Image photo	Hauptmarkt Trier.jpg
Wappen	Trier Rheinland-Palatinate Germany CoA.svg
Lat deg	49 | lat_min 45 | lat_sec 24
Lon deg	6 | lon_min 38 | lon_sec 29
Karte	Lage der kreisfreien Stadt Trier in Deutschland.PNG
Bundesland	Rhineland-Palatinate
Landkreis	Kreisfreie Stadt
Elevation	124
Area	117.14
Population	103888
Stand	2006-12-31
Agglomeration	140460
Stand	2005
Postal code	54290, 54292, 54293, 54294, 54295, 54296
Plz-alt	5500
Vorwahl	0651
Licence	TR
Gemeindeschlüssel	07 2 11 000
Website	www.trier.de
Mayor	Klaus Jensen
Party	SPD
Bürgermeistertitel	Oberbürgermeister }}

Trier, historically called in English Treves (; , ; ; ; the Latin adjective associated with the city is ''Treverensis'') is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC.

Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of ruddy sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the important Mosel wine region.

The city is the oldest seat of a Christian bishop north of the Alps. In the Middle Ages, the Archbishop of Trier was an important prince of the church, as the Archbishopric of Trier controlled land from the French border to the Rhine. The Archbishop also had great significance as one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire.

With an approximate population of 100,000 Trier was, until 2005, ranked fourth alongside Kaiserslautern among the state's largest cities; after Mainz, Ludwigshafen, and Koblenz. The nearest large cities in Germany are Saarbrücken, some 80 km southeast, and Koblenz, about 100 km northeast. The closest city to Trier is the capital of Luxembourg, some 50 km to the southwest.

Trier is home to the University of Trier, the administration of the Trier-Saarburg district and the seat of the ADD (''Aufsichts- und Dienstleistungsdirektion''), which until 1999 was the borough authority of Trier, and the Academy of European Law (ERA). It is one of the five "central places" of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Along with Luxembourg, Metz and Saarbrücken, fellow constituent members of the QuattroPole union of cities, it also forms a central place of the greater region encompassing Saar-Lor-Lux (Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg), Rhineland-Palatinate, and Wallonia.

History

According to the ''Gesta Treverorum'', the city was founded by Trebeta, an Assyrian prince, centuries before ancient Rome. He was the son of Ninus, King of Assyria, by a wife prior to his marriage to Queen Semiramis. His stepmother, Semiramis, despised him and when she took over the kingdom after the death of his father, Ninus, Trebeta left Assyria and went to Europe. After wandering for a time, he led a group of colonizers to settle at Trier around 2000 BC in what is now Germany. Trebeta is also reputed to have been at Strasbourg, France. Upon his death, his body was cremated on Petrisberg by the people of Trier.

The Roman Empire subdued the Treveri in the 1st century BC and established ''Augusta Treverorum'' (Lit: August (Regal, noble) [City] of the Treveri) in 30 BC. The name is likely to be taken from the title Augustus held by the Princeps or head of state at the time, Augustus Caesar. The city later became the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, as well as the Roman prefecture of Gaul. It covered within its walls and may have had as many as 70,000 inhabitants. The Porta Nigra is counted among the Roman architecture of the city. A residence of the Western Roman Emperor, Roman Trier was the birthplace of Saint Ambrose. Sometime between 395 and 418 the Roman administration moved the staff of Pretorian Prefecture from the city to Arles. The city continued to be inhabited, but was not as prosperous as before, because of the absence of 2,000 staff members of the Prefecture and military. However, the city remained the seat of a governor and had state factories for the production of ballistae and armor, and a wool mill for uniforms for the troops, clothing for the civil service and high-quality garments for the Court. Northern Gaul was held by the Romans along a line from north of Cologne to the coast at Boulogne through what is today southern Belgium until 460. South of this line Roman control was firm as evidenced by the continuing operation of the imperial arms factory at Amiens.

The Franks seized Trier from Roman administration in 459 AD. In 870 it became part of Eastern Francia, which developed into the Holy Roman Empire. Relics of Saint Matthias brought to the city initiated widespread pilgrimages. The bishops of the city grew increasingly powerful, and the Archbishopric of Trier was recognized as an electorate of the empire, one of the most powerful states of Germany. The University of Trier was founded in the city in 1473.

In the 17th century, the Archbishops and Prince-Electors of Trier relocated their residences to Philippsburg Castle in Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz. A session of the Reichstag was held in Trier in 1512, during which the demarcation of the Imperial Circles was definitively established.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Trier was sought after by France, who invaded during the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Spanish Succession, and the War of the Polish Succession. France succeeded in finally claiming Trier in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars, and the electoral archbishopric was dissolved. After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, Trier passed to the Kingdom of Prussia. Karl Marx was born in the city in 1818.

As part of the Prussian Rhineland, Trier developed economically during the 19th century. The city rose in revolt during the revolutions of 1848 in the German states, although the rebels were forced to concede. It became part of the German Empire in 1871.

In June 1940 over 60,000 British prisoners of war, captured at Dunkirk and Northern France, were marched to Trier, which became a staging post for British soldiers headed for German prisoner-of-war camps. Trier was heavily bombed and bombarded in 1944 during World War II. The city became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate after the war. The university, dissolved in 1797, was restarted in the 1970s, while the Cathedral of Trier was reopened in 1974. Trier officially celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1984.

Geography

Trier sits in a hollow midway along the Moselle valley, with the most significant portion of the city on the east bank of the river. Wooded and vineyard-covered slopes stretch up to the Hunsrück plateau in the south and the Eifel in the north. The border with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is some 15 km distant.

Neighbouring municipalities

''Listed in clockwise order, beginning with the northernmost; all municipalities belong to the Trier-Saarburg district''

Schweich, Kenn and Longuich (all part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Schweich an der Römischen Weinstraße), Mertesdorf, Kasel, Waldrach, Morscheid, Korlingen, Gutweiler, Sommerau and Gusterath (all in the Verbandsgemeinde Ruwer), Hockweiler, Franzenheim (both part of the Verbandsgemeinde Trier-Land), Konz (Verbandsgemeinde Konz), Igel, Trierweiler, Aach, Newel, Kordel (Eifel), Zemmer (all in the Verbandsgemeinde Trier-Land)

Organisation of city districts

The Trier urban area is divided into 19 city districts. For each district there is an ''Ortsbeirat'' (local council) of between 9 and 15 members, as well as an ''Ortsvorsteher'' (local representative). The local councils are charged with hearing the important issues that affect the district, although the final decision on any issue rests with the city council. The local councils nevertheless have the freedom to undertake limited measures within the bounds of their districts and their budgets.

The districts of Trier with area and inhabitants (December 31 2009):

Official district number	District with associated sub-districts	Areain km²	Inhabitants
	Totals

Main sights

Name	Roman Monuments,Cathedral of St. Peterand Church of Our Lady in Trier
Imagecaption	Roman bath ruins in Trier.|
State party	Germany
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii, iv, vi
Id	367
Region	Europe and North America
Year	1986
Session	10th
Link	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/367 }}

Trier is well known for its well preserved Roman and medieval buildings, which include:

the ''Porta Nigra'', the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps;

ruins of three Roman baths, among them the largest Roman baths north of the Alps;

the huge Constantine Basilica, a basilica in the original Roman sense, being the long throne hall of Roman Emperor Constantine; it is today used as a Protestant church. the Trier Cathedral ( or ''Dom St. Peter''), a Roman Catholic church which dates back to Roman times and is home to the Holy Tunic, a garment with a recorded history back to the 12th century, in Catholic tradition said to be the robe Jesus was wearing when he died. It is only exhibited every few decades, at irregular intervals.

The ''Liebfrauenkirche'' (German for ''Church of Our Lady''), which is one of the most important early Gothic cathedrals in Germany and falls into the architectural tradition of the French Gothic cathedrals;

the Roman amphitheatre;

the 2nd century AD Roman bridge (''Römerbrücke'') across the Moselle, the oldest bridge north of the Alps still crossed by traffic;

St. Matthias' Abbey (''Abtei St. Matthias''), a still-in-use monastery in whose medieval church the only apostle north of the Alps is held to be buried

St. Gangolf Church was the city's market church that rivalled the Archbishop's Trier Cathedral.

Saint Paulin Church, one of the most important Baroque churches in Rhineland-Palatinate and designed in part by the architect Balthasar Neumann

two old treadwheel cranes, one being the Gothic "Old Crane" (''Alte Krahnen'') or "Trier Moselle Crane" (''Trierer Moselkrahn'') from 1413, and the other the 1774 Baroque crane called the "(Old) Customs Crane" (''(Alter) Zollkran'') or "Younger Moselle Crane" (''Jüngerer Moselkran'') (see List of historical harbour cranes)

The old Jewish cemetery (DE) (Weidegasse)

Museums

'' Rheinisches Landesmuseum'' (one of the two most important German archaeological museums for the Roman period, along with the ''Römisch-Germanisches Museum'' in Cologne)

''Stadtmuseum Simeonstift'' (history of Trier, displaying among other exhibits a model of the medieval city)

''Bischöfliches Dom- und Diözesanmuseum'' (Museum of the Diocese of Trier, displays also numerous Roman artefacts)

Toy Museum of Trier

Ethnological and open air museum Roscheider Hof, a museum in the neighboring town of Konz, right at the city limits of Trier, which shows the history of rural culture in the northwest Rhineland Palatinate and in the area where Germany, Luxembourg and Lorraine meet.

Fell Exhibition Slate Mine; site in the municipality of Fell, 20 kilometers from Trier, containing an underground mine, a mine museum, and a slate mining trail.

Karl Marx House; a museum exhibiting Marx's personal history, volumes of poetry, original letters, and photographs with personal dedications. There is also a collection of rare first editions and international editions of his works, as well as exhibits on the development of socialism in the 19th century.

Education

Trier is home to the University of Trier, founded in 1473, closed in 1796 and restarted in 1970. The city also has the Trier University of Applied Sciences. The Academy of European Law(ERA) was established in 1992 and provides training in European law to legal practitioners. In 2010 there were about 40 ''Kindergärten'', 25 primary schools and 23 secondary schools in Trier, such as the ''Humboldt Gymnasium Trier'', ''Max Planck Gymnasium'' and the ''Pestalozzi-Hauptschule''.

Annual events

Every summer Trier hosts Germany's biggest Roman festival, Brot und Spiele (German for ''Bread and Games'').

Trier has been the base for the German round of the World Rally Championship since 2000, with the rally's presentation held next to the Porta Nigra.

Trier holds a lavish Christmas street festival every year called the Trier Christmas Market on the ''Hauptmarkt'' (Main Market Square) and the ''Domfreihof'' in front of the Cathedral of Trier.

Transportation

Trier station has direct railway connections to many cities. The nearest cities by train are Cologne, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg. Via the motorways A 1, A 48 and A 64 Trier is linked with Koblenz, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg. The nearest commercial (international) airports are in Luxembourg (0:40 h by car), Frankfurt-Hahn (1:00 h), Saarbrücken (1:00 h), Frankfurt (2:00 h) and Cologne/Bonn (2:00 h). The Moselle River is an important waterway and is also used for river cruises.

Sports

Major sports clubs in Trier include:

FSV Trier-Tarforst, intera alia football and rugby

SV Eintracht Trier 05, association football

TBB Trier, basketball

DJK/MJC Trier, women's team handball

Trier Cardinals, baseball

PST Trier Stampers, American Football

Renn Center Trier, Slotcar

Notable residents

see Heinz Monz: ''Trierer Biographisches Lexikon''. Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz 2000. 539 p. ISBN 3931014495.

Eucharius (died ~250), first bishop of Trier

Valerius (†320), second bishop of Trier

Helena (ca. 250-330), saint, mother of Constantine the Great

Paulinus (†358), bishop of Trier

Ausonius (ca. 310–395), Roman consul and poet

Ambrose (ca. 340–397), saint

Kaspar Olevianus (1536–1587), theologian

Karl Marx (1818–1883), social philosopher

Frederick A. Schroeder (1833–1899), American politician, mayor of Brooklyn

Ludwig Kaas (1881–1952), Roman Catholic priest and politician of the Zentrum

Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890–1991), theologian

Wolf Graf von Baudissin (1907–1993), general, military planner and peace researcher

Xavier Bout de Marnhac (born 1951), French general, former commander of KFOR

Ernst Ulrich Deuker (born 1954), musician of Ideal

Guildo Horn (born 1963), singer

Eric Jelen (born 1965), tennis player

Martin Bambauer (born 1970), church musician

Josephine Henning (born 1989), footballer

International relations

Trier is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with Luxembourg, Saarbrücken, and Metz (neighbouring countries: Luxembourg and France).

Twin towns – Sister cities

Trier is twinned with:

	* Metz, France since 1957	* Gloucester, United Kingdom, since 1957	* Ascoli Piceno, Italy, since 1958		* 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, since 1968	* Pula-Pola, Croatia, since 1971	* Fort Worth, Texas, USA since 1987		* Weimar, Germany since 1990	Nagaoka, Niigata>Nagaoka, Japan, since 2006	* Xiamen, China, since 2010

Namesakes

New Trier Township, USA. originally settled by people from Trier. New Trier, USA settled by people from Trier about 1856.

Gallery

References

External links

Official website

Category:16 BC establishments Category:Cities in Rhineland-Palatinate Category:Landmarks in Germany Category:Roman towns and cities in Germany Category:World Heritage Sites in Germany Category:Historic Jewish communities

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name	Lars von Trier
birth name	Lars Trier
birth date	April 30, 1956
birth place	Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
occupation	Film director and screenwriter
spouse	Cæcilia Holbek (m. 1987-1995)Bente Frøge (m. 1997-present) }}

Lars von Trier (; born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches.

Von Trier began making his own films at the age of 11, and his first publicly released film was an experimental short called ''The Orchid Gardener'', in 1977. His first feature film came seven years later, ''The Element of Crime'', in 1984. As of 2010, he has directed a further 10 feature films, five short films and four television productions.

He is married to Bente Frøge, his second wife. Von Trier suffers periodically from depression, as well as various fears and phobias, including an intense fear of flying. As he himself once put it, "Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking".

Early life and career

Lars Trier was born in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, the son of Inger Trier (née Høst, 1915—1989). He had believed that his biological father was Ulf Trier (1907—1978), until his mother revealed to him on her deathbed that he had been conceived as a result of an affair she had with her employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann. His mother considered herself a communist, while his father was social democrat, and both were committed nudists, and the young Lars went on several childhood holidays to nudist camps. They regarded the disciplining of children as reactionary. Trier has noted that he was brought up in an atheist family, and that although Ulf Trier was Jewish, he was not religious. He did not discover the identity of his biological father until 1989. His parents did not allow much room in their household for "feelings, religion, or enjoyment", and also refused to make any rules for their children, with complex results for von Trier's personality and development. The young Lars found in cinema an outlet to the outside world through which he could learn about subjects otherwise forbidden from his study by his parents. He began making his own films at the age of 11 after receiving a Super-8 camera as a gift and continued to be involved in independent moviemaking throughout his high school years.

In 1979, he was enrolled in the National Film School of Denmark. His peers at the film school nicknamed him "von Trier". The name is sort of an inside-joke with the von (German "of" or "from" used as a nobiliary particle), suggesting nobility, while Lars is a very common and Trier not an unusual name in Denmark. He reportedly kept the "von" name in homage to Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg, both of whom also added it later in life. During his time as a student at the school he made the films ''Nocturne'' (1980) and ''The Last Detail'' (''Den sidste detalje'', 1981), both of which won Best Film awards at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools, and he graduated with ''Images of a Relief'' (''Befrielsesbilleder'', 1982) in 1983.

Europe trilogy

After graduation he began work on the very stylized crime drama, ''The Element of Crime'' (''Forbrydelsens element'' 1984), which won a technical award at the Cannes Film Festival.

His next film was ''Epidemic'' (1987), which was also shown at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. The film is partly a dark science fiction-tale of a future plague epidemic, and partly chronicles two filmmakers (played by Lars von Trier and screenwriter Niels Vørsel) preparing that film, with the two storylines ultimately colliding.

For television von Trier directed ''Medea'' (1988), which won the Jean d'Arcy prize in France. It was based on a screenplay by Carl Th. Dreyer and starred Udo Kier.

He completed the Europe-trilogy in 1991 with ''Europa'' (released as ''Zentropa'' in the U.S.), which won the Prix du Jury at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and picked up awards at other major festivals.

In 1990 he also directed the music video for the worldwide hit "Bakerman" by Laid Back. This video was reused in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker who did a remake of Bakerman.

Zentropa and ''The Kingdom''

In 1992 he and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the movie production company Zentropa Entertainment, named after a train company in ''Europa'', their most recent film at the time. The reason for doing this was to achieve financial independence and to have total creative control. The production company has produced many movies other than von Trier's own as well as television series. It is also the world's only mainstream film studio to have produced hardcore sex films: ''Constance'' (1998), ''Pink Prison'' (1999), ''HotMen CoolBoyz'' (2000) and ''All About Anna'' (2005).

In order to make money for his newly founded company, he made ''The Kingdom'' (''Riget'', 1994) and ''The Kingdom II'' (''Riget II'', 1997), a pair of miniseries recorded in the Danish national hospital, the name "Riget" being a colloquial name for the hospital known as Rigshospitalet (lit. The Kingdom's Hospital) in Danish. A projected third installment in the series has been derailed due to the death of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Helmer, one of the major characters.

Dogme 95

In 1995, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg presented their manifesto for a new cinematic movement which they called Dogme 95. It would however take a while before the first of these films appeared, and at this point many thought of the concept mainly as a radical idea with no future.

Von Trier's next film, ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996) which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, features Emily Watson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Its grainy images and hand-held photography pointed towards Dogme95. ''Breaking the Waves'' is the first film in von Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes ''The Idiots'' (1998) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000).

Also in 1996, von Trier conducted an unusual theatrical experiment in Copenhagen involving 53 actors, which he titled ''Psychomobile 1: The World Clock''. A documentary chronicling the project was directed by Jesper Jargil, and was released in 2000 with the title ''De Udstillede'' (''The Exhibited'').

Lars von Trier made his own contribution to the Dogme 95 movement with ''The Idiots'' (''Idioterne'', 1998), and even overcame his dislike of traveling to present it in person at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Palme d'Or.

As originator of the Dogme 95 concept, which has led to international interest in Danish film as a whole, he has inspired filmmakers all over the world. Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the Dogme 95 Manifesto and the "Vow of Chastity" together with their fellow Dogme directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen shared in 2008 the European Film Award European Achievement in World Cinema.

Explicit images

Von Trier's use of sexually explicit images in ''The Idiots'' (1998) started a wave of arthouse mainstream films with unsimulated sex, such as Catherine Breillat's ''Romance'' (1999), ''Baise-Moi'' (2000), ''Intimacy'' (2001), Vincent Gallo's ''The Brown Bunny'' (2003) and Michael Winterbottom's ''9 Songs'' (2004).

In 1998, Lars von Trier also made history by having his company Zentropa be the world's first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films. Three of these films, ''Constance'' (1998), ''Pink Prison'' (1999) and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature ''All About Anna'' (2005), were made primarily for a female audience, and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first two being directly responsible for the March 2006 legalizing of pornography in Norway.

Lars von Trier's initiative spearheaded a European wave of female-friendly porn films from directors such as Anna Span, Erika Lust and Petra Joy, while von Trier's company Zentropa was forced to abandon the experiment due to pressure from English business partners. In July 2009, women's magazine ''Cosmopolitan'' ranked ''Pink Prison'' as #1 in its Top Five of the best women’s porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation". Lars von Trier would return to explicit images in his self-directed ''Antichrist'' (2009), exploring darker themes.

2000s

In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring Icelandic musician Björk, ''Dancer in the Dark''. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The song "I've Seen It All" (which Trier co-wrote) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

''The Five Obstructions'' (2003), made by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth, is a documentary, but also incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films. The premise is that Lars von Trier challenges director Jørgen Leth, his friend and mentor, to remake his old experimental film ''The Perfect Human'' (1967) five times, each time with a different 'obstruction' (or obstacle) specified by von Trier.

He then directed two films in his announced 'U.S. trilogy': ''Dogville'' (2003), starring Nicole Kidman and ''Manderlay'' (2005), starring Bryce Dallas Howard in the same role - as Grace. Both films are extremely stylized, with the actors playing their parts on a nearly empty soundstage with little but chalk marks on the floor to indicate the sets. Both films had huge casts of major international actors (Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, etc.), and questioned various issues relating to American society, such as intolerance in ''Dogville'' and slavery in ''Manderlay''.

Controversy erupted on the 2004 set for ''Manderlay'' when actor John C. Reilly walked off the Trollhättan, Sweden, set in late March. Reilly walked off the film when he learned that an upcoming scene involved the slaughter of a donkey for food. The film's producer says the animal—who was old and not expected to live much longer—was killed off-camera by a certified veterinarian, in accordance with Swedish law. Reilly was replaced by Zeljko Ivanek.

The U.S. was also the scene for ''Dear Wendy'' (2005), a feature film directed by von Trier's "Dogme-brother" Thomas Vinterberg from a script by von Trier. It starred Jamie Bell and Bill Pullman and dealt with gun worship. Both ''Manderlay'' and ''Dear Wendy'' failed to attract much of an audience, and were along with other simultaneous flops from important local directors perceived as confirmation of a creative crisis in Danish cinema.

In 2006, von Trier released a Danish-language comedy film, ''The Boss of it All''. It was shot using a process that von Trier has called Automavision, which involves the director choosing the best possible fixed camera position and then allowing a computer to randomly choose when to tilt, pan or zoom.

It was followed by an autobiographical film, ''De unge år: Erik Nietzsche sagaen del 1'' (2007), scripted by von Trier but directed by Jacob Thuesen, which tells the story of von Trier's years as a student at the National Film School of Denmark. It stars Jonatan Spang as von Trier's alter ego, called "Erik Nietzsche", and is narrated by von Trier himself. All main characters in the film are based on real people from the Danish film industry, with the thinly veiled portrayals including Jens Albinus as director Nils Malmros, Dejan Čukić as screenwriter Mogens Rukov and Søren Pilmark in an especially unflattering portrayal as sex-obsessed school principal Henning Camre.

Lars von Trier's next feature film was a horror movie, ''Antichrist'', about "a grieving couple who retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping a return to Eden will repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage; but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse". The film, which includes sexually explicit content, stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where the festival's jury honoured the movie by giving the Best Actress award to Gainsbourg. The Cannes Film Festival Ecumenical Jury, which gives prizes for movies that promote spiritual, humanist and universal values, also "honoured" the film with a special "anti-award"; a spokesman for the jury described it as "the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world." In 2010 the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported on their website that the film production company Zentropa is reportedly making more revenue from suing movie pirates in Germany that have downloaded ''Antichrist'' illegally than from box office and DVD sales, demanding a payment of around 1,300 euros per download to avoid legal action.

2010s

Von Trier's latest work is ''Melancholia'', a psychological disaster drama; shot between 22 July and 8 September 2010 at Film i Väst's studios in Trollhättan, Sweden, and with exteriors in the area surrounding the Tjolöholm Castle, the €5 million ($7 million) budget movie is set to be released in Denmark on 26 May 2011 through Nordisk Film. Magnolia Pictures has acquired the distribution rights for North America. The film is in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Von Trier announced that after finishing ''Melancholia'' he hopes to begin production of ''The Nymphomaniac'', a film about the sexual awakening of a woman. The director explained how he got the idea for the upcoming project: "my DP on [''Melancholia''], Manuel Claro, at one point voiced a surprising prejudice. He urged me not to fall into the trap that so many aging directors fall into – that the women get younger and younger and nuder and nuder. That's all I needed to hear. I most definitely intend for the women in my films to get younger and younger and nuder and nuder."

Phobias

Von Trier suffers from multiple phobias, including an intense fear of flying. His fear of air travel frequently places severely limiting constraints on him and his crew, necessitating that virtually all of his films be shot in either Denmark or Sweden, even those set in the United States or other foreign countries. Von Trier has had a number of his films featured at the Cannes Film Festival over the course of his career, and each time has insisted on driving from Denmark to France for the festival and back.

On numerous occasions von Trier has also stated that he suffers from occasional depression which renders him incapable of performing his work and unable to fulfill social obligations.

Filming techniques

Lars von Trier has said that "a film should be like a stone in your shoe". In order to create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the filmmaking process. The most famous restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme95 movement with which he is associated, though only one of his films, ''The Idiots'', is an actual Dogme 95 film. In ''Dancer in the Dark'', jump shots and dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques were used for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in ''Dogville'' everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as a line on the floor.

Von Trier often shoots digitally and operates the camera himself, preferring to continuously shoot the actors in-character without stopping between takes. In ''Dogville'' he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. These techniques often put great strain on actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of ''Dancer in the Dark''. Often he uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films: some of his frequently used actors are Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård.

He is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film ''The Night Porter''. He was so inspired by the short film ''The Perfect Human'' directed by Jørgen Leth that he challenged Leth to redo the short five times in feature film ''The Five Obstructions''.

Trilogies

Von Trier has on occasion referred to his films as falling into thematic and stylistic trilogies. This pattern began with his first feature film, marking the beginning of The ''Europa Trilogy'', though he claims a trilogy was not initially planned, instead being applied to the films in retrospect. The Europe trilogy illuminated the traumas of Europe in the past and future. This trilogy includes ''The Element of Crime'' (1984), ''Epidemic'' (1987) and ''Europa'' (1991).

The ''Golden Heart'' trilogy was about naive heroines who maintain their 'golden hearts' despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy consists of ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''The Idiots'' (1998) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only ''The Idiots'' is a certified Dogme 95 film.

The ''USA: Land of Opportunities'' trilogy follows the character of Grace, and is set in a stylized American past. Von Trier has stated he was inspired to make a trilogy about the United States as a reaction to Americans at the Cannes film festival who said he had no right to make the ''Dancer in the Dark'', which was often viewed as being critical of a country he has never been to (and has no intention of ever visiting, due to his phobia of travel); however, von Trier himself has stated in interviews he did not intend it to be a criticism of America, saying the film takes place in a "fictional America". Lars von Trier proposed the films as ‘a series of sermons on America’s sins and hypocrisy’, inspired by the fact that American movie makers have made many movies about places across the world to which they have not travelled. All three movies will be shot in the same distinctive style, on a bare sound stage with no set and buildings marked by lines on the floor. This style is inspired by 1970s televised theatre. The trilogy will consist of ''Dogville'' (2003), ''Manderlay'' (2005) and the so far unproduced ''Wasington''.

''The Kingdom'' (''Riget'') was planned as a trilogy of three seasons with 13 episodes in total, but the third season was not filmed due to death of star Ernst-Hugo Järegård shortly after completion of the second season.

Biological father

In 1989, von Trier's mother revealed on her deathbed that the man who he thought was his father was not, and that she had had a tryst with her former employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann (1909–2000), who descended from a long line of Roman Catholic classical musicians (His grandfather was Emil Hartmann, his great grandfather J.P.E. Hartmann, his uncles included Niels Gade and Johan Ernst Hartmann and thus Niels Viggo Bentzon was his cousin). She stated that she did this in order to give her son "artistic genes".

Until that point I thought I had a Jewish background. But I'm really more of a Nazi. I believe that my biological father's German family went back two further generations. Before she died, my mother told me to be happy that I was the son of this other man. She said my foster father had had no goals and no strength. But he was a loving man. And I was very sad about this revelation. And you then feel manipulated when you really do turn out to be creative. If I'd known that my mother had this plan, I would have become something else. I would have shown her. The slut!

During the German occupation of Denmark, Fritz Michael Hartmann worked as a civil servant and joined a resistance group (Frit Danmark), actively counteracting any pro-German and pro-Nazi colleagues in his department. Another member of this infiltrative resistance group was Hartmann's colleague Viggo Kampmann, who would later become prime minister of Denmark.

After four awkward meetings with his biological father, the man refused further contact. The revelations led von Trier to attempt to "erase" the connections with his stepfather by converting to Catholicism, and to rework his filmmaking into a style emphasizing "honesty".

I don't know if I'm all that Catholic really. I'm probably not. Denmark is a very Protestant country. Perhaps I only turned Catholic to piss off a few of my countrymen.

Controversy at 2011 Cannes Film Festival

On 19 May 2011, Cannes Film Festival's board of directors declared von Trier persona non grata for comments he made during a press conference for his film ''Melancholia'' the day before, an unprecedented move for the film festival. Responding to a question by the London Times film critic Kate Muir about his German roots and his comments in a Danish film magazine about the Nazi aesthetic, von Trier claimed to have some sympathy for and understanding of Adolf Hitler, and then jokingly claimed to be a Nazi himself: }}

Hours later, Von Trier released a brief statement of apology about his comments at the press conference: "If I have hurt someone this morning by the words I said at the press conference, I sincerely apologise. I am not anti-semitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi." The next day, the festival directors held an extraordinary meeting, deciding his remarks were "unacceptable, intolerable and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival. [...] The board of directors condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately."

Afterwards, Von Trier held a news conference of his own in Danish. His first remark to the Danish journalists was: "If any of you journalists will beat me, so just do it. I will enjoy it." He went on to say that "The Holocaust is the worst crime that ever happened. I have nothing against Jews. I have a Jewish name, and all my children have Jewish names." He admitted that his remarks about the Nazis had been misguided, saying "It was really stupidly done and it was in the wrong forum. At the press conference with Danish journalists, there were no problems, but I do not think the international journalists understand my Danish humor." But he also said he was proud to have been kicked out of the Cannes festival: "I am proud to have been declared 'persona non grata'. It is perhaps the first time in cinematic history, it has happened. ... I think one reason is that French people treated the Jews badly during World War II. Therefore, it is a sensitive topic for them. I respect the Cannes festival very highly, but I also understand that they are very angry at me right now."

Speaking to other news outlets he said that his comments were "very sarcastic and very rude, but that's very Danish." He also added, "I don't sympathize with Hitler for one second."

Honours

Lars von Trier was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog on 14 January, 1997. 10 years later Trier decided to bring back the prize, saying that the Danish royal family are just "simple people of bad quality".

Filmography

Lars von Trier's first film is ''The Orchid Gardener'', a 16mm short released in 1977. His first feature film is ''The Element of Crime'' (1984), which was also the first in what became known as the Europa trilogy. His most recent film is ''Melancholia'', which premiered in May 2011 at the 64th Cannes Film Festival.

References

Notes

Further reading

Tiefenbach, Georg: ''Drama und Regie (Writing and Directing): Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville.'' 2010 Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 9783826040962

External links

Lars from 1–10

Production Company

The Director Interviews: Lars von Trier, ''The Boss of It All'' at ''Filmmaker Magazine''

Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

Geoffrey Macnab, "I'm a control freak - but I was not in control" (Geoffrey Macnab talks to Lars Von Trier), The Guardian (22 September 2006).

Slave to cinema

The Age Interview

Timeout Interview

Category:1956 births Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Danish people of German descent Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Category:Danish film directors Category:Danish Roman Catholics Category:Danish screenwriters Category:Experimental filmmakers Category:Living people Category:People from Copenhagen Category:Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Category:People from Kongens Lyngby

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Name	Adolf Hitler
Nationality	Austrian citizen until 7 April 1925German citizen after 25 February 1932
Birth date	April 20, 1889
Birth place	Braunau am Inn, Austria–Hungary
Death date	April 30, 1945
Death place	Berlin, Germany
Death cause	Suicide
Party	National Socialist German Workers' Party (1921–1945)
Otherparty	German Workers' Party (1920–1921)
Religion	See Adolf Hitler's religious views
Spouse	Eva Braun(29–30 April 1945)
Occupation	Politician, soldier, artist, writer
Order	Führer of Germany
Term start	2 August 1934
Term end	30 April 1945
Chancellor	Himself
Predecessor	Paul von Hindenburg(as President)
Successor	Karl Dönitz(as President)
Order2	Chancellor of Germany
Term start2	30 January 1933
Term end2	30 April 1945
President2	Paul von HindenburgHimself (''Führer'')
Deputy2	Franz von PapenVacant
Predecessor2	Kurt von Schleicher
Successor2	Joseph Goebbels
Signature	Hitler Signature2.svg
Allegiance
Branch	''Reichsheer''
Unit	16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment
Serviceyears	1914–1918
Rank	''Gefreiter''
Battles	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross First ClassWound Badge }}

Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (, abbreviated NSDAP, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state (as ''Führer und Reichskanzler'') from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most commonly associated with the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and the Holocaust.

A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the precursor of the Nazi Party (DAP) in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, Hitler attempted a coup d'état, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, ''Mein Kampf'' (''My Struggle''). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained support by promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.

Hitler's avowed aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe. His foreign and domestic policies had the goal of seizing ''Lebensraum'' (''living space'') for the Germanic people. This included the rearmament of Germany, resulting in the invasion of Poland by the ''Wehrmacht'' in September 1939, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

Under Hitler's direction, German forces and their European allies at one point occupied most of Europe and North Africa, reversed in 1945 when the Allied armies defeated the German army. Hitler's racially motivated policies resulted in the systematic annihilation of as many as 17 million civilians, including an estimated six million Jews targeted in the Holocaust and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Roma.

In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun. To avoid capture by the Red Army, the two committed suicide less than two days later on 30 April 1945 and their corpses were burned.

Early years

Ancestry

Hitler's father, Alois Hitler, was an illegitimate child of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. Therefore, the name of Alois' father was not listed on Alois' birth certificate, and he bore his mother's surname. In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Maria, and in 1876 Alois testified before a notary and three witnesses that Johann was his father. Despite his testimony, the question of Alois' paternity remained unresolved. Hans Frank claimed—after receiving an extortionary letter from Hitler's nephew William Patrick Hitler threatening to reveal embarrassing information about Hitler's family tree—to have uncovered letters revealing that Alois' mother was employed as a housekeeper for a Jewish family in Graz and that the family's 19-year-old son, Leopold Frankenberger, had fathered Alois. However, Frank's claim remained unsupported, and Frank himself did not believe that Hitler had Jewish ancestry. Claims of Alois' father being Jewish were doubted by historians in the 1990s. Ian Kershaw dismissed the Frankenberger story as a "smear" by Hitler's enemies, noting that all Jews had been expelled from Graz in the 15th century and were not allowed to return until after Alois' birth.

At age 39, Alois assumed the surname ''Hitler'', variously spelled also as ''Hiedler'', ''Hüttler'', or ''Huettler'', and was probably regularized to its final spelling by a clerk. The origin of the name is either "one who lives in a hut" (Standard German ''Hütte''), "shepherd" (Standard German ''hüten'' "to guard", English ''heed''), or is from the Slavic word ''Hidlar'' and ''Hidlarcek''.

Childhood

Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 at around 6:30 pm at the Gasthof zum Pommer, an inn in Ranshofen, a village annexed to the municipality of Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria in 1938. He was the fourth of six children to Alois Hitler and Klara Pölzl. All of Adolf's older siblings  – Gustav, Ida, and Otto – died before reaching three years of age.

At the age of three, his family moved to Kapuzinerstrasse 5 in Passau, Germany. There, Hitler would acquire a Bavarian dialect of Austro-Bavarian rather than an Austrian dialect. In 1894, the family relocated to Leonding near Linz, and in June 1895, Alois retired to a small landholding at Hafeld near Lambach, where he tried his hand at farming and beekeeping. Adolf attended school in nearby Fischlham, and in his free time, he played "Cowboys and Indians". Hitler became fixated on warfare after finding a picture book about the Franco-Prussian War among his father's belongings.

Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897 the family moved to Lambach. Hitler attended a Catholic school in an 11th-century Benedictine cloister, the walls of which bore engravings and crests that contained the symbol of the swastika. In Lambach the eight-year-old Hitler also sang in the church choir, took singing lessons, and even entertained thoughts of one day becoming a priest. In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding.

On 2 February 1900 Hitler's younger brother, Edmund, died of measles, deeply affecting Hitler, whose character changed from being confident and outgoing and an excellent student, to a morose, detached, and sullen boy who constantly fought his father and his teachers.

Hitler was attached to his mother, but he had a troubled relationship with his father, who frequently beat him, especially in the years after Alois' retirement and failed farming efforts. Alois was a Austrian customs official who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, which caused much conflict between them. Ignoring his son's wishes to attend a classical high school and become an artist, in September 1900 his father sent Adolf to the Realschule in Linz, a technical high school of about 300 students. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in ''Mein Kampf'' revealed that he failed his first year, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to the happiness I dreamed of."

German Nationalism became an obsession for Hitler, and a way to rebel against his father, who proudly served the Austrian government. Most residents living along the German-Austrian border considered themselves German-Austrians, whereas Hitler expressed loyalty only to Germany. In defiance of the Austrian monarchy, and his father who continually expressed loyalty to it, Hitler and his friends used the German greeting "Heil", and sang the German anthem "Deutschland Über Alles" instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem.

After Alois' sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's behaviour at the technical school became even more disruptive, and he was asked to leave in 1904. He enrolled at the ''Realschule'' in Steyr in September 1904, but upon completing his second year, he and his friends went out for a night of celebration and drinking. While drunk, Hitler tore up his school certificate and used its pieces as toilet paper. The stained certificate was brought to the attention of the school's principal who "... gave him such a dressing-down that the boy was reduced to shivering jelly. It was probably the most painful and humiliating experience of his life." Hitler was expelled, never to return to school again.

Aged 15, Hitler took part in his First Communion on Whitsunday, 22 May 1904, at the Linz Cathedral. His sponsor was Emanuel Lugert, a friend of his late father.

Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich

From 1905, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna with financial support from orphan's benefits and his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), because of his "unfitness for painting", and was recommended to study architecture. Following this recommendation, he intended to pursue architectural studies, yet he lacked the academic credentials required for architecture school:

In a few days I myself knew that I should some day become an architect. To be sure, it was an incredibly hard road; for the studies I had neglected out of spite at the Realschule were sorely needed. One could not attend the Academy's architectural school without having attended the building school at the Technic, and the latter required a high-school degree. I had none of all this. The fulfillment of my artistic dream seemed physically impossible.

On 21 December 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer at age 47; Hitler was devastated, and carried the grief from her death with him for the rest of his life. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the orphan's benefits to his sister Paula, and at the age of 21, he inherited money from an aunt. He struggled as a painter in Vienna, copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists. After being rejected a second time by the Academy of Arts, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909, he lived in a shelter for the homeless, and by 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men on Meldemannstraße. Another resident of the shelter, Reinhold Hanisch, sold Hitler's paintings until the two men had a bitter falling-out.

Hitler stated that he first became an antisemite in Vienna, which had a large Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews who had fled the pogroms in Russia. According to childhood friend August Kubizek, however, Hitler was a "confirmed antisemite" before he left Linz. Brigitte Hamann wrote that “of all those early witnesses who can be taken seriously Kubizek is the only one to portray young Hitler as an anti-Semite and precisely in this respect he is not trustworthy.” Vienna at that time was a hotbed of traditional religious prejudice and 19th century racism. Hitler may have been influenced by the occult writings of the antisemite Lanz von Liebenfels in his magazine ''Ostara''; he probably read the publication, although it is uncertain to what degree he was influenced by von Liebenfels' writings.

{{bquote|There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanised in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic antisemitism.

Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?}}

Martin Luther's ''On the Jews and Their Lies'' may have also shaped Hitler's views. In ''Mein Kampf'', he refers to Martin Luther as a great warrior, a true statesman, and a great reformer, alongside Richard Wagner and Frederick the Great. Wilhelm Röpke concluded that "without any question, Lutheranism influenced the political, spiritual and social history of Germany in a way that, after careful consideration of everything, can be described only as fateful."

However, at the time Hitler apparently did not act on his views. He was a frequent dinner guest in a wealthy Jewish house, and he interacted well with Jewish merchants who tried to sell his paintings.

Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich. He wrote in ''Mein Kampf'' that he had always longed to live in a "real" German city. In Munich, he further pursued his interest in architecture and the writings of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Moving to Munich also helped him avoid military service in Austria, but the Munich police in cooperation with the Austrian authorities eventually arrested him for dodging the draft. After a physical exam and a contrite plea, he was deemed unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered World War I in August 1914, he successfully petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment, and enlisted in the Bavarian army.

World War I

Hitler served as a runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium in the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16. He experienced major combat, including the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele.

Hitler was twice decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and Iron Cross, First Class on 4 August 1918. He also received the Wound Badge. Hitler's First Class Iron Cross was recommended by Hugo Gutmann, and although the latter decoration was rarely awarded to a ''Gefreiter'', it may be explained by Hitler's post at regimental headquarters where he had more frequent interactions with senior officers than other soldiers of similar rank. The regimental staff, however, thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, and he was never promoted.

While serving at regimental headquarters Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. In October 1916, he was wounded either in the groin area or the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dug-out during the Battle of the Somme. Hitler spent almost two months in the Red Cross hospital at Beelitz. He returned to his regiment on 5 March 1917.

On 15 October 1918, Hitler and several comrades were temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack, but it has also been suggested that he suffered from conversion disorder, then known as "hysteria". He was hospitalized in Pasewalk. Hitler became embittered over the collapse of the war effort. It was during this time that Hitler's ideological development began to firmly take shape. Some scholars, notably Lucy Dawidowicz, argue that Hitler's intention to exterminate Europe's Jews was fully formed at this time.

Hitler described the war as "the greatest of all experiences" and he was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. The experience made Hitler a passionate German patriot, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. Like many other German nationalists, Hitler believed in the ''Dolchstoßlegende'' (Stab-in-the-back legend), which claimed that the army, "undefeated in the field," had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders and Marxists back on the home front, later dubbed the ''November Criminals''.

The Treaty of Versailles, citing Germany's responsibility for the war, stipulated that Germany relinquish several of its territories, demilitarisation of the Rhineland, and imposed economic sanctions and levied reparations on the country. Many Germans perceived the treaty, especially Article 231 on the German responsibility for the war, as a humiliation, and its economic effects on the social and political conditions in Germany were later exploited by Hitler.

Entry into politics

After World War I, Hitler remained in the army and returned to Munich, where he attended the funeral march for the murdered Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner. After the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, he took part in "national thinking" courses organized by the ''Education and Propaganda Department'' of the Bavarian ''Reichswehr'' under Captain Karl Mayr.

In July 1919, Hitler was appointed ''Verbindungsmann'' (intelligence agent) of an ''Aufklärungskommando'' (reconnaissance commando) of the ''Reichswehr'', both to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). While he studied the activities of the DAP, Hitler became impressed with founder Anton Drexler's antisemitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist and anti-Marxist ideas. Drexler favoured a strong active government, a "non-Jewish" version of socialism and solidarity among all members of society. Drexler was impressed with Hitler's oratory skills and invited him to join the DAP, which Hitler accepted on 12 September 1919, becoming its 55th member.

At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart, one of its early founders and member of the occult Thule Society. Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing Hitler to a wide range of people in Munich's society. Hitler thanked Eckart and paid tribute to him in the second volume of ''Mein Kampf''. To increase the party's appeal, the party changed its name to the ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (National Socialist German Workers Party - NSDAP). Hitler also designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background to make a visual impact.

Hitler was discharged from the army in March 1920 and began participating full time in the party's activities. By early 1921, Hitler had become highly effective at speaking in front of large crowds. In February 1921, Hitler spoke to a crowd of over six thousand in Munich. To publicize the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around waving swastikas and throwing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy, polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially directed against Marxists and Jews. At the time, the NSDAP was centred in Munich, a major hotbed of anti-government German nationalists which was determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic.

In June 1921, while Hitler was on a trip to Berlin (with Eckart) for a fund-raising mission, there was a mutiny among the DAP in Munich, most notably within the executive committee whose members who wanted to merge with the rival German Socialist Party (DSP) and considered Hitler to be too overbearing. Hitler returned to Munich and in anger tendered his resignation from the party on 11 July 1921. However, committee members realized that Hitler's resignation would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would only return on the conditions that he replace Drexler as party chairman and the party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed to his demands and Hitler rejoined the party as member 3,680. However, the conflict was not over. Hermann Esser and his allies printed 3,000 copies of an anonymous pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the days which followed, Hitler spoke to a several packed houses and defended himself to thunderous applause. At the general membership meeting which followed, only one no vote was cast in relation to granting Hitler dictatorial powers with his chairmanship being officially and unanimously accepted.

Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. Early followers included Rudolf Hess, the former air force pilot Hermann Göring, and the army captain Ernst Röhm. The latter became head of the Nazis' paramilitary organization the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA, "Storm Division"), which protected meetings and frequently attacked political opponents. A critical influence on his thinking at this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung, a conspiratorial group formed of White Russian exiles and early National Socialists. The group, financed with funds channeled from wealthy industrialists like Henry Ford, introduced him to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism. Hitler also attracted the attention of local business interests, was accepted into influential circles of Munich society, and became associated with wartime General Erich Ludendorff during this time.

Beer Hall ''Putsch''

Encouraged by his new support, Hitler recruited Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the "Beer Hall ''Putsch''" (also known as the "Hitler ''Putsch''" or "Munich ''Putsch''"). The Nazi Party had used Italy's fascists as an example for its appearance and policies, and in 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini's "March on Rome" by staging his own "Campaign in Berlin". Hitler and Ludendorff sought support of ''Staatskommissar'' (state commissioner) Gustav von Kahr, Bavaria's ''de facto'' ruler. However, Kahr along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser (Seißer) and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler.

Hitler wanted to seize a critical moment for successful popular agitation and support. So on 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people, organized by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall in Munich. Hitler interrupted Kahr's speech and announced that the national revolution had begun, declaring the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. With his hand gun drawn, Hitler demanded the support of Kahr, Seisser and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded at occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters; however, neither the army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler. Kahr and his consorts quickly withdrew their support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler. The following day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government on their "March on Berlin", but the police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup.

Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl where he contemplated suicide, but Hanfstaengl's wife Helene talked him out of it. He was soon arrested for high treason and tried before the special People's Court in Munich, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the NSDAP. During his trial, Hitler was given almost unlimited time to speak, and his popularity soared as he voiced nationalistic sentiments in his defence speech. His trial began on 26 February 1924 and on 1 April 1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. Hitler received friendly treatment from the guards and received a lot of mail from supporters. The Bavarian Supreme Court soon issued a pardon and he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler had been imprisoned for just over one year for the attempted coup.

''Mein Kampf''

While at Landsberg, he dictated most of the first volume of ''Mein Kampf'' (''My Struggle'', originally entitled ''Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice'') to his deputy Rudolf Hess. The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology. ''Mein Kampf'' was influenced by ''The Passing of the Great Race'' by Madison Grant, which Hitler called "my Bible". ''Mein Kampf'' was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, selling about 240,000 copies between 1925 and 1934. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed. The copyright of ''Mein Kampf'' in Europe is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and will end on 31 December 2015. In Germany, only heavily commented editions of ''Mein Kampf'' are available solely for academic studies.

Rebuilding of the NSDAP

At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative, and the economy had improved. This limited Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed ''Beer Hall Putsch'', the NSDAP and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. However, Hitler—now claiming to seek political power only through the democratic process—succeeded in persuading Heinrich Held, Prime Minister of Bavaria, to lift the ban. The ban on the NSDAP was lifted on 16 February 1925, but Hitler was barred from public speaking. To be able to advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser along with his brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels to organize and grow the NSDAP in northern Germany. Strasser, however, steered a more independent political course, emphasizing the socialist element in the party's programme.

Hitler went on to establish a more autocratic rule of the NSDAP and asserted the ''Führerprinzip'' ("Leader principle"). Offices in the party were not determined by elections, but rather filled by appointment by higher ranks who demanded unquestioning obedience from the lower ranks they had appointed.

A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to evoke a sense of violated national pride as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Many Germans strongly resented the terms of the treaty, especially the economic burden of having to pay large reparations to other countries affected by World War I. Nonetheless, attempts by Hitler to win popular support by blaming the demands and assertions in the treaty on "international Jewry" were largely unsuccessful with the electorate. Therefore, Hitler and his party began employing more subtle propaganda methods, combining antisemitism with an attack on the failures of the "Weimar system" and the parties supporting it.

Having failed in overthrowing the republic and gaining power by a coup, Hitler changed tactics and pursued a strategy of formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had gained political power through regular elections. His vision was to then use the institutions of the Weimar Republic to destroy it and establish himself as autocratic leader.

Rise to power

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- |+ Nazi Party election results |- !Date !Votes,total !Votes,percentage !Seats,Reichstag !class=unsortable|Background |- |May 1924 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |Hitler in prison |- |December 1924 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |Hitler is released from prison |- |May 1928 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |  |- |September 1930 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |After the financial crisis |- |July 1932 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |After Hitler was candidate for presidency |- |November 1932 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |  |- |March 1933 |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |style="text-align:right;"| |During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany |}

Brüning Administration

Hitler's political turning point came with the Great Depression in Germany in 1930. The Weimar Republic had difficulties taking firm roots in German society and faced strong challenges from right- and left-wing extremists. The moderate political parties committed to the democratic parliamentary republic were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 had helped to elevate the profile and prominence of Nazi ideology. In early elections in September 1930, the moderates lost their majority, leading to the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement by a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of the Centre Party, governed through emergency decrees from the president of state, Paul von Hindenburg. Tolerated by most parties, governance by decree would become the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. Notably the NSDAP rose from relative obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, growing from ninth- to second-largest party in the German parliament.

The increasing political clout of Hitler was also felt at the trial of two ''Reichswehr'' officers, ''Leutnants'' Richard Scheringer and Hans Ludin, in the autumn of 1930. Both were charged with membership of the NSDAP, which at that time was illegal for ''Reichswehr'' personnel. The prosecution argued that the NSDAP was a dangerous extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify at the court. During his testimony on 25 September 1930, Hitler stated that his party was aiming to come to power solely through democratic elections and that the NSDAP was a friend of the ''Reichswehr''. Hitler's testimony won him many supporters in the officer corps.

Brüning's budgetary and financial austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this weakness by targeting his political messages specifically to the segments of the population that had been hard hit by the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class.

Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925, but at the time did not acquire German citizenship. For almost seven years Hitler was stateless, so he was unable to run for public office and even faced the risk of deportation. Therefore, on 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick who was a member of the NSDAP appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany as well.

In 1932, Hitler ran against the aging President Paul von Hindenburg in the presidential elections. The viability of his candidacy was underscored by a 27 January 1932 speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf, which won him support from a broad swath of Germany's most powerful industrialists. However, Hindenburg had broad support of various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties and even some social democrats. Hitler used the campaign slogan "''Hitler über Deutschland''" (Hitler over Germany), a reference to his political ambitions, and to his campaigning by aircraft. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35% of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a credible force in German politics.

In September 1931, Hitler's niece Geli Raubal committed suicide with Hitler's gun in his Munich apartment. Geli was believed to be in a romantic relationship with Hitler, and it is believed that her death was a source of deep, lasting pain for him.

Appointment as Chancellor

Because of the difficulties of forming a stable and effective government, two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg, as well as a number of industrialists and businessmen, including Hjalmar Schacht and Fritz Thyssen wrote to Hindenburg, urging him to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties" which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people."

After two parliament elections—in July and November 1932—had failed to result in a majority government, President Hindenburg eventually and reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and Hugenberg's party, the DNVP. The influence of the NSDAP in parliament was thought to be limited by an alliance of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by von Papen as Vice-Chancellor and by Hugenberg as Minister of the Economy. The only other NSDAP member besides Hitler, Wilhelm Frick, was given the relatively powerless interior ministry. However, as a concession to the NSDAP, Göring, who was head of the Prussian police at the time, was named minister without portfolio. So although von Papen intended to install Hitler merely as a figurehead, the NSDAP gained key political positions.

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during a brief and simple ceremony in Hindenburg's office. Hitler's first speech as Chancellor took place on 10 February. The Nazis' seizure of power subsequently became known as the ''Machtergreifung'' or ''Machtübernahme''.

Reichstag fire and March elections

As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by his political opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, Hitler asked President Hindenburg to dissolve the ''Reichstag'' again, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933, the ''Reichstag'' building was set on fire, and since a Dutch independent communist was found in the burning building, a communist plot was blamed for the fire. The central government responded with the ''Reichstag'' Fire Decree of 28 February, which suspended basic rights, including ''habeas corpus''. In particular, activities of the German Communist Party were suppressed, and communist party members were arrested, forced to flee, or murdered.

Besides political campaigning, the NSDAP used paramilitary violence and spread of anti-communist propaganda on the days preceding the election. On election day, 6 March 1933, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, gaining the largest number of seats in parliament. However, Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, thus again necessitating a coalition with the DNVP.

Day of Potsdam and the Enabling Act

On 21 March 1933, the new ''Reichstag'' was constituted with an opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This ''Day of Potsdam'' was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and unity between the revolutionary Nazi movement and ''Old Prussia'' with its elites and perceived virtues. Hitler appeared in a tail coat and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.

In the Nazis' quest for full political control and because they had failed to gain an absolute majority in the prior parliamentary election, Hitler's government brought the ''Ermächtigungsgesetz'' (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected ''Reichstag''. The aim of this move was to give Hitler's cabinet full legislative powers for a period of four years. Although such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. Since the bill required a ⅔ majority to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Centre Party, the third largest party in the ''Reichstag'', turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees of the Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states, and the continued existence of the Centre Party.

On 23 March, the ''Reichstag'' assembled in a replacement building under extremely turbulent circumstances. Several SA men served as guards inside, while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving members of parliament. Kaas announced that the Centre Party would support the bill with "concerns put aside", while Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the act in his speech. At the end of the day, all parties except Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill—the Communists, as well as several Social Democrats, were barred from attending the vote. The Enabling Act, along with the ''Reichstag'' Fire Decree, transformed Hitler's government into a ''de facto'' dictatorship.

Removal of remaining limits

Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his political allies embarked on systematic suppression of the remaining political opposition. After the dissolution of the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was also banned and all its assets seized. The Steel Helmets were placed under Hitler's leadership with some autonomy as an auxiliary police force. On 1 May, demonstrations were held, and the SA stormtroopers demolished trade union offices. On 2 May 1933, all trade unions in the country were forced to dissolve, and were replaced with a new organisation of "trade unions", uniting workers, administrators, and company owners. This new trade union reflected the concept of ''national socialism'' in the spirit of Hitler's "Volksgemeinschaft" (community of all German people).

Also the Catholic Church, to which roughly 50 % of the German people belonged, was forced to support Hitler: there was an early "Concordat" with the Vatican, but nonetheless the large Centre Party of the catholics was dissolved, as most other ones. On 14 July 1933, Hitler's Nazi Party was declared the only legal party in Germany. Hitler used the SA to pressure Hugenberg into resigning, and proceeded to politically isolate Vice-Chancellor von Papen. The demands of the SA for more political and military power caused much anxiety among military, industrial and political leaders. Hitler was prompted to purge the entire SA leadership, including Ernst Röhm, and other political adversaries (such as, Gregor Strasser and former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher). These actions took place from 30 June to 2 July 1934, in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives. While some Germans were shocked by the killing, many others saw Hitler as the one who restored "order" to the country.

On 2 August 1934, President von Hindenburg died. In contravention to the Weimar Constitution, calling for presidential elections, and following a law passed the previous day in anticipation of Hindenburg's imminent death, Hitler's cabinet declared the presidency vacant and transferred the powers of the head of state to Hitler as ''Führer und Reichskanzler'' (leader and chancellor). This removed the last legal remedy by which Hitler could be dismissed, and nearly all institutional checks and balances on his power. Hitler's move also violated the Enabling Act, which had barred tampering with the office of the presidency.

On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was approved by a plebiscite with support from 84.6% of the electorate.

As head of state, Hitler now became Supreme Commander of the armed forces. The traditional loyalty oath of soldiers and sailors was altered to affirm loyalty directly to Hitler rather than to the office of commander-in-chief.

In 1938, in the wake of two scandals Hitler brought the armed forces under his direct control by forcing the resignation of his War Minister (formerly Defence Minister), Werner von Blomberg on evidence that Blomberg's new wife had a criminal past. Hitler and his allies also removed army commander Werner von Fritsch on suspicion of homosexuality. Hitler replaced the Ministry of War with the ''Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (High Command of the Armed Forces, or OKW), headed by the pliant General Wilhelm Keitel.

Third Reich

Having consolidated and concentrated his political powers, Hitler proceeded to suppress or eliminate his opposition by a process termed ''Gleichschaltung'' ("bringing into line"). He also tried to gain additional public support by vowing to reverse the effects of the Depression and the Versailles treaty.

Economy and culture

Increased economic activities were enabled largely by debt flotation (refinancing long term debts into cheaper short term debts) and expansion of the military. For example, Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament were financed with currency manipulations by Hjalmar Schacht, including credits through the Mefo bills.

Nazi policies strongly encouraged women to bear children and stay at home. In a September 1934 speech to the National Socialist Women's Organization, Hitler argued that for the German woman her "world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home." The Cross of Honor of the German Mother was bestowed on women bearing four or more children. The unemployment rate fell substantially, mostly through arms production and women leaving the workforce.

Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure-improvement campaigns in German history, leading to the construction of dams, autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. However, these programmes lowered the overall standard of living of workers who earlier had been unaffected by the chronic unemployment of the later Weimar Republic; wages were slightly reduced in pre–World War II years, while the cost of living was increased by 25%.

Hitler's government sponsored architecture on an immense scale, with Albert Speer becoming the first architect of the Reich, instrumental in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture. In 1936, Hitler opened the summer Olympic games in Berlin. Hitler also made some contributions to the design of the Volkswagen Beetle and charged Ferdinand Porsche with its design and construction.

On 20 April 1939, a lavish celebration was held for Hitler's 50th birthday, featuring military parades, visits from foreign dignitaries, thousands of flaming torches and Nazi banners.

One question concerns the aspect of modernization in Hitler's economic policies. Historians such as David Schoenbaum and Henry Ashby Turner argue that Hitler's social and economic policies were modernization that had anti-modern goals. Others, including Rainer Zitelmann, have contended that Hitler had the deliberate strategy of pursuing a revolutionary modernization of German society.

Rearmament and new alliances

On 3 February 1933, in a meeting with German military leaders, Hitler spoke of "conquest for ''Lebensraum'' in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy objectives. In March 1933, a major statement by the State Secretary at the ''Auswärtiges Amt'' (Foreign Office), Prince Bernhard Wilhelm von Bülow, of German foreign policy aims was issued. It advocated ''Anschluss'' with Austria, the restoration of Germany's national borders of 1914, rejection of Part V of the Treaty of Versailles, the return of the former German colonies in Africa, and a German zone of influence in Eastern Europe. Hitler found the goals in Bülow's memo to be too modest.

In his "peace speeches" in the mid-1930s, Hitler stressed the peaceful goals of his policies and willingness to work within international agreements. At the first meeting of his Cabinet in 1933, however, Hitler prioritised military spending over unemployment relief. In October 1933, Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference, and his Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath stated that the French demand for ''sécurité'' was a principal stumbling block. In March 1935, Hitler rejected Part V of the Versailles treaty by announcing an expansion of the German army to 600,000 members (six times the number stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles), including development of an Air Force (''Luftwaffe'') and increasing the size of the Navy (''Kriegsmarine''). Although Britain, France, Italy and the League of Nations condemned these plans, no country took actions to stop them.

On 18 June 1935, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) was signed, allowing German tonnage to increase to 35% of that of the British navy. Hitler called the signing of the AGNA "the happiest day of his life" as he believed the agreement marked the beginning of the Anglo-German alliance he had predicted in ''Mein Kampf''. France or Italy were not consulted before the signing, directly undermining the League of Nations and putting the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.

On 13 September 1935, Hitler ordered two civil servants, Dr. Bernhard Lösener and Franz Albrecht Medicus of the Interior Ministry to start drafting antisemitic laws for Hitler to bring to the floor of the ''Reichstag''. On 15 September, Hitler presented two laws—known as the Nuremberg Laws—before the ''Reichstag''. The laws banned marriage between non-Jewish and Jewish Germans and the employment of non-Jewish women under the age of 45 in Jewish households. The laws also deprived so-called "non-Aryans" of the benefits of German citizenship. In March 1936, Hitler reoccupied the demilitarized zone in the Rhineland, thus again violating the Versailles treaty. In addition, Hitler sent troops to Spain to support General Franco after receiving an appeal for help from Franco in July 1936. At the same time, Hitler continued with his efforts to create an Anglo-German alliance.

In August 1936, in response to a growing economic crisis caused by his rearmament efforts, Hitler issued the "Four-Year Plan Memorandum", ordering Hermann Göring to carry out the Four Year Plan to have Germany ready for war within the next four years. Hitler's "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" laid out an imminent all-out struggle between "Judeo-Bolshevism" and German National Socialism, which in Hitler's view required a committed effort of rearmament regardless of the economic costs.

On 25 October 1936, Count Galeazzo Ciano foreign minister of Benito Mussolini's government declared an axis between Germany and Italy, and on 25 November, Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. Britain, China, Italy and Poland were also invited to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, but only Italy signed in 1937. By late 1937, Hitler had abandoned his dream of an Anglo-German alliance, blaming "inadequate" British leadership.

On 5 November 1937, Hitler held a secret meeting at the Reich Chancellery with his war and foreign ministers and military chiefs. As recorded in the Hossbach Memorandum, Hitler stated his intention of acquiring ''Lebensraum'' ("living space") for the German people, and ordered to make preparations for war in the east no later than 1943. Hitler further stated that the conference minutes were to be regarded as his "political testament" in the event of his death. Hitler was also recorded as saying that the crisis of the German economy had reached a point that a severe decline in living standards in Germany could only be stopped by a policy of military aggression and seizing Austria and Czechoslovakia. Moreover, Hitler urged for quick action before Britain and France obtained a permanent lead in the arms race.

In early 1938, Hitler asserted his control of the military-foreign policy apparatus through the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair and the abolition of the War Ministry and its replacement by the OKW. He also dismissed Neurath as Foreign Minister on 4 February 1938, and assumed the role and title of the ''Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht'' (supreme commander of the armed forces). It has been argued that from early 1938 onwards, Hitler was not carrying out a foreign policy that increased the risk of war, but that he was carrying out a foreign policy that had war as its ultimate aim.

The Holocaust

One of Hitler's central and most controversial ideologies was the concept of so-called racial hygiene. Hitler's eugenic policies initially targeted children with physical and developmental disabilities in a programme dubbed Action T4.

Hitler's idea of ''Lebensraum'' espoused in ''Mein Kampf'', focused on acquiring new territory for German settlement in Eastern Europe. The ''Generalplan Ost'' ("General Plan for the East") provided that the population of occupied Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union was to be partially deported to West Siberia, used as slave labour and eventually murdered; the conquered territories were to be colonized by German or "Germanized" settlers.

Between 1939 and 1945, the SS, assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, systematically killed 11–14 million people, including about six million Jews representing two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe. These killings took place, for example, in concentration camps, ghettos, and through mass executions. Many victims of the Holocaust were gassed to death, whereas others died of starvation or disease while working as slave labourers.

Hitler's policies also resulted in the systematic killings of Poles and Soviet prisoners of war, communists and other political opponents, homosexuals, Roma, the physically and mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, and trade unionists. One of the largest centres of mass-killing was the extermination camp complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hitler never appeared to have visited the concentration camps and did not speak publicly about the killings.

The Holocaust (the "''Endlösung der jüdischen Frage''" or "Final Solution of the Jewish Question") was organised and executed by Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. The records of the Wannsee Conference—held on 20 January 1942 and led by Reinhard Heydrich with fifteen senior Nazi officials (including Adolf Eichmann) participating—provide the clearest evidence of the systematic planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying to his associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews".

Although no specific order from Hitler authorising the mass killings has surfaced, he approved the ''Einsatzgruppen'', killing squads that followed the German army through Poland and Russia, and he was well informed about their activities. Evidence also suggests that in the fall of 1941, Himmler and Hitler decided to use gassing for the mass killings. During interrogations by Soviet intelligence officers declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, and his military aide, Otto Günsche, had stated that Hitler had a direct interest in the development of gas chambers."

World War II

Early diplomatic successes

Alliance with Japan

In February 1938, upon advice from his newly appointed Foreign Minister, the strongly pro-Japanese Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler ended the Sino-German alliance with the Republic of China to enter instead into an alliance with the more modern and powerful Japan. Hitler announced German recognition of Manchukuo, the Japanese-occupied state in Manchuria, and renounced German claims to the former colonies in the Pacific held by Japan. Hitler also ordered an end to arms shipments to China, and recalled all German officers working with the Chinese Army. In retaliation, Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek cancelled all Sino-German economic agreements, depriving the Germans of Chinese raw materials such as tungsten and limiting the efforts of German rearmament.

Austria and Czechoslovakia

On 12 March 1938, Hitler declared unification of Austria with Germany in the ''Anschluss''. Hitler then turned his attention to the ethnic Germans population of Sudetenland districts of Czechoslovakia.

On 28–29 March 1938, Hitler held a series of secret meetings in Berlin with Konrad Henlein of the Sudeten ''Heimfront'' (Home Front), the largest of the ethnic German parties of the Sudetenland. Both men agreed that Henlein would demand increased autonomy for Sudeten Germans from the Czechoslovakian government, thus providing a pretext for German military action against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938, Henlein told the foreign minister of Hungary that "whatever the Czech government might offer, he would always raise still higher demands ... he wanted to sabotage an understanding by all means because this was the only method to blow up Czechoslovakia quickly". In private, Hitler considered the Sudeten issue unimportant; his real intention was a war of conquest against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938, Hitler ordered the OKW to prepare for ''Fall Grün'' (Case Green), the codename for an invasion of Czechoslovakia. As a result of intense French and British diplomatic pressure, Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš unveiled on 5 September 1938, the "Fourth Plan" for constitutional reorganization of his country, which agreed to most of Henlein's demands for Sudeten autonomy. Henlein's ''Heimfront'' responded to Beneš' offer with a series of violent clashes with the Czechoslovakian police that led to the declaration of martial law in certain Sudeten districts.

In light of Germany's dependence on imported oil, and that a confrontation with Britain over the Czechoslovakian dispute could curtail Germany's oil supplies, Hitler called off ''Fall Grün'', originally planned for 1 October 1938. On 29 September 1938, a one-day conference was held in Munich attended by Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini that led to the Munich Agreement, which gave in to Hitler's ostensible demands by handing over the Sudetenland districts to Germany.

Chamberlain was satisfied with the Munich conference, calling the outcome "peace for our time", while Hitler was angered about his missed opportunity for war in 1938. Hitler expressed his disappointment over the Munich Agreement in a speech on 9 October 1938 in Saarbrücken. In Hitler's view, the British-brokered peace, although favourable to ostensible German demands, was a diplomatic defeat for him, which spurred Hitler's intent of limiting British power to pave the way for the eastern expansion of Germany. However, as a result of the summit, Hitler was selected ''Time'' magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.

In late 1938 and early 1939, the continuing economic crisis caused by the rearmament efforts forced Hitler to make major defence cuts. On 30 January 1939, Hitler made an "Export or die" speech, calling for a German economic offensive, to increase German foreign exchange holdings to pay for raw materials such as high-grade iron needed for military weapons.

"One thing I should like to say on this day which may be memorable for others as well for us Germans: In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and I have usually been ridiculed for it. During the time of my struggle for power it was in the first instance the Jewish race which only received my prophecies with laughter when I said I would one day take over the leadership of the State, and that of the whole nation, and that I would then among many other things settle the Jewish problem. Their laughter was uproarious, but I think that for some time now they have been laughing on the other side of the face. Today I will be once more the prophet. If the international Jewish financiers outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the bolshevisation of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!"

On 15 March 1939, in violation of the Munich accord and possibly as a result of the deepening economic crisis requiring additional assets, Hitler eventually ordered the ''Wehrmacht'' to invade Prague, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

Start of World War II

In private discussions in 1939, Hitler described Britain as the main enemy that had to be defeated. In his view, Poland's obliteration as a sovereign nation was the necessary prelude to that goal by securing the eastern flank and also adding to Germany's ''Lebensraum''. As part of his anti-British stance, Hitler wanted Poland to be either a German satellite state or otherwise neutralized to secure the ''Reich''s eastern flank and to evade the effects of a possible British blockade. Initially, Hitler favoured the idea of a satellite state, which was however rejected by the Polish government. Therefore, Hitler decided to invade and destroy Polish sovereignty and independence, and he made this the main German foreign policy goal of 1939. Hitler was offended by the British "guarantee" of Polish independence issued on 31 March 1939, and told his associates that "I shall brew them a devil's drink". In a speech in Wilhelmshaven for the launch of the battleship ''Tirpitz'' on 1 April 1939, Hitler first threatened to denounce the Anglo-German Naval Agreement if the British persisted with their "encirclement" policy he perceived by the British guarantee of Polish independence. On 3 April 1939, Hitler ordered the military to start preparing for ''Fall Weiss'' (Case White), the plan for a German invasion on 25 August 1939. This was followed by a speech before the ''Reichstag'' on 28 April 1939, in which Hitler renounced both the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact. In August 1939, Hitler spoke to his generals that his original plan for 1939 had to "... establish an acceptable relationship with Poland in order to fight against the West" but since Poland refused to become a German satellite, Hitler believed he had no choice other than wiping Poland off the map.

Hitler was initially concerned that a military attack against Poland could result in a premature war with Britain. However, Hitler's foreign minister—and former Ambassador to London—Joachim von Ribbentrop assured him that neither Britain nor France would honour their commitments to Poland, and that a German–Polish war would only be a limited regional war. Ribbentrop claimed that in December 1938 the French foreign minister, Georges Bonnet, had stated that France considered Eastern Europe as Germany's exclusive sphere of influence, and Ribbentrop also showed Hitler diplomatic cables that supported his analysis. The German Ambassador in London, Herbert von Dirksen, supported Ribbentrop's analysis with a dispatch in August 1939, reporting that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain knew "the social structure of Britain, even the conception of the British Empire, would not survive the chaos of even a victorious war", and so would back down. Accordingly, on 21 August 1939 Hitler ordered a military mobilization solely against Poland.

Hitler's plans for a military campaign in Poland in late August or early September required Soviet tacit support, resulting in the Munich agreement on 23 August 1939. The non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) between Germany and the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin, included secret protocols with an agreement to partition Poland between the two countries. In response to the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact—and contrary to the prediction of Ribbentrop that the newly formed pact would severe Anglo-Polish ties—Britain and Poland signed the Anglo-Polish alliance on 25 August 1939. This, along with news from Italy that Mussolini would not honour the Pact of Steel, caused Hitler to postpone the attack on Poland from 25 August to 1 September. In the days before the start of the war, Hitler tried to manoeuvre the British into neutrality by offering a non-aggression guarantee to the British Empire on 25 August 1939 and by having Ribbentrop present a last-minute peace plan with an impossibly short time limit in an effort to then blame the war on British and Polish inaction.

As a pretext for a military aggression against Poland, Hitler claimed the Free City of Danzig and the right for extra-territorial roads across the Polish Corridor, which Germany formerly had ceded under the Versailles treaty. Despite his concerns over a possible British intervention, Hitler was ultimately not deterred from his aim of invading Poland, and on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded western Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. This surprised Hitler, prompting him to turn to Ribbentrop and angrily ask "Now what?" However, France and Britain did not act on their declarations immediately, and on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.

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The fall of Poland was followed by what contemporary journalists dubbed the "Phoney War," or ''Sitzkrieg'' ("sitting war"). Hitler meanwhile instructed the two newly appointed ''Gauleiters'' of north-western Poland, Albert Forster and Arthur Greiser, to "Germanize" the area, and promised them "There would be no questions asked" about how this "Germanization" was accomplished. Forster and Greiser held different views on how to interpret Hitler's orders. Whereas Forster had local Poles sign forms, stating that they had German blood with no further documentation, Greiser carried out a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign on the Polish population in his purview. Greiser then complained to Hitler that Forster was allowing thousands of Poles to be accepted as "racial" Germans thus, in Greiser's view, endangering German "racial purity". However, Hitler merely told Himmler and Greiser to take up their difficulties with Forster, and not to involve him. Hitler's handling of the Forster–Greiser dispute has been advanced as an example of Ian Kershaw's theory of "Working Towards the Führer", namely that Hitler issued vague instructions, and allowed his subordinates to work out policies on their own.

Another dispute broke out between different factions, with one represented by ''Reichsführer'' SS Heinrich Himmler and Arthur Greiser championing and carrying out ethnic cleansing in Poland, and another representing Hermann Göring and Hans Frank, calling for turning Poland into the "granary" of the ''Reich''. The dispute was initially settled in favour of the Göring-Frank view of economic exploitation, which ended economically disruptive mass expulsions, at a conference held at Göring's Karinhall estate on 12 February 1940. On 15 May 1940, however, Himmler presented Hitler with a memo entitled "Some Thoughts on the Treatment of Alien Population in the East", which called for expulsion of the entire Jewish population of Europe into Africa and reducing the remainder of the Polish population to a "leaderless class of labourers". Hitler called Himmler's memo "good and correct", scuttling the so-called Karinhall agreement and implementing the Himmler–Greiser viewpoint as German policy for the Polish population.

Hitler commenced building up military forces on Germany's western border, and in April 1940, German forces invaded Denmark and Norway. In May 1940, Hitler's forces attacked France, and also conquered Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. These victories prompted Benito Mussolini to have Italy join forces with Hitler on 10 June 1940. France surrendered on 22 June 1940.

Britain, whose forces were forced to leave France by sea from Dunkirk, continued to fight alongside other British dominions in the Battle of the Atlantic. Hitler made overtures for peace to the British, now led by Winston Churchill, and when these were rejected Hitler ordered bombing raids on the United Kingdom. Hitler's prelude to a planned invasion of the UK were widespread aerial attacks in the Battle of Britain on Royal Air Force airbases and radar stations in South-East England. However, the German ''Luftwaffe'' failed to defeat the Royal Air Force.

On 27 September 1940, the Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by Saburō Kurusu of Imperial Japan, Hitler, and Ciano, and was later expanded to include Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. They were collectively known as the Axis powers. The purpose of the pact was to deter the United States from supporting the British. By the end of October 1940, air superiority for the invasion Operation Sea Lion could not be achieved, and Hitler ordered the nightly air raids of British cities, including London, Plymouth, and Coventry.

In the Spring of 1941, Hitler was distracted from his plans for the East by military activities in North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. In February, German forces arrived in Libya to bolster Italian presence. In April, Hitler launched the invasion of Yugoslavia, quickly followed by the invasion of Greece. In May, German forces were sent to support Iraqi rebel forces fighting against the British and to invade Crete. On 23 May, Hitler released Führer Directive No. 30.

A major historical debate about Hitler's foreign policy preceding the war in 1939 centred on two contrasting explanations: one, by the Marxist historian Timothy Mason, suggested that a structural economic crisis drove Hitler into a "flight into war", while another, by economic historian Richard Overy, explained Hitler's actions with non-economic motives. Historians such as William Carr, Gerhard Weinberg and Ian Kershaw have argued that a non-economic reason for Hitler's rush to war was Hitler's morbid and obsessive fear of an early death, and hence his feeling that he did not have long to accomplish his work.

Path to defeat

On 22 June 1941, contravening the Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact of 1939, three million German troops attacked the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. The invasion seized a huge area, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. However, the German advance was stopped barely short of Moscow in December 1941 by the Russian Winter and fierce Soviet resistance. The invasion failed to achieve the quick success Hitler had wanted.

Some historians, such as Andreas Hillgruber, have argued that ''Operation Barbarossa'' was merely one stage of Hitler's ''Stufenplan'' (stepwise plan) for world conquest, which Hitler may have formulated in the 1920s. Others, such as John Lukacs, suggest that Hitler did not have a ''Stufenplan'', and that the invasion of the Soviet Union was an ''ad hoc'' move in response to Britain's refusal to surrender. Lukacs has argued that Winston Churchill had hoped that the Soviet Union might enter the war on the Allied side, and so to dash this hope and force a British surrender, Hitler had started Operation Barbarossa. On the other hand, Klaus Hildebrand has maintained that both Stalin and Hitler had planned to attack each other in 1941. Soviet troop concentrations on its western border in the spring of 1941 may have prompted Hitler to engage in a ''Flucht nach vorn'' ("flight forward", to get in front of an inevitable conflict). Viktor Suvorov, Ernst Topitsch, Joachim Hoffmann, Ernst Nolte, and David Irving have argued that the official reason for ''Barbarossa'' given by the German military was the real reason, i.e., a preventive war to avert an impending Soviet attack scheduled for July 1941. This theory, however, has been faulted; the American historian Gerhard Weinberg once compared the advocates of the preventive war theory to believers in "fairy tales".

The Wehrmacht invasion of the Soviet Union reached its peak on 2 December 1941 when the 258th Infantry Division advanced to within of Moscow, close enough to see the spires of the Kremlin. However, they were not prepared for the harsh conditions brought on by the first blizzards of winter, and Soviet forces drove German troops back over 320 kilometres (200 miles).

On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later, Hitler's formal declaration of war against the United States officially engaged him in war against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the British Empire), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the United States), and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).

On 18 December 1941, the ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler met with Hitler, and in response to Himmler's question "''What to do with the Jews of Russia?''", Hitler's replied "''als Partisanen auszurotten''" ("exterminate them as partisans"). The Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer has commented that the remark is probably as close as historians will ever get to a definitive order from Hitler for the genocide carried out during the Holocaust.

In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the second battle of El Alamein, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the Suez Canal and the Middle East. In February 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the destruction of the German 6th Army. Thereafter came the Battle of Kursk. Hitler's military judgment became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated along with Hitler's health. Ian Kershaw and others believe that Hitler may have suffered from Parkinson's disease. Syphilis has also been suspected as a cause of at least some of his symptoms.

Following the allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) in 1943, Mussolini was deposed by Pietro Badoglio, who surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the Eastern Front. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in what was one of the largest amphibious operations in history, Operation Overlord. Objective observers in the German army then knew that defeat was inevitable, and some plotted to remove Hitler from power.

Attempted assassination

There were seventeen planned attempts or plans to assassinate Hitler from 1939–1945, some which proceeded to significant degrees. The most famous assassination attempt on Hitler's life came from within Germany during World War II and was at least partly driven by the prospect of an increasingly imminent defeat of Germany in the war.

In July 1944, as part of Operation Valkyrie or 20 July plot, Claus von Stauffenberg planted a bomb in Hitler's headquarters, the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) at Rastenburg. Hitler narrowly survived because someone had unknowingly moved the briefcase that contained the bomb by pushing it behind a leg of the heavy conference table. When the bomb exploded, the table deflected much of the blast away from Hitler. Later, Hitler ordered savage reprisals, resulting in the executions of more than 4,900 people.

Defeat and death

By late 1944, the Red Army had driven the German army back into Western Europe, and the Western Allies were advancing into Germany. After being informed of the twin defeats in his Ardennes Offensive at his Adlerhorst command complex – Operation ''Wacht am Rhein'' and Operation ''Nordwind'' – Hitler realized that Germany was about to lose the war, but he did not permit an orderly retreat of his armies. His hope was to negotiate peace with America and Britain, buoyed by the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945. Hitler ordered the destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands; he also acted on his view that Germany's military failures had forfeited its right to survive as a nation. Execution of this scorched earth plan was entrusted to arms minister Albert Speer, who, however, quietly disobeyed the order.

On 20 April 1945, Hitler celebrated his 56th birthday in the ''Führerbunker'' ("Führer's shelter") below the ''Reichskanzlei'' (Reich Chancellery). The garrison commander of the besieged ''Festung Breslau'' ("fortress Breslau"), General Hermann Niehoff, had chocolates distributed to his troops in honour of Hitler's birthday.

By 21 April, Georgi Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front had broken through the last defences of German General Gotthard Heinrici's Army Group Vistula during the Battle of the Seelow Heights. Facing little resistance, the Soviets advanced into the outskirts of Berlin. In denial of his increasingly dire situation, Hitler placed his hopes on the units commanded by Waffen SS General Felix Steiner, the ''Armeeabteilung Steiner'' ("Army Detachment Steiner"). Although "Army Detachment Steiner" was more than a corps it was less than an army. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the salient made up of of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front. At the same time, the German Ninth Army, which had been pushed south of the salient, was ordered to attack northward in a pincer attack.

Late on 21 April, Gotthard Heinrici called Hans Krebs, chief of the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (Supreme Command of the Army or OKH), to inform him that Hitler's defence plans could not be implemented. Heinrici also told Krebs to impress upon Hitler the need to withdraw the 9th Army from its position.

On 22 April, during military conference, Hitler asked about Steiner's offensive. After a long silence, Hitler was told that the attack had never been launched and that the Russians had broken through into Berlin. This news prompted Hitler to ask everyone except Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Krebs, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Martin Bormann to leave the room. Hitler then launched a tirade against the treachery and incompetence of his commanders, culminating in Hitler's declaration—for the first time—that the war was lost. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin, to direct the defence of the city and then shoot himself.

Before the day ended, Hitler again found fresh hope in a new plan that included General Walther Wenck's Twelfth Army. This new plan had Wenck turn his army – currently facing the Americans to the west – and attack towards the east to relieve Berlin. The Twelfth Army was to link up with the Ninth Army and break through to the city. Wenck did attack and made temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison. But the link with the Ninth Army, like the plan in general, was unsuccessful.

On 23 April, Joseph Goebbels made the following proclamation to the people of Berlin:

Also on 23 April, Göring sent a telegram from ''Berchtesgaden'' in Bavaria, arguing that since Hitler was cut off in Berlin, he, Göring, should assume leadership of Germany. Göring set a time limit after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated. Hitler responded angrily by having Göring arrested, and when writing his will on 29 April, Göring was removed from all his positions in the government. Hitler appointed General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling as the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, replacing Lieutenant General (''Generalleutnant'') Helmuth Reymann and Colonel (''Oberst'') Ernst Kaether. Hitler also appointed Waffen-SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke the (Kommandant) Battle Commander for the defence of the government district (Zitadelle sector) that included the Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker.

On 27 April, Berlin became completely cut off from the rest of Germany. As the Soviet forces closed in, Hitler's followers urged him to flee to the mountains of Bavaria to make a last stand in the national redoubt. However, Hitler was determined to either live or die in the capital.

On 28 April, Hitler discovered that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Western Allies (through the Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte). Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest and had Hermann Fegelein (Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's HQ in Berlin) shot. Adding to Hitler's woes was Wenck's report that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front and that his forces could no longer support Berlin.

After midnight on 29 April, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the Führerbunker. Antony Beevor stated that after Hitler hosted a modest wedding breakfast with his new wife, he then took secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. Hitler signed these documents at 4:00 am. The event was witnessed and documents signed by Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann. Hitler then retired to bed. That afternoon, Hitler was informed of the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, which presumably increased his determination to avoid capture.

On 30 April 1945, after intense street-to-street combat, when Soviet troops were within a block or two of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler and Braun committed suicide; Braun by biting into a cyanide capsule and Hitler by shooting himself with his 7.65 mm Walther PPK pistol. Hitler had at various times contemplated suicide, and the Walther was the same pistol that his niece, Geli Raubal had used in her suicide. The lifeless bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the bombed-out garden behind the Reich Chancellery where they were placed in a bomb crater and doused with petrol. The corpses were set on fire as the Red Army advanced and the shelling continued.

On 2 May, Berlin surrendered, and there were conflicting reports about what happened to Hitler's remains. Records in the Soviet archives— obtained after the fall of the Soviet Union—showed that the remains of Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph and Magda Goebbels, the six Goebbels children, General Hans Krebs and Hitler's dogs, were repeatedly buried and exhumed. On 4 April 1970, a Soviet KGB team with detailed burial charts secretly exhumed five wooden boxes which had been buried at the SMERSH facility in Magdeburg. The remains from the boxes were thoroughly burned and crushed, after which the ashes were thrown into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearby Elbe.

According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from Hitler's remains. However, the authenticity of the skull fragment was challenged by historians and researchers, and DNA analysis conducted in 2009 showed the skull fragment to be that of a woman. Analysis of the sutures between the skull plates indicated that it belonged to a 20–40-year-old individual.

Legacy

Hitler's policies and orders resulted in the death of approximately 40 million people, including about 27 million in the Soviet Union. The actions of Hitler, and of the Hitler's ideology, Nazism, are almost universally regarded as gravely immoral. Historians, philosophers, and politicians have often applied the word ''evil'' to describe Hitler's ideology and its outcomes. Historical and cultural portrayals of Hitler in the west are overwhelmingly condemnatory. For example, the denial of the Holocaust along with the display of Nazi symbols such as swastikas, is prohibited by law in Germany and Austria.

Outside of Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the Memorial Stone Against War and Fascism is engraved with the following message: }}

Loosely translated it reads: "For peace, freedom // and democracy // never again fascism // millions of dead remind [us]"

Following WWII the toothbrush moustache fell out of favour in the West because of its strong association with Hitler, earning it the nickname "Hitler moustache". The use of the name "Adolf" also declined in post-war years.

Hitler and his legacy are occasionally described in more neutral or even favourable terms. Former Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat spoke of his 'admiration' of Hitler in 1953, when he was a young man, but it is possible that Sadat's views were shaped mainly by his anti-British sentiments. Louis Farrakhan has referred to Hitler as a "very great man". Bal Thackeray, leader of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party in the Indian state of the Maharashtra, declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler. Friedrich Meinecke, the German historian, said of Hitler's life that "it is one of the great examples of the singular and incalculable power of personality in historical life".

Religious views

Hitler's parents were Roman Catholics, but after leaving home he never attended Mass or received the sacraments. Hitler favoured aspects of Protestantism that suited his own views. However, he also adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organization, liturgy and phraseology in his politics. After his move to Germany, where Catholic and Protestant churches are largely financed through a church tax, Hitler did not leave his church, leading the historian Richard Steigmann-Gall to conclude that Hitler "can be classified as Catholic", but that "nominal church membership is a very unreliable gauge of actual piety in this context."

In public, Hitler often praised Christian heritage, German Christian culture, and professed a belief in an "Aryan" Jesus Christ, a Jesus who fought against the Jews. In his speeches and publications, Hitler spoke of his interpretation of Christianity as a central motivation for his antisemitism, stating that "As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice." In private, Hitler was more critical of traditional Christianity, considering it a religion fit only for slaves; he admired the power of Rome but maintained a severe hostility towards its teaching. Hitler's critical views on Catholicism resonated with Streicher's contention that the Catholic establishment was allying itself with the Jews. In light of these private statements, for John S. Conway and many other historians, it is beyond doubt that Hitler held a "fundamental antagonism" towards the Christian churches. However, some researchers have questioned the authenticity of Hitler's private statements; for instance, Hermann Rauschning's ''Hitler speaks'' is considered by most historians to be an invention.

In the political relations with the churches in Germany, however, Hitler readily adopted a strategy "that suited his immediate political purposes". Hitler had a general plan, even before his rise to power, to destroy Christianity within the Reich. The leader of the Hitler Youth stated that "the destruction of Christianity was explicitly recognized as a purpose of the National Socialist movement" from the start, but "considerations of expedience made it impossible" publicly to express this extreme position. His intention was to wait until the war was over to destroy the influence of Christianity. a belief system purged of what he objected to in orthodox Christianity, and featuring racist elements. By 1940, however, Hitler had abandoned advocating even the syncretist idea of a positive Christianity. Hitler maintained that the "''terrorism in religion is, to put it briefly, of a Jewish dogma, which Christianity has universalized and whose effect is to sow trouble and confusion in men's minds.''"

Hitler articulated his view on the relationship between religion and national identity as, "We do not want any other god than Germany itself. It is essential to have fanatical faith and hope and love in and for Germany".

Attitude towards occultism

Some researchers suggest that Hitler did not follow esoteric ideas, occultism, or Ariosophy, Others have suggested that Hitler's views, particularly on race, had been strongly influenced by works that promulgated a mystical superiority of the Germans; these works included the occult and antisemitic magazine ''Ostara'', whose publisher Lanz von Liebenfels claimed that Hitler had visited him in 1909 and had praised his work. Historians are divided on the question of the reliability of von Liebenfels' claim. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke considers his account reliable, Brigitte Hamann leaves the question open and Ian Kershaw, although questioning the degree to which Hitler was influenced by it, notes that, "Most likely, Hitler did read ''Ostara'', along with other racist pulp which was prominent on Vienna newspaper stands." Kershaw notes that it is usually accepted that Hitler did read and was influenced by this occult publication, pointing to Hitler's account of his conversion to antisemitism after reading antisemitic pamphlets.

Health

Hitler's health frequently has been the subject of speculation. It has been suggested that he suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, Parkinson's disease, syphilis, tinnitus, and Asperger syndrome. Hitler also had dental problems—his personal dentist, Hugo Blaschke, had fitted a large dental bridge to Hitler's upper jaw in 1933, and in 1944, Blaschke removed the left rear section of the bridge to treat an infection of Hitler's gums that coincided with a sinus infection.

From the mid-1930s, Hitler followed a largely vegetarian diet, and ate meat only occasionally. At social events, Hitler sometimes gave graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make his dinner guests shun meat. A fear of cancer (from which his mother died) is the most widely cited reason for Hitler's dietary habits. However, Hitler, an antivivisectionist, may have followed his selective diet out of a profound concern for animals. Martin Bormann had a greenhouse constructed near the ''Berghof'' (near ''Berchtesgaden'') to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler throughout the war.

Hitler was a non-smoker and promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. (See Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany.) Hitler strongly despised alcohol.

Syphilis

During the last years of his life, Hitler suffered from tremors and irregular heartbeat, which could have been symptoms of tertiary (late-stage) syphilis. Theodor Morell (a specialist venereologist) and another physician diagnosed Hitler with syphilis in early 1945 in a joint report to SS head Heinrich Himmler. Some historians have noted Hitler's preoccupation with syphilis in ''Mein Kampf'', calling it a "Jewish disease" and leading to speculation he may have contracted the disease himself. Since the 1870s, however, it was common for the völkisch right to associate Jews with diseases such as syphilis. Historian Robert Waite claims that Hitler tested negative on a Wassermann test in 1939; however, the test was prone to false-negative results. Regardless of Hitler's infection status, he lived in constant fear of the disease, and took treatment for it ignoring his physician's opinions. For example, Hitler may have discovered in 1908 that he was syphilitic, and this may have influenced his views on prostitution and similar societal features and spurred his intent to eliminate these perceived ills. In ''Mein Kampf'', he wrote about the temptation of prostitution and the spreading of syphilis, specifically volume 1, chapter 10, "Causes of the Collapse".

The journalist Joseph Kessel reports that renowned masseur, Felix Kersten, in the winter of 1942 was shown a top-secret 26-page report that indicated that Hitler had contracted syphilis in his youth and was treated for it at a hospital in Pasewalk, Germany. In 1937, Hitler had first displayed late-stage symptoms, and by the start of 1942, progressive syphilitic paralysis (''Tabes dorsalis'') was occurring. Hitler was treated by Morell and his disease was kept as a state secret. The only people privy to the report's content were Martin Bormann and Hermann Göring.

Monorchism

It has been alleged that Hitler had monorchism, the medical condition of having only one testicle. Hitler's personal doctor, Johan Jambor, supposedly described this condition to a priest whose records were uncovered in 2008, 23 years after the doctor's death.

Soviet journalist, Lev Bezymensky, allegedly involved in the Soviet autopsy of Hitler's remains, stated in a 1967 book that Hitler's left testicle had been missing, but he later admitted to have falsified this claim. Hitler had been examined by many doctors throughout his life, and no mention of this clinical condition has been discovered. Records show that he was wounded in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, with some sources describing his injury as a wound to the groin.

Parkinson's disease

It has also been speculated Hitler had Parkinson's disease. Newsreel footage of Hitler show tremors of his hand and a shuffling walk, which began before the war and worsened towards the end of his life. Morell treated Hitler with a drug that was commonly used in 1945 to treat the condition.

Ernst-Günther Schenck, working as emergency doctor in the Reich Chancellery during April 1945, also claimed Hitler might have had Parkinson's disease. However, Schenck saw Hitler only briefly on two occasions, and his diagnosis was formed at a time of immense stress and exhaustion, as he had been working in the surgery for several days without much sleep.

Other complaints

From the 1930s, Hitler suffered from stomach pains. In 1936, a non-cancerous polyp was removed from his throat and he developed eczema on his legs. He also suffered ruptured eardrums as a result of the 20 July plot bomb blast in 1944, and two hundred wood splinters had to be removed from his legs. Hitler's otologist observed that Hitler had developed tinnitus after the Röhm-Putsch, and considered it psychogenic in origin. Hitler treated the condition with the prescription-free lipid lecithin.

Addiction to amphetamine

Hitler began using amphetamine occasionally after 1937 and became addicted to the drug after the late summer of 1942. Albert Speer has linked Hitler's use of amphetamines with his increasingly inflexible decision making (for example, never to allow military retreats).

Historians' views

The German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler dismisses theories that link the rise of Nazi Germany to Hitler's medical conditions and mental states. The theories about Hitler's medical condition are difficult to prove, and according them too much weight may have the effect of attributing many of the events and consequences of the Third Reich to the possibly impaired physical health of one individual. Ian Kershaw agrees that it is better to take a broader view of German history by seeking to examine what social forces led to the Third Reich and its policies rather than to pursue narrow explanations for the Holocaust and World War II based on only one person.

Sexuality

To the public, Hitler promoted his own image as that of a man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission. However, he was engaged to Mimi Reiter in the 1920s, and later had a partner, Eva Braun. He had a close bond with his half-niece Geli Raubal, which may have included sexual relations, though there is no evidence that conclusively supports such a relationship. All three women attempted suicide, which has led to speculation that Hitler may have had sexual fetishes that affected the mental well-being of his close partners. Otto Strasser, a political opponent of Hitler, claimed that Hitler had urolagnia (sexual arousal by urine or urination), but Mimi Reiter has disputed this claim. Hitler may have also had a sexual relationship with British fascist, Unity Mitford.

Family

Paula Hitler, the last living member of Adolf Hitler's immediate family, died in 1960.

The most prominent and longest-living closest relative was Adolf Hitler's nephew, William Patrick Hitler, the son of Adolf's half-brother, Alois Hitler Jr.

Over the years, various investigative reporters have attempted to track down other living relatives of Hitler. Many are presumed to be living inconspicuous lives and have changed their last name.

Klara Hitler, mother

Alois Hitler, father

Alois Hitler, Jr., half-brother

Angela Hitler Raubal, half-sister

Bridget Dowling, sister-in-law

Eva Braun, partner and then wife

Geli Raubal, niece

Gretl Braun, sister-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun

Heinz Hitler, nephew

Hermann Fegelein, brother-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun

Ilse Braun, sister-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun

Johann Georg Hiedler, presumed grandfather

Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather

Leo Raubal Jr, nephew

Maria Schicklgruber, grandmother

Paula Hitler, sister

William Patrick Hitler, nephew

Hitler in media

Oratory and rallies

Hitler honed his oratory skills by giving speeches to military audiences in 1919 and 1920. He became adept at using populist themes targeted to his audience, including the use of popular scapegoats who could be blamed for the economic hardships of his listeners. Munitions minister and architect Albert Speer commented that Hitler was above all else an actor.

Recorded in private conversation

Hitler visited Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim on 4 June 1942. During the visit, an engineer of the Finnish broadcasting company YLE, Thor Damen, recorded Hitler and Mannerheim in conversation. Damen did so secretly, since Hitler did not permit recordings of him off the record. The 11½ minutes-long recording is the only audio record of Hitler in casual conversation. Most of the recording is a monologue of Hitler, which he delivers in a slightly excited, but detached manner. Hitler concedes that he had underestimated the Soviet Union's ability to conduct effective warfare. Audio recordings of Hitler and Mannerheim's public and private talk (w/English text) are available online.

Documentaries during the Third Reich

Documentary films were another propaganda tool for Hitler. Hitler was involved and appeared in a series of films by the pioneering filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl via Universum Film AG (UFA):

''Der Sieg des Glaubens'' (''Victory of Faith'', 1933).

''Triumph des Willens'' (''Triumph of the Will'', 1934), co-produced by Hitler.

''Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht'' (''Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces'', 1935).

''Olympia'' (1938).

Hitler was the central figure of the first three films; they focused on the party rallies of the respective years and are considered propaganda films. For example, Leni Riefenstahl's ''Triumph of the Will'', shot during the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, shows Hitler from high and low angles, and only twice head-on. Some of the people in the film were paid actors, but most of the participants were not. Hitler also featured prominently in the ''Olympia'' film. Whether the latter is a propaganda film or a true documentary is still a subject of controversy, but it nonetheless perpetuated and spread the propaganda message of the 1936 Olympic Games, depicting Nazi Germany as a prosperous and peaceful country.

Television

As a prominent politician, Hitler was featured in many newsreels. His attendance at public functions, including the 1936 Olympic Games and Nuremberg Rallies, appeared on television broadcasts made between 1935 and 1939. These events, along with other programming that highlighted activity by public officials, were often repeated in public viewing rooms. Samples from a number of surviving television films from Nazi Germany were included in the 1999 documentary ''Das Fernsehen unter dem Hakenkreuz (Television Under the Swastika)''.

Documentaries post Third Reich

''The World at War'' (1974): a Thames Television series which contains much information about Hitler and Nazi Germany, including an interview with his secretary, Traudl Junge.

''Adolf Hitler's Last Days'': from the BBC series "Secrets of World War II" tells the story about Hitler's last days during World War II.

''The Nazis: A Warning From History'' (1997): six-part BBC TV series on how the cultured and educated Germans accepted Hitler and the Nazis up to its downfall. Historical consultant is Ian Kershaw.

''Cold War'' (1998): a CNN series about the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The series begins with World War II footage, including Hitler, and how the Cold War began after Germany surrendered.

''Im toten Winkel – Hitlers Sekretärin (Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary)'' (2002): an exclusive 90 minute interview with Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary. Made by Austrian Jewish director André Heller shortly before Junge's death from lung cancer, Junge recalls the last days in the Berlin bunker. Clips of the interview were used in ''Downfall (film)''.

''Undergångens arkitektur (The Architecture of Doom)'' (1989): documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic as envisioned by Hitler.

''Das Fernsehen unter dem Hakenkreuz (Television Under the Swastika)'' (1999): documentary by Michael Kloft about the domestic use of television in Nazi Germany for propaganda purposes from 1935 to 1944.

''Ruins of the Reich'' (2007): four-part series of the Rise and Fall of Hitler's Reich and its effects, created by Third Reich historian R.J. Adams

Films and series

East German actor Fritz Diez depicted Hitler in ''Ernst Thälmann – Führer seiner Klasse'' (East Germany, 1955), ''Frozen Flashes'' (East Germany, 1967), ''I, Justice'' (Czechoslovakia, 1967), ''Liberation'' (1970–1, Soviet Union), ''17 Moments of Spring'' (1973, TV production, Soviet Union), ''Take Aim'' (1974, Soviet Union) and ''Soldiers of Freedom'' (1977, Soviet Union).

''Hitler'' (1962) is a U.S. made film (it was later re-released with the title, ''Women of Nazi Germany''). The film stars Richard Basehart. The film depicts Hitler through the years and focuses mainly on his private life.

''The Death of Adolf Hitler'', a British (7 January 1973) made-for-television production, starring Frank Finlay. The movie depicts the last days of Hitler.

''Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973): movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death, starring Sir Alec Guinness.

Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's ''Hitler – Ein Film aus Deutschland'' ''(Hitler: A Film from Germany)'' (1977): a seven-hour work in four parts. The director uses documentary clips, photographic backgrounds, puppets, theatrical stages, and other elements.

''The Bunker'' (1981): a U.S. made-for-television movie describing the last days in the Führerbunker covering 17 January 1945 to 2 May 1945. The film stars Sir Anthony Hopkins.

''Europa, Europa'' (1990): based on the true story of a German Jew who joined the Hitler Youth to avoid capture. Hitler is portrayed by Ryszard Pietruski.

''Fatherland'' (1994): a hypothetical view of Germany in 1964, had Hitler won World War II, adapted from the novel by former journalist Robert Harris.

''The Empty Mirror'' (1996): a psychodrama which speculates on the events following Hitler (portrayed by Norman Rodway) surviving the fall of Nazi Germany.

''Moloch'' (1999): Hitler portrayed by Leonid Mozgovoy in a fictional drama set at his Berghof Retreat in the Bavarian Alps.

''Max'' (2002): fictional drama depicting a friendship between Jewish art dealer Max Rothman (John Cusack) and a young Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor) as a failed painter in Vienna.

''Hitler: The Rise of Evil'' (2003): two-part TV series about the early years of Adolf Hitler and his rise to power (up to 1933), starring Robert Carlyle.

''Der Untergang'' ''(Downfall)'' (2004): German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, starring Bruno Ganz. This film is partly based on the autobiography of Traudl Junge, a favourite secretary of Hitler's. In 2002, Junge said she felt great guilt for "... liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived."

''Valkyrie'' (2008): Hitler, played by David Bamber, is portrayed as a target of the famous assassination plot by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg.

''The Man Who Crossed Hitler'' (2011): BBC film dramatising the true story where Jewish lawyer Hans Litten subpoenas Hitler, played by Ian Hart, as a witness in the trial of some Nazi thugs in 1931.

Plays

''Dr Freud Will See You Now Mr Hitler'' (2008): radio drama by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran presenting an imagined scenario in which Sigmund Freud treats the young Hitler. Toby Jones played Hitler.

See also

Führermuseum

''Mein Kampf'' (online versions)

Poison Kitchen

Vorbunker

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links

 – real life footage in documentaries  – as portrayed in film and TV

|years=1933–1945}} |years=1934–1945}} Category:1889 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Antisemitism in Germany Category:Attempted assassination survivors Category:Austrian anti-communists Category:Austrian emigrants Category:Austrian expatriates in Germany Category:Austrian Nazis Category:Austrian painters Category:Chancellors of Germany Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:German anti-communists Category:German founders of automobile manufacturers Category:German military leaders Category:German military personnel of World War I Category:German painters Category:German people of Austrian descent Category:German people of World War II Category:German political writers Category:German politicians who committed suicide Category:German presidential candidates Category:Historians of fascism Category:Hitler family Category:Holocaust perpetrators Category:Leaders of political parties in Germany Category:Nazi leaders Category:Nazis who committed suicide Category:Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch Category:People convicted of treason against Germany Category:People from Braunau am Inn Category:Persecution of homosexuals Category:Political writers who committed suicide Category:Presidents of Germany Category:Recipients of German pardons Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross Category:Suicides by firearm in Germany Category:Suicides by poison Category:World War II political leaders

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name	Kimi-Matias Räikkönen
birth date	October 17, 1979
nationality
years	2009–present
teams	Citroën Junior Team, ICE 1 Racing
races	17
championships	0
wins	0
podiums	0
stagewins	1
points	59
first race	2009 Rally Finland
last race	2011 Rallye Deutschland }}

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979 in Espoo), nicknamed ''Iceman'', is a Finnish racecar driver. After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he now competes in the World Rally Championship for the ICE 1 Racing team.

Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in . Having previously only raced in very junior open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) after a performance delivery promise by his team boss, Peter Sauber. He joined McLaren Mercedes in , and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the and championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively. Räikkönen's 2003 and 2005 seasons were plagued by severe unreliability from his McLaren cars, resulting in many pundits speculating that without the problems, he would have already been World Champion.

Räikkönen switched to Ferrari in 2007, he became the highest paid driver in motor sport with an estimated wage of $51 million per year. In turn his move to Ferrari saw him secure his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship, beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point, as well as becoming one of the very few drivers to win in their first season at Ferrari. In 2008, he equalled the record for fastest laps in a season for the second time. After one more year in the sport, he left the Ferrari F1 team to drive a Citroën C4 WRC for the Citroën Junior Team in the World Rally Championship for 2010. Along with rallying, Räikkönen has turned his attention towards NASCAR, and made his debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series.

Räikkönen is known to be very relaxed, calm, cool, and calculating in his everyday life as well as in his racing career—prompting the nickname ''"Iceman"'', which Räikkönen has tattooed on the underside of his left forearm and which is also subtly written on the side of his current helmet design.

In , Räikkönen was among the two Formula One drivers who made it into the Forbes magazine's The Celebrity 100 list, the other being Fernando Alonso. He is 36th on Forbes magazine's The Celebrity 100 list of 2008, and 41st on the previous year. On the same list, as of 2008, he is listed as the 26th highest paid celebrity overall and the 5th highest paid sportsman behind Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Michael Jordan and Phil Mickelson. In , Räikkönen was listed as the equal 2nd highest paid athlete in the world, behind Woods.

Career

Early career (until 2000)

Räikkönen had a long line of success in karting from the age of ten. His first race outside Finland was in Monaco when he was 15 years old. During the race, the steering wheel broke, but he continued, informing his mechanic by frantically waving the steering wheel in the air on the home straight. Räikkönen's next Monaco race was also memorable; he was thrown on the wrong side of the safety fence in a first lap collision, but continued driving until running out of road. Undeterred, he lifted his kart back on to the track and continued to race. His mechanic thought Räikkönen had retired, but he eventually caught up with the other competitors and finished third. In 1998 he was 1st in Nordic (karting) Championship at Varna in Norway. In 1999, Räikkönen was placed second in the European Formula Super A championship. In the same year, he also competed in the Formula Ford Euro Cup. By the age of twenty, he had won the British Formula Renault winter series, winning the first four races of the year. In 2000, he won seven out of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship. Over two series of Formula Renault (1999, 2000), he won 13 out of 23 events — a 56% win rate.

Formula One (2001–2009)

birth date	October 17, 1979
years	–
team(s)	Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari
races	157 (156 starts)
championships	1 ()
wins	18
podiums	62
points	579
poles	16
fastest laps	35
first race	2001 Australian Grand Prix
first win	2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
last win	2009 Belgian Grand Prix
last race	2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix }}

Sauber (2001)

On the basis of these results, Peter Sauber gave the Finn a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September 2000 at the Mugello Circuit. After further tests in Jerez and Barcelona, Sauber signed Räikkönen for the season. However, some critics (including FIA president Max Mosley) voiced concerns over granting an F1 Super Licence to such an inexperienced driver: Räikkönen had only 23 car races to his credit. He was nevertheless granted his license and scored a championship point in his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. Räikkönen was asleep 30 minutes before the race.

Räikkönen had a solid debut year, achieving four points-scoring finishes and eight finishes in the top eight. Completing the year with 9 points, Räikkönen, along with teammate Nick Heidfeld, helped Sauber to what was then its best result of fourth place in the constructors' championship.

McLaren (2002–2006)

Räikkönen, long linked to Sauber's engine supplier Ferrari, instead sufficiently impressed McLaren to earn a race seat in Ron Dennis's team for , taking the seat left vacant by double-world champion, mentor (and fellow Finn) Mika Häkkinen's sabbatical.

2002

Räikkönen scored a third-place podium finish in his first race with McLaren, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. Although McLaren suffered many Mercedes engine failures in 2002, Räikkönen scored 24 points and four podiums, and held his own against teammate David Coulthard. Räikkönen came close to winning his first Grand Prix in France, but went off track with a handful of laps to go, because of oil from the blown engine of Allan McNish's Toyota on the circuit. He finished the race second. He finished the season in sixth place, one place behind his team mate; together they achieved a solid third place for McLaren in the constructors' championship.

2003

At the opening , Räikkönen qualified 15th in the spare car. In the race he took the lead before being caught speeding in the pitlane, after a software glitch in the car's electronic system. Räikkönen held off Michael Schumacher to finish 3rd. In Malaysia, Räikkönen won his first race after starting from 7th on the grid. During the next round in Brazil, Räikkönen was declared the winner after the race was stopped on lap 55. According to the rules the winner is decided by the race order as of two laps before the race stopped, i.e. lap 53. However a week later, evidence emerged that Giancarlo Fisichella was on lap 56 when the race stopped, therefore the winner was decided by the order at lap 54. This granted the win to Fisichella, with Räikkönen 2nd.

As other teams improved their cars, McLaren, who were still using the 2002 chassis, began to falter in terms of race speed. However, Räikkönen finished 2nd at Imola. At the , Räikkönen made a mistake in qualifying and had to start from the back of the grid, and at the start, he collided with Antônio Pizzonia, who was stuck on his grid position owing to a launch control problem, causing Räikkönen to retire from the race.

The next few races came down more to strategy rather than speed. While having engine problems, Räikkönen successfully defended his 2nd position from Rubens Barrichello in Austria. He came extremely close to winning in Monaco, but lost by less than a second to Juan Pablo Montoya. Starting from the pitlane in Canada after he went off track during qualifying with understeer, Räikkönen finished 6th, more than a minute adrift of race winner Michael Schumacher.

At the , Räikkönen took pole, and controlled the race from the start until his engine failed on lap 25. Title rival Michael Schumacher finished 5th taking 4 points advantage from Räikkönen. Räikkönen finished 4th in France behind Schumacher but finished one point ahead of him with a 3rd place finish at the . Räikkönen failed to finish the after being involved in an accident at the first corner with Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Räikkönen finished 2nd at the next race, the .

Before the , the FIA were tipped-off by rivals Ferrari about a tyre-illegality in the Michelin tread width. Michelin were forced to bring in narrower tyres and it seemed as if they had lost the advantage they had been enjoying over Bridgestone all season. McLaren also announced that they would see out the season with old the MP4-17D chassis and would not bring out the MP4-18 as had been planned. Räikkönen eventually finished 4th in the race, losing five championship points to race winner Michael Schumacher.

Räikkönen took pole at the , but Michael Schumacher won the race with Räikkönen finishing 2nd. With one race to go, Schumacher only needed one point to win the championship. Räikkönen would need to win the next race with Schumacher not scoring any points. After qualifying 8th in Japan, Räikkönen finished 2nd while Michael Schumacher just slipped into the points to win his 6th World Championship. Montoya's retirement during the race also meant that Räikkönen finished 2nd in the championship, just two points behind Schumacher. The team also narrowly lost second place in the constructors' championship, finishing third, two points behind runners-up Williams, and 12 points behind Ferrari. Mathematically, Williams or McLaren could have won the championship at the very last race. The 2003 season was one of the closest in recent years.

2004

The 2004 season began with Räikkönen only claiming a single point in the first seven races. His McLaren, especially the Mercedes engine, suffered repeated breakdowns, allowing him to complete just two of the first seven events. After seven rounds Räikkönen had only one point to Michael Schumacher's 60. In Canada, Räikkönen made 5 pit-stops but was classified 5th since the Williams-BMWs and the two Toyotas were disqualified. At the , Räikkönen finished 6th.

At the , McLaren rolled out the new MP4-19B. Räikkönen finished 7th behind his team-mate, David Coulthard. At Silverstone, Räikkönen took pole and went on to finish second behind Michael Schumacher. Following on from this encouraging display, the McLarens qualified on the 2nd row of the grid in Germany. Both cars got off to a good start, however Räikkönen lost his rear wing on lap 13 of the race while following race leader Michael Schumacher. He retired again from the after starting from 10th place on the grid, again on lap 13. At the , Räikkönen qualified 10th, but took the lead on lap 11 and held on to it to take McLaren's only win of the season. He also took the fastest lap. The next weekend at Monza, Räikkönen again retired on lap 13, this time owing to electrical problems. At the next race in China, he finished 3rd, only 1.4 seconds behind race winner Rubens Barrichello.

At the , Räikkönen was shunted by Felipe Massa on the first lap of the race, which caused him handling problems. He later managed to make up some ground: he finished 6th, 2.5 seconds behind Alonso. At the last race of the season, the , he overtook pole sitter Barrichello, even before they had reached Curva De Sol. Räikkönen later battled Montoya for the lead and finished 1 second behind him in 2nd. Räikkönen ended the year seventh, with 45 points, only one behind sixth placed Jarno Trulli, and four podiums.

Despite the disappointment of the 2004 season, Räikkönen was still seen as one of the rising stars of the sport, along with BAR's Button, Renault's Alonso and 2005 McLaren teammate Montoya. Many pundits predicted 2005 to be filled with great on-track battles from a resurgent team. He was also referred to by Ross Brawn and Jean Todt as a driver whom Ferrari might consider in the future. In early November 2004, Räikkönen announced his intention to create a racing team with his manager Steve Robertson, to be entitled Räikkönen Robertson Racing (otherwise known as "Double R"), which would compete in Formula Three in 2005.

2005

Räikkönen's start to the 2005 season season was less than perfect. The car was reported to be too soft on its Michelin tyres, with the result that it was not generating enough heat to post competitive qualifying times. The best qualifying position that a McLaren driver could manage in the first 3 races was 6th. Räikkönen compounded this by stalling on the grid of the first race of the season, the , and ending the race with just a point. He looked set for a podium in Malaysia until a faulty tyre valve failed and dropped him out of the points. Bahrain saw him achieve his first podium of the season with a third place behind Renault's Alonso and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.

Räikkönen then achieved three consecutive poles in San Marino, Spain, and a win after a safety car strategy call by Neil Martin at Monaco. An almost certain win was denied at Imola after a driveshaft failure, but he won the other two races, putting him within 22 points of leader Alonso. He registered strong, comfortable wins at Barcelona, beating local boy Alonso and at Monte Carlo, never dropping his lead in both races. At the , Räikkönen flat-spotted his right front tyre while lapping Jacques Villeneuve (some commentators put a share of the blame on Villeneuve, as he did not give Räikkönen the racing line). The resultant vibrations caused his suspension to fail while he led on the final lap, sending him into the tyre wall and handing a further ten points to his rival Alonso. Changing a tyre would have given him a relatively safe third place. However, tyre changes were only allowed in 2005 in cases where a "punctured or damaged tyre" could be changed for "clear and genuine safety reasons" and there was no precedent for whether the stewards would consider a flat-spotted tyre dangerous enough. This incident, in part, resulted in a rules clarification allowing teams to change a flat-spotted tyre without punishment.

Alonso's first major mistake of the 2005 season handed the to Räikkönen. The following weekend saw all the Michelin teams, including McLaren, withdraw from the for safety reasons. At the , Räikkönen suffered a ten-place grid-penalty following the replacement of his new specification Mercedes Benz engine which failed in Friday practice. Räikkönen, putting in what Ron Dennis called his best ever qualifying lap, qualified 3rd (demoted to 13th) with a significant fuel load. He finished 2nd behind Fernando Alonso. A week later at the , Räikkönen suffered another Mercedes engine failure due to an oil leak; his 2nd place qualifying place became 12th. He claimed 3rd place in the race.

In Germany, Räikkönen was comfortably in the lead having dominated all weekend, but suffered a hydraulics failure, handing victory and a further 10 points to Alonso. It was his third retirement while leading a race during the season. On all three occasions, it was championship rival Alonso who took advantage to win. Significantly, at the opening of the , though saying he was very comfortable at McLaren, Räikkönen raised the possibility that he might leave McLaren when his contract expired in 2006 if reliability issues were not solved. He told a news conference, "We need to work in a better way just to make sure that the car is very reliable." However he went on to take the chequered flag with a convincing victory over Michael Schumacher, albeit after McLaren teammate Montoya retired with driveshaft failure while leading.

Räikkönen won the Hungarian Grand Prix from the most handicapped qualifying position, having had to do his qualifying run first on the notoriously dusty and dirty track because of his early retirement a week earlier at Hockenheim. No other driver had previously managed this feat. Räikkönen then became the first ever winner of the . Two weeks later at the , Räikkönen's pole position was taken from him as he received another 10-position grid penalty for an engine change. It would emerge that he had 5 laps of fuel more than teammate Montoya and 6 more than Alonso during qualifying – and still managed to outpace them. During the race, Räikkönen was forced to take an extra stop when his left-rear tyre delaminated, which dropped him down to 12th. He recovered, but spun his car after pushing too hard while chasing Giancarlo Fisichella. He eventually finished fourth.

He went on to win, for the second year in a row, in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps. The following race, the , saw Alonso clinch the Drivers' Championship, after finishing third behind Montoya and Räikkönen. In the penultimate race of the year, at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, Räikkönen took his 7th victory of the season after starting 17th on the grid (as rain, and an engine failure for Räikkönen, had mixed up the qualifying grid). The win was secured when he overtook Renault driver Fisichella (who had started third on the grid, and had led most of the race) on the final lap – which Formula One journalist Peter Windsor thought the most impressive move of the race.

Räikkönen received the ''F1 Racing'' "Driver of the Year" accolade, and the Autosport "International Racing Driver of the Year" award.

2006

In Bahrain, Räikkönen suffered electronic problems during Friday practice and a spectacular rear suspension breakage during the first qualifying session, which forced him back to 22nd place on the grid. Nevertheless he drove through the field, ending third behind Alonso and Michael Schumacher. In Malaysia, Räikkönen was hit from behind by Red Bull Racing's Christian Klien on the first lap. The impact caused a left rear suspension failure resulting in Räikkönen retiring from the race.

Having started the year clearly behind Renault, McLaren improved in Australia, where Räikkönen finished second after flat spotting a tyre and losing a wing end-plate, which caused him to fall off the pace somewhat around the midpoint of the race. Chasing down Alonso during the final stages of the race, he set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, finishing only 1.8 seconds behind the Spaniard. At the , a bad choice of strategy and a mistake from Räikkönen in qualifying (8th) saw the McLarens get caught in traffic in the early part of the race allowing Michael Schumacher and Alonso to get away at the front. Räikkönen eventually finished 5th, with team mate Montoya ahead in 3rd place. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis blamed what he deemed to be Räikkönen's poor performance for the team's failure to finish in the top two in the race.

At the , Räikkönen qualified 9th. However, he managed to get up to 5th place on the first lap of the race. He retained this position for most of the race, finishing in 5th place. A few days after the Spanish Grand Prix, he admitted that he had no chance of winning the 2006 Championship. In Monaco, Räikkönen qualified third. During the race he got up to 2nd and kept pace with Alonso, however he retired during a safety car period after a failed heat shield led to a wiring loom inside the car catching fire. After the retirement he was seen on live TV walking along the Monaco sidewalks with his helmet still on to the harbour and climbing aboard a yacht.

The at Silverstone saw Räikkönen qualify second behind Alonso and in front of Michael Schumacher. The running order was Alonso, Räikkönen, Schumacher until the second set of pitstops where Räikkönen was demoted to third by Schumacher, a position he held until the end of the race. In Canada, Räikkönen achieved another podium. In the , his teammate punted him out in an expensive seven car accident. The saw Räikkönen qualify his car in sixth. His teammate was now former test driver Pedro de la Rosa in place of Montoya. Räikkönen ended the race in fifth. In Germany, Räikkönen qualified on pole. After a battle with Jenson Button, he finished the race for the first time in his career, ending in third place. Another pole came in Hungary, but he collided with Vitantonio Liuzzi after 25 laps, causing his fourth retirement of the season.

A first turn incident with Scott Speed at the led to an exploded tyre and suspension damage. After a tyre change, Räikkönen's race ended half way into the next lap when he crashed into the barrier at turn 4 because of a loss of rear grip. Räikkönen qualified on pole for the by 2 thousandths of a second from Michael Schumacher. He led the early part of the race until the first pitstops where he was passed by Schumacher. He stayed in second place for the rest of the race. After the race, Schumacher announced that he would retire at the end of the season. Later, Ferrari announced that he would be replaced in the 2007 season by Räikkönen.

The saw another retirement for Räikkönen due to throttle problems. His last two Grands Prix, in Japan and Brazil, did lead to 2 finishes, but he missed the podium on both occasions. Räikkönen ended his time at McLaren-Mercedes with a fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship, with McLaren placing third in the World Constructors' Championship at the end of a winless year.

Räikkönen's British Formula Three Championship team Räikkönen Robertson Racing claimed their first major success, with British driver Mike Conway winning the 2006 British F3 International Series title and the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.

Ferrari (2007–2009)

After the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari announced that Räikkönen had signed a three-year contract with Scuderia Ferrari for the 2007–2009 seasons. Räikkönen said after the move that he was very happy with this change of events but wished McLaren the best of luck in the future. He became the team mate to Brazilian Felipe Massa, who had been driving for Ferrari since 2006. Following the retirement of Michael Schumacher and his new deal with Ferrari, Räikkönen was estimated to be the highest paid driver in F1, with a base salary reportedly worth US $51M annually.

2007

Räikkönen started the season in Australia by taking pole position, setting the fastest lap and becoming the first driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 to win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari. This was the first time in his career that he had managed the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race victory.

At the , Räikkönen was passed by Lewis Hamilton at the start and remained behind him for the rest of the race, finishing third. In Bahrain, Räikkönen started from third but was passed by McLaren driver Fernando Alonso. He eventually regained 3rd position from Alonso and finished the race 3rd. At the , Räikkönen retired after only 10 laps with an electrical problem. This took him down to fourth position in the Championship, behind team-mate Felipe Massa. At the , Räikkönen struck a barrier in qualifying and broke his right front suspension. He started 16th and finished 8th.

In Canada, Räikkönen qualified fourth and finished fifth, Räikkönen's team-mate Massa was disqualified. At the , Räikkönen qualified fourth, finished fourth and recorded fastest lap of the race. With ten races in the season left, Räikkönen was 26 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship.

In France, Räikkönen qualified third, but overtook Hamilton at the first corner of the race. He subsequently ran second, behind team-mate Massa, for much of the Grand Prix, but overtook the Brazilian during the pit-stops and took his second victory of the season. This was the 11th victory of his Formula One career, as well as Ferrari's first 1–2 win of the 2007 season. At the , Räikkönen qualified in second place, just missing the pole by running wide in the last corner. In the race, again took the lead through pit stops, first overtaking Lewis Hamilton midway through the race and then putting in fast laps as Fernando Alonso pitted for the second time in the closing stages to pass him. Räikkönen led to the end of the race.

At the , Räikkönen captured his second pole position of the season, but retired from the race, run in heavy rain, with a problem with the hydraulics of the car. In Hungary, Räikkönen qualified his car in fourth place, but started from third after Fernando Alonso was penalised. In the race he overtook Nick Heidfeld at the start and pressured Hamilton until the end, but had to settle for second, being 0.7s behind Hamilton. He set the fastest lap time on the last lap of the race, commenting after the race: "I was so bored behind Hamilton, I wanted to see how quick I could have been." In Turkey, Räikkönen missed pole position after making a mistake in the final sector of his fast lap, which left him third on the grid. On race day, he overtook Hamilton in the first corner and took second place, which he kept to the end of the race.

At Monza's third practice session, Räikkönen crashed into the tyre wall before entering the Ascari chicane. He qualified in fifth place, and raced in the Ferrari reserve car while suffering from a neck problem. The Ferrari team employed an unusual one-stop strategy, which left him third after Hamilton passed him late in the race on fresh tyres. At Spa-Francorchamps, Räikkönen's favourite circuit, he secured pole position again and took his fourth victory of the season. Massa finished second, Alonso third and Hamilton fourth. This was also Räikkönen's third consecutive Spa win, which placed him among six other drivers with three or more Spa wins.

At the Fuji Speedway in Japan, the only new track on the 2007 calendar, Räikkönen qualified in third position, while Hamilton took pole and Alonso second. In an extremely wet race, which saw the first 19 laps run behind the safety car, both Räikkönen and team-mate Massa were badly affected by having to change to extreme wet tyres during the early stages, because the FIA's tyre-rule notification arrived late at Ferrari. Towards the end of the race, Räikkönen moved through the field to third place, but could not pass his fellow countryman Heikki Kovalainen for second.

At the in Shanghai, Räikkönen dominated the whole weekend with fastest laps in the free-practice sessions. In qualifying, Hamilton took pole position with a lighter fuel load, while Räikkönen qualified second and Massa third. There was light rainfall at the beginning of the race which prompted the cars to start on intermediate tyres. After the first round of pit stops Hamilton lost grip as his tyres suffered graining, and Räikkönen overtook him. Hamilton retired after sliding into a gravel trap in the pit lane. Räikkönen took his fifth win of the season, that revived his title hopes before the last race of the season. This was also the 200th race win and 600th podium in Ferrari's Formula One history. Räikkönen moved to seven and three points behind Hamilton and Alonso in the Drivers' Championship, respectively, going into the last race in Brazil, the first three-way title battle in the final race of the season since .

Räikkönen took the 2007 Formula One Drivers' title with victory in the at Interlagos, in an incident-packed race. Massa had taken pole, followed by Hamilton, Räikkönen, and Alonso. At the start of the race Räikkönen passed Hamilton on the outside and lined up behind Massa. Alonso shortly afterwards passed Hamilton, who fell progressively down the order. Räikkönen eventually overtook Massa, who was already eliminated from contention for the Driver's Championship in the Japanese Grand Prix. Massa's strategy for the second round of pit stops ensured Räikkönen kept the lead. Räikkönen went on to take the chequered flag, which handed him the crown by a single point from Hamilton and Alonso. Championship leader Hamilton eventually finished the race in seventh place, while defending champion Alonso managed third.

While Räikkönen had only one point more than Alonso and Hamilton at the end of the season, he had the most victories (six compared to four by each McLaren driver).

Räikkönen's Drivers' championship was briefly put into doubt when race stewards began an investigation after identifying possible fuel irregularities in the cars of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld following post-race inspection. Their disqualification and a race reclassification would have seen Hamilton lifted from seventh to fourth in the race result. However the race stewards decided that no sanctions would be given, meaning the results would stand. McLaren appealed against the decision, however the FIA Court of Appeal rejected their appeal on 16 November 2007 thus confirming Räikkönen as the champion.

2008

After a disappointing first race for Ferrari in Australia where Räikkönen eventually finished eighth after starting 15th on the grid owing to a mechanical problem in qualifying, he won his first race of the 2008 season at the , finishing ahead of Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen. His victory in Kuala Lumpur came on the fifth anniversary of his maiden victory at the same track. In Bahrain, Räikkönen qualified in fourth on the grid. He moved up to second place by the third lap and finished in that position, behind his team-mate Felipe Massa. He also secured the lead in the championship.

In Spain, Räikkönen took the 15th pole of his career and his first of the 2008 season. He managed to take his second race win of the season and the fastest lap of the race. Räikkönen overtook Mika Häkkinen in the list of total number of fastest laps and also in terms of podium finishes, making him the highest ranked Finnish driver in these statistics.

At the , Räikkönen qualified in fourth place. Despite damaging his front wing in the early stages after a collision with fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen, Räikkönen was still able to set the fastest lap and finish in third place.

In Monaco, Räikkönen qualified in second behind teammate Felipe Massa. Räikkönen stayed second behind Massa until he was given a drive-through penalty for an infringement by the team on his car and dropped down to sixth. He was set for fifth until an incident with Adrian Sutil, when Räikkönen lost control on the damp track after exiting the tunnel, and hit Sutil's car in the rear. Räikkönen's car was not badly damaged and he was able to finish in ninth after replacing his front wing, also setting the fastest lap in the process. After the race, Mike Gascoyne, the Chief Technology Officer of Force India announced they were filing official protests with the stewards over the incident, demanding a ban for Räikkönen. However, the stewards decided not to penalise him.

In Canada, Räikkönen qualified third. In the race, he set the fastest lap during the first stint while catching up with Robert Kubica who was in second place. The safety car was deployed when Adrian Sutil's car broke down in a dangerous position. Both he and Kubica jumped ahead of race leader Lewis Hamilton when they pitted during the safety car period. As there was a red light at the end of the pitlane, Räikkönen and Kubica stopped alongside each other and waited for the signal to allow them back on to the circuit. Hamilton failed to notice the red light and hit the rear of Räikkönen's Ferrari, eliminating both cars.

Räikkönen went on to take his 16th pole position in France, which was the 200th pole for Scuderia Ferrari. Räikkönen dominated the race as he set the fastest lap and had a six second lead until a bank exhaust failure some half way through the race reduced his engine's power. He gave up the lead to his teammate Massa, but was far enough ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli, to secure second place and eight points.

Räikkönen qualified third at the . Before the race, Räikkönen pushed noted photographer Paul-Henri Cahier to the ground as he lined up a close-up shot. Raikkönen's manager Steve Robertson claimed the driver was provoked by Cahier touching him with his lens and standing on his belongings, but Cahier disputed this version of events. The race was in wet conditions and Räikkönen stayed third at the first corner behind Hamilton and Kovalainen. He kept pace and got up to second when Kovalainen spun. He then chased after Hamilton, and set the fastest lap as he drew up directly behind the McLaren. During the first pitstop, Ferrari did not change the intermediates on his car in the hope that the track would become dry. However, the track was hit by another shower, and Räikkönen rapidly lost pace, and dropped down to sixth before finally pitting for new tyres. He finished fourth, a lap down.

At the , Räikkönen qualified sixth and dropped down a place at the first corner. He was running fifth when the safety car came out after a crash involving Timo Glock. His teammate Felipe Massa was ahead of him on the track, and as a result, Räikkönen was forced to wait behind Massa when the pitlane opened. This dropped him down to 12th, but he eventually finished in sixth.

At the , Räikkönen again qualified sixth. He lost a position to Alonso at the beginning of the race but managed to finish third owing to Hamilton's tyre puncture, passing Alonso during the pitstops and Massa's retirement after an engine failure.

During the , Räikkönen qualified fourth and lost a place at the start to Kovalainen. He stayed fifth until the second round of pitstops when he exited before the fuel hose was properly disengaged from his car and left one of the mechanics with a fractured toe. Two laps later, he suffered a similar engine failure to Massa in the previous race; a connecting rod in his engine broke and he was forced to retire.

At the , Räikkönen again qualified fourth. He passed Kovalainen and Massa at the start to be second, and took the lead from Hamilton on the second lap. He pulled away, setting the fastest lap of the race and built a five second gap. He looked set to win but owing to a late-race rain shower, Hamilton closed right up to him and tried to pass him at the final chicane with two laps to go. Hamilton cut the chicane and rejoined ahead of Räikkönen. He let Räikkönen take the place back. Hamilton then repassed him for the lead. The two battled on for the rest of the lap, with Räikkönen retaking the lead when the two stumbled upon spinning backmarker Nico Rosberg, forcing Hamilton onto the grass. Räikkönen spun at the next corner and fell behind Hamilton again. While trying to catch up, he lost control of the car, smashed into a wall and retired.

At the , which was held in extremely wet conditions, Räikkönen qualified 14th. He stayed in 14th position for the first two stints. He climbed to ninth position in the third and last stint in which he also set the fastest lap of the race.

In Singapore, the first night-time event in Formula One history, Räikkönen qualified third behind Massa and Hamilton. He remained in this position for most of the early laps. On lap 14, Nelson Piquet, Jr.'s Renault hit the wall at turn 17 and the safety car was deployed. Both Ferrari drivers pitted during the safety car period, with Räikkönen queued behind Massa in a busy pitlane. Ferrari released Massa before the fuel hose was disconnected from the car, which compromised Räikkönen who rejoined in 16th. Räikkönen managed to climb to fifth place, but on lap 57, while attacking Timo Glock, he hit the wall after pushing too hard at turn 10 and retired. He set the fastest lap of the race as his tenth of the season. This equalled Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of ten fastest laps in a Formula One season.

At the at the Fuji Speedway circuit, Räikkönen qualified second on the grid, behind Hamilton, and took the lead at the start. Closing up to turn 1, Hamilton attempted to pass on the inside, braked late and went wide, forcing Räikkönen to also go wide. Räikkönen lost out heavily and went down to seventh position. He gained places after a collision between Hamilton and Massa, Kovalainen's hydraulic failure and an overtaking manoeuvre on Jarno Trulli. He eventually finished third, behind Renault's Fernando Alonso and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. This result meant that it was impossible for Räikkönen to retain his Drivers' Championship title for the second year.

In China, Räikkönen qualified second behind Hamilton. At the start he stayed second with his teammate and now Ferrari's world championship contender, Massa, behind him in third place. However, with Räikkönen out of the running for the world championship he let Massa through into second place on lap 49, to help the latter gain two additional points in his pursuit of Hamilton in the world championship race.

At the , Räikkönen qualified third and finished third, behind Massa and Alonso. As Kubica failed to score, he finished third in the championship.

Räikkönen also won the DHL Fastest Lap Award for the second year in a row. He set 10 fastest laps throughout the season.

2009

At the start of the 2009 season in the , Räikkönen qualified in ninth place. The pace of the Ferraris and McLarens in particular was significantly slower than the likes of the Brawn, Red Bull and other outfits who were struggling to keep up with them in 2008. In the race, both Ferraris were running well before Räikkönen hit a barrier. He was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 43 and subsequently retired with differential failure.

In Malaysia, Räikkönen topped the time sheet in the second practice session. Räikkönen was ninth in qualifying. Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello's ten and five-place penalties respectively meant that he was promoted to 7th. During the race, rain was predicted and the team took a gamble to change Räikkönen to full wet tyres while the track was still dry. The gamble did not pay off, and Räikkönen fell down the field. By the time the race was stopped on the 33rd lap due to torrential rain, Räikkönen was classified 14th.

Räikkönen's season did not get any better in Round 3 in China where he qualified in 8th place. In the wet race, he and Lewis Hamilton had duels early on, with Hamilton having to overtake Räikkönen three times to get the job done. Räikkönen complained about power loss from the engine from near the start and of a lack of grip after his one and only pit-stop. This meant that he could only finish 10th. In Bahrain, Räikkönen secured 6th place and Ferrari's first points of the year, but was disappointed by the team's performance. He retired from the due to a hydraulics failure after qualifying from the back of the grid.

At the , Räikkönen secured 2nd place in qualifying, Ferrari and Räikkönen's best qualifying of the year so far. He admitted that he was still disappointed because he missed out on pole narrowly to the Brawn of Jenson Button. Räikkönen lost out to Rubens Barrichello at the start of the race, dropping back to 3rd. He maintained this position until the chequered flag.

At the , Räikkönen qualified sixth, but damaged his front wing on the first lap. He could only finish ninth, out of the points. At the , Räikkönen qualified ninth but a good start saw him move up to fifth. However, he dropped to eighth during the pit stops because of traffic and remained until the finish.

At the , Räikkönen qualified ninth after a damp session. In the race however he collided with the Force India of Adrian Sutil like in the previous year in Monte Carlo, as the German was emerging from a pitstop. While Sutil managed to recover back to the pits to replace a nosecone, Raikkonen was forced to retire a few laps later with radiator damage as a result of the incident.

At the , Räikkönen took his and Ferrari's best finish of the season in 2nd, after making a great start from 7th. After the first corner Räikkönen was in 4th place, but when Fernando Alonso retired after his early first stop, Räikkönen moved up to 3rd. Räikkönen overtook Webber for 2nd place at the first round of pit stops when Räikkönen and Webber pitted on the same lap. Räikkönen had a clean pit-stop, whereas Webber had a problem and was released into the path of the Ferrari. Räikkönen and Webber avoided collision, and Webber had to slot in behind Räikkönen. On his second pit stop, Räikkönen had a problem with an exhaust pipe. However, having built quite a gap between him and Webber, he held on to take 2nd place.

At the , he qualified 6th. He jumped to 4th at the start of the race. He then moved up to 3rd after the second pit stops jumping Heikki Kovalainen for the last podium place, and stayed in that position until the end of the race, claiming his second straight podium.

At the , he qualified 6th, jumping to 2nd at the start of the race. After the safety car was removed, he passed Giancarlo Fisichella to take the race lead and led all the way to the chequered flag for his first race win in 25 races, and the first and only one for Ferrari in 2009. It was Räikkönen's fourth victory in the last five Belgian Grands Prix, bolstering his reputation as "The King of Spa".

Räikkönen continued his good form at the , qualifying and finishing 3rd, after Lewis Hamilton's last-lap crash. It was his 4th consecutive podium finish.

Singapore saw the end of a great run for Räikkönen where he only finished 10th after qualifying 12th.

In Japan, Räikkönen came very close to another podium, finishing fourth. He had qualified fifth and was not able to gain a place at the start of the race, as he was on hard tyres. He put on softs for his second stint and was able to close in on Nick Heidfeld at about three quarters of a second every lap. He overtook the German after the BMW Sauber came out of the pits. However, an accident involving Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari brought out the safety car on lap 44, which kept the field stationary for a further five laps. Despite Lewis Hamilton suffering a KERS failure, Räikkönen's car did not have the grip necessary and was not able to overtake the third-placed McLaren at the restart. He went wide in an attempt to overtake Hamilton but recovered without losing a further place to Nico Rosberg.

In Brazil, Räikkönen qualified 5th and finished 6th. His race was already ruined when Mark Webber swerved into his path, damaging the Ferrari's front wing. At the pit stop while having the wing changed, fuel dripping from the fuel rig stuck on Kovalainen's car caused the Ferrari to briefly burst in flames as the two cars were exiting their pit stops. For the rest of the race even with his eyes burning from fuel, Räikkönen used his strategy to move up the order and eventually finished in sixth place.

In Abu Dhabi, the last race of the season, Räikkönen qualified 11th with an uncompetitive car. He lost a place at the start of the race to Kamui Kobayashi. For the rest of the race, Räikkönen struggled and finished 12th, out of the points.

Leaving Formula One

Near the end of the 2009 season, Ferrari announced that Räikkönen would be leaving the team, despite having a contract to race for them in . He would be replaced by Fernando Alonso. He was expected to return to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton but negotiations with the team failed. Räikkönen was linked to Mercedes GP but the team eventually signed Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Toyota F1, before it pulled out of Formula One, offered Räikkönen a driving contract to replace Timo Glock in 2010. The BBC reported that he refused the contract owing to wanting to drive a race-winning car, not to mention Toyota not offering a large enough salary.

On 17 November 2009, his manager Steve Robertson confirmed that Räikkönen would not drive in Formula One in the 2010 season. But during 2010 itself, rumours emerged once again about another possible Räikkönen comeback this time with the Renault team in 2011. This followed a resurgence in Renault's form, and the fact that the Russian Vitaly Petrov had yet to be re-signed like team-mate Robert Kubica. Team principal Éric Boullier claimed he had been contacted by Räikkönen in connection with a possible return, but said that although he was flattered by Räikkönen's alleged display of interest: However Räikkönen angrily shot down the suggestion that he would race, claiming that Renault had simply used his name for "their own marketing purposes".

Rallying

Räikkönen made his rally debut at the Arctic Lapland Rally, which ran from 23 to 24 January 2009, driving a Tommi Mäkinen Racing-prepared Abarth Grande Punto S2000. He finished in 13th place. Räikkönen made his WRC debut in the 2009 Rally Finland, which took place between 30 July and 2 August, starting just four days after his 2nd place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix. He was running third in group N and 15th overall before crashing out in Väärinmaja, last stage of Saturday.

On 4 December 2009, it was announced that Räikkönen would shift from Formula 1 to the World Rally Championship for the 2010 season as a full-time driver for the Citroën Junior Team, and that he would be driving a Red Bull-sponsored Citroën C4 WRC with his co-driver, Kaj Lindström. As members of the team, the pair were scheduled to participate in 12 of 13 rallies in the 2010 WRC calendar, the exception being Rally New Zealand.

On 3 April 2010, Räikkönen scored his first WRC points when he finished eighth in the Jordan Rally. Consequently, he became the second driver after Carlos Reutemann to score championship points in both Formula One and the World Rally Championship.

In the next WRC event, the Rally of Turkey, Räikkönen improved his best result with a 5th place finish, 6m 44.3s off the winner, Sébastien Loeb. This result saw him beat established and more experienced drivers in the field.

In the 2010 Rally Finland, retired four time World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen entered the race and said that if Räikkönen cannot beat him then he might as well go back to F1. Kankkunen finished 8th and Räikkönen finished 25th due to car trouble. He finished 7th in Rally Deutschland, his 2nd ever asphalt rally, while notching up his first ever career stage win, the last stage of the rally.

On 18 September 2010, Räikkönen achieved his first rally win when he participated in the Rallye Vosgien 2010 in France. He won all six stages in the asphalt rally. Räikkönen could not start in the Rally Catalunya because he crashed during the shakedown, leaving the roll cage damaged, and the team did not have enough time to repair it. Subsequently Räikkönen decided to not take part in the rally at all, even when he could by super rally rules. The reason was stated to be saving the car.

Räikkönen entered the 2011 World Rally Championship season under his own team, ICE 1 Racing. He drives a Citroën DS3 WRC. He finished 8th in the opening round, Rally Sweden. Skipping the Mexico event, he next competed in Rally Portugal and finished 7th.

NASCAR

It was reported on 29 March 2011 that Räikkönen will try his hand at NASCAR starting in the Camping World Truck Series sometime in the summer of 2011 with an eye on also running in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series.

On 2 April Räikkönen signed a deal with Toyota team Kyle Busch Motorsports to run a limited schedule in the Camping World Truck Series. Earlier report claimed that Räikkönen's entry was related with Foster Gillett, however, Kyle Busch rejected the claim. Räikkönen will debut in North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina on May 20, 2011. SpeedTV reported that Räikkönen was expected to race in Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2011 as well. The Charlotte entry list has Räikkönen driving the #15 Toyota for KBM.

On May 20, Räikkönen debuted at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a strong finish of No. 15, though started the day with tough practice sessions and qualified only at 31 out of 37 cars. His race craft was well received by team crew chief Rick Ren and his teammate Kyle Busch. Räikkönen went on to race in the Nationwide Series at the same track on May 28 driving for Joe Nemechek. He finished 27th after having debris stuck under his car and getting a penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Personal life

Räikkönen married Jenni Dahlman, a Finnish model and former Miss Scandinavia, on 31 July 2004. They currently live in Switzerland. His older brother, Rami Räikkönen, is a rally driver and a national junior-class champion, who also competes in the Finnish Formula 3 Championship; their father Matti was a road builder.

Räikkönen's hobbies include snowboarding and ice hockey. During his spare time he can often be seen watching his hometown ice hockey team Espoo Blues play. He has also competed in several different kinds of motorsport events. In March 2007, while his Formula One rivals were in Australia preparing for the season opener, Räikkönen competed in a snowmobile race in Finland under the pseudonym "James Hunt", referring to the 1976 world champion whose "playboy" lifestyle has been compared with Räikkönen's own. Räikkönen won the Enduro Sprint race by over 20 seconds with his Lynx. Later in the year, he and two friends entered a powerboat race in the Finnish harbour city of Hanko while wearing gorilla suits. Again, he raced under the name "James Hunt". They then won a prize for the best-dressed crew.

In August 2008, it was announced that Räikkönen would appear on a set of Finnish postage stamps. The stamps, which were released to commemorate the Finnish postal service's 370th anniversary, feature images of him racing and on the podium, with the words "F1 World Champion '07 Kimi Räikkönen".

In 2011, Räikkönen founded his own Motocross World Championship team; Ice 1 Racing. The team consists of MX1 rider Toni Eriksson and MX2 rider Ludde Söderberg and is managed by seven-time enduro world champion Kari Tiainen. The Ice 1 Racing team also supports six junior riders competing in the Finnish national championship.

Helmet

Räikkönen's helmet, designed by UffeDesigns, almost never changed from team to team (letting only some elements like the insignia on top, that shaped after the rune that means "protection", a V design running on the circle top (representing a bird flying) and the inscription "Iceman"): in his debut, his helmet was predominantly blue with white and silver details, in 2002, When he switched to McLaren the design was left intact, only making the top circle all blue rather than half silver and with some black details on the chin area and the V design had its bends folded forming a M. In 2003-2005 his helmet was blue and white with some red and silver parts, there were added red details on the rune symbol that was added to the M design. In 2006 his helmet was the same, only changing the blue to black and there were red and white lines on it. In Ferrari Raikkonen's helmet changed radically: it was white with the middle part black and red with tribals and a black circle with the rune design in the top, in 2008 in the red areas were added black paisley motifs. He retained this design in WRC (after he used in 2010 a blue helmet with Red Bull logo).

Results and records

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team Name	! Races	! Poles	! Wins	! Points	! Final Placing
		?
	Continental Racing Van Diemen
	Manor Motorsport
	Haywood Racing
		?
	Manor Motorsport
		Sauber
		Citroën Junior Team
		Ice 1 Racing
	Vision Aviation Racing
	NEMCO Motorsports

* Season in progress

Complete Formula One results

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List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

! Sauber Petronas

Sauber Sauber C20>C20

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style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

rowspan="2"

[[West (cigarette)

! [[McLaren (racing)

[[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

7th

45

McLaren MP4-19>MP4-19B

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

! McLaren

McLaren MP4-20>MP4-20

!

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

! [[McLaren

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

! [[McLaren

McLaren MP4-21>MP4-21

!

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

! 5th

! 65

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

! 5th

! 65

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! 6th

! 48

Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! WDC

! Points

Tommi Mäkinen Racing">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! 6th

! 48

Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! WDC

! Points

Tommi Mäkinen Racing

! Fiat Grande Punto S2000

style="background:#efcfff;"

! NC

! 0

! Citroën Junior Team

! Citroën C4 WRC

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

! 10th

! 25

! ICE 1 Racing

! Citroën DS3 WRC

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

! 8th*

! 34*

* Season in progress

Complete NASCAR results

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. ''Italics'' - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Nationwide Series

! Year

! Team

! Make

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

! 24

! 25

! 26

! 27

! 28

! 29

! 30

! 31

! 32

! 33

! 34

! NNWC

! Points

2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series>2011

! NEMCO Motorsports

! Toyota

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! – 1

! – 1

: ¹ ''Ineligible for Nationwide championship points.''

Formula One records and achievements

In 2005 Räikkönen equalled the record of wins in a single season without winning the World Title (7), shared with four time World Champion Alain Prost, who initially set the record in 1984 and matched it in 1988, and also with Michael Schumacher, in 2006.

In the 2005 and 2008 seasons, he equalled Michael Schumacher's record of 10 fastest race laps in a season, set in 2004.

He currently holds the third highest record for total fastest laps at 35.

In 2008, Räikkönen scored six consecutive fastest race laps (in Spain, Turkey, Monaco, Canada, France and Britain), equalling Alberto Ascari's record for the most consecutive fastest laps in a single season and placing him one behind Ascari's overall record of seven consecutive fastest laps (which were split across two seasons: six in 1952 and one in 1953).

He was the first driver to win on his Ferrari debut since Nigel Mansell at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first to win, set the fastest lap and pole position on his Ferrari debut since Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix. His replacement Fernando Alonso also won on his Ferrari debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap on the way; however Alonso only qualified 3rd.

Following Michael Schumacher's retirement at the end of 2006, Räikkönen was the highest paid driver in Formula One, with a reputed base salary of $51 m per year.

The 2007 Chinese Grand Prix saw Räikkönen give Scuderia Ferrari their 200th Formula One GP win, as well as their 600th podium (along with team-mate Felipe Massa who finished in 3rd).

At the 2008 French Grand Prix Räikkönen gave Ferrari their 200th pole position.

Räikkönen is the second driver to win the World Championship after being third in the drivers standings before the final race. Giuseppe Farina, the first F1 World Champion, was the first to do this in , beating Juan Manuel Fangio by three points and Luigi Fagioli by six points. Sebastian Vettel repeated this feat in 2010, when he won the championship at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Räikkönen is the third Ferrari driver after Juan Manuel Fangio and Jody Scheckter to win the world title in their first year with the team.

Räikkönen is the third Finnish driver to win the World Championship, after Keke Rosberg and Mika Häkkinen. He is also the most successful Finnish Formula One driver in terms of points, podium finishes and fastest laps.

Räikkönen also holds the record for the most wins in a debut year with Ferrari with 6, beating Alain Prost's previous record of 5 from 1990.

See also

Famous Finns

The Flying Finns

References

Bibliography

External links

Kimi Räikkönen official website

Formula One DataBase: Kimi Räikkönen

|after=Lewis Hamilton}} –|after=Sebastian Vettel}}

Category:1979 births Category:British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Finnish expatriates in Switzerland Category:Finnish expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Finnish Formula One drivers Category:Finnish Lutherans Category:Finnish racecar drivers Category:Finnish rally drivers Category:Formula Ford drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Living people Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:NASCAR drivers Category:People from Espoo Category:World Rally Championship drivers

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