Hitler's retreat: Goebbels, Himmler, Hitler, dogs, children
Creator(s)
- Eva Braun (Camera Operator)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
Scope and Content
Reel 2 of the private motion pictures of Eva Braun (Seized Enemy Records). COLOR Panoramic view from the terrace of Hitler's Berghof retreat, Haus Wachenfeld. Eva Braun greets Josef Goebbels as he arrives in a Mercedes-Cabriolet and comes upstairs to Berghof. Hitler with his physician, Dr. Karl Brandt. New arrivals up the steps to Berghof. Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Karl Wolff, close views on the terrace. Also with one other man. Panning shots over mountains at sunset. Hitler using large magnifying glass to look at photograph; with Julius Schaub and Hermann Esser. Berghof, August 12, 1939. SS Honor Guard makes final preparations, in formation, also reflected in windows. Heinrich Hoffmann in white uniform walks toward camera. SS Honor Guard don their white gloves. Count Galeazzo Ciano (Italian Foreign Minister, Mussolini's son-in-law) with entourage, walk up the Berghof steps and enter building. Hoffmann photographs their arrival. Pan over mountains. COLOR View of the road towards Kehlstein, through snow-covered mountains, peaks nearby. The entrance to the Kehlsteinhaus (a.k.a. Eagle's Nest). Eva Braun with several children and their Easter baskets and eggs, on the sun terrace of the Kehlsteinhaus. Easter 1938, long panning shot over the surrounding mountains. Group sitting around coffee table in the Bechsteinhaus, below the Berghof. Group includes Hans Karl von Hasselbach (Hitler's doctor) wearing sunglasses, Adolf Wagner (Gauleiter of Munich), Wilhelm Brueckner, and Fraeulein Stork (Hitler's secretary). COLOR Red flag with swastika flying outside the Berghof. Hitler in suit and felt hat, reading document seated on terrace wall, with Adjutant Julius Schaub and Adolf Wagner. Hitler talking with Fraeulein Stork and Frau Johanna Morell. Martin Bormann holding out felt hat for the camera. Hitler on the terrace with Dr. Theodor Morell and Hermann Esser. Various shots, including pan from them to Christa Schroeder (Hitler's secretary), Johanna Morell and Stork sitting on sun beds, as Ilse Braun walks past. Eva Braun, in dirndl, joins Hitler, Morell and Esser. CU of Eva with the Watzmann ridge in BG. COLOR Group on sunbeds: Esser, Morell, Berta Schwarz, Franz-Xaver Schwarz (NSDAP Treasurer), Eva Braun in dirndl with red bodice, unidentified man wearing Lederhosen. Schwarz, F-X Schwarz and Eva standing by terrace wall. Eva is affectionate and flirting with both men. Eva poses with coffee cup. Eva sitting on terrace wall, posing, and talking with unidentified man. Hitler and Hermann Esser sitting on sunbed, Hitler stroking Alsatian dog, probably Blondi. Morell with Blondi. Terrace views, mountains in BG. Gerda Daranowski and Christa Schroeder (Hitler's secretaries) wearing dirndls, pose on stone terrace wall. CU, Hitler in brown SA uniform, inside room. INT, Berghof, shot looking out the great window at mountains and clouds. Pan over landscape with mists. Walter Hewel talking, joking with (Gretl?) Braun, who holds a camera. Views from terrace in rain. Hitler, Dr. Theo Morell and Adolf Wagner standing on terrace, various shots. Hitler in gray suit and hat. INT, Eva's two sisters Ilse and Gretl Braun, sitting, talking. Pan from Berghof over mountains and trees. CU, Hitler in gray suit. Hitler, Dr. Karl Brandt, and Gerhard Engel leave the Berghof, descend the steps to waiting cars. Hitler gets into car. Side views of Hitler in overcoat, on the terrace. B/W. INT, Hitler greets a group of women, one holding a girl, probably in the hall of the Berghof. COLOR. Obersalzberg, LS of group walking in the snow. CU, wooden bird houses. Hitler playing with Alsatian (presumably Blondi) in snow. Two small children playing in snow, Hitler observing. [Repeat scene from RG-60.0935] Eva and others swim and play in lake with ball and air mattress. Includes Eva's parents, Friedrich and Franziska Braun, and sister Ilse. CU, low angle, of Wilhelm Brueckner. Waiter serves coffee on the terrace. B/W. Shows Hitler, Eva, and others on the terrace of the retreat. Albert Speer, Ribbentrop, others. CU, Anni Brandt (wife of Karl) and Margarethe Speer (wife of Albert), sitting on terrace. Frau Speer in dirndl. Eva's parents looking around at landscape. Friedrich Braun in military uniform. Vase of flowers in window. Uschi Schneider. Heinrich Hoffmann and unidentified man, seated on slope with flowers, etc. Monkey business...Man in glasses. Eva & others swim & play in the water. Hitler talks to an officer. COLOR. Easter 1939. In the greenhouse, children with Easter baskets, gathering things from among the vegetables. Children and their baskets outside the greenhouse, with adults including Eva Braun, Fraeulein Stork, Johanna Morell, Gerda Bormann. Children watching a mechanical toy. On the Berghof terrace, Eva Braun swaps hat with an unidentified man. Karl Brandt helps tie her hat on the man's head.
Note(s)
For identifications of individuals, check http://www.thirdreichruins.com/berghofvisitors.htm. Parts of this record correspond to portions of Imperial War Museum films GWY 1180, 1181 and 1175; information based on Bundesarchiv identifications.
Subjects
- BERCHTESGADEN
- GERMANS
- SPORTS/GAMES
- HITLER, ADOLF
- GERMANY
- HOLIDAYS (CHRISTMAS)
- HOFFMANN, HEINRICH
- BRANDT, KARL
- BRAUN, EVA (FAMILY)
- NAZI OFFICIALS
- HIMMLER, HEINRICH
- MILITARY OFFICERS
- FLAGS
- SPRING
- BERGHOF
- SWASTIKAS
- BRAUN, EVA
- SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)
- PLAYING
- WOMEN
- CHILDREN
- DOGS
- HEYDRICH, REINHARD
- SNOW
- MOUNTAINS
- HOLIDAYS (EASTER)
- SPEER, ALBERT
- GOEBBELS, JOSEPH
Places
- Berchtesgaden, Germany
- Obersalzberg, Germany
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.