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Founded in 1999.
I also don't know the date, but I've seen some interior pictures immedeiatelly after the destruction and e.g. the Great Hall was much more cluttered with debris. It seems pretty cleared in the photo. I think I published a photo in this thread some time back and still it shows radiators standing in places marked in red. (Now there is only a pipe leading to the one in foreground.) There were also the remains of the grand piano visible there. All these are gone in this picture. But still, it was probably taken very shortly after the war...
today it is finally time to release my english version of the 2 hours long Interview with Herbert Doehring.
Herbert Döhring (* September 29, 1913 in Paaris, Rastenburg District, East Prussia; † December 23, 2001) was a member of the SS and Hitler's house administrator at the Berghof on Obersalzberg from 1935 to 1943.
In this interview from 1999, Hitler's former employee describes for the first time in detail how he remembers his time at the Berghof.
Döhring, who died in 2001, was one of the best contemporary witnesses from Hitler's immediate environment due to his extraordinary memory. In this interview he impressively describes his time at Obersalzberg.
Having belonged to the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in Berlin-Lichterfelde since 1934, Döhring transferred in 1935 to the "Führerschutzkommando", which was about 30 strong. His first task was to provide Hitler with personal protection at the Reich Party Congress in Nuremberg in 1935 at the Hotel Deutscher Hof.
After the Nazi Party Conference, Döhring was called to Obersalzberg, where he first worked as a telephone operator/guard in the old Haus Wachenfeld - which at this time was being expanded by the architect Alois Degano into what would later become the Berghof. Then he took over the construction supervision of the extension works. When Hitler was present at Obersalzberg, he stayed in the guest house "Hoher Göll". Finally, Döhring became the caretaker of the generously expanded Berghof.
While working at the Berghof, Döhring met his future wife Anna Krautenbacher, who was also employed there. On December 10, 1936, they were married in Berchtesgaden. The subsequent wedding celebration, which Hitler also attended, took place at the Berghof.
This interview was recorded in 1999 and never published until now.
Please Enjoy!
Hi Begafilm,
if this is all so very "new", why was a large part of the entry in the German Wikipedia about Döhring simply copied and the rest left out?
Döhring also commented on whether Hitler and Eva Braun had normal sexual intercourse with each other, without actually knowing it, according to his own claims.
The insight into Hitler's household management, which Döhring made possible, repeatedly sparked interest in the supposed sensation. In the scholarly works of Fest or Kershaw et al. the "source" Döhring is not mentioned.
P.S. Of course his memories and the few photos online were interesting, but for my personal taste insights of a subaltern nobody, like Rochus Misch, absolutely overrated.
The paradise of the successful lends itself perfectly to a hell for the unsuccessful. (Bertold Brecht on Hollywood)
I met Döring at the Türken on a couple of occasions....he was both charming and very witty.
Ingrid adored him and he always made great conversation. He once stayed for Ingrids hisbands birthday, but having stayed late Ingrid came down in the morning and found him sleeping in one of her cosy chairs, legs hanging over the side...he was, like many former SS , very tall man.
She said why didn't you ask for a room Herbert? He replied. "Because I didn't wish to disturb you".
A real gentleman.
Well Döring was a natural raconteur really and would happily chat about that time. Not so many know about his frontline service later in which he partook.
He told me England and Germany should never have gone to war with each other, and that this was the fervent view of AH. He showed me some small items that he kept from the Berghof. In his home he had some small furnishings that also came from the suppliers of the Berghof.
The most memorable occasion was when one of Ingrids Italian friends came to visit her. He at that time owned the whole building that was the do called Small Chancellery at Bischofsweisen, well with him he had from his collection one of the wartime caps of AH. This cap was authenticated by Otto Günsche who was also a close friend of Frau Scharfenberg and had visited the Türken on a few occasions. A very elegant refined man, who would not discuss AH with me but he did with Ingrid.
Well he had only the one cap, but at the Kleine Kanzlei which he showed me the AH office (which he hardly if ever visited) was decked out with the correct furniture and fittings, AH bust etc..
I think he was in the main part a buff, but made some money selling some items.
The most memorable occasion was when one of Ingrids Italian friends came to visit her. He at that time owned the whole building that was the do called Small Chancellery at Bischofsweisen, well with him he had from his collection one of the wartime caps of AH. This cap was authenticated by Otto Günsche who was also a close friend of Frau Scharfenberg and had visited the Türken on a few occasions. A very elegant refined man, who would not discuss AH with me but he did with Ingrid.
I'm quite intrigued by the colour of the cap... I have no reason to doubt it was Hitler's, but the colour seems more Goering-style
The color of the cap is correct, it is even the one used in the attached photo, the issue is that this photo is faded, but that is the color of both the cap and the jacket.