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Anatolia
Anatolia (, from Greek '; also Asia Minor, from , ') is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, Georgia to the northeast, the Armenian Highland to the east, Mesopotamia to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. Anatolia has been home to many civilizations throughout history, such as the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Assyrians, Armenians, Romans, Byzantines, Anatolian Seljuks and Ottomans. As a result, Anatolia is one of the archeologically richest areas in the world.
http://wn.com/Anatolia -
Arc de Triomphe
http://wn.com/Arc_de_Triomphe -
Berghof (residence)
The Berghof was Adolf Hitler's home in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany. Other than the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Hitler spent more time at the Berghof than anywhere else during World War II. It was also one of the most widely known of Hitler's headquarters which were located throughout Europe. Rebuilt, much expanded and re-named in 1935, the Berghof was Hitler's vacation residence for ten years. In late April 1945 the house was damaged by British aerial bombs, set on fire by retreating SS troops in early May, and looted after Allied troops reached the area. The burnt out shell was demolished by the West German government in 1952.
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Bering Strait
[[Image:dateliner cam.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[http://209.165.175.132/sample/LvAppl/lvappl.htm A US-based webcam] providing a view across the Bering Strait]]
http://wn.com/Bering_Strait -
East Germany
The German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR), informally called East Germany by the West, was the socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany and in the East Berlin portion of the Allied-occupied capital city. The German Democratic Republic, which consisted geographically of northeast Germany rather than all of eastern Germany, had an area of 107,771 km2. (41,610 mi.2), bordering Czechoslovakia in the south, West Germany (officially: Federal Republic of Germany) in the south and west, the Baltic Sea to the north, and Poland in the east.
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East Prussia
http://wn.com/East_Prussia -
Expo 2000
http://wn.com/Expo_2000 -
Führerbunker
http://wn.com/Führerbunker -
German Empire
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Germany
Germany (), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357.021 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state of the European Union, and home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.
http://wn.com/Germany -
Guadalajara, Jalisco
http://wn.com/Guadalajara_Jalisco -
Hamburg
Hamburg (; , local pronunciation Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg ) is the second-largest city in Germany and the eighth-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighboring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe (third to Port of Antwerp and Rotterdam), and the eighth largest in the world.
http://wn.com/Hamburg -
Kętrzyn
http://wn.com/Kętrzyn -
Nazi Germany
http://wn.com/Nazi_Germany -
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the main victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany.
http://wn.com/Nuremberg_Trials -
Palace of Versailles
http://wn.com/Palace_of_Versailles -
Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II in the first half of the second century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor.
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Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery () was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler) from 1871 to 1945. Today the office is usually called Kanzleramt (Chancellor's Office), or more formally Bundeskanzleramt (Federal Chancellor's Office).
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Schutzstaffel
http://wn.com/Schutzstaffel -
Soviet Union
http://wn.com/Soviet_Union -
Spandau Prison
Spandau Prison was a prison situated in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin, constructed in 1876 and demolished in 1987 after the death of its last prisoner, Rudolf Hess, to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. The prison was near, though not part of, the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel fortress. In history, Spandau Prison succeeded as a prison to the citadel and where Frederick II of Prussia had held captive the magistrates of the Prussian Kammergericht and the Spandau gaol, where Carl Schurz had freed his friend Gottfried Kinkel in the aftermath of the 1848 German revolution. The magistrates and Kinkel were held captive as Festungsgefangene (fortress prisoners), being privileged in detainment conditions.
http://wn.com/Spandau_Prison -
Straße des 17. Juni
http://wn.com/Straße_des_17_Juni -
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung (), Storm Division or Battalion, abbreviated SA and usually translated as stormtroop(er)s, functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s.
http://wn.com/Sturmabteilung -
Weimar republic
http://wn.com/Weimar_republic -
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (, ) is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government. It was named after Weimar, the city where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was Deutsches Reich (sometimes translated as German Empire, but Reich can also mean realm or federal level of government), however, and it was usually known in English simply as Germany. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918. In 1919, a national assembly convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for the German Reich was written, then adopted on 11 August of that same year. Germany's period of liberal democracy lapsed in the early 1930s, leading to the ascent of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler in 1933. Although the constitution of 1919 was never officially repealed, the legal measures taken by the Nazi government in February and March 1933, commonly known as Gleichschaltung ("coordination") meant that the government could legislate contrary to the constitution. The constitution became irrelevant; thus, 1933 is usually seen as the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of Hitler's Third Reich.
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Westend (Berlin)
Westend is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf situated on the Spandauer Berg, the northern peak of the Teltow plateau between the river valleys of Spree and Havel.
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Wilhelmplatz
http://wn.com/Wilhelmplatz -
Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.
http://wn.com/Wilmersdorf -
Wolf's Lair
http://wn.com/Wolf's_Lair
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Adam Tooze
Adam Tooze (born in 1967) is a British historian and was Reader in Modern European Economic History at the University of Cambridge. In 2002, he was awarded a [http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/grants_awards/grants/philip_leverhulme_prizes/ Philip Leverhulme Prize for Modern History]. As of Summer 2010, he is a professor of history at Yale University.
http://wn.com/Adam_Tooze -
Adolf Hitler
http://wn.com/Adolf_Hitler -
Albert Speer
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer -
Albert Speer, Jr.
Albert Speer (; born July 29, 1934 in Berlin) is a German architect and urban planner. He is son of the architect and Nazi Party official Albert Speer. Albert Speer, Jr.'s grandfather Albert Friedrich Speer was also an architect.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_Jr -
Alfred Hugenberg
Alfred Wilhelm Franz Maria Hugenberg (19 June 1865 - 12 March 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's first cabinet in 1933.
http://wn.com/Alfred_Hugenberg -
Alfred Jodl
http://wn.com/Alfred_Jodl -
Alfred Rosenberg
http://wn.com/Alfred_Rosenberg -
Armin D. Lehmann
http://wn.com/Armin_D_Lehmann -
Arno Breker
Arno Breker (July 19, 1900 – February 13, 1991) was a German sculptor, best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, which were endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of so-called "degenerate art".
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Arthur Seyss-Inquart
http://wn.com/Arthur_Seyss-Inquart -
Artur Axmann
http://wn.com/Artur_Axmann -
Baldur von Schirach
Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a Nazi youth leader later convicted of being a war criminal. Schirach was the head of the Hitler-Jugend (HJ, Hitler Youth) and Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter ("Reich Governor") of Vienna.
http://wn.com/Baldur_von_Schirach -
Bernhard Rust
http://wn.com/Bernhard_Rust -
Charles de Gaulle
http://wn.com/Charles_de_Gaulle -
Christa Schroeder
http://wn.com/Christa_Schroeder -
Constanze Manziarly
Constanze Manziarly (14 April 1920 – disappeared c. 2 May 1945) served as a cook/dietitian to Adolf Hitler.
http://wn.com/Constanze_Manziarly -
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English writer specializing in the military history of World War II. He is the author of 30 books on the subject, including The Destruction of Dresden (1963), ''Hitler's War (1977), Uprising! (1981), Churchill's War (1987), and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich'' (1996).
http://wn.com/David_Irving -
Else Krüger
http://wn.com/Else_Krüger -
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (March 30, 1892 – January 25, 1972) was a German Field Marshal who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Germany following World War I.
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Erich Kempka
http://wn.com/Erich_Kempka -
Erich Raeder
http://wn.com/Erich_Raeder -
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
http://wn.com/Ernst_Kaltenbrunner -
Ernst Röhm
http://wn.com/Ernst_Röhm -
Eva Braun
http://wn.com/Eva_Braun -
Francis Biddle
Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was Attorney General of the United States during World War II and who served as the primary American judge during the postwar Nuremberg trials.
http://wn.com/Francis_Biddle -
Franz Gürtner
http://wn.com/Franz_Gürtner -
Franz Schlegelberger
Louis Rudolph Franz Schlegelberger (23 October 1876 14 December 1970) was State Secretary in the German Reich Ministry of Justice (RMJ) and served awhile as Justice Minister during the Third Reich. He was the highest-ranking defendant at the Judges' Trial in Nuremberg.
http://wn.com/Franz_Schlegelberger -
Franz Schädle
http://wn.com/Franz_Schädle -
Franz Seldte
Franz Seldte (29 June 1882 1 April 1947) was a cofounder of the German paramilitary organization Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten, a Nazi politician, and a Reich labour minister.
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Franz Von Papen
http://wn.com/Franz_Von_Papen -
Franz von Papen
http://wn.com/Franz_von_Papen -
Fritz Sauckel
http://wn.com/Fritz_Sauckel -
Fritz Todt
http://wn.com/Fritz_Todt -
Fritz Tornow
http://wn.com/Fritz_Tornow -
Genghis Khan
http://wn.com/Genghis_Khan -
George Wildman Ball
http://wn.com/George_Wildman_Ball -
Gerda Christian
Gerda Christian (13 December 1913 – 14 April 1997) was one of Adolf Hitler's private secretaries during World War II.
http://wn.com/Gerda_Christian -
Gitta Sereny
Gitta Sereny (born 13 March 1921) is an Austrian-born British biographer, historian and journalist whose writing focuses mainly on the Holocaust and child abuse. She is the stepdaughter of the economist Ludwig von Mises.
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Goebbels children
The Goebbels children were the five daughters and one son born to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels. The children, born between 1932 and 1940, were killed by their mother in Berlin on May 1, 1945, the day both parents committed suicide.
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Günter Rexrodt
http://wn.com/Günter_Rexrodt -
Günther Schwägermann
http://wn.com/Günther_Schwägermann -
Hanna Reitsch
Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912 – 24 August 1979) was a German aviator and the only woman awarded the Iron Cross First Class and the Luftwaffe Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds during World War II. Along with her flying skills Reitsch was photogenic and willingly appeared in Nazi Party propaganda throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s, which made her a celebrity. Reitsch was the first woman to fly a helicopter, a rocket plane, and a jet fighter. She set over forty aviation altitude and endurance records during her career, both before and after World War II, and several of her international gliding records are still standing to this day.
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Hanns Kerrl
http://wn.com/Hanns_Kerrl -
Hans Baur
http://wn.com/Hans_Baur -
Hans Frank
Hans Michael Frank (May 23, 1900 – October 16, 1946) was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany. He was prosecuted during the Nuremberg trials for his role in perpetrating the Holocaust during his tenure as the Governor-General of that portion of occupied Poland that was not incorporated into the Reich, although administered by the Nazis, and known as the General Government. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed on October 16, 1946.
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Hans Fritzsche
Hans Georg Fritzsche (April 21, 1900 - September 27, 1953) was a senior German Nazi official, ending the war as Ministerialdirektor at the Propagandaministerium.
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Hans Lammers
Dr. Jur. Hans Heinrich Lammers (27 May 1879 4 January 1962) was a prominent Nazi and head of the Reich Chancellery.
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Hans-Erich Voss
http://wn.com/Hans-Erich_Voss -
Heinrich Himmler
http://wn.com/Heinrich_Himmler -
Heinz Lorenz
Heinz Lorenz (7 August 1913 – 23 November 1985) was German dictator Adolf Hitler's Chief Press Secretary during World War II.
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Helmut Kunz
Helmut Kunz (26 September 1910 - 1976) was an SS (Schutzstaffel) dentist who, after the suicide of Adolf Hitler, was ordered to administer anesthetic to the six children of Joseph Goebbels before they were killed.
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Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; born 23 December 1918) is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting Foreign Minister. He is the oldest surviving German Chancellor and the last surviving person to have been solely Chancellor of West Germany (Helmut Kohl was Chancellor of both West Germany and reunified Germany). He also is the oldest Federal German Minister surviving after the death of his Interior Minister Werner Maihofer.
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Helmuth Weidling
Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling (2 November 1891 – 17 November 1955) was an officer in the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) before and during World War II. Weidling was the last commander of the Berlin Defence Area during the Battle of Berlin, and led the defence of the city against Soviet forces, finally surrendering just before the end of World War II in Europe.
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Henry T. King
Henry T. King Jr. (born May 27, 1919, Meriden, Connecticut, died May 9, 2009 Cleveland, Ohio) was an attorney who served as a U.S. Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946-47. Late in his career, he became a law professor and an activist, writer, and lecturer working on international law and war crimes; David M. Crane has described King as "the George Washington of modern international law".
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Herbert von Bose
Herbert von Bose (16 March 1893 Strasbourg – 30 June 1934 Berlin) was head of the press division of the Vice Chancellery (Reichsvizekanzlei) in Germany under Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen.
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Hermann Göring
http://wn.com/Hermann_Göring -
Hjalmar Schacht
http://wn.com/Hjalmar_Schacht -
Joachim Fest
Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926–11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor, best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including an important biography of Adolf Hitler and books about Albert Speer and the German Resistance. He was a leading figure in the debate among German historians about the Nazi period.
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Johann Rattenhuber
http://wn.com/Johann_Rattenhuber -
Johanna Wolf
Johanna Wolf (1 June 1900 - 5 June 1985) was Adolf Hitler's chief secretary.
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Johannes Hentschel
Johannes Hentschel (10 May 1908 – 27 April 1982) was a German- Danish master electro-mechanic for German dictator Adolf Hitler's apartments in the Old Chancellery.
http://wn.com/Johannes_Hentschel -
John J. McCloy
http://wn.com/John_J_McCloy -
John the Baptist
http://wn.com/John_the_Baptist -
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (often in English, ; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism. He was the chief architect of the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the beginning of the Final Solution, leading towards the genocide of the Holocaust.
http://wn.com/Joseph_Goebbels -
Joseph Stalin
http://wn.com/Joseph_Stalin -
Julius Curtius
http://wn.com/Julius_Curtius -
Julius Dorpmüller
Julius Heinrich Dorpmueller (24 July 1869 in Elberfeld - 5 July 1945 in Malente) was general manager of Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft from 1926-45 and the German Reich Transport Minister from 1937-45.
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Julius Schaub
Julius Schaub (August 20, 1898 – December 27, 1967) was
http://wn.com/Julius_Schaub -
Julius Streicher
http://wn.com/Julius_Streicher -
Jürgen Möllemann
http://wn.com/Jürgen_Möllemann -
Karl Brandt
Karl Brandt may refer to:
http://wn.com/Karl_Brandt -
Karl Dönitz
http://wn.com/Karl_Dönitz -
Karl Gebhardt
http://wn.com/Karl_Gebhardt -
Karl Hanke
http://wn.com/Karl_Hanke -
Karl Hermann Frank
http://wn.com/Karl_Hermann_Frank -
Karl Saur
http://wn.com/Karl_Saur -
Kurt Schmitt
http://wn.com/Kurt_Schmitt -
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 - 8 September 2003) was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendship with Adolf Hitler thwarted her film career following Germany's defeat in World War II, after which she was arrested but released without any charges.
http://wn.com/Leni_Riefenstahl -
Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy (3 November 191918 October 2009) was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United Kingdom.
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Ludwig Erhard
Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897–5 May 1977) was a German politician (CDU) and Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery, particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer after 1949.
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Ludwig Stumpfegger
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Magda Goebbels
Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels (11 November 1901 – 1 May 1945) was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. A prominent member of the Nazi party, she was a close ally and political supporter of Adolf Hitler.
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Margret Nissen
Margret Nissen (born 19 June 1938 as Margarete Speer) is a German photographer. She is the daughter of a senior Nazi official and war criminal Albert Speer.
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Martin Bangemann
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Martin Bormann
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Michael Glos
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Nevile Henderson
Sir Nevile Meyrick Henderson, KCMG (10 June 1882 – 30 December 1942) was the Ambassador of Great Britain to Germany from 1937 to 1939. He believed that Adolf Hitler could be controlled and pushed toward peace and cooperation with the Western powers. In February 1939 he cabled the Foreign Office in London: "If we handle him (Hitler) right, my belief is that he will become gradually more pacific. But if we treat him as a pariah or mad dog we shall turn him finally and irrevocably into one."
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Nicolaus von Below
Nicolaus von Below (20 September 1907 – 24 July 1983) was an officer in the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) before and during World War II.
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Otto Georg Thierack
Otto Georg Thierack (19 April 1889 22 November 1946) was a Nazi jurist and politician.
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Otto Günsche
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Otto Meissner
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Paul Troost
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Rainer Brüderle
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Robert Carr
Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, PC (born 11 November 1916) is a British Conservative politician.
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Robert Ley
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Rochus Misch
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Rudolf Hess
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Rudolf Weiss
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Rudolf Wissell
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Rudolf Wolters
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Siegfried Knappe
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Theodor Morell
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Traudl Junge
Traudl Junge (born Gertraud Humps 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) was Adolf Hitler's youngest personal private secretary, from December 1942 to April 1945.
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Walter Frentz
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Walther Hewel
Walther Hewel (2 January 1904 – 2 May 1945) was a German diplomat before and during World War II, an early and active member of the Nazi Party, and one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's few personal friends.
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Werner Haase
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Werner March
Werner Julius March (January 17, 1894 – January 11, 1976) was a German architect.
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Werner Naumann
Werner Naumann (16 June 1909 – 25 October 1982) was a State Secretary in Joseph Goebbels' Propagandaministerium during the Third Reich. He was appointed head of the Propaganda Ministry by Hitler in his political testament after Dr. Goebbels was promoted to Reichskanzler.
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Werner von Blomberg
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Wilhelm Burgdorf
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Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel (22 September 1882 – 16 October 1946) was a German field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall). As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II. At the Allied court at Nuremberg he was tried, sentenced to death and hanged as a major war criminal.
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Wilhelm Mohnke
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Wilhelm Ohnesorge
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Wilhelm Stuckart
Wilhelm Stuckart (November 16, 1902 – November 15, 1953) was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.
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Wilhelm Zander
Wilhelm Zander (22 April 1911 – 27 September 1974) was as an adjutant to Martin Bormann during World War II.
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William L. Shirer
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Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (; 18 December 1913 - 8 October 1992), was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1964–1987.
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Willy Johannmeyer
Willy Johannmeyer (sometimes mistakenly written Willi) was a German officer during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, and, by the time of the dissolution of the Third Reich, the last Army adjutant (Heeresadjutant) to Adolf Hitler.
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Wolf Jobst Siedler
Wolf Jobst Siedler (born 17 January 1926 in Berlin) is a German publisher and writer.
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Wolfgang Clement
Wolfgang Clement (born 7 July 1940 in Bochum) is a German politician. Clement was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was Premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1998 to 2002 and Federal Minister of Economics and Labour from 2002 to 2005.
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Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 1 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:32
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
www.facebook.com www.youtube.com/alanheath Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_1_of_7
Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial - Albert Speer (part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:10
- Updated: 26 Oct 2012
This is episode one of a three part 2006 documentary series about the Nuremburg Trials. This episode focusus on Albert Speer the minister of armarments of the third reich and hitler's architect.
http://wn.com/Nuremberg_Nazis_on_Trial_Albert_Speer_part_1
Albert Speer: Hitler's Architect 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:00
- Updated: 26 Oct 2012
na
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_Hitler's_Architect_1
Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 3 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:32
- Updated: 22 Aug 2012
www.facebook.com www.youtube.com/alanheath Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_3_of_7
Nazis Albert Speer & Karl Dönitz 1973 interview (subbed)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:07
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
From the very rare documentary "The Memory of Justice".
http://wn.com/Nazis_Albert_Speer_Karl_Dönitz_1973_interview_subbed
NUREMBERG - ALBERT SPEER 01/06
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:58
- Updated: 26 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/NUREMBERG_ALBERT_SPEER_01_06
Spiegel Geschichte Albert Speer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 42:04
- Updated: 11 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Spiegel_Geschichte_Albert_Speer
Lars von Trier -- "I understand Hitler..."
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:26
- Updated: 28 Oct 2012
At first I was shocked, now I laugh my ass off every time I watch this clip. It's genius. This man knows how to become popular -- just by being himself in a provocative way. And yes, Israel IS a pain in the ass, in my own personal opinion. Kirsten is cute by the way, sitting there not knowing whether or how to react. And I like how Stellan Skarsgård is just smiling kindly while Lars is reaching for his approval. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clip of the year. ♥
http://wn.com/Lars_von_Trier_-_I_understand_Hitler
Henry T. King, Jr. (1981) interviews Nazi war criminal Albert Speer (part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:23
- Updated: 16 Oct 2012
These are audiotaped excerpts from a July 18, 1981, interview that Henry T. King, Jr., a former US prosecutor at Nuremberg, conducted in English with Nazi war criminal Albert Speer. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal convicted Speer, Hitler's Armaments Minister, of international crimes and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment, which served (1946-66) in Spandau prison. In these excerpts, Speer speaks of the Nuremberg trial, of Adolf Hitler, and of his (Speer's) wish to be remembered as an architect. Speer died a few weeks after this interview. Some of these segments provided couresy of William Laufer and Lauferfilm. Copyright 2012, Robert H. Jackson Center.
http://wn.com/Henry_T_King,_Jr_1981_interviews_Nazi_war_criminal_Albert_Speer_part_1
Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial - Albert Speer (part 2)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:00
- Updated: 26 Oct 2012
This is episode one of a three part 2006 documentary series about the Nuremburg Trials. This episode focusus on Albert Speer the minister of armarments of the third reich and hitler's architect.
http://wn.com/Nuremberg_Nazis_on_Trial_Albert_Speer_part_2
Cazadores de Nazis- Albert Speer (El Nazi Bueno)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 43:29
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (n. Mannheim, 19 de marzo de 1905 -- Londres, 1 de septiembre de 1981) fue un arquitecto y político alemán, uno de los más destacados jerarcas de la Alemania nazi. Fue el arquitecto predilecto y ministro de armamentos y guerra de Adolf Hitler durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. lamado a veces el «primer arquitecto del Tercer Reich», otras veces «el arquitecto del diablo» y aún otras como el «nazi bueno», fue el arquitecto jefe de Adolf Hitler en la Alemania nazi, y en 1942 llegó a ministro de armamento en el Gobierno alemán. En la posguerra fue juzgado en Núremberg, donde expresó arrepentimiento, y fue condenado a veinte años de prisión. Después de su liberación, llegó a ser un autor de éxito, gracias a varios libros semi-autobiográficos.
http://wn.com/Cazadores_de_Nazis_Albert_Speer_El_Nazi_Bueno
Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 4 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:01
- Updated: 26 Sep 2012
www.facebook.com www.youtube.com/alanheath Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_4_of_7
Nuremberg. Los nazis a juicio. Albert Speer, el nazi que pidio perdón
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 59:02
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
NUREMBERG, LOS NAZIS A JUICIO combina las entrevistas a testigos presenciales y el material de archivo con una cuidada dramatización basada en una exhaustiva investigación de documentos históricos. Más de 100 libros, miles de documentos procedentes de diversos archivos en Alemania, Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, grabaciones sonoras y filmaciones... Incluso la sala donde se celebra el juicio fue construida a escala a partir de los planos originales del Palacio de Justicia de Nuremberg. La más rigurosa y reveladora recreación de un juicio histórico. El Arquitecto y Ministro de Armamento de Hitler, Albert Speer, fue el único ue acepto sin reservas su responsabilidad. a fuese por auténtico Rmordimiento o por una estudiada estrategia de defensa, tras cumplir 20 años de prisión escribió un best-seller y fue considerado por muchos como un 'nazi bueno'.
http://wn.com/Nuremberg_Los_nazis_a_juicio_Albert_Speer,_el_nazi_que_pidio_perdón
Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 5 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:46
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
www.facebook.com www.youtube.com/alanheath Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_5_of_7
Henry T. King, Jr. (1981) interviews Nazi war criminal Albert Speer (part 2)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:20
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
These are audio excerpts from a July 19, 1981, interview that Henry T. King, Jr., a former US prosecutor at Nuremberg, conducted in English with Nazi war criminal Albert Speer. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal convicted Speer, Hitler's Armaments Minister, of international crimes and sentence him to 20 years imprisonment, which served (1946-66) in Spandau prison. In these excerpts, Speer speaks of: (1) his assistant and Nazi underling Fritz Sauckel, who at Nuremberg was convicted, sentenced to death and executed; (2) his (Speer's) impressions of his treatment in the dock; and (3) the overture letter that he sent at Nurember to the US chief prosecutor, Justice Robert H. Jackson. Copyright 2012, Robert H. Jackson Center.
http://wn.com/Henry_T_King,_Jr_1981_interviews_Nazi_war_criminal_Albert_Speer_part_2
Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 6 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:53
- Updated: 31 Oct 2012
www.facebook.com www.youtube.com/alanheath Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg.
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_6_of_7
El mito de Albert Speer (El arquitecto de Hitler) (1/5)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:53
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (n. Mannheim, 19 de marzo de 1905 † Londres, 1 de septiembre de 1981) fue un arquitecto y político alemán, uno de los más destacados jerarcas de la Alemania nazi. Fue el arquitecto predilecto y ministro de armamentos y guerra de Adolf Hitler durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Llamado a veces el «primer arquitecto del Tercer Reich», otras veces «el arquitecto del diablo» y aún otras como el «nazi bueno», fue el arquitecto jefe de Adolf Hitler en la Alemania nazi, y en 1942 llegó a ministro de armamento en el Gobierno alemán. En la posguerra fue juzgado en Núremberg, donde expresó arrepentimiento, y lo condenaron a veinte años de prisión.
http://wn.com/El_mito_de_Albert_Speer_El_arquitecto_de_Hitler_1_5
Albert Speer - the 'Good Nazi'? part 7 of 7
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:17
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
www.facebook.com www.ceepackaging.com twitter @ceepackaging www.facebook.com Albert Speer served as the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942. A technocrat and undoubtedly brilliant organiser he managed to build himself the reputation of being a 'good' Nazi with his seeming regret after the war for his part in what had happened. However the truth is even worse than Gitta Sereny exposed in the 1970s and Speer was very lucky he did not receive a death sentence at Nuremburg. My channel on you tube : www.youtube.com is one of the most prolific from Poland. I have produced around 1900 original films. My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects Please feel free to ask questions in the public area or to comment on things you disagree with. Sometimes there are mistakes because I speak without preparation. If I see the mistakes myself, I make this clear in the text. Please also leave a star rating! There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- www.ceepackaging.com - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers. Most people may think packaging pretty boring but it possibly effects your life more than you really imagine! Central and Eastern European Packaging examines the ...
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer_the_'Good_Nazi'?_part_7_of_7
GERMANIA of Albert Speer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:29
- Updated: 16 Sep 2012
La capitale del Reich secondo la visione dell'architetto di Hitler
http://wn.com/GERMANIA_of_Albert_Speer
Interview mit Albert Speer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 51:38
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Interview_mit_Albert_Speer
NUREMBERG - ALBERT SPEER 02/06
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:57
- Updated: 24 Jun 2012
http://wn.com/NUREMBERG_ALBERT_SPEER_02_06
Albert Speer's Berlin - The Reich's Chancellery (Trailer)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:21
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
The New Reich's Chancellery was the only building Albert Speer designed for Germania that was ever completed. In this documentary it is demonstrated how the building history of the Reich's Chancellery influenced and determined its final design. All the facades of the building in its various stages have been recreated, from the first extention commisioned by Hitler in 1934 to the final structure of the New Reich's Chancellery which spanned over 400m, and which served as the stage from which Hitler directed his aggressive policies. www.flashback-medien.de
http://wn.com/Albert_Speer's_Berlin_The_Reich's_Chancellery_Trailer
Statement of Nuremberg defendant Albert Speer (Aug. 31, 1946) (Trial Day 216)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:19
- Updated: 10 May 2012
On August 31, 1946, the Defendant Albert Speer, the Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions gave his Final Statement. His statement throughout emphasized the danger of dictatorship in an age of great technological development. He uttered not on word in his own defense. For further information,see www.roberthjackson.org
http://wn.com/Statement_of_Nuremberg_defendant_Albert_Speer_Aug_31,_1946_Trial_Day_216
Photo: AP / Themba Hadebe
29 Oct 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Yesterday while protesting with striking mine workers in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi was gunned down by heavily armed security forces. Gandhi, who...
Photo: AP / Joseph Kaczmarek
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> • TheUnited Stateson Sunday is bracing for the impact of an incredibly large Hurricane Sandy. • Hurricane Center warned residents of mid-Atlantic coast should expect life-threatening storm surges. •...
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30 Oct 2012
At least 13 people have been killed in the US and millions are without power after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline and hurled a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater at New...
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Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton assumed complete responsibility for the disastrous and deadly attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in...
Photo: AP / Jacqueline Larma
30 Oct 2012
Updated: October 30, 2012 11:08AM NEW YORK — Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas awoke Tuesday without electricity, and an eerily quiet New York City was all but closed off by car, train...
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October 31, 2012 -- Updated 1317 GMT (2117 HKT) In the space of four years in the 1980s, a total of 191 people died in three stadium disasters at Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough. Thirty-nine fans -- 32 from Italy, four from Belgium, two from France, one from Northern Ireland, the youngest just 11...(size: 28.8Kb)
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This article is about the German architect who became a Third Reich minister, and later an author. For his eldest son, also an architect, see Albert Speer, Jr.. For the early 20th century American judge, see Albert Spear.
| Albert Speer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Speer examining plans with Hitler at the Berghof (1938) | |
| Minister of Armaments and War Production | |
| In office February 8, 1942 – May 23, 1945 |
|
| President | |
| Chancellor |
|
| Preceded by | Fritz Todt (as Minister of Armaments and Munitions) |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (1905-03-19)March 19, 1905 Mannheim, Baden, Germany |
| Died | September 1, 1981(1981-09-01) (aged 76) London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi) |
| Spouse(s) | Margarete Weber (1928–1981, survived as widow) |
| Children | Albert Speer, Hilde Schramm, Fritz Speer, Margret Nissen, Arnold Speer, Ernst Speer |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Architect, author |
| Signature |  |
Albert Speer (born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer; [1]; pronounced [ˈʃpeːɐ̯] (
listen); March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office. As "the Nazi who said sorry",[a] he accepted responsibility at the Nuremberg trials and in his memoirs for crimes of the Nazi regime. His level of involvement in the persecution of the Jews and his level of knowledge of the Holocaust remain matters of dispute.
Speer joined the Nazi Party in 1931, launching him on a political and governmental career which lasted fourteen years. His architectural skills made him increasingly prominent within the Party and he became a member of Hitler's inner circle. Hitler commanded him to design and construct a number of structures, including the Reich Chancellery and the Zeppelinfeld stadium in Nuremberg where Party rallies were held. Speer also made plans to reconstruct Berlin on a grand scale, with huge buildings, wide boulevards, and a reorganized transportation system.
As Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, Speer was so successful that Germany's war production continued to increase despite massive and devastating Allied bombing. After the war, he was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Nazi regime, principally for the use of forced labor. He served his full sentence, most of it at Spandau Prison in West Berlin.
Following his release from Spandau in 1966, Speer published two bestselling autobiographical works, Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: The Secret Diaries, detailing his often close personal relationship with Hitler, and providing readers and historians with a unique perspective on the workings of the Nazi regime. He later wrote a third book, Infiltration, about the SS. Speer died of natural causes in 1981 while on a visit to London, England.[2]
Contents |
Early years[link]
Speer was born in Mannheim, into a wealthy middle class family. He was the second of three sons of Albert and Luise Speer. In 1918, the family moved permanently to their summer home, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg, in Heidelberg.[3] According to Henry T. King, deputy prosecutor at Nürnberg who later wrote a book about Speer, "Love and warmth were lacking in the household of Speer's youth."[4] Speer was active in sports, taking up skiing and mountaineering. Speer's Heidelberg school offered rugby football, unusual for Germany, and Speer was a participant.[5] He wanted to become a mathematician, but his father said if Speer chose this occupation he would "lead a life without money, without a position, and without a future".[6] Instead, Speer followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and studied architecture.[7]
Speer began his architectural studies at the University of Karlsruhe instead of a more highly acclaimed institution because the hyperinflation crisis of 1923 limited his parents' income.[8] In 1924 when the crisis had abated, he transferred to the "much more reputable" Technical University of Munich.[9] In 1925 he transferred again, this time to the Technical University of Berlin where he studied under Heinrich Tessenow, whom Speer greatly admired.[10] After passing his exams in 1927, Speer became Tessenow's assistant, a high honor for a man of 22.[11] As such, Speer taught some of Tessenow's classes while continuing his own postgraduate studies.[12] In Munich, and continuing in Berlin, Speer began a close friendship, ultimately spanning over 50 years, with Rudolf Wolters, who also studied under Tessenow.[13]
In mid-1922, Speer began courting Margarete (Margret) Weber (1905–1987). The relationship was frowned upon by Speer's class-conscious mother, who felt that the Webers were socially inferior (Weber's father was a successful craftsman who employed 50 workers). Despite this opposition, the two married in Berlin on August 28, 1928; seven years were to elapse before Margarete Speer was invited to stay at her in-laws' home.[14]
Nazi architect[link]
Joining the Nazis (1930–1934)[link]
Speer stated he was apolitical when he was a young man, and that he attended a Berlin Nazi rally in December 1930 at the urging of some of his students.[15] He was surprised to find Hitler dressed in a neat blue suit, rather than the brown uniform seen on Nazi Party posters, and was greatly impressed, not only with Hitler's proposals, but also with the man himself. Several weeks later he attended another rally: this one was presided over by Joseph Goebbels. Speer was disturbed by the way Goebbels whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Despite this unease, Speer could not shake the impression Hitler had made on him. On March 1, 1931, he applied to join the Nazi Party and became member number 474,481.[16][17]
Speer's first Nazi Party position was as head of the Party's motorist association for the Berlin suburb of Wannsee; he was the only Nazi in the town with a car.[18] Speer reported to the Party's leader for the West End of Berlin, Karl Hanke, who hired Speer—without fee—to redecorate a villa he had just rented. Hanke was enthusiastic about the resulting work.[19]
In 1931, Speer surrendered his position as Tessenow's assistant because of pay cuts and moved to Mannheim, hoping to use his father's connections to get commissions. He had little success, and his father gave him a job as manager of the elder Speer's properties. In July 1932, the Speers visited Berlin to help out the Party prior to the Reichstag elections. While they were there, Hanke recommended the young architect to Goebbels to help renovate the Party's Berlin headquarters. Speer, who had been about to leave with his wife for a vacation in East Prussia, agreed to do the work. When the commission was completed, Speer returned to Mannheim and remained there as Hitler took office in January 1933.[20][21]
After the Nazis took control, Hanke recalled Speer to Berlin. Goebbels, the new Propaganda Minister, commissioned Speer to renovate his Ministry's building on Wilhelmplatz.[22] Speer also designed the 1933 May Day commemoration in Berlin. In Inside the Third Reich, he wrote that, on seeing the original design for the Berlin rally on Hanke's desk, he remarked that the site would resemble a Schützenfest – a rifle club meet.[23] Hanke, now Goebbels' State Secretary,[24] challenged him to create a better design. As Speer learned later, Hitler was enthusiastic about Speer's design (which used giant flags), though Goebbels took credit for it. Tessenow was dismissive: "Do you think you have created something? It's showy, that's all."[23]
The organizers of the 1933 Nürnberg Nazi Party rally asked Speer to submit designs for the rally, bringing him into contact with Hitler for the first time. Neither the organizers nor Rudolf Hess were willing to decide whether to approve the plans, and Hess sent Speer to Hitler's Munich apartment to seek his approval.[25] When Speer entered, the new Chancellor was busy cleaning a pistol, which he briefly laid aside to cast a short, interested glance at the plans, approving them without even looking at the young architect.[26] This work won Speer his first national post, as Nazi Party "Commissioner for the Artistic and Technical Presentation of Party Rallies and Demonstrations".[27]
Speer's next major assignment was as liaison to the Berlin building trades for Paul Troost's renovation of the Chancellery. As Chancellor, Hitler had a residence in the building and came by every day to be briefed by Speer and the building supervisor on the progress of the renovations. After one of these briefings, Hitler invited Speer to lunch, to the architect's great excitement.[28] Hitler evinced considerable interest in Speer during the luncheon, and later told Speer that he had been looking for a young architect capable of carrying out his architectural dreams for the new Germany. Speer quickly became part of Hitler's inner circle; he was expected to call on Hitler in the morning for a walk or chat, to provide consultation on architectural matters, and to discuss Hitler's ideas. Most days he was invited to dinner.[29]
The two men found much in common: Hitler spoke of Speer as a "kindred spirit" for whom he had always maintained "the warmest human feelings".[30] The young, ambitious architect was dazzled by his rapid rise and close proximity to Hitler, which guaranteed him a flood of commissions from the government and from the highest ranks of the Party.[31] Speer testified at Nuremberg, "I belonged to a circle which consisted of other artists and his personal staff. If Hitler had had any friends at all, I certainly would have been one of his close friends."[b]
First Architect of the Third Reich (1934–1939)[link]
Main article: Nazi architecture
When Troost died on January 21, 1934, Speer effectively replaced him as the Party's chief architect. Hitler appointed Speer as head of the Chief Office for Construction, which placed him nominally on Hess's staff.[32]
One of Speer's first commissions after Troost's death was the Zeppelinfeld stadium—the Nürnberg parade grounds seen in Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda masterpiece Triumph of the Will. This huge work was capable of holding 340,000 people.[33] The tribune was influenced by the Pergamon Altar in Anatolia, but was magnified to an enormous scale.[34] Speer insisted that as many events as possible be held at night, both to give greater prominence to his lighting effects and to hide the individual Nazis, many of whom were overweight.[35] Speer surrounded the site with 130 anti-aircraft searchlights. This created the effect of a "cathedral of light" or, as it was called by British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson, a "cathedral of ice".[36] Speer described this as his most beautiful work, and as the only one that stood the test of time.[36]
Nürnberg was to be the site of many more official Nazi buildings, most of which were never built; for example, the German Stadium would have accommodated 400,000 spectators, while an even larger rally ground would have held half a million Nazis.[33] While planning these structures, Speer invented the concept of "ruin value": that major buildings should be constructed in such a way that they would leave aesthetically pleasing ruins for thousands of years into the future. Such ruins would be a testament to the greatness of the Third Reich, just as ancient Greek or Roman ruins were symbols of the greatness of those civilizations. Hitler enthusiastically embraced this concept, and ordered that all the Reich's important buildings be constructed in accord with it.[37]
Speer could not avoid seeing the brutal excesses of the Nazi regime. Shortly after Hitler consolidated power in the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler ordered Speer to take workmen and go to the building housing the offices of Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen to begin its conversion into a security headquarters, even though it was still occupied by von Papen's officials. Speer and his group entered the building, to be confronted with a pool of blood, apparently from the body of Herbert von Bose, von Papen's secretary, who had been killed there. Speer related that the sight had no effect on him, other than to cause him to avoid that room.[38]
When Hitler deprecated Werner March's design for the Olympic Stadium for the 1936 Summer Olympics as too modern, Speer modified the plans by adding a stone exterior.[39] Speer designed the German Pavilion for the 1937 international exposition in Paris. The German and Soviet pavilion sites were opposite each other. On learning (through a clandestine look at the Soviet plans) that the Soviet design included two colossal figures seemingly about to overrun the German site, Speer modified his design to include a cubic mass which would check their advance, with a huge eagle on top looking down on the Soviet figures.[40] Both pavilions were awarded gold medals for their designs.[41] Speer would also receive, from Hitler Youth Leader and later fellow Spandau prisoner Baldur von Schirach, the Golden Hitler Youth Honor Badge with oak leaves.[42]
In 1937, Hitler appointed Speer as General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital with the rank of undersecretary of state in the Reich government. The position carried with it extraordinary powers over the Berlin city government and made Speer answerable to Hitler alone.[43] It also made Speer a member of the Reichstag, though the body by then had little effective power.[44] Hitler ordered Speer to make plans to rebuild Berlin. The plans centered on a three-mile long grand boulevard running from north to south, which Speer called the Prachtstrasse, or Street of Magnificence;[45] he also referred to it as the "North-South Axis".[46] At the north end of the boulevard, Speer planned to build the Volkshalle, a huge assembly hall with a dome which would have been over 700 feet (210 m) high, with floor space for 180,000 people. At the southern end of the avenue would be a huge triumphal arch; it would be almost 400 feet (120 m) high, and able to fit the Arc de Triomphe inside its opening. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to the postponement, and eventual abandonment, of these plans.[47] Part of the land for the boulevard was to be obtained by consolidating Berlin's railway system.[48] Speer hired Wolters as part of his design team, with special responsibility for the Prachtstrasse.[49] When Speer's father saw the model for the new Berlin, he said to his son, "You've all gone completely insane."[50]
In January 1938, Hitler asked Speer to build a new Reich Chancellery on the same site as the existing structure, and said he needed it for urgent foreign policy reasons no later than his next New Year's reception for diplomats on January 10, 1939. This was a huge undertaking, especially since the existing Chancellery was in full operation. After consultation with his assistants, Speer agreed. Although the site could not be cleared until April, Speer was successful in building the large, impressive structure in nine months. The structure included the "Marble Gallery": at 146 metres long, almost twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. Speer employed thousands of workers in two shifts. Hitler, who had remained away from the project, was overwhelmed when Speer turned it over, fully furnished, two days early.[51] In appreciation for the architect's work on the Chancellery, Hitler awarded Speer the Nazi Golden Party Badge.[52] Tessenow was less impressed, suggesting to Speer that he should have taken nine years over the project.[53] The second Chancellery was damaged by the Battle of Berlin in 1945[54] and was eventually dismantled by the Soviets, its stone used for a war memorial.[55]
During the Chancellery project, the pogrom of Kristallnacht took place. Speer would make no mention of it in the first draft of Inside the Third Reich, and it was only on the urgent advice of his publisher that he added a mention of seeing the ruins of the Central Synagogue in Berlin from his car.[56]
Speer was under significant psychological pressure during this period of his life. He would later remember:
Soon after Hitler had given me the first large architectural commissions, I began to suffer from anxiety in long tunnels, in airplanes, or in small rooms. My heart would begin to race, I would become breathless, the diaphragm would seem to grow heavy, and I would get the impression that my blood pressure was rising tremendously ... Anxiety amidst all my freedom and power![c]
Wartime architect (1939–1942)[link]
File:Adolf Hitler in Paris 1940.jpg
Hitler visits Paris in 1940 with Speer (left) and sculptor Arno Breker
Speer supported the German invasion of Poland and subsequent war, though he recognized that it would lead to the postponement, at the least, of his architectural dreams.[57] In his later years, Speer, talking with his biographer-to-be Gitta Sereny, explained how he felt in 1939: "Of course I was perfectly aware that [Hitler] sought world domination ... [A]t that time I asked for nothing better. That was the whole point of my buildings. They would have looked grotesque if Hitler had sat still in Germany. All I wanted was for this great man to dominate the globe."[58]
Speer placed his department at the disposal of the Wehrmacht. When Hitler remonstrated, and said it was not for Speer to decide how his workers should be used, Speer simply ignored him.[59] Among Speer's innovations were quick-reaction squads to construct roads or clear away debris; before long, these units would be used to clear bomb sites.[57] As the war progressed, initially to great German success, Speer continued preliminary work on the Berlin and Nürnberg plans, at Hitler's insistence, but failed to convince him of the need to suspend peacetime construction projects.[60][61] Speer also oversaw the construction of buildings for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe, and developed a considerable organization to deal with this work.[62]
In 1940, Joseph Stalin proposed that Speer pay a visit to Moscow. Stalin had been particularly impressed by Speer's work in Paris, and wished to meet the "Architect of the Reich". Hitler, alternating between amusement and anger, did not allow Speer to go, fearing that Stalin would put Speer in a "rat hole" until a new Moscow arose.[63] When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Speer came to doubt, despite Hitler's reassurances, that his projects for Berlin would ever be completed.[64]
Minister of Armaments[link]
Appointment and increasing power[link]
On February 8, 1942, Minister of Armaments Fritz Todt died in a plane crash shortly after taking off from Hitler's eastern headquarters at Rastenburg. Speer, who had arrived in Rastenburg the previous evening, had accepted Todt's offer to fly with him to Berlin, but had canceled some hours before takeoff (Speer stated in his memoirs that the cancellation was because of exhaustion from travel and a late-night meeting with Hitler). Later that day, Hitler appointed Speer as Todt's successor to all of his posts. In Inside the Third Reich, Speer recounts his meeting with Hitler and his reluctance to take ministerial office, only doing so because Hitler commanded it. Speer also states that Hermann Göring raced to Hitler's headquarters on hearing of Todt's death, hoping to claim Todt's powers. Hitler instead presented Göring with the fait accompli of Speer's appointment.[65]
At the time of Speer's accession to the office, the German economy, unlike the British one, was not fully geared for war production. Consumer goods were still being produced at nearly as high a level as during peacetime. No fewer than five "Supreme Authorities" had jurisdiction over armament production—one of which, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, had declared in November 1941 that conditions did not permit an increase in armament production. Few women were employed in the factories, which were running only one shift. One evening soon after his appointment, Speer went to visit a Berlin armament factory; he found no one on the premises.[66]
Speer overcame these difficulties by centralizing power over the war economy in himself. Factories were given autonomy, or as Speer put it, "self-responsibility", and each factory concentrated on a single product.[67] Backed by Hitler's strong support (the dictator stated, "Speer, I'll sign anything that comes from you"[68]), he divided the armament field according to weapon system, with experts rather than civil servants overseeing each department. No department head could be older than 55—anyone older being susceptible to "routine and arrogance"[69]—and no deputy older than 40. Over these departments was a central planning committee headed by Speer, which took increasing responsibility for war production, and as time went by, for the German economy itself. According to the minutes of a conference at Wehrmacht High Command in March 1942, "It is only Speer's word that counts nowadays. He can interfere in all departments. Already he overrides all departments ... On the whole, Speer's attitude is to the point."[70] Goebbels would note in his diary in June 1943, "Speer is still tops with the Führer. He is truly a genius with organization."[71] Speer was so successful in his position that by late 1943, he was widely regarded among the Nazi elite as a possible successor to Hitler.[72]
While Speer had tremendous power, he was of course subordinate to Hitler. Nazi officials sometimes went around Speer by seeking direct orders from the dictator. When Speer ordered peacetime building work suspended, the Gauleiters (Nazi Party district leaders) obtained an exemption for their pet projects. When Speer sought the appointment of Hanke as a labor czar to optimize the use of German labor, Hitler, under the influence of Martin Bormann, instead appointed Fritz Sauckel. Rather than increasing female labor and taking other steps to better organize German labor, as Speer favored, Sauckel advocated importing labor from the occupied nations – and did so, obtaining workers for (among other things) Speer's armament factories, using the most brutal methods.[73]
On December 10, 1943, Speer visited the underground Mittelwerk V-2 rocket factory that used concentration camp labor. Shocked by the conditions there (5.7 percent of the work force died that month), and to ensure the workers were in good enough shape to perform the labor,[74] Speer ordered improved conditions for the workers and the construction of the above-ground Dora camp. In spite of these changes, half of the workers at Mittelwerk eventually died. Speer later commented, "[t]he conditions for these prisoners were in fact barbarous, and a sense of profound involvement and personal guilt seizes me whenever I think of them."[75]
By 1943, the Allies had gained air superiority over Germany, and bombings of German cities and industry had become commonplace. However, the Allies in their strategic bombing campaign did not concentrate on industry, and Speer, with his improvisational skill, was able to overcome bombing losses. In spite of these losses, German production of tanks more than doubled in 1943, production of planes increased by 80 percent, and production time for Kriegsmarine's submarines was reduced from one year to two months. Production would continue to increase until the second half of 1944, by which time enough equipment to supply 270 army divisions was being produced—although the Wehrmacht had only 150 divisions in the field.[76]
In January 1944, Speer fell ill with complications from an inflamed knee, and was away from the office for three months. During his absence, his political rivals (mainly Göring, and Martin Bormann), attempted to have some of his powers permanently transferred to them. According to Speer, SS chief Heinrich Himmler tried to have him physically isolated by having Himmler's personal physician Karl Gebhardt treat him, though his "care" did not improve his health. Speer's wife and friends managed to have his case transferred to his friend Dr. Karl Brandt, and he slowly recovered.[77] In April, Speer's rivals for power succeeded in having him deprived of responsibility for construction, and Speer promptly sent Hitler a bitter letter, concluding with an offer of his resignation. Judging Speer indispensable to the war effort, Field Marshal Erhard Milch persuaded Hitler to try to get his minister to reconsider. Hitler sent Milch to Speer with a message not addressing the dispute but instead stating that he still regarded Speer as highly as ever. According to Milch, upon hearing the message, Speer burst out, "The Führer can kiss my ass!"[78] After a lengthy argument, Milch persuaded Speer to withdraw his offer of resignation, on the condition his powers were restored.[79] On April 23, 1944, Speer went to see Hitler who agreed that "everything [will] stay as it was, [Speer will] remain the head of all German construction".[80] According to Speer, while he was successful in this debate, Hitler had also won, "because he wanted and needed me back in his corner, and he got me".[81]
Fall of the Reich[link]
Speer's name was included on the list of members of a post-Hitler government drawn up by the conspirators behind the July 1944 assassination plot to kill Hitler. The list had a question mark and the annotation "to be won over" by his name, which likely saved him from the extensive purges that followed the scheme's failure.[82]
By February 1945, Speer, who had long concluded that the war was lost, was working to supply areas about to be occupied with food and materials to get them through the hard times ahead.[83] On March 19, 1945, Hitler issued his Nero Decree, ordering a scorched earth policy in both Germany and the occupied territories.[84] Hitler's order, by its terms, deprived Speer of any power to interfere with the decree, and Speer went to confront Hitler, telling him the war was lost.[85] Hitler gave Speer 24 hours to reconsider his position, and when the two met the following day, Speer answered, "I stand unconditionally behind you."[86] However, he demanded the exclusive power to implement the Nero Decree, and Hitler signed an order to that effect. Using this order, Speer worked to persuade generals and Gauleiters to evade the Nero Decree and avoid needless sacrifice of personnel and destruction of industry that would be needed after the war.[87]
Speer managed to reach a relatively safe area near Hamburg as the Nazi regime finally collapsed, but decided on a final, risky visit to Berlin to see Hitler one more time.[88] Speer stated at Nuremberg, "I felt that it was my duty not to run away like a coward, but to stand up to him again."[89] Speer visited the Führerbunker on April 22. Hitler seemed calm and somewhat distracted, and the two had a long, disjointed conversation in which the dictator defended his actions and informed Speer of his intent to commit suicide and have his body burned. In the published edition of Inside the Third Reich, Speer relates that he confessed to Hitler that he had defied the Nero Decree, but then assured Hitler of his personal loyalty, bringing tears to the dictator's eyes.[88] Speer biographer Gitta Sereny argued, "Psychologically, it is possible that this is the way he remembered the occasion, because it was how he would have liked to behave, and the way he would have liked Hitler to react. But the fact is that none of it happened; our witness to this is Speer himself."[90] Sereny goes on to note that Speer's original draft of his memoirs lacks the confession and Hitler's tearful reaction, and contains an explicit denial that any confession or emotional exchange took place, as had been alleged in a French magazine article.[91]
The following morning, Speer left the Führerbunker, with Hitler curtly bidding him farewell. Speer toured the damaged Chancellery one last time before leaving Berlin to return to Hamburg.[88] On April 29, the day before committing suicide, Hitler dictated a final political testament which dropped Speer from the successor government. Speer was to be replaced by his own subordinate, Karl-Otto Saur.[92]
Nuremberg trial[link]
After Hitler's death, Speer offered his services to the so-called Flensburg Government, headed by Hitler's successor, Karl Dönitz, and took a significant role in that short-lived regime. On May 15, the Americans arrived and asked Speer if he would be willing to provide information on the effects of the air war. Speer agreed, and over the next several days, provided information on a broad range of subjects. On May 23, two weeks after the surrender of German troops, the Allies arrested the members of the Flensburg Government and brought Nazi Germany to a formal end.[93]
Speer was taken to several internment centers for Nazi officials and interrogated. In September 1945, he was told that he would be tried for war crimes, and several days later, he was taken to Nuremberg and incarcerated there.[94] Speer was indicted on all four possible counts: first, participating in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace, second, planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, third, war crimes, and lastly, crimes against humanity.[95]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the chief U.S. prosecutor at Nuremberg, alleged, "Speer joined in planning and executing the program to dragoon prisoners of war and foreign workers into German war industries, which waxed in output while the workers waned in starvation."[96] Speer's attorney, Dr. Hans Flächsner, presented Speer as an artist thrust into political life, who had always remained a non-ideologue and who had been promised by Hitler that he could return to architecture after the war.[97] During his testimony, Speer accepted responsibility for the Nazi regime's actions:
In political life, there is a responsibility for a man's own sector. For that he is of course fully responsible. But beyond that there is a collective responsibility when he has been one of the leaders. Who else is to be held responsible for the course of events, if not the closest associates around the Chief of State?[98]
An observer at the trial, journalist and author William L. Shirer, wrote that, compared to his codefendants, Speer "made the most straightforward impression of all and ... during the long trial spoke honestly and with no attempt to shirk his responsibility and his guilt".[99] Speer also testified that he had planned to kill Hitler in early 1945 by dropping a canister of poison gas into the bunker's air intake.[100] He said his efforts were frustrated by a high wall that had been built around the air intake.[101] Speer stated his motive was despair at realizing that Hitler intended to take the German people down with him.[100] Speer's supposed assassination plan subsequently met with some skepticism, with Speer's architectural rival Hermann Giesler sneering, "the second most powerful man in the state did not have a ladder."[102]
Speer was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, though he was acquitted on the other two counts. On October 1, 1946, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.[103] While three of the eight judges (two Soviet and one American) initially advocated the death penalty for Speer, the other judges did not, and a compromise sentence was reached "after two days' discussion and some rather bitter horse-trading".[104]
The court's judgment stated that:
... in the closing stages of the war [Speer] was one of the few men who had the courage to tell Hitler that the war was lost and to take steps to prevent the senseless destruction of production facilities, both in occupied territories and in Germany. He carried out his opposition to Hitler's scorched earth program ... by deliberately sabotaging it at considerable personal risk.[105]
Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (including Bormann, in absentia) and three acquitted; only seven of the defendants were sentenced to imprisonment.[103] They remained in the cells at Nuremberg as the Allies debated where, and under what conditions, they should be incarcerated.[106]
Imprisonment[link]
Main article: Spandau Prison
- For additional detail on Speer's time at Spandau Prison, see Rudolf Wolter's account
On July 18, 1947, Speer and his six fellow prisoners, all former high officials of the Nazi regime, were flown from Nuremberg to Berlin under heavy guard.[107] The prisoners were taken to Spandau Prison in the British Sector of what would become West Berlin, where they would be designated by number, with Speer given Number Five.[108] Initially, the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement for all but half an hour a day, and were not permitted to address each other or their guards.[109] As time passed, the strict regimen was relaxed, especially during the three months in four that the three Western powers were in control; the four occupying powers took overall control on a monthly rotation.[110] Speer considered himself an outcast among his fellow prisoners for his acceptance of responsibility at Nuremberg.[111]
Speer made a deliberate effort to make as productive a use of his time as possible. He wrote, "I am obsessed with the idea of using this time of confinement for writing a book of major importance ... That could mean transforming prison cell into scholar's den."[112] The prisoners were forbidden to write memoirs, and mail was severely limited and censored. However, as a result of an offer from a sympathetic orderly, Speer was able to have his writings, which eventually amounted to 20,000 sheets, sent to Wolters. By 1954, Speer had completed his memoirs, which became the basis of Inside the Third Reich, and which Wolters arranged to have transcribed onto 1,100 typewritten pages.[113] He was also able to send letters and financial instructions, and to obtain writing paper and letters from the outside.[114] His many letters to his children, all secretly transmitted, eventually formed the basis for Spandau: The Secret Diaries.[115]
With the draft memoir complete and clandestinely transmitted, Speer sought a new project. He found one while taking his daily exercise, walking in circles around the prison yard. Measuring the path's distance carefully, Speer set out to walk the distance from Berlin to Heidelberg. He then expanded his idea into a worldwide journey, visualizing the places he was "traveling" through while walking the path around the prison yard. Speer ordered guidebooks and other materials about the nations through which he imagined he was passing, so as to envisage as accurate a picture as possible.[116] Meticulously calculating every meter traveled, and mapping distances to the real-world geography, he began in northern Germany, passed through Asia by a southern route before entering Siberia, then crossed the Bering Strait and continued southwards, finally ending his sentence 35 kilometers south of Guadalajara, Mexico.[117]
Speer devoted much of his time and energy to reading. Though the prisoners brought some books with them in their personal property, Spandau Prison had no library so books were sent from Spandau's municipal library.[118] From 1952 the prisoners were also able to order books from the Berlin central library in Wilmersdorf.[119] Speer was a voracious reader and he completed well over 500 books in the first three years at Spandau alone.[120] He read classic novels, travelogues, books on ancient Egypt, and biographies of such figures as Lucas Cranach, Friedrich Preller, and Genghis Khan.[119] Speer took to the prison garden for enjoyment and work, at first to do something constructive while afflicted with writer's block.[121] He was allowed to build an ambitious garden, transforming what he initially described as a "wilderness"[122] into what the American commander at Spandau described as "Speer's Garden of Eden".[123]
Speer's supporters maintained a continual call for his release. Among those who pledged support for Speer's sentence to be commuted were Charles de Gaulle,[124] U.S. diplomat George Ball,[124] former U.S. High Commissioner John J. McCloy,[125] and former Nuremberg prosecutor Hartley Shawcross.[125] Willy Brandt was a strong advocate of Speer's, supporting his release,[126] sending flowers to his daughter on the day of his release,[127] and putting an end to the de-Nazification proceedings against Speer,[128] which could have caused his property to be confiscated.[129] A reduced sentence required the consent of all four of the occupying powers, and the Soviets adamantly opposed any such proposal.[125] Speer served his full sentence, and was released on the stroke of midnight as October 1, 1966 began.[130]
Release and later life[link]
Speer's release from prison was a worldwide media event, as reporters and photographers crowded both the street outside Spandau and the lobby of the Berlin hotel where Speer spent his first hours of freedom in over 20 years.[131] He said little, reserving most comments for a major interview published in Der Spiegel in November 1966, in which he again took personal responsibility for crimes of the Nazi regime.[132] Abandoning plans to return to architecture (two proposed partners died shortly before his release),[133] he revised his Spandau writings into two autobiographical books, and later researched and published a third work, about Himmler and the SS. His books, most notably Inside the Third Reich (in German, Erinnerungen, or Reminiscences[134]) and Spandau: The Secret Diaries, provide a unique and personal look into the personalities of the Nazi era, and have become much valued by historians. Speer was aided in shaping the works by Joachim Fest and Wolf Jobst Siedler from the publishing house Ullstein.[135] Speer found himself unable to re-establish his relationship with his children, even with his son Albert, who had also become an architect. According to Speer's daughter Hilde, "One by one my sister and brothers gave up. There was no communication."[136]
Following the publication of his bestselling books, Speer donated a considerable amount of money to Jewish charities. According to Siedler, these donations were as high as 80% of his royalties. Speer kept the donations anonymous, both for fear of rejection, and for fear of being called a hypocrite.[137]
As early as 1953, when Wolters strongly objected to Speer referring to Hitler in the memoirs draft as a criminal, Speer had predicted that were the writings to be published, he would lose a "good many friends".[113] This came to pass, as following the publication of Inside the Third Reich, close friends, such as Wolters and sculptor Arno Breker, distanced themselves from him. Hans Baur, Hitler's personal pilot, suggested, "Speer must have taken leave of his senses."[138] Wolters wondered that Speer did not now "walk through life in a hair shirt, distributing his fortune among the victims of National Socialism, forswear all the vanities and pleasures of life and live on locusts and wild honey".[139]
Speer made himself widely available to historians and other enquirers.[140] He did an extensive, in-depth interview for the June 1971 issue of Playboy magazine, in which he stated, "If I didn't see it, then it was because I didn't want to see it."[141] In October 1973, Speer made his first trip to Britain, flying to London under an assumed name[140] to be interviewed on the BBC Midweek programme by Ludovic Kennedy. Upon arrival, he was detained for almost eight hours at Heathrow Airport when British immigration authorities discovered his true identity. The Home Secretary, Robert Carr, allowed Speer into the country for 48 hours.[142] While in London eight years later to participate in the BBC Newsnight programme, Speer suffered a stroke and died on September 1, 1981.[2] Speer had formed a relationship with a German-born Englishwoman, and was with her at the time of his death.[143]
Even to the end of his life, Speer continued to question his actions under Hitler. In his final book, Infiltration, he asks, "What would have happened if Hitler had asked me to make decisions that required the utmost hardness? ... How far would I have gone? ... If I had occupied a different position, to what extent would I have ordered atrocities if Hitler had told me to do so?"[144] Speer leaves the questions unanswered.[144]
Legacy and controversy[link]
The view of Speer as an unpolitical "miracle man" is challenged by Yale historian Adam Tooze.[145] In his 2006 book, The Wages of Destruction, Tooze, following Gitta Sereny, argues that Speer's ideological commitment to the Nazi cause was greater than he claimed.[146] Tooze further contends that an insufficiently challenged Speer "mythology"[d] (partly fostered by Speer himself through politically motivated, tendentious use of statistics and other propaganda)[147] had led many historians to assign Speer far more credit for the increases in armaments production than was warranted and give insufficient consideration to the "highly political" function of the so-called armaments miracle.[e]
Architectural legacy[link]
Little remains of Speer's personal architectural works, other than the plans and photographs. No buildings designed by Speer in the Nazi era remain in Berlin; a double row of lampposts along the Strasse des 17. Juni designed by Speer still stands.[148] The tribune of the Zeppelinfeld stadium in Nuremberg, though partly demolished, may also be seen.[149] Speer's work may also be seen in London, where he redesigned the interior of the German Embassy to the United Kingdom, then located at 7–9 Carlton House Terrace. Since 1967, it has served as the offices of the Royal Society. His work there, stripped of its Nazi fixtures and partially covered by carpets, survives in part.[150]
Another legacy was the Arbeitsstab Wiederaufbau zerstörter Städte (Working group on Reconstruction of destroyed cities), authorized by Speer in 1943 to rebuild bombed German cities to make them more livable in the age of the automobile.[151] Headed by Wolters, the working group took a possible military defeat into their calculations.[151] The Arbeitsstab's recommendations served as the basis of the postwar redevelopment plans in many cities, and Arbeitsstab members became prominent in the rebuilding.[151]
Actions regarding the Jews[link]
As General Building Inspector, Speer was responsible for the Central Department for Resettlement.[152] From 1939 onward, the Department used the Nuremberg Laws to evict Jewish tenants of non-Jewish landlords in Berlin, to make way for non-Jewish tenants displaced by redevelopment or bombing.[152] Eventually, 75,000 Jews were displaced by these measures.[153] Speer was aware of these activities, and inquired as to their progress.[154] At least one original memo from Speer so inquiring still exists,[154] as does the Chronicle of the Department's activities, kept by Wolters.[155]
Following his release from Spandau, Speer presented to the German Federal Archives an edited version of the Chronicle, stripped by Wolters of any mention of the Jews.[156] When David Irving discovered discrepancies between the edited Chronicle and other documents, Wolters explained the situation to Speer, who responded by suggesting to Wolters that the relevant pages of the original Chronicle should "cease to exist".[157] Wolters did not destroy the Chronicle, and, as his friendship with Speer deteriorated, allowed access to the original Chronicle to doctoral student Matthias Schmidt (who, after obtaining his doctorate, developed his thesis into a book, Albert Speer: The End of a Myth).[158] Speer considered Wolters' actions to be a "betrayal" and a "stab in the back".[159] The original Chronicle reached the Archives in 1983, after both Speer and Wolters had died.[155]
Knowledge of the Holocaust[link]
Speer maintained at Nuremberg and in his memoirs that he had no knowledge of the Holocaust. In Inside the Third Reich, he wrote that in mid-1944, he was told by Hanke (by then Gauleiter of Lower Silesia) that the minister should never accept an invitation to inspect a concentration camp in neighboring Upper Silesia, as "he had seen something there which he was not permitted to describe and moreover could not describe".[160] Speer later concluded that Hanke must have been speaking of Auschwitz, and blamed himself for not inquiring further of Hanke or seeking information from Himmler or Hitler:
These seconds [when Hanke told Speer this, and Speer did not inquire] were uppermost in my mind when I stated to the international court at the Nuremberg Trial that, as an important member of the leadership of the Reich, I had to share the total responsibility for all that had happened. For from that moment on I was inescapably contaminated morally; from fear of discovering something which might have made me turn from my course, I had closed my eyes ... Because I failed at that time, I still feel, to this day, responsible for Auschwitz in a wholly personal sense.[161]
Much of the controversy over Speer's knowledge of the Holocaust has centered on his presence at the Posen Conference on October 6, 1943, at which Himmler gave a speech detailing the ongoing Holocaust to Nazi leaders. Himmler said, "The grave decision had to be taken to cause this people to vanish from the earth ... In the lands we occupy, the Jewish question will be dealt with by the end of the year."[162] Speer is mentioned several times in the speech, and Himmler seems to address him directly.[163] In Inside the Third Reich, Speer mentions his own address to the officials (which took place earlier in the day) but does not mention Himmler's speech.[164][165]
In 1971, American historian Erich Goldhagen published an article arguing that Speer was present for Himmler's speech. According to Fest in his biography of Speer, "Goldhagen's accusation certainly would have been more convincing"[166] had he not placed supposed incriminating statements linking Speer with the Holocaust in quotation marks, attributed to Himmler, which were in fact invented by Goldhagen.[166] In response, after considerable research in the German Federal Archives in Koblenz, Speer said he had left Posen around noon (long before Himmler's speech) in order to journey to Hitler's headquarters at Rastenburg.[166] In Inside the Third Reich, published before the Goldhagen article, Speer recalled that on the evening after the conference, many Nazi officials were so drunk that they needed help boarding the special train which was to take them to a meeting with Hitler.[167] One of his biographers, Dan van der Vat, suggests this necessarily implies he must have still been present at Posen then, and must have heard Himmler's speech.[168] In response to Goldhagen's article, Speer had alleged that in writing Inside the Third Reich, he erred in reporting an incident that happened at another conference at Posen a year later, as happening in 1943.[169]
In 2005, The Daily Telegraph reported that documents had surfaced indicating that Speer had approved the allocation of materials for the expansion of Auschwitz after two of his assistants toured the facility on a day when almost a thousand Jews were murdered. The documents supposedly bore annotations in Speer's own handwriting. Speer biographer Gitta Sereny stated that, due to his workload, Speer would not have been personally aware of such activities.[170]
The debate over Speer's knowledge of, or complicity in, the Holocaust made him a symbol for people who were involved with the Nazi regime yet did not have (or claimed not to have had) an active part in the regime's atrocities. As film director Heinrich Breloer remarked, "[Speer created] a market for people who said, 'Believe me, I didn't know anything about [the Holocaust]. Just look at the Führer's friend, he didn't know about it either.'"[170]
See also[link]
Notes[link]
Explanatory notes
- ^ The title of a BBC2 documentary, The Nazi Who Said Sorry.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 296. "Wenn Hitler überhaupt Freunde gehabt hätte, wäre ich bestimmt einer seiner engen Freunde gewesen."
- ^ Speer 1975, p. 217. Diary entry made on Nov, 20, 1949.
- ^ Tooze 2007, p. 577. "The simple story spun by Speer, that the German war economy up to 1941 was an inefficient sink for labour and raw materials and that it was only after December 1941, by means of the Fuehrer's decree and Speer's inspired leadership, that it was awakened to the need for efficiency, is clearly a myth [and] the statistics usually invoked to support this description of the pre-Speer era simply do not stand up to detailed scrutiny."
- ^ Tooze 2007, p. 556. "[G]iven the highly political function of the 'armaments miracle' the historical record of the Speer Ministry must be approached with a very wary eye. Too many historians have been far too uncritical in the acceptance of Speer's rhetoric of rationalization, efficiency and productivism. . . . And this critique is more than mere nit-picking. It goes to the very heart of Speer's ideological vision of the war economy, as a limitless flow of output released by energetic leadership and technological genius."
Citations
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 11.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 337.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 7.
- ^ King 1997, p. 27.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 23.
- ^ Schmidt 1984, p. 28.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 11–13.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 9.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 63.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 10–11.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 34–36.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 71–73.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 47–49.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 79.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 15–17.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 29.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 21.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 28–30.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 22–25.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 25–26.
- ^ a b Speer 1970, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 99.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 100–01.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 27–28.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 49.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 101–03.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 106.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 42.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 54.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 60.
- ^ a b van der Vat 1997, p. 59.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 55.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 131.
- ^ a b Speer 1970, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 53.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 65.
- ^ Paris World Exposition 1937.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 81.
- ^ Angolia 1978, p. 194.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 64.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 144.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 140.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 141.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 71.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 77.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 27.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 158.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 101–06.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 137.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 110.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 273.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 351.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 164.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 115.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 186.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 111–12.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 176–78.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 180–81.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 182.
- ^ Fest 2007, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Fest 2007, p. 69.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 193–96.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 139–41.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 295.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 143.
- ^ Fest 2007, p. 76.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 142–44.
- ^ Schmidt 1984, p. 75.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 376–77.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 146–50.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 175–76.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 370.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 168–70.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 330–313.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 210.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 207–12.
- ^ Speer 1981, pp. 232–33.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 429.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 224–26.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 482.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 250–51.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 486–92.
- ^ Speer 1976, pp. 4–6.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 498–504.
- ^ a b c Fest 1999, pp. 263–70.
- ^ Speer cross-examination.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 529.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 528–531.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 234.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 273–81.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 561.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 285.
- ^ Conot 1983, p. 471.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 287–88.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 516.
- ^ Shirer 1990, p. 1142–1143.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, pp. 293–97.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 245–46.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 246.
- ^ a b van der Vat 1997, pp. 281–82.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 29.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 306.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 596.
- ^ Speer 1976, pp. 65–67.
- ^ Speer 1976, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 309–10.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 602.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 244.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 75.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 316.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 310–11.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 672.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 316–17.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 447.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 69.
- ^ a b Speer 1976, p. 195.
- ^ Fishman 1986, p. 129.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 312.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 605.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 654.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 319.
- ^ a b c Speer 1976, p. 440.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 319.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 448.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 324.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 299–300.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 324–25.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 320–21.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 333–34.
- ^ Speer 1976, p. 441.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 5.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 329–30.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 664–665.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 348.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 345–46.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 328–29.
- ^ a b van der Vat 1997, p. 354.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 329.
- ^ Leigh 1973.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 362–63.
- ^ a b Speer 1981, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Tooze 2007, Chapter 17: Albert Speer: 'Miracle Man'.
- ^ Tooze 2007, p. 553. Cf. Sereny 1995, pp. 79–80.
- ^ Tooze 2007, p. 555.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 75.
- ^ Museen der Stadt Nürnberg.
- ^ Iconic Photos, A Nazi Funeral in London.
- ^ a b c Durth & Gutschow 1988.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 116.
- ^ Fest 1999, p. 120.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 119.
- ^ a b Fest 1999, p. 124.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 339–343.
- ^ Sereny 1995, pp. 226–27.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 359–61.
- ^ Fest 2007, p. 196.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 375–76.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 376.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, pp. 167–68.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 168.
- ^ Fest 1999, pp. 184–85.
- ^ Speer 1970, pp. 312–13.
- ^ a b c Fest 1999, pp. 185–87.
- ^ Speer 1970, p. 313.
- ^ van der Vat 1997, p. 169.
- ^ Sereny 1995, p. 397.
- ^ a b Connolly 2005.
References[link]
- Angolia, John (1978), For Fuhrer and Fatherland: Political and Civil Awards of the Third Reich, R. James Bender Publishing, ISBN 978-0-912138-16-9
- Conot, Robert (1983), Justice at Nuremberg, New York: Harper & Row, ISBN 978-0-88184-032-2
- Durth, Werner; Gutschow, Niels (1988), Träume in Trümmern, ("Dreams in rumbles"), Vieweg Friedr. + Sohn Ver, ISBN 978-3-528-08706-7
- Edgar, David (2000), Albert Speer: Based on the Book Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth by Gitta Sereny (a play), Nick Hern Books, ISBN 978-1-85459-485-3
- Fest, Joachim (1999), Speer: The Final Verdict, translated by Ewald Osers and Alexandra Dring, Harcourt, ISBN 978-0-15-100556-7
- Fest, Joachim (2007), Albert Speer: Conversations with Hitler's Architect, translated by Patrick Camiller, Polity Press, ISBN 978-0-7456-3918-5
- Fishman, Jack (1986), Long Knives and Short Memories: The Spandau Prison Story, Breakwater Books, ISBN 0-920911-00-5
- King, Henry T. (1997), The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor, University Press of America, ISBN 978-0-7618-0872-5
- Leigh, David (October 24, 1973), "Delay, then Albert Speer is allowed in", The Times (UK), http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/185/973/13016515w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS67729752&dyn=25!xrn_41_0_CS67729752&hst_1?sw_aep=oxfshlib, retrieved December 17, 2008
- Schmidt, Matthias (1984), Albert Speer: The End of a Myth, St Martins Press, ISBN 978-0-312-01709-5
- Sereny, Gitta (1995), Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth, Knopf, ISBN 978-0-394-52915-8
- Shirer, William (1990), The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (30th anniversary (original publication 1960) ed.), New York: Touchstone Books, ISBN 978-0-671-72868-7
- Speer, Albert (1970), Inside the Third Reich [Translated by Richard and Clara Winston], New York and Toronto: Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-297-00015-0, LCCN 70119132 . Republished in paperback in 1997 by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0-684-82949-4
- (Original German edition: Speer, Albert (1969), Erinnerungen [Reminiscences], Berlin and Frankfurt am Main: Propyläen/Ullstein Verlag, OCLC 639475 )
- Speer, Albert (1976), Spandau: The Secret Diaries [Translated by Richard and Clara Winston], New York and Toronto: Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-02-612810-0
- (Original German edition: Speer, Albert (1975), Spandauer Tagebücher [Spandau Diaries], Berlin and Frankfurt am Main: Propyläen/Ullstein Verlag, ISBN 978-3-549-17316-9, OCLC 185306869 )
- Speer, Albert (1981), Infiltration: How Heinrich Himmler Schemed to Build an SS Industrial Empire, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-02-612800-1
- (Original German edition: Speer, Albert (1981), Der Sklavenstaat : meine Auseinandersetzungen mit der SS [The Slave State: My Battles with the SS], Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, ISBN 978-3-421-06059-4, OCLC 7610230 )
- Speer, Albert; Karl Arndt, Georg Friedrich Koch, Lars Olof Larsson (1995), Architektur. Arbeiten 1933–1942, Propyläen, ISBN 978-3-549-05446-8
- Tooze, Adam (2007) [2006], The Wages of Destruction: The Making & Breaking of the Nazi Economy, London: Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-100348-1
- van der Vat, Dan (1997), The Good Nazi: The Life and Lies of Albert Speer, George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-81721-5
- "Gespräch mit Albert Speer über Adolf Hitler und das Dritte Reich", Der Spiegel 1966 (46): 48–62, November 7, 1966
Online sources
- Connolly, Kate (May 11, 2005), "Wartime reports debunk Speer as the good Nazi", The Daily Telegraph (UK), http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1489793/Wartime-reports-debunk-Speer-as-the-Good-Nazi.html, retrieved August 16, 2007
- "A Nazi Funeral in London", iconicphotos.wordpress.com (Iconic Photos), November 3, 2009, http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/a-nazi-funeral-in-london/, retrieved January 8, 2012
- "Albert Speer The Nazi Who Said Sorry", ftvdb.bfi.org.uk (British Film Institute), 1996, http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/548364, retrieved January 8, 2012
- "The Paris World Exposition 1937: Monuments to dictatorship – the German and Soviet Pavilions", expo2000.de (Website of Expo 2000, Hanover), http://www.expo2000.de/expo2000/geschichte/detail.php?wa_id=13&lang=1&s_typ=28&imag=3, retrieved January 8, 2012
- "Speer cross-examination", law2.umkc.edu (University of Missouri, Kansas City), http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/Speer.html, retrieved January 8, 2012
- Official website of Nuremberg City Museum, Museen der Stadt Nürnberg, http://www.museen.nuernberg.de/english/english/reichsparteitag_e/index_reichsparteitag_e.html, retrieved October 17, 2008
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Albert Speer |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Albert Speer |
- BBC Four – Audio Interviews
- Audio interviews with Andrew Birkin, 1971
- Albert Speer's Berlin: Interactive maps and 3D reconstructions of Speer's buildings in Berlin
- Review of Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth in Foreign Affairs
- Speer und Er (German) docudrama with allegations on his role e.g. construction of Auschwitz
- Affidavit of Albert Speer: affidavit, sworn and signed at Munich on June 15, 1977, translated from the German original.
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Speer, Albert |
| Alternative names | Speer, Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert (birth name) |
| Short description | German architect and minister for armaments |
| Date of birth | 1905-03-19 |
| Place of birth | Mannheim, Germany |
| Date of death | 1981-09-01 |
| Place of death | London, England |
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| Karl Dönitz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, later Reichspräsident of Germany | |
| President of Germany | |
| In office 30 April 1945 – 23 May 1945 |
|
| Chancellor | Joseph Goebbels Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (Leading Minister) |
| Preceded by | Adolf Hitler (as Führer) Paul von Hindenburg (in title) |
| Succeeded by | Theodor Heuss (as Bundespräsident) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1891-09-16)16 September 1891 Berlin, German Empire |
| Died | 24 December 1980(1980-12-24) (aged 89) Aumühle, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) (1944–1945)[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Ingeborg Weber |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | Der Löwe (The Lion) |
| Allegiance |  German Empire (1910–1918) Weimar Republic (1920–1933) Nazi Germany (1933–1945) |
| Service/branch |  Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine |
| Years of service | 1910–1945 |
| Rank | Großadmiral |
| Commands | SM UC-25 (February–September 1918) SM UB-68 (September–October 1918) Torpedo Boats (1920s) Emden (1934–1935) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1935–1936) FdU (1936–1939) BdU (1939–1943) OBdM (1943–1945) Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht (April–May 1945) |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | U-boat War Badge with Diamonds World War I U-Boat War Badge 1939 Clasp to the 1914 Iron Cross 1st Class Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Karl Dönitz (German pronunciation: [ˈdøːnɪts] ( listen); 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine, or "Imperial Navy") before World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of UB-68, the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner. While in a prisoner of war camp, he formulated what he later called Rudeltaktik[2] ("pack tactic", commonly called "wolfpack"). At the start of World War II, he was the senior submarine officer in the German Navy. In January 1943, Dönitz achieved the rank of Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) and replaced Grand Admiral Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine). On 30 April 1945, after the death of Adolf Hitler and in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Dönitz was named Hitler's successor as Staatsoberhaupt (Head of State), with the title of Reichspräsident (President) and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. On 7 May 1945, he ordered Alfred Jodl to sign the German instruments of surrender in Rheims, France.[3] Dönitz remained as head of the Flensburg Government, as it became known, until it was dissolved by the Allied powers on 23 May.
Contents |
Early life and career[link]
Dönitz was born in Grünau in Berlin, Germany to Anna Beyer and Emil Dönitz, an engineer. Karl had an older brother, Friedrich. In 1910, Dönitz enlisted in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). He became a sea-cadet (Seekadett) on 4 April. On 15 April 1911, he became a midshipman (Fähnrich zur See), the rank given to those who had served for one year as officer's apprentice and had passed their first examination.
On 27 September 1913, Dönitz was commissioned as an Acting Sub-Lieutenant (Leutnant zur See). When World War I began, he served in the light cruiser SMS Breslau in the Mediterranean Sea. In August 1914, Breslau and the battlecruiser SMS Goeben were sold to the Ottoman navy; the ships were renamed the Midilli and the Yavuz Sultan Selim, respectively. They began operating out of Constantinople (now Istanbul), under Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, engaging Russian forces in the Black Sea. On 22 March 1916, Dönitz was promoted to Navy First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant zur See). When Midilli put into dock for repairs, he was temporarily assigned as airfield commander at the Dardanelles. From there, he requested a transfer to the submarine forces, which became effective in October 1916. He served as watch officer on U-39, and from February 1918 onward as commander of UC-25. On 5 September 1918, he became commander of UB-68, operating in the Mediterranean. On 4 October, this boat was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner on the island of Malta.
Inter-war period[link]
The war ended in 1918, but Dönitz remained in a British camp near Sheffield as a prisoner of war until his release in July 1919. He returned to Germany in 1920.
During the interwar period, Dönitz continued his naval career in the naval arm of the Weimar Republic's Armed Forces (Reichswehr). On 10 January 1921, he became a Lieutenant (Kapitänleutnant) in the new German Navy (Vorläufige Reichsmarine). Dönitz commanded torpedo boats by 1928, becoming a Lieutenant-Commander (Korvettenkapitän) on 1 November of that same year.
On 1 September 1933, Dönitz became a full Commander (Fregattenkapitän) and, in 1934, was put in command of the cruiser Emden. Emden was the ship on which cadets and midshipmen took a year-long world cruise in preparation for a future officer's commission.
On 1 September 1935, Dönitz was promoted to Captain (Kapitän zur See). He was placed in command of the 1st U-boat Flotilla Weddigen, which included U-7, U-8, and U-9.
During 1935, the Weimar Republic's Navy, the Reichsmarine, was replaced by the Navy of Nazi Germany, the Kriegsmarine.
Throughout 1935 and 1936, Dönitz had misgivings regarding submarines due to German overestimation of the capabilities of British ASDIC. In reality, ASDIC could detect only one submarine in ten during exercises. In the words of Alan Hotham, British Director of Naval Intelligence, ASDIC was a "huge bluff"[citation needed].
German doctrine at the time, based on the work of American Naval Captain Alfred Mahan and shared by all major navies, called for submarines to be integrated with surface fleets and employed against enemy warships. By November 1937, Dönitz became convinced that a major campaign against merchant shipping was practical and began pressing for the conversion of the German fleet almost entirely to U-boats.[4] He advocated a strategy of attacking only merchant ships, targets relatively safe to attack. He pointed out that destroying Britain's fleet of oil tankers would starve the Royal Navy of supplies needed to run its ships, which would be just as effective as sinking them. He thought a German fleet of 300 of the newer Type VII U-boats could knock Britain out of the war.[5]
Dönitz revived the World War I idea of grouping several submarines together into a "wolfpack" to overwhelm a merchant convoy's defensive escorts. Implementation of wolf packs had been difficult in World War I owing to the limitations of available radios. In the interwar years, Germany had developed ultra-high frequency transmitters which it was hoped would make their radio communication unjammable, while the Enigma cipher machine was believed to have made communications secure. Dönitz also adopted and claimed credit for Wilhelm Marschall's 1922 idea of attacking convoys using surface or very near surface night attacks. This tactic had the added advantage of making a submarine undetectable by sonar.[6]
At the time, many – including Erich Raeder — felt such talk marked Dönitz as a weakling. Dönitz was alone among senior naval officers, including some former submariners, in believing in a new submarine war on trade. He and Raeder constantly argued over funding priorities within the Navy, while at the same time competing with Hitler's friends, such as Hermann Göring, who received greater attention at this time.
Since the surface strength of the Kriegsmarine was much less than that of the British Royal Navy, Raeder believed any war with Britain in the near future would doom it to uselessness, once remarking all the Germans could hope to do was die valiantly. Raeder based his hopes on war being delayed until the German Navy's extensive "Z Plan", which would have expanded Germany's surface fleet to where it could effectively contend with the Royal Navy, was implemented. The "Z Plan", however, was not scheduled to be completed until 1945.[7]
Dönitz, in contrast, had no such fatalism and set about intensely training his crews in the new tactics. The marked inferiority of the German surface fleet left submarine warfare as Germany's only naval option once war broke out.
On 28 January 1939, Dönitz was promoted to Commodore (Kommodore) and Commander of Submarines (Führer der Unterseeboote).
World War II[link]
Main article: Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and World War II began. The Kriegsmarine was caught unprepared for war, having anticipated that the war's outbreak would be in 1945, not 1939. The Z Plan was tailored for this assumption, calling for a balanced fleet with a greatly increased number of surface capital ships, including several aircraft carriers. At the time the war began, Dönitz's force included only 57 U-boats, many of them short-range, and only 22 oceangoing Type VIIs. He made do with what he had, while being harassed by Raeder and with Hitler calling on him to dedicate boats to military actions against the British fleet directly. These operations had mixed success; the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous and battleship Royal Oak were sunk, and battleships HMS Nelson damaged and Barham sunk, at a cost of some U-boats, diminishing the small quantity available even further. Together with surface raiders, merchant shipping lines were also attacked by U-boats.[5]
Commander of the submarine fleet[link]
On 1 October 1939, Dönitz became a Rear Admiral (Konteradmiral) and "Commander of the Submarines" (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote, BdU); on 1 September the following year, he was made a Vice Admiral (Vizeadmiral).
By 1941, the delivery of new Type VIIs had improved to the point where operations were having a real effect on the British wartime economy. Although production of merchant ships shot up in response, improved torpedoes, better U-boats, and much better operational planning led to increasing numbers of "kills". On 11 December 1941, following Adolf Hitler's declaration of war on the United States, Dönitz immediately planned for implementation of Operation Drumbeat (Unternehmen Paukenschlag).[8] This targeted shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Carried out the next month, with only nine U-boats (all the larger Type IX), it had dramatic and far-reaching results. The U.S. Navy was entirely unprepared for antisubmarine warfare, despite having had two years of British experience to draw from, and committed every imaginable mistake. Shipping losses, which had appeared to be coming under control as the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy gradually adapted to the new challenge, skyrocketed.
On at least two occasions, Allied success against U-boat operations led Dönitz to investigate possible reasons. Among those considered were espionage and Allied interception and decoding of German Navy communications (the naval version of the Enigma cipher machine). Both investigations into communications security came to the conclusion espionage was more likely, or else the Allied successes had been accidental. Nevertheless, Dönitz ordered his U-boat fleet to use an improved version of the Enigma machine (one with four rotors, which was more secure than the three-rotor version it replaced), the M4, for communications within the fleet, on 1 February 1942. The German Navy (Kriegsmarine) was the only branch to use this improved version; the rest of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) continued to use their then-current three-rotor versions of the Enigma machine. The new system was termed "Triton" ("Shark" to the Allies). For a time, this change in encryption between submarines caused considerable difficulty for Allied codebreakers; it took ten months before Shark traffic could be read (see also Ultra codebreaking and Cryptanalysis of the Enigma).
By the end of 1942, the production of Type VII U-boats had increased to the point where Dönitz was finally able to conduct mass attacks by groups of submarines, a tactic he called "Rudel" (group or pack) and became known as "wolfpack" in English. Allied shipping losses shot up tremendously, and there was serious concern for a while about the state of British fuel supplies.
During 1943, the war in the Atlantic turned against the Germans, but Dönitz continued to push for increased U-boat construction and entertained the notion that further technological developments would tip the war once more in Germany's favour while briefing the Führer.[9] At the end of the war, the German submarine fleet was by far the most advanced in the world, and late-war examples, such as the Type XXI U-boat, served as models for Soviet and American construction after the war. These, the Schnorchel (snorkel) and Type XXI boats, appeared late in the war because of Dönitz's personal indifference, at times even hostility, to new technology he perceived as disruptive for the production process.[10] His opposition to the larger Type IX was not unique; Admiral Thomas C. Hart, who commanded the United States Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines at the outbreak of the Pacific War, opposed fleet boats as "too luxurious".[11]
Dönitz was deeply involved in the daily operations of his boats, often contacting them up to seventy times a day with questions such as their position, fuel supply, and other "minutiae". This incessant questioning hastened the compromise of his ciphers, by giving the Allies more messages to work with. Furthermore, replies from the boats enabled the Allies to use direction finding (HF/DF, called "Huff-Duff") to locate a U-boat using its radio, track it, and attack it (often with aircraft able to sink it with impunity).
Dönitz wore on his uniform both the special grade of the U-Boat War Badge with diamonds, and his U-Boat War badge from World War I, along with his World War I Iron Cross 1st Class with World War II clasp.
Commander-in-chief and Grand Admiral[link]
On 30 January 1943, Dönitz replaced Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine) and Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) of the Naval High Command (Oberkommando der Marine). His deputy, Eberhard Godt, took over the operational command of the U-boat force[12] It was Dönitz who was able to convince Hitler not to scrap the remaining ships of the surface fleet. Despite hoping to continue to use them as a fleet in being, the Kriegsmarine continued losing what few capital ships it had. In September, the battleship Tirpitz was put out of action for months by a British midget submarine, and was sunk two months later by RAF bombers. In December, he ordered the battleship Scharnhorst (under Konteradmiral Erich Bey) to attack Soviet-bound convoys, having considered her success in the early years of the war with sister ship Gneisenau, but she was sunk in the resulting encounter with superior British forces led by the battleship HMS Duke of York
Hitler's successor[link]
File:Hitler will page 7.jpg
Hitler's testament showing that Dönitz was chosen to succeed Hitler as Germany's president.
In the final days of the war, after Hitler had installed himself in the Führerbunker beneath the Reich Chancellery gardens in Berlin, Hermann Göring was considered the obvious successor to Hitler, followed by Heinrich Himmler. Göring, however, had infuriated Hitler by radioing Hitler in Berlin asking for permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Himmler also tried to seize power himself by entering into negotiations with Count Folke Bernadotte. On 28 April, the BBC reported that Himmler had offered surrender to the western Allies and that the offer had been declined.[13]
In his last will and testament, dated 29 April, Hitler named Dönitz his successor as Staatsoberhaupt (Head of State), with the title of Reichspräsident (President) and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The same document named Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels as Head of Government with the title of Reichskanzler (Chancellor). Further, Hitler expelled both Göring and Himmler from the party.[14]
Rather than designate one person to succeed him as Führer, Hitler reverted to the old arrangement in the Weimar Constitution. Hitler believed the leaders of the Air Force (Luftwaffe) and SS (Schutzstaffel) had betrayed him. Since the German Navy had been too small to affect the war in a major way, its commander, Dönitz, became the only possible successor more or less by default.[15]
However, on 1 May—the day after Hitler's death—Goebbels committed suicide. Dönitz thus became the sole representative of the crumbling German Reich. He appointed Finance Minister Count Ludwig Schwerin von Krosigk as "Leading Minister" (Krosigk had declined to accept the title of Chancellor) and they attempted to form a government.
That night, Dönitz made a nationwide radio address in which he spoke of Hitler's "hero's death" and announced that the war would continue "to save Germany from destruction by the advancing Bolshevik enemy." However, Dönitz knew even then that Germany's position was untenable and that the Wehrmacht was no longer capable of offering meaningful resistance. During his brief period in office, Dönitz devoted most of his efforts to ensuring the loyalty of the German armed forces and trying to ensure German troops would surrender to the British or Americans and not the Soviets. He feared vengeful Soviet reprisals against Nazi party members and high-ranking officers like himself, and hoped to strike a deal with the western Allies.[15] In the end, the tactics of Dönitz were somewhat successful in that they enabled about 1.8 million German soldiers to avoid Soviet capture. However, this came at a high cost in bloodshed.[16]
Flensburg government[link]
Main article: Flensburg government
The rapidly advancing Allied forces limited the Dönitz government's jurisdiction to an area around Flensburg near the Danish border. Dönitz's headquarters were located in the Naval Academy in Mürwik, a suburb of Flensburg. Accordingly his administration was referred to as the Flensburg government. The following is Dönitz's description of his new government:
| “ | These considerations (the bare survival of the German people) which all pointed to the need for the creation of some sort of central government, took shape and form when I was joined by Graf Schwerin-Krosigk. In addition to discharging his duties as Foreign Minister and Minister of Finance, he formed the temporary government we needed and presided over the activities of its cabinet. Although he was restricted in his choice to those men who were in northern Germany, he nevertheless succeeded in forming a workmanlike cabinet of experts.
The picture of the military situation as a whole showed clearly that the war was lost. As there was also no possibility of effecting any improvement in Germany's overall position by political means, the only conclusion to which I, as Head of the State, could come was that the war must be brought to an end as quickly as possible, in order to prevent further bloodshed. |
” |
|
—Karl Dönitz, Ten Years and Twenty Days[4] |
||
Late on 1 May, Himmler attempted to make a place for himself in the Flensburg government. The following is Dönitz's description of his showdown with Himmler:
| “ | At about midnight he arrived, accompanied by six armed SS officers, and was received by my aide-de-camp, Walter Luedde-Neurath. I offered Himmler a chair and I myself sat down behind my writing desk, upon which lay, hidden by some papers, a pistol with the safety catch off. I had never done anything of this sort in my life before, but I did not know what the outcome of this meeting might be.
I handed Himmler the telegram containing my appointment. "Please read this," I said. I watched him closely. As he read, an expression of astonishment, indeed of consternation, spread over his face. All hope seemed to collapse within him. He went very pale. Finally he stood up and bowed. "Allow me," he said, "to become the second man in your state." I replied that that was out of the question and that there was no way in which I could make any use of his services. Thus advised, he left me at about one o'clock in the morning. The showdown had taken place without force, and I felt relieved. |
” |
|
—Karl Dönitz, as quoted in The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan[17] |
||
On 4 May, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark, and northwestern Germany under Dönitz's command surrendered to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at the Lüneburg Heath, just southeast of Hamburg, signalling the end of World War II in northwestern Europe.
A day later, Dönitz sent Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, his successor as the commander in chief of the German Navy, to U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters in Rheims, France, to negotiate a surrender to the Allies. The Chief of Staff of OKW, Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Alfred Jodl, arrived a day later. Dönitz had instructed them to draw out the negotiations for as long as possible so that German troops and refugees could surrender to the Western Powers. However, when Eisenhower let it be known he would not tolerate the Germans' stalling, Dönitz authorised Jodl to sign the instrument of unconditional surrender at 1:30 am on the morning of 7 May. Just over an hour later, Jodl signed the documents. The surrender documents included the phrase, "All forces under German control to cease active operations at 23:01 hours Central European Time on 8 May 1945." At Stalin's insistence, on 8 May, shortly before midnight, General Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Wilhelm Keitel repeated the signing in Berlin at Marshal Georgiy Zhukov's headquarters, with General Carl Spaatz of the USAAF as Eisenhower's representative. At the time specified, World War II in Europe ended.
On 23 May, the Dönitz government was dissolved when its members were arrested by the Allied Control Commission at Flensburg.
Dönitz's relationship to Jews and Nazism[link]
Despite his postwar claims, Dönitz was seen as supportive of Nazism during the war.[18] Several naval officers described him as "closely tied to Hitler and Nazi ideology."[18] On one occasion, he spoke of Hitler's humanity.[18] Another event, in which he spoke to Hitler Youth in what was defined as an "inappropriate way", earned him the nickname of "Hitler Youth Dönitz."[18] He refused to assist Albert Speer in stopping a scorched earth policy dictated by Hitler[18] and is also noted as saying, "in comparison to Hitler we are all pip-squeaks. Anyone who believes he can do better than the Führer is stupid."[18]
There are several antisemitic statements on the part of Dönitz known to historians.[18] When Sweden closed its international waters to Germany, he blamed this action on their fear and dependence on "international Jewish capital."[18] In August 1944, he declared, "I would rather eat dirt than see my grandchildren grow up in the filthy, poisonous atmosphere of Jewry."[18]
On German Heroes' Day (12 March) 1944, Dönitz declared that, without Adolf Hitler, Germany would be beset by the "poison of Jewry", and the country destroyed for lack of National Socialism, which, as Dönitz declared, gave defiance of an uncompromising ideology.[19] At the Nuremberg Trials, Dönitz claimed the statement about the "poison of Jewry" was regarding "the endurance, the power to endure, of the people, as it was composed, could be better preserved than if there were Jewish elements in the nation." Initially he claimed, "I could imagine that it would be very difficult for the population in the towns to hold out under the strain of heavy bombing attacks if such an influence was allowed to work."
Author Eric Zillmer argues, that from an ideological standpoint, Dönitz was anti-Marxist and anti-Semitic.[20] Later, during the Nuremberg Trials, Dönitz claimed to know nothing about the extermination of Jews and declared that nobody among "his men" thought about violence against Jews.[19]
Dönitz told Leon Goldensohn, an American psychiatrist at Nuremberg, "I never had any idea of the goings-on as far as Jews were concerned. Hitler said each man should take care of his business, and mine was U-boats and the navy".[21] To Goldensohn, Dönitz also spoke of his support for Admiral Bernhard Rogge, who was of Jewish descent, when the Nazi Party began to persecute the admiral.
Nuremberg war crimes trials[link]
Following the war, Dönitz was held as a prisoner of war by the Allies. He was indicted as a major war criminal at the Nuremberg Trials on three counts: (1) conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; (2) planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; and (3) crimes against the laws of war. Dönitz was found not guilty on count (1) of the indictment, but guilty on counts (2) and (3).[22]
Dönitz was for nearly seven decades the only head of state to be convicted by an international tribunal, until the conviction of Liberia's Charles Taylor in April 2012.[23]
During the trial, Gustave Gilbert, an American Army psychologist, was allowed to examine the Nazi leaders who were tried at Nuremberg for war crimes. Among other tests, a German version of the Wechsler-Bellevue IQ test was administered. Dönitz scored 138, the third highest among the Nazi leaders tested.[24]
Dönitz disputed the propriety of his trial at Nuremberg, commenting on count (2) that "One of the 'accusations' that made me guilty during this trial was that I met and planned the course of the war with Hitler; now I ask them in heaven’s name, how could an admiral do otherwise with his country's head of state in a time of war?"[25] Numerous (over 100) senior Allied officers also sent letters to Dönitz conveying their disappointment over the fairness and verdict of his trial.[26]
At the trial Dönitz was charged with:[22]
- Waging unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral shipping (see below).
- Permitting Hitler's Commando Order of 18 October 1942 to remain in full force when he became commander-in-chief of the Navy, and to that extent responsibility for that crime. His defence was that the Order excluded men captured in naval warfare, and that the order had not been acted upon by any men under his command.
- That knowing that 12,000 involuntary foreign workers were working in the shipyards, he did nothing to stop it.
- Advice in 1945 when Hitler asked Dönitz whether the Geneva Convention should be denounced. Hitler's motives were twofold. The first was that reprisals could be taken against Western Allied prisoners of war and second it would deter German forces from surrendering to the Western Allies (as was happening on the Eastern front where the Geneva Convention was in abeyance). Instead of arguing that the conventions should never be denounced, Dönitz suggested that it was not currently expedient to do so, so the court found against him on this issue; but as the Convention was not denounced by Germany, and British prisoners in camps under Dönitz's jurisdiction were treated strictly according to the Convention, the Court considered these mitigating circumstances.
Among the war-crimes charges, Dönitz was accused of waging unrestricted submarine warfare for issuing War Order No. 154 in 1939, and another similar order after the Laconia incident in 1942, not to rescue survivors from ships attacked by submarine. By issuing these two orders, he was found guilty of causing Germany to be in breach of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.[22] However, as evidence of similar conduct by the Allies was presented at his trial, and with the help of his lawyer Otto Kranzbühler, his sentence was not assessed on the grounds of this breach of international law.[22]
On the specific war crimes charge of ordering unrestricted submarine warfare, Dönitz was found "[not] guilty for his conduct of submarine warfare against British armed merchant ships", because they were often armed and equipped with radios which they used to notify the Admiralty of attack[22][27] but the judges found that "Dönitz is charged with waging unrestricted submarine warfare contrary to the Naval Protocol of 1936 to which Germany acceded, and which reaffirmed the rules of submarine warfare laid down in the London Naval Agreement of 1930... The order of Dönitz to sink neutral ships without warning when found within these zones was, therefore, in the opinion of the Tribunal, violation of the Protocol... The orders, then, prove Dönitz is guilty of a violation of the Protocol... the sentence of Dönitz is not assessed on the ground of his breaches of the international law of submarine warfare."[22][28]
His sentence on unrestricted submarine warfare was not assessed, because of similar actions by the Allies: in particular, the British Admiralty on 8 May 1940 had ordered that all vessels in the Skagerrak should be sunk on sight; and Admiral Chester Nimitz, wartime commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, stated that the U.S. Navy had waged unrestricted submarine warfare in the Pacific from the day the U.S. entered the war. Thus although Dönitz's was found guilty of waging unrestricted submarine warfare against unarmed neutral shipping by ordering all ships in designated areas in international waters to be sunk without warning, no additional prison time was added to his sentence for this crime.[22]
Dönitz was imprisoned for 10 years in Spandau Prison in what was then West Berlin.[29]
Later years[link]
File:Karl donitz.jpg
Cover of the first edition of Dönitz's memoirs in English, Ten Years and Twenty Days (1958).
Dönitz was released on 1 October 1956, and he retired to the small village of Aumühle in Schleswig-Holstein in northern West Germany. There he worked on two books. His memoirs, Zehn Jahre, Zwanzig Tage (Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days), appeared in Germany in 1958 and became available in an English translation the following year. This book recounted Dönitz's experiences as U-boat commander (10 years) and President of Germany (20 days). In it, Dönitz explains the Nazi regime as a product of its time, but argues he was not a politician and thus not morally responsible for much of the regime's crimes. He likewise criticizes dictatorship as a fundamentally flawed form of government and blames it for much of the Nazi era's failings.[30]
Admiral Dönitz's second book, Mein wechselvolles Leben (My Ever-Changing Life) is less known, perhaps because it deals with the events of his life before 1934. This book was first published in 1968, and a new edition was released in 1998 with the revised title Mein soldatisches Leben (My Life as a Soldier).
Late in his life, Dönitz made every attempt to answer correspondence and autograph postcards for others. Dönitz was unrepentant regarding his role in World War II[31][32] since he firmly believed that no one will respect anyone who compromises with his belief or duty towards his nation in any way, whether his betrayal was small or big. Of this conviction, Dönitz writes (commenting on Himmler's peace negotiations):
The betrayer of military secrets is a pariah, despised by every man and every nation. Even the enemy whom he serves has no respect for him, but merely uses him. Any nation which is not uncompromisingly unanimous in its condemnation of this type of treachery is undermining the very foundations of its own state, whatever its form of government may be.[33]
Dönitz lived out the rest of his life in relative obscurity in Aumühle, occasionally corresponding with American collectors of German Naval history, and died there of a heart attack on 24 December 1980. As the last German officer with the rank of Grand Admiral, he was honoured by many former servicemen and foreign naval officers who came to pay their respects at his funeral on 6 January 1981. However, he had received only the pension pay of a captain because the West German government ruled all of his advances in rank after that had been because of Hitler. He was buried in Waldfriedhof Cemetery in Aumühle without military honors, and soldiers were not allowed to wear uniforms to the funeral.[34] However a number of German naval officers disobeyed this order and were joined by members of the Royal Navy, such as the senior chaplain the Rev Dr John Cameron, in full dress uniform. Also in attendance were over one hundred holders of the Knight's Cross.
Wife and children[link]
On 27 May 1916 Dönitz married a nurse named Ingeborg Weber (1894–1962), the daughter of a German general Erich Paul Weber (1860–1933). They had three children whom they raised as Protestant (Evangelical) Christians, viz., daughter Ursula (b. 1917) and sons Klaus (b. 1920) and Peter (b. 1922).
In 1937 Karl Dönitz's daughter Ursula married the U-boat commander and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient Günther Hessler.
Both sons of Dönitz were killed during the Second World War.[35] The younger son, Peter, was a watch officer on U-954 and was killed on 19 May 1943, when his boat was sunk in the North Atlantic with all hands. After this loss, the older brother, Klaus, was allowed to leave combat duty and began studying to be a naval doctor. Klaus was killed on 13 May 1944 while taking part in an action against his orders. Klaus persuaded his friends to let him go on the torpedo boat S-141 for a raid on HMS Selsey off the coast of England on his twenty-fourth birthday. The boat was destroyed and Klaus died, though six others were rescued.
In popular culture[link]
Karl Dönitz has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theater productions.[36]
- Gert Hänsch in the 1976 Czechoslovakian film Osvobození Prahy
- Richard Bebb in the 1973 British television production The Death of Adolf Hitler.[37]
- Raymond Cloutier in the 2000 Canadian/U.S. TV production Nuremberg
- Peter Rühring in the 2005 German TV miniseries Speer und Er
- David Mitchell in the 2006 British TV sketch comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look.
- Simeon Victorov in the 2006 British television docudrama Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial.
- Thomas Kretschmann in the 2011 British/German TV production, The Sinking of the Laconia.
Summary of career[link]
Dates of rank[link]
- Fähnrich zur See (Midshipman): 15 April 1911
- Leutnant zur See (Acting Sub-Lieutenant): 27 September 1913
- Oberleutnant zur See (Sub-Lieutenant): 22 March 1916
- Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant): 1 January 1921
- Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander): 1 November 1928
- Fregattenkapitän (Commander): 1 October 1933
- Kapitän zur See (Captain): 1 October 1935
- Kommodore (Commodore): 28 January 1939
- Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral): 1 October 1939
- Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral): 1 September 1940
- Admiral (Admiral): 14 March 1942
- Großadmiral (Grand Admiral): 30 January 1943
Service history[link]
- Cadet training on board the SMS Hertha: April 1910 – March 1911
- Naval school: April 1911 – September 1912
- Serving on board the SMS Breslau: October 1912 – September 1916
- Airfield commander, San Stefano and Dardanelles: September–December 1916
- U-boat training: December 1916 – January 1917
- Watch Officer, U-39: January 1917 – February 1918
- Commander, SM UC-25: March–September 1918
- Commander, SM UB-68: September–October 1918
- In British captivity on Malta: October 1918 – July 1919
- Staff of the Naval Station of the Baltic Sea: July 1919 – March 1920
- Commander, Torpedo Boat V 5: March–April 1920
- Commander, Torpedo Boats T 157 and G 8: April 1920 – March 1923
- Adviser and Adjutant, Inspection of Torpedo and Mine Affairs: March 1923 – November 1924
- Adviser, Naval Defense Department of the Naval Command: November 1924 – October 1927
- Course and Information, SMS Nymphe: October–December 1927
- Navigations Officer, SMS Nymphe: December 1927 – September 1928
- Commander, 4th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla: September 1928 – September 1930
- 1st Admiral Staff Officer, Staff of the Naval Station of the North Sea: September 1930 – September 1934
- Commander, German cruiser Emden: September 1934 – September 1935
- Commander, 1st U-boat Flotilla: September 1935 – October 1936
- Führer der U-Boote: January 1936 – October 1939
- Befehlshaber der U-Boote: October 1939 – January 1943
- Oberbefehlshaber der Marine: January 1943 – April 1945
- Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief North: April 1945
- Reichspräsident and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht: May 1945
See also[link]
- Glossary of German World War II military terms
- Glossary of Nazi Germany
- Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler
- List of Nazi Party leaders and officials
References & Notes[link]
- ^ Howard D. Grier (2007): Hitler, Dönitz, and the Baltic Sea. The Third Reich's last hope. Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-59114-345-4, p. 256 Footnote 8, Chapter 10.
- ^ Dönitz, Karl. Memoirs.
- ^ Hamilton, Charles (1996). Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich, Vol. 2, R. James Bender Publishing, pp. 285, 286.
- ^ a b Dönitz, Karl, Grossadmiral, Zehn Jahre und Zwanzig Tage, translated by R. H. Stevens as Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1959)
- ^ a b Dönitz, Memoirs.
- ^ Otto Kretschmer preferred to fight on the surface for exactly that reason. Robertson, Terrence. The Golden Horseshoes. (London, Pan, 1957).
- ^ Dönitz, Ten Years and 20 Days.
- ^ Commonly Drumbeat, with connotations of "tattoo" or "thunderbolt" in German
- ^ http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/atlantic/bitterend.aspx
- ^ von der Porten, op. cit.
- ^ Blair, Silent Victory
- ^ "Eberhard Godt". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/men/godt.htm. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
- ^ Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography, W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 943–946
- ^ Steinweis, Alan E.; Rogers, Daniel E.; Grier, David (2003). The Impact of Nazism: New Perspectives on the Third Reich and its Legacy. Harris Center for Judaic Studies. p. 182. ISBN 0-8032-4299-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=ks2IpI9zccsC&pg=PP1&dq=The+impact+of+Nazism:+new+perspectives+on+the+Third+Reich+and+its+legacy&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ a b William Shirer. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Fawcett Crest. New York. 1983. ISBN 0-449-21977-1
- ^ Kershaw (2008) p. 962
- ^ Dollinger, Hans. The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Library of Congress Catalogue Card # 67-27047, Page 242
- ^ a b c d e f g h i The Impact of Nazism: New Perspectives on the Third Reich and Its Legacy by Alan E. Steinweis, Daniel E. Rogers, University of Nebraska Press 2003 pages 186–188.
- ^ a b "What would have become of our country today if the Fuehrer had not united us under National Socialism? Split by parties, beset with the spreading poison of Jewry and vulnerable to it, because we lacked the defence of our present uncompromising ideology, we would long since have succumbed under the burden of this war, and delivered ourselves up to the enemy who would have mercilessly destroyed us." The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
- ^ Zillmer, Eric A. (1995). The Quest for the Nazi Personality: A Psychological Investigation of Nazi War Criminals. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 141.
- ^ Leon Goldensohn. The Nuremberg Interviews. Vintage Books. New York. 2004. ISBN 1-4000-3043-9
- ^ a b c d e f g Judgement: Dönitz the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
- ^ Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/international-court-to-deliver-verdicts-in-trial-of-former-liberain-president-charles-taylor/2012/04/26/gIQAJ7gGiT_story.html
- ^ Mosley, Leonard. Reichmarshal
- ^ Dönitz, Karl. Memoirs: Ten years and Twenty days
- ^ Blair, Clay, Hitler’s U-boat War: Vol. II, The Hunted, 1942–1945. Random House, 1998, pp. 704–5
- ^ Dönitz in Ten Years & Twenty Days and Edward P. von der Porten in The German Navy in World War Two argued that by being armed and reporting the position of submarines to Royal Navy forces, British merchantmen placed themselves beyond the protection of international law;
- ^ Natalino Ronzitti, The Law of Naval Warfare: A Collection of Agreements and Documents with Commentaries, Martinus Nijhoff, 1988, ISBN 90-247-3652-8. p. 359
- ^ Dönitz case for the defence at Nuremberg trials
- ^ Dönitz p. 477
- ^ Robert Cowley, Geoffrey Parker. The Reader's Companion to Military History. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. http://books.google.com/books?id=qOEu4ALwR-IC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=unrepentant+%22karl+donitz%22&source=web&ots=sgzDFd4BXc&sig=fSDwnWmODYZk4Dr-5flXewYmph4.
- ^ The Lion Is Out – TIME
- ^ Ten Years and Twenty Days, page 190, first edition
- ^ {{Cite news|work=New York Times|title= Doenitz Dies; Gave Up for Nazis :Admiral Doenitz Is Dead; Surrendered for the Nazis.|author=DAMON STETSON|date=26 December 1980}
- ^ David Miller. U-Boats: The Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep. Brassey's. p. 145.
- ^ "Karl Dönitz (Character)". IMDb.com. http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0048225/. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
- ^ "The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973) (TV)". IMDb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283307/. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
Bibliography[link]
- Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 – Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
- Dönitz, Karl, Grossadmiral. Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days. Da Capo Press, USA, 1997. ISBN 0-306-80764-5. (reprints 1958 German-language Athenäum-Verlag edition).
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
- Guðmundur Helgason. "Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (BdU) Karl Dönitz." at Uboat.net.
- Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
- Padfield, Peter. Dönitz: The Last Führer. Cassell & Co, UK, 2001
- Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
- Schaulen, Fritjof (2003). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe I Abraham – Huppertz (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-20-3.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Background information[link]
- Cremer, Peter. U-Boat Commander: A Periscope View of the Battle of the Atlantic. 1984. ISBN 0-87021-969-3
- Davidson, Eugene. The Trial of the Germans: Account of the Twenty-two Defendants Before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. 1997. ISBN 0-8262-1139-9
- Hadley, Michael L. U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters. McGill-Queen's University Press: 1985. ISBN 0-7735-0801-5.
- Macintyre, Donald. U-boat Killer. 1999. ISBN 0-304-35235-7
- Werner, Herbert A. Iron Coffins: A U-boat Commander's War, 1939–45. 1999. ISBN 0-304-35330-2
- Prien, Gunther. Fortunes of War: U-boat Commander. 2000. ISBN 0-7524-2025-9
- Herwig, Holger H. Innovation ignored: The Submarine problem in Murray, Williamson and Millet Allan R. ed. "Military Innovation in the Interwar Period". Cambridge University Press 1998
- Failure to Learn: American Anti-submarine Warfare in 1942 in Cohen, Eliot A. and Gooch, John. Military Misfortunes Vintage Books 1991
Further reading[link]
- Jason Pipes The Reichsmarine 1919–1935
- Jason Pipes Kriegsmarine – The Navy 1935–1945
- Re-birth of the U-boat
External links[link]
Media related to Karl Dönitz at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to Karl Dönitz at Wikiquote- Archives of news and details about Karl Dönitz
- uboat.net Comprehensive reference source for WW I and WW II U-boat information.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Erich Raeder |
Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine 1943–1945 |
Succeeded by Hans-Georg von Friedeburg |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Adolf Hitler (as Führer and Reich Chancellor) |
President of Germany 1945 |
Succeeded by Allied military occupation 1945–1949 Divided into East and West in 1949 West Germany: Theodor Heuss East Germany: Wilhelm Pieck |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by Hein ter Poorten |
Cover of Time Magazine 2 February 1942 |
Succeeded by Robert A. Lovett |
| Preceded by Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson |
Cover of Time Magazine 10 May 1943 |
Succeeded by Harold L. George |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dönitz, Karl |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | President of Germany; Nazi military commander |
| Date of birth | 16 September 1891 |
| Place of birth | Berlin, Germany |
| Date of death | 24 December 1980 |
| Place of death | Aumühle, near Hamburg |
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Dönitz
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Lars von Trier | |
|---|---|
 Lars von Trier at Cannes in 2000 |
|
| Born | Lars Trier (1956-04-30) 30 April 1956 (age 56) Kongens Lyngby, Denmark |
| Occupation | Film director and screenwriter |
| Influenced by | Andrei Tarkovsky, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Douglas Sirk, David Lynch, Jørgen Leth, Erich von Stroheim, Josef von Sternberg, Bertolt Brecht |
| Spouse | Cæcilia Holbek (m. 1987–1995)[1] Bente Frøge (m. 1997–present) |
Lars von Trier (Danish pronunciation: [ˈlɑːs fʌn ˈtʁiːˀɐ]; born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956)[2] is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective – an avant-garde filmmaking movement – although his own films have taken a variety of approaches. His work has frequently divided the critics.[3]
Von Trier began making films at the age of eleven. Raised by a communist mother and a socialist father in an austere environment, he converted at the age of 30 to the Catholic Church. Von Trier suffers periodically from depression, as well as various fears and phobias, including an intense fear of flying. As he himself said in an interview, "Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking".[4]. His first publicly released film was an experimental short called The Orchid Gardener (1977) and his first feature film came seven years later with The Element of Crime (1984). Among many other prizes, awards and nominations, he is the recipient of the Palme d'Or, the Grand Prix, and the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.
Contents |
Early life and career[link]
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,[5] 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,[6] with complex results for von Trier's personality and development.[7] 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.[3]
In 1979, he was enrolled in the National Film School of Denmark.[8] 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 and a certain arrogance, while Lars is a very common and Trier not an unusual name in Denmark.[9] 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.[10] During his time as a student at the school he made the films Nocturne (1980) and The Last Detail (Den sidste detalje, 1981),[11] both of which won Best Film awards at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools,[12] and he graduated with Images of a Relief (Befrielsesbilleder, 1982) in 1983.
Europe trilogy[link]
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[13] and picked up awards at other major festivals.
In 1990 he also directed the music video for the worldwide hit "Bakerman" by Laid Back.[14] This video was reused in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker who did a remake of Bakerman.
[edit] 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.[8] 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:[citation needed] Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999), HotMen CoolBoyz (2000) and All About Anna (2005).
In order to make money for his newly founded company,[15] 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 was derailed by the 1998 death of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Helmer, one of the major characters.
Dogme 95[link]
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.[citation needed]
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).
Von Trier's next film, Breaking the Waves (1996), the first film in von Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy', won the Grand Prix at Cannes and featured Emily Watson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Its grainy images and hand-held photography pointed towards Dogme 95. The second was The Idiots (1998), nominated for a Palme d'Or, which he presented in person at the Cannes Film Festival notwithstanding his dislike of travelling. Dancer in the Dark (2000) was the final component of the trilogy.
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.[16] 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[link]
Von Trier's use of sexually explicit images in The Idiots (1998) started a wave[citation needed] 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.[17]
Women too like to see other people having sex. What they don’t like is the endless close-ups of hammering bodyparts without a story. Lars von Trier is the first to have realised this and produced valuable quality porn films for women.
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.[19] In July 2009, women's magazine Cosmopolitan ranked Pink Prison as No. 1 in its Top Five of the best women’s porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation".[20] Lars von Trier would return to explicit images in his self-directed Antichrist (2009), exploring darker themes.
2000s[link]
In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring Icelandic musician Björk, Dancer in the Dark. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.[21] 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.[22]
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.[23]
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 and violence in American society.
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,[citation needed] 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.
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.[24] 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."[25] 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.[26]
2010s[link]
Von Trier's latest work is Melancholia, a psychological disaster drama;[27] shot between 22 July and 8 September 2010 at Film i Väst's studios in Trollhättan, Sweden,[28] and with exteriors in the area surrounding the Tjolöholm Castle.[29] Magnolia Pictures has acquired the distribution rights for North America.[30] The film was in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[31]
Von Trier announced that after finishing Melancholia he hopes to begin production of The Nymphomaniac, a two-part film about the sexual awakening of a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg).[32] 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."[33]
Phobias[link]
Von Trier suffers from multiple phobias, including an intense fear of flying.[34] 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.[35]
Filming techniques[link]
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[36] 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 lines 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[37] and the film The Night Porter.[38] 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.[39]
Trilogies[link]
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,[8] 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". Von Trier proposed the films as ‘a series of sermons on America’s sins and hypocrisy’[citation needed], 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 not produced 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[link]
In 1989, von Trier's mother revealed on her deathbed that the man whom he thought was his father was not, and that she had had a tryst with her former employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann (1909–2000),[40] 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".[41]
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![42]
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.[43] Another member of this infiltrative resistance group was Hartmann's colleague Viggo Kampmann, who would later become prime minister of Denmark.[44]
After four awkward meetings with his biological father, the man refused further contact.[45] 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".[3]
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.[42]
In 2009, he declared, "I'm a very bad Catholic. In fact I'm becoming more and more of an atheist."[46]
Controversy at 2011 Cannes Film Festival[link]
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.[47][48] Responding to a question by The 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,[49] and then jokingly claimed to be a Nazi himself:[50][51]
What can I say? I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely. ... He's not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him, and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I'm not for the Second World War, and I'm not against Jews. ... I am of course very much for Jews, no not too much, because Israel is pain in the ass, but still how can I get out of this sentence. ...
— Press Conference for Melancholia, Cannes, 2011[52][53]
Referring to the art of Nazi architect Albert Speer, von Trier added:
... he had some talent that was kind of possible for him to use during... Ok, I'm a Nazi.
Then, to Toronto Star film critic Peter Howell, who questioned whether Melancholia could be an answer to Hollywood blockbusters and asked von Trier if he could “envison doing a film on a grander scale than this”, von Trier replied:
On a grander scale? Yeah. Yeah that's what we Nazis, we have a tendency to do things on a greater scale. Yeah, maybe you could persuade me into the final solution with journalists. ...
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."[54] 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."[54]
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."[55][54]
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."[56]
In the October 2011 issue of GQ, von Trier is quoted in an interview saying he was not really sorry for the comments he made, only sorry he didn't make it clear that he was joking. He added, "I can't be sorry for what I said—it's against my nature."[57] On 5 October 2011, von Trier was interviewed by police in Denmark about his remarks at Cannes. Afterwards, he announced that he had 'decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews'.[58]
Honours[link]
Von Trier was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog on 14 January 1997.[59] Ten years later von Trier decided to hand back the prize, saying that the Danish royal family are just "simple people of bad quality".[60]
Filmography[link]
Main article: Lars von Trier filmography
References[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ Lumholdt, Jan (2003). Lars von Trier: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-1-57806-532-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=voTOt3GaRJAC&pg=PR22. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ Krak, Ove Holger (2004) (in Danish). Kraks blaa bog 2004. Krak. p. 1184. ISBN 978-87-7225-797-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=xHJmAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ a b c "Biography". Starpulse.com. 30 April 1956. http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Von_Trier,_Lars/Biography/. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ Burke, Jason (13 May 2007). "Guardian UK interview 2007". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/13/film.filmnews. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ In "Trier on von Trier", by Stig Bjorkman, 2005
- ^ Nicodemus, Katja (10 November 2005). "Lars von Trier, Katja Nicodemus: "I am an American woman" (17/11/2005) – signandsight". Die Zeit. http://www.signandsight.com/features/465.html. Retrieved 14 October 2010. "I come from a family of communist nudists. I was allowed to do or not do what I liked. My parents were not interested in whether I went to school or got drunk on white wine. After a childhood like that, you search for restrictions in your own life."
- ^ "Copenhagen: Lars von Trier". Visit-copenhagen.com. http://visit-copenhagen.com/about-copenhagen/lars-von-trier.htm. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "The Tomb: Lars von Trier Interview". Timeout.com. http://www.timeout.com/film/news/553.html. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ "How many have the name – Statistics Denmark". http://www.dst.dk/HomeUK/Statistics/Names/HowMany.aspx. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Roman, Shari (15 September 2001). Digital Babylon: Hollywood, Indiewood & Dogme 95. IFILM. ISBN 978-1-58065-036-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=UJFZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Lumholdt, Jan (2003). Lars von Trier: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-57806-532-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=voTOt3GaRJAC&pg=PA72. Retrieved 11 October 2010. "Nocture was the more important of the two and it also won a prize at the film festival in Munich"
- ^ Cowie, Peter (15 June 1995). Variety International Film Guide 1996. Focal. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-240-80253-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=m8khh4m7c-4C. Retrieved 11 October 2010. "...he won two consecutive awards at the European Film School competition in Munich with Nocturne and The Last Detail"
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Europa". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/91/year/1991.html. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ Schepelern, Peter (2000) (in Danish). Lars von Triers film: tvang og befrielse. Rosinante. p. 313. ISBN 978-87-621-0164-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=oXlZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ "Lars von Trier fan site biography". Web.archive.org. 27 October 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027155703/http://www.geocities.com/lars_von_trier2000/biyografi.htm. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). Contemporary world cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7486-1799-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=qOXoeyesZOIC&pg=PA37. Retrieved 12 October 2010. "The Dogme concept has, moreover, spilled across national borders and inspired filmmaking outside Denmark."
- ^ "Norwegian Media Authority none-censorship decision" (PDF). http://www.medietilsynet.no/Documents/Aktuelt/Presedenssaker/Filmklagenemd/2006-0698-04_Flirtshop_Klagenemnda.pdf. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ Stern No. 40, 27 September 2007
- ^ Thomas Vilhelm: Filmbyen (Ekstra Bladets Forlag, 2003), ISBN 978-87-7731-274-8, page 74
- ^ Cosmopolitan (German edition), July 2009, page 30
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Dancer in the Dark". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/5140/year/2000.html. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
- ^ Scott, A. O. (26 May 2004). "The Five Obstructions (2003) | FILM REVIEW; A Cinematic Duel of Wits For Two Danish Directors". Movies.nytimes.com. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C02E4D6143EF935A15756C0A9629C8B63. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ Hohenadel, Kristin (30 April 2004). "Departure | Movies". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,628792,00.html. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ "Cannes jury gives its heart to works of graphic darkness". The Irish Times. 5 May 2009. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0525/1224247325203.html?digest=1. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ "Antichrist gets an anti-award in Cannes". National Post. Canada. http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1624286. Retrieved 15 July 2010. [dead link]
- ^ DN (29 December 2010). "11.000 kronor för en filmbiljett". DN.SE. http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/11000-kronor-for-en-filmbiljett. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ "Lars Von Trier has Melancholia". DreadCentral.com. 10/09/2009. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33943/lars-von-trier-has-melancholia. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ Pham, Annika (28 July 2010). "Von Trier’s Melancholia kicks in". Cineuropa. http://cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?lang=en&documentID=148856. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ Erlandsson, Martin (11 August 2010). "Dunst och Skarsgård filmar i norra Halland" (in Swedish). Hallandsposten. http://hallandsposten.se/nojekultur/film/1.919882-dunst-och-skarsgard-filmar-i-norra-halland. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Lodderhose, Diana (13 February 2011). "Magnolia takes 'Melancholia'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118032139?refCatId=13. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Official Selection". Cannes. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/article/58041.html. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
- ^ Pham, Andrias (24 March 2011). "Lars von Trier to Make ‘The Nymphomaniac’ Next?". Slashfilm. http://www.slashfilm.com/lars-von-trier-the-nymphomaniac/. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ Juul Carlsen, Per (May 2011). Neimann, Susanna. ed. "The Only Redeeming Factor is the World Ending". FILM (Danish Film Institute) (72): 5–8. ISSN 1399-2813. http://www.dfi.dk/Service/English/News-and-publications/FILM-Magazine/Artikler-fra-tidsskriftet-FILM/72/The-Only-Redeeming-Factor-is-the-World-Ending.aspx. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ Lumholdt, Jan (2003). Lars von Trier: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-57806-532-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=voTOt3GaRJAC&pg=PA114. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Goss, Brian Michael (January 2009). Global auteurs: politics in the films of Almodóvar, von Trier, and Winterbottom. Peter Lang. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-4331-0134-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=lR6sIjOBE_AC&pg=PA118. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Hurbis-Cherrier, Mick (13 March 2007). Voice & vision: a creative approach to narrative film and DV production. Focal Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-240-80773-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=X_ZIihJ_WpMC&pg=PA82. Retrieved 11 October 2010. "Lars von Trier uses jump cuts as an aesthetic device throughout Dancer in the Dark"
- ^ Stevenson, Jack (2002). Lars von Trier. British Film Institute. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-85170-902-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=UHJZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010. "During work on a TV adaptation of the never-filmed Dreyer script, Medea, in 1988, von Trier claimed to have a telepathic connection with him. He even claimed his golden retriever, Kajsa, was also in spiritual contact with Dreyer ..."
- ^ Loughlin, Gerard (2004). Alien sex: the body and desire in cinema and theology. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-631-21180-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=b9iP9OWEqncC&pg=PA195. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Livingston, Paisley; Plantinga, Carl R.; Mette Hjort (3 December 2008). "58". The Routledge companion to philosophy and film. Routledge. pp. 631–40. ISBN 978-0-415-77166-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=hev6YYxFpYgC. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Philipps-Universität Marburg; Universität-Gesamthochschule-Siegen (32 December 2003) (in German). Medien Wissenschaft. Niemeyer. p. 112. http://books.google.com/books?id=f9kpAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ Grodal, Torben Kragh; Laursen, Iben Thorving (2005). Visual authorship: creativity and intentionality in media. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-87-635-0128-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=qRpxLdn7C4EC&pg=PA124. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ a b Nicodemus, Katja (2005-11-10). "Lars von Trier, Katja Nicodemus: "I am an American woman" (17/11/2005) – signandsight". Die Zeit. http://www.signandsight.com/features/465.html. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ Entry on Fritz Michael Hartmann in the Database of the Danish Resistance Movement (Danish)
- ^ Skov, Jesper (2004). ""Viggo Kampmann under besættelsen" (Danish)". Siden Saxo (4): 39. http://130.225.142.181/fileadmin/saxo-abstract-uploads/viggo_kampmann_under_besaettelsen_2004_4.pdf. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ "Stranger and fiction". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 December 2003. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/22/1071941658741.html.
- ^ Fielder, Miles (4 August 2009). "Lars von Trier". The Big Issue Scotland. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ Barchfield, Jenny; Younis, Zara (May 2011). "Cannes festival bans Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier for Hitler sympathy remarks". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/cannes-festival-bans-von-trier-condemns-danish-filmmaker-for-hitler-remarks/2011/05/19/AF1Aa66G_story.html. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ "Von Trier 'persona non grata' at Cannes after Nazi row". BBC News. 19 May 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13452978. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (19 May 2011). "A Provocateur Steals Cannes Spotlight". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/movies/at-cannes-lars-von-triers-melancholia-and-jafar-panahi.html. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (18 May 2011). "Lars von Trier provokes Cannes with 'I'm a Nazi' comments". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/18/lars-von-trier-cannes-2011-nazi-comments. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ Sharp, Rob (19 May 2011). "Von Trier stirs up controversy with Nazi claim". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/von-trier-stirs-up-controversy-with-nazi-claim-2286069.html. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ (SWF) Lars Von Trier Nazi Comments at Cannes 2011 (Press conference). YouTube. May 18, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHKojTI-pNM. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
- ^ Bagnetto, Laura Angela (22 May 2011). "Lars von Trier – Nazi or Nutter?". Radio France Internationale. http://www.english.rfi.fr/culture/20110521-lars-von-trier-press-conference. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ a b c Hoyle, Ben (20 May 2011). "Von Trier gets kicked out of Cannes after his 'I am a Nazi' joke fails to raise a laugh". The Times (London): p. 9.
- ^ Kastrup, Kim (19 May 2011). "Trier: – Jeg er stolt over at være bortvist" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. http://ekstrabladet.dk/flash/filmogtv/film/article1557641.ece. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ "Lars von Trier Banned From Cannes, Which He's "A Little Proud" Of; Gives Brief Apology For Comments". Thefilmstage.com. 19 May 2011. http://thefilmstage.com/2011/05/19/lars-von-trier-banned-from-cannes-which-hes-a-little-proud-of-gives-brief-apology-for-comments/. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ Heath, Chris (October 2011). "Lars Attacks!". GQ. http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201110/lars-von-trier-gq-interview-october-2011.
- ^ 5 October 2011. "Lars von Trier seals his lips after police inquiry". Artsjournal.com. http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/10/lars-von-trier-seals-his-lips-after-police-inquiry.html. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ "Entry in the Danish database". Borger.dk. 14 January 1997. https://www.borger.dk/foa/Sider/default.aspx?fk=26&foaid=10205318&searchKey=Trier. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ 11:36, 09. sep 2007. "Lars von Trier sender ridderkors retur". Ekstrabladet.dk. http://ekstrabladet.dk/flash/dkkendte/article242983.ece. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
Further reading[link]
- Bainbridge, Caroline (2007). The cinema of Lars von Trier: authenticity and artifice. Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-1-905674-44-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=T6gqQAAACAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Goss, Brian Michael (January 2009). Global auteurs: politics in the films of Almodóvar, von Trier, and Winterbottom. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4331-0134-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=lR6sIjOBE_AC. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Lasagna, Roberto; Lena, Sandra (1 June 2003) (in French). Lars von Trier. Gremese Editore. ISBN 978-88-7301-543-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=E9FYAibtRr4C. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Livingston, Paisley; Plantinga, Carl R.; Mette Hjort (3 December 2008). The Routledge companion to philosophy and film. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77166-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=hev6YYxFpYgC. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Lumholdt, Jan (2003). Lars von Trier: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-57806-532-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=voTOt3GaRJAC. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Schepelern, Peter (2000) (in Danish). Lars von Triers film: tvang og befrielse. Rosinante. ISBN 978-87-621-0164-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=oXlZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Simons, Jan (15 September 2007). Playing the waves: Lars Von Trier's game cinema. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-5356-979-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=GUrJW2G9WkIC. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Stevenson, Jack (2002). Lars von Trier. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0-85170-902-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=UHJZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Stevenson, Jack (2003). Dogme uncut: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterburg, and the gang that took on Hollywood. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 978-1-891661-35-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=alcbAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Trier, Lars von; Addonizio, Antonio (1 January 1999) (in Italian). Il dogma della libertà: conversazioni con Lars von Trier. Edizioni della battaglia. ISBN 978-88-87630-07-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=cK26AAAACAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Trier, Lars von; Björkman, Stig (2003). Trier on von Trier. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-20707-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=pD5kQgAACAAJ. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- Tiefenbach, Georg: Drama und Regie (Writing and Directing): Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville. 2010 Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 978-3-8260-4096-2
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lars von Trier |
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This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (May 2011) |
- Lars von Trier at the Internet Movie Database
- Lars von Trier discography at Discogs
- 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
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Trier, Lars von |
| Alternative names | Trier, Lars |
| Short description | Film director |
| Date of birth | (1956-04-30) 30 April 1956 (age 56) |
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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