide appropriate space for the two major governmental office staffs -- that of the Chief of the Reichschancellery (Lammers) and the Chief of the President's Chancellery (Meissner) together in the same building with Hitler's primary office as Führer and Reichschancellor, Hitler's Privat Kanzlei (Bouhler) and the major political office of the Chief of the Party Chancellery (Bormann). The building also provided offices for Hitler's various adjutants such as his primary adjutant SA-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Brückner, his SS adjutant SS-Gruppenfuhrer Julius Schaub, his NSKK adjutant NSKK-Brigadeführer Albert Bormann, his various adjutants for the military branches, and his Press Chief SS-Gruppenführer Otto Dietrich. All under one very large roof!

Br. James

Palaisfan spoke about this in another thread:

Oh, no, they were used. Its just that as many as four, even six? (not sure) divisions of government shared the whole building: The so-called Chancellery of the Reich President (Hindenburg's post now absorbed); the Fuhrer's Chancellery (meaning of his liaisons with the Nazi Party, The Reich Chancellery or Chancellorate (confusing because it doesn't mean building, but the staff of the Reich, the State---it meant that even before Hitler), and the staff of the Chief of the Party Chancellery of the Nazi Party itself. (First Hoess, than infamously, Bormann.) [The Party chancellery itself is across the street, north of Goebbels propaganda Ministry] The SA also were headquartered there after the Knight of the Long Knives and Hitler wanted the HQ up near him in Berlin. Speer talks about refurbishing the Borsig Palace after that event. This refers to that. The work was started in August 1934 and finished within just several weeks.

If you look at the plans or a full photo of the new Reich Chancellery the Presidential and Reich Chanellery staffs were on the east wing, along with military adjutants of the Wehrmacht, while party was on the west. The private part where Hitler had his residence is all on the Wilhelmstrasse side, in the old Reichskanzlie both of the Kaiser era and Weimar.

The SS had adjutants and representation there in the new Chancellery, but technically Himmler is a different domain. He seemingly wouldn't have had an office any more than Goering did. Notice that Goering is just down the street in his own building, the Air Ministry? That said, I am not sure if Himmler considered # 8 Prinz Albrecht his equivalent. I am not that familiar with the SS or Gestapo. Might also mention Goebbels had his own domain just across the street too. But there was a press chief in the RK.

HTH,
palaisfan

It is all too common for those "skylights" to not actually be skylights, but artificially lit instead. For example, the round hall and the mosaic hall were both artificially lit (at night), so I wouldn't be too surprised if there were other sections that featured this all day. I am unsure if these are lit in that way, they could be real skylights, but I don't know. I have some aerials that were provided earlier in this thread. See attachments for more helpful images:

chancellery roof.jpg (59.47 KiB) Viewed 4675 times

1945.jpg (80.15 KiB) Viewed 4675 times

vlcsnap49058bu8.jpg (24.48 KiB) Viewed 4675 times

[Br. James]

Many thanks, Mister S! I had not considered that those "skylights" could have been lighting fixtures all along that hallway, but a closer look reveals that there were no obvious wall sconces or lamps there to illuminate that space, which was totally without windows. The aerial photos also do not show any skylights along the Mittelbau, but as you suggest, that doesn't confirm that that long hallway photo was not taken on the second floor of that central section of the building.

From period letterhead we know that Dr. Lammers' office address was "Voss Straße 6," which was as you noted on the schematic, west of Hitler's office. Appropriately, a little further west was the large Cabinet Hall intended for the use of Hitler meeting with his senior cabinet members --
which would also have been very convenient for Lammers' purposes. And Dr. Meissner's office would have been at Voss Straße 4, the building entrance of which was just two doors west of his office. According to these positions, it does not seem verifiable that "the Presidential and Reich Chanellery staffs were on the east wing, along with military adjutants of the Wehrmacht, while party was on the west" -- given that Lammers' office and the Cabinet Hall were adjacent to the west wing. It would also seem that Reichsleiter Bormann and his Party Chancellery staff would have been located right there in that same building; Bormann would not have wanted the offices of Bouhler, Lammers and Meissner to have been situated closer to the Führer -- 'the center of power' -- than his office was!

Here's something you might find of interest: on page 37 of "Hitlers Neue Reichskanzlei: Haus des Großdeutschen Reiches 1938-1945" published by Arndt-Verlag, Kiel, in 2002, are a photo of Meissner's office taken from a slightly different angle, and a photo of Lammers' office. Though both photos are in black-and-white, they are quite informative.

I do agree with Palaisfan that Himmler's office was not in the Reichschancellery complex; I believe his Berlin office was located in the Gestapo Headqauarters building a Prinz Albrecht Straße 8, and right next door, on the corner of Wilhelmstraße was Heydrich's office with the SD leadership in the former Prinz Albrecht Palace.

With great respect,

Br. James

[Mister S]

Many thanks, Mister S! I had not considered that those "skylights" could have been lighting fixtures all along that hallway, but a closer look reveals that there were no obvious wall sconces or lamps there to illuminate that space, which was totally without windows. The aerial photos also do not show any skylights along the Mittelbau, but as you suggest, that doesn't confirm that that long hallway photo was not taken on the second floor of that central section of the building.

From period letterhead we know that Dr. Lammers' office address was "Voss Straße 6," which was as you noted on the schematic, west of Hitler's office. Appropriately, a little further west was the large Cabinet Hall intended for the use of Hitler meeting with his senior cabinet members --
which would also have been very convenient for Lammers' purposes. And Dr. Meissner's office would have been at Voss Straße 4, the building entrance of which was just two doors west of his office. According to these positions, it does not seem verifiable that "the Presidential and Reich Chanellery staffs were on the east wing, along with military adjutants of the Wehrmacht, while party was on the west" -- given that Lammers' office and the Cabinet Hall were adjacent to the west wing. It would also seem that Reichsleiter Bormann and his Party Chancellery staff would have been located right there in that same building; Bormann would not have wanted the offices of Bouhler, Lammers and Meissner to have been situated closer to the Führer -- 'the center of power' -- than his office was!

Here's something you might find of interest: on page 37 of "Hitlers Neue Reichskanzlei: Haus des Großdeutschen Reiches 1938-1945" published by Arndt-Verlag, Kiel, in 2002, are a photo of Meissner's office taken from a slightly different angle, and a photo of Lammers' office. Though both photos are in black-and-white, they are quite informative.

I do agree with Palaisfan that Himmler's office was not in the Reichschancellery complex; I believe his Berlin office was located in the Gestapo Headqauarters building a Prinz Albrecht Straße 8, and right next door, on the corner of Wilhelmstraße was Heydrich's office with the SD leadership in the former Prinz Albrecht Palace.

With great respect,

Br. James

Very interesting information, Br. James. As for the mailing address being either Voßstraße 4 or Voßstraße 6, those would of course be the only two mailing addresses. And because the Reich Chancellery had mail rooms on both the east and west wings, Lammers and Meissner would of course have to have their address at either one, Meissner of course being located in the east wing. In Ronald Pawly's book on the Chancellery, it is mentioned that the West wing of the Chancellery housed administrator offices along with Dr. Lammers and his staff. It is also noted that the military adjutants had their offices in the East wing. The Party Chancellery headed by Bouhler was located on the upper floor of the Mittelbau. Palaisfan mentioned Bormann's office, but I have still seen not the slightest bit of evidence for that. Perhaps I am too skeptical of its existence?

Only if it is very convenient for you, could provide the picture of Lammers' office? I have never seen a picture that is certainly his office in the Neue Reichskanzlei, even though he was the highest official present in the building besides AH.

--------------

I have some more informative information regarding the Chancellery and its everyday functions, translated from a newspaper article:

The front of the New Reich Chancellery measures four hundred meters, and no one can walk by without wondering what goes on inside…
The officials in their brown uniforms behind the massive swinging doors know the government executives well. They recognize their faces and the way they move, whether they are taciturn or friendly…On many days three generals’ coats hang on coat hooks in the waiting room. On other days, the checkroom is filled with the coats of Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, SA officials, or armament inspectors. Sometimes civilians also check their coats.
The elevators are completely automatic, the doors opening and closing noiselessly. Unerringly the guards appear and demand passes. Slowly the eye accustoms itself to the unusual dimensions of Speer’s building, which are constantly surprising the visitor. Anxiety generated by the long corridors gradually dissipates. One begins effortlessly to orient oneself, and what one hardly noticed on first pass becomes clear: the relationship between location and way.
The visitor walks over thick carpets that muffle all sounds. Here and there, yellow signs point to the air-raid shelter.
There are more than 400 rooms…In contrast to the size of the chancellery, the number of officials, employees, and workers is small. Only about seventy people are actually performing the tasks of government. The entire staff consists of 250 people, but most are engaged in maintaining the building.
Employees stride up and down the steps with gray folders under their arms. Cleaning ladies with innumerable whirring vacuum cleaners fill the long marble halls. A workman is bent over repairing a damaged spot in the floor…
Chancellery mail roomLike every other corporate office, the mailroom is the first stop for much of the day’s business. Early in the morning the letter carrier brings sacks of mail from the Leipzigerstraße post office to the third floor chancellery mailroom. Many letters and packages are immediately forwarded to their ultimate destination, while others must be evaluated. In 1932, 51,500 pieces of mail arrived. In 1933, the volume increased to 375,000. As unemployment decreased, the flood of letters diminished to 200,000 annually and has stabilized at that number...Every letter, no matter how important, is logged in. If the Chancellery cannot answer it, the letter is forwarded to the appropriate agency. In all cases the sender receives an acknowledgment with a file number so that he may at any time inquire regarding the status of his correspondence.
Along with official communications, every day brings a mountain of letters from individuals. People from every corner of the Reich, and foreigners as well, write about personal concerns. A glance at today’s pile reveals the peculiar address designations: ‘To the Führer’s cabinet,’ ‘to the Reich government and revered Führer,’ ‘To his Excellency the noble, high-born Führer,’ ‘To the Obersalzberg in Berlin.’ The huge outpouring of opinion provides a glimpse of the trust accorded Adolf Hitler by a broad swath of the German population. The volume of letters from foreign countries is substantial, and the foreigners’ letters, by and large, have the highly reverent addresses…
An ordinary chancellery day passes swiftly. Couriers come and go. The grand rooms are often empty, but the offices are constantly busy, even more so since the war began…One little office holds a cot for the night concierge. The telephone switchboard is in operation twenty-four hours. A chancellery official is always on call. The chancellery never closes.

-Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels published the first issue of Das Reich May 26th, 1940. Goebbels himself wrote many of the front-page articles in an attempt to reach the educated classes, both inside and outside of Germany. Erich Peter Neumann’s best-known article for Das Reich was a March 1941 report on the Warsaw Ghetto, in which he described “the horribly repulsive variety of all Jewish types in the East.” Neumann wrote Nazi propaganda for other publications, including the Berliner Tageblatt and the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.

Source: http://www.stevenlehrer.com/excerpt.htm

A Mail Room:

A conference room in the East Wing (not the cabinet hall):

Press Cheif Dr. Otto Dietrich's office in the Chancellery (also published in the same newspaper article):

Restaurant for staff in the West Wing:

Telephone operators run the Chancellery's advanced communication system 24/7:


These images could be of Lammer's office in the New Reich Chancellery, I am just unsure (ignore the date Bundesarchiv date stamps):

[Br. James]

Thanks for your most interesting response, Mister S, including these last four photos -- three of Dr. Lammers in his office and the last one of his office after the Soviet capture of Berlin. The first three photos show Lammers in his office in the Old Reichschancellery -- the first one is of him wearing his Allgemeine-SS Black Service Uniform which bears the collar patches of an SS-Brigadeführer. Lammers held that SS rank from April 20, 1935 until he was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer on January 30, 1938. Throughout that period of time Lammers' office was located in the Old Reichschancellery. (An aside interest is that he is seen here wearing the "Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer" -- the "honor chevron for old fighters" which was permitted to be worn on the right uniform sleeve by those who had joined the NSDAP or a Party-affiliated organization prior to January 30, 1933. Lammers joined the Party VERY late -- Membership Number 1010355 and SS-Membership Number 118404, and his first rank acknowledged by the SS was that of SS-Oberführer as of September 29, 1933 -- but undoubtedly because of his very high position in the German Government from before the Nazis swept into power, this must have been one of the 'honorifics' accorded him!)

The last photo above is of Lammers' office in the New Reichschancellery and it fits in very well to schematic above in which you identify his office in the Mittelbau, in terms of doorways and windows.

Br. James

[Br. James]

Hi again, Mister S. One of the photos above has the caption: "A conference room in the East Wing (not the cabinet hall)." That identical photo appears in the ARNDT-Verlag publication on page 16 which I referred to earlier, and there it carries this caption:

Putzfrauen säubern den neuen Kabinettssitxungssaal. In dem 600 m großen Raum sollte, durch den Krieg bedingt, niemals eine Sitzung abgehalten werden. / Cleaning women clean the new cabinet reading room. In the 600-meter-wide room, a meeting would never be held, as a result of the war.

I do regret that I am unable to provide photos with my comments; I have neither the aptitude nor the technology to do so.

Trusting that these comments are helpful.

Br. James