Johann Peter Baur
On 10 March 1943, under heavy security, Hitler flew in to Army Group South's headquarters at Zaporozh'ye, Ukraine. Seen here, Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein is greeting Hitler on the local airfield; on the right are Hans Baur and the Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram von Richthofen (photographer: Heinrich Hoffmann)
Born	19 June 1897 Ampfing, Bavaria
Died	17 February 1993(1993-02-17) (aged 95) Herrsching, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Years of service	1915-1918, 1933-1945
Rank	Gruppenführer
Commands held	SS
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross First Class Komtur Cross
Other work	autobiography "Ich flog mit den Mächtigen der Erde,"

SS-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) Hans Baur (19 June 1897 – 17 February 1993) was German politician Adolf Hitler's pilot during his political campaigns of the 1920s and 1930s. Baur was later Hitler's personal pilot and leader of the "Reichsregierung" squadron.^[1] Captured by the Soviets at the end of World War II in Europe, he endured ten years of imprisonment in the USSR before being released on 10 October 1955 to the French who imprisoned Baur until 1957. Baur died in Herrsching, Bavaria in 1993.

Early life[link]

Johann "Hans" Peter Baur was born in Ampfing in Bavaria and educated at the Erasmus-Grasser-Gymnasium in Sendling-Westpark, Munich.

World War I[link]

Baur was called up to the Imperial German Army in 1915, and trained in field artillery at the airfield in Augsburg. He then joined the Luftstreitkräfte (air force) as an artillery spotter. During the war he claimed 6 victories, with 3 additionally unconfirmed.^[2] During one flight, Baur's aircraft experienced engine failure and was forced to descend, but he was able to restart the engine. For his victories, Baur was awarded the Iron Cross first class for bravery.^[3]

Between the wars[link]

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to disband its military air force. Baur joined the Freikorps under Franz von Epp, and in the same year became a courier flier for military airmail in Fürth.

From 1921 to 1923 he was a pilot for Bayrische Luftlloyd, and then Junkers Luftverkehr. In May 1923, Baur flew the opening flight of the Munich-Vienna route in a Junkers F 13. In 1926, Baur became one of the first six pilots of Deutsche Luft Hansa,^[3] and in May 1928 flew the opening flight of the Munich-Milan-Rome route.^[1]

In 1926, Baur became a member of the NSDAP (No. 48,113).^[4] On April 1, 1931 Baur flew the opening flight of the Berlin-Munich-Rome route, known as the Alpine flight, whose passengers included Nuntius Eugenio Pacelli, Arturo Toscanini and tsar Boris III of Bulgaria.

Pilot to Hitler[link]

Hitler was the first politician to campaign by air travel, deciding that travel by plane was more efficient than travel by railway. Baur first piloted him during the 1932 General Election.^[4]

Hitler obtained his first private aeroplane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m with tail number DC-2600 (Werk Nr. 4021), in February 1933, on becoming German Chancellor. Powered by BMW 132 license-built Pratt and Whitney radial engines, it was named Immelmann I after World War I pilot Max Immelmann.^[1] The Fuehrermaschine had a small folding table in Hitler's favourite seat on the right, with a clock, altimeter and airspeed indicator on the bulkhead just in front.

Baur had just became an "air millionaire" of Luft Hansa, having flown his millionth kilometre for the airline.^[3] As a result of his combination of experience and capability to restart a plane engine in combat, which Hitler took as a sign of fate, Baur was personally selected by Hitler to be his official pilot in February 1933.

Die Fliegerstaffel des Führers[link]

Baur was appointed head of the Hitler's personal squadron, initially based at Oberwiesenfeld, Munich.^[5] As the Luftwaffe was not yet established, Hitler wanted Baur to be able to command sufficient power and respect to assure his security, and therefore commissioned Baur a Standartenführer (Colonel) in the Schutzstaffel (No. 171,865).^[4]

Upon his arrival in Berlin in 1933, Baur's first task was to expand Hitler's squadron and implement new security procedures. With the approval of then Luft Hansa Director Erhard Milch, an additional Ju 52/3m was designated to meet with Baur's security requirements, named Richthofen.^[5] In 1935, 4021 was replaced by 4053, taking the latter's name Buddecke; while 4053 was designated Immelmann II with tail number D-2600.

In 1934, after the death of von Hindenburg, Hitler reorganised the government and created the Regierungsstaffel (Government squadron), making Baur the head. Headquartered at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, Baur was charged with providing flights and pilots for the Führer's cabinet and for his generals. There were eight planes able to carry 17 passengers each at his disposal. D-2600 remained Adolf Hitler's primary aircraft.^[5]

Adolf Hitler's personal Fw 200 Condor, bearing the insignia of the Fliegerstaffel des Führers on its nose

After Hitler became Führer, he increasingly relied on Baur for advice about air war policy and technical developments. He allowed Baur to fill his squadron with experienced Luft Hansa pilots, and train them in military procedures in preparation for the forthcoming war:

• Kurt Schuhmann - personal pilot of Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess
• Max von Mueller - personal pilot of Reichs Propaganda Minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels
• Peter Strasser - personal pilot for Admiral Erich Raeder
• Graf Schilly - personal pilot for the Chiefs of Staff General Werner Frengel and General Walther von Brauchitsch
• Georg Betz - co-pilot for Hitler's aircraft and Hans Baur's substitute

Although he tried to convert Baur to vegetarianism, Hitler also invited him to the Reich Chancellery for his favourite meal of pork and dumplings for his 40th birthday, and gave him a Mercedes Benz to replace his personal Ford.^[6] In September 1939, the squadron was renamed Die Fliegerstaffel des Führers. Hitler's personal squadron now had a special insignia that was painted on the nose of all planes: a black eagle head on a white background, surrounded by a narrow red ring.^[5]

In early 1939, Baur felt that the Führer would be much safer flying in the newly designed Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor.^[5] Originally configured as a 26-passenger Luft Hansa transport aircraft (Werk Nr. 3099), the plushed-up Condor was named "Immelmann III" registered as D-2600, and it served Hitler until it was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on July 18, 1944.

Führerbunker and Soviet detention[link]

On 31 January 1944, Baur was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer (Major General) and major general of the police; and on February 24, 1945 became an SS-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) and Generalleutnant of the Police.^[4]

During the last days of the war, Baur was with Hitler in the Führerbunker. Baur had devised a plan to allow Hitler to escape from the Battle of Berlin; a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was held on standby which could take off from an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten, near the Brandenburg Gate. However, Hitler refused to leave Berlin. On 26 April 1945, the improvised landing strip was used by Hanna Reitsch to fly in Colonel-General Robert Ritter von Greim, appointed by Hitler as head of the Luftwaffe after Hermann Göring's dismissal. During the evening of 28 April, Reitsch flew von Greim out on the same road-strip and Hitler suggested to Baur that he evacuate himself and Martin Bormann the same way.

Baur stayed with him until Hitler committed suicide on the afternoon of 30 April.^[7] After Hitler's suicide, Baur found the improvised road-strip too pot-holed for use and overrun by the Soviet 3rd Shock Army. A plan was devised to escape out from Berlin to the Allies on the western side of the Elbe or to the German Army to the North. SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, split up the Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker soldiers and personnel into ten main groups.^[8] Baur and Bormann left the Reich Chancellery as part of one of the groups. During his escape, after losing touch with Bormann,^[3] Baur was shot in the legs, and the wound was so serious that his right lower leg was later amputated in Posen on 10 June 1945.^[9]

Captured by the Soviets in a hospital, Baur was of great interest to his captors, who believed he may have flown Hitler to safety before the fall of Berlin. They also believed he had information concerning stolen art. They especially wanted information concerning the plundering of the Amber Room, (Bernsteinzimmer), in Leningrad. He endured ten years of imprisonment in the USSR before being released on 10 October 1955 to the French where he was kept prisoner until 1957.^[10]

Later Life and Book[link]

Baur returned to West Germany and in 1957 wrote his autobiography Ich flog mit Mächtigen, which liberally translates as "I flew with [the] mighty." The book was later lengthened and the title was changed to Zwischen Himmel u. Erde mit Mächtigen, which translates as "Between Heaven and Earth with [the] Mighty." The French translation is more softly titled J'étais pilote de Hitler: Le sort du monde était entre mes mains, which translates to "I was Hitler's pilot: The fate of the world was in my hands."

The book contains a collection of eye witness accounts of Hitler's daily activities and conversations and is unique because Hans Baur, as his private pilot and personal friend, was in Hitler's presence practically every day from 1933 to 1945. The book contains an account of the events surrounding the arrest of Ernst Roehm, by Hitler himself, on June 30, 1934 at Bad Wiessee in which Baur took part. The book also tells of Baur's dislike for Hermann Goering (whom Baur describes as a "thick headed glutton"). Hans Baur was one of the few people who were truly close to Hitler and was one of the people assigned by Hitler to cremate his remains. Baur was one of the last persons to see Hitler alive in the Berlin bunker. The book has since been translated into English and is a rare insider look into Hitler's daily life and doings as leader of the German Reich.

Baur died in Herrsching, Bavaria, of old age ailments in 1993. For a time, his house in Herrsching served as a place of pilgrimage for many veterans of the war. He is interred in the family plot in the Westfriedhof in Munich.^[1]

Portrayal in the media[link]

Hans Baur has been portrayed by the following actors in film and television productions.

• Karl Held in the 1981 United States television production The Bunker.^[11]
• August Schmölzer in the 2004 film Der Untergang.

He is also the subject of an episode of the television series "Hitler's Bodyguard", entitled Hitler's Aircraft and Flights of Fear.

Personal life[link]

Hans Baur married Elfriede Braur in 1923. Their only daughter Ingeborg was born the following year. After Elfriede Baur's death from cancer in 1935, Baur married again, with Hitler as his best man. His second wife Maria, by whom he had two daughters, died while he was in captivity in Russia. His third wife, Cresentia, survived him.^[6]

References[link]

Eva Braun
Braun walking one of her Scottish Terriers at the Berghof 14 June 1942
Born	Eva Anna Paula Braun (1912-02-06)6 February 1912 Munich, Bavaria, German Empire
Died	30 April 1945(1945-04-30) (aged 33) Berlin, Nazi Germany
Cause of death	Suicide (cyanide poisoning)
Other names	Eva Hitler
Occupation	Photographer; office and lab assistant at photography studio of Heinrich Hoffmann
Known for	Partner and wife of Adolf Hitler
Spouse	Adolf Hitler (29 April 1945 – 30 April 1945)

Eva Anna Paula Hitler (née Braun; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was 17 years old, while she was working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer, and began seeing him often about two years later. She attempted suicide twice during their early relationship. By 1936, she was a part of his household at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden and lived a sheltered life throughout World War II. Braun was a photographer, and many of the surviving colour photographs and films of Hitler were taken by her. She was a key figure within Hitler's inner social circle, but did not attend public events with him until mid-1944, when her sister Gretl married Hermann Fegelein, the SS liaison officer on his staff.

As the Third Reich collapsed towards the end of the war, Braun swore loyalty to Hitler and went to Berlin to be by his side in the heavily reinforced Führerbunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. As Red Army troops fought their way into the neighbourhood on 29 April 1945, she married Hitler during a brief civil ceremony; she was 33 and he was 56. Less than 40 hours later, they committed suicide together in a sitting room of the bunker, she by biting into a capsule of cyanide. The German public was unaware of Braun's relationship with Hitler until after her death.

Early life[link]

Born in Munich, Eva Braun was the second daughter of school teacher Friedrich "Fritz" Braun and Franziska "Fanny" Kronberger, who had worked as a seamstress before her marriage.^[1] Her elder sister, Ilse, was born in 1909 and her younger sister, Margarete (Gretl), was born in 1915. Braun's parents were divorced in April 1921, but remarried in November 1922, likely for financial reasons (hyperinflation was plaguing the German economy at the time).^[2] Braun was educated at a Catholic lyceum in Munich, and then for one year at a business school in the Convent of the English Sisters in Simbach am Inn, where she had average grades and a talent for athletics.^[3] At age 17 she took a job working for Heinrich Hoffmann, the official photographer for the Nazi Party.^[4] Initially employed as a shop assistant and sales clerk, she soon learned how to use a camera and develop photos.^[5] She met Hitler, 23 years her senior, at Hoffmann's studio in Munich in October 1929. He had been introduced to her as "Herr Wolff".^[6] Eva's sister, Gretl, also worked for Hoffman from 1932 onward, and the women rented an apartment together for a time. Gretl accompanied her sister on her later trips with Hitler to the Obersalzberg.^[7]

Relationship with Hitler[link]

Hitler lived with his half-niece, Geli Raubal, in an apartment in Munich from 1929 until her death.^[8][9] On 18 September 1931 Raubal was found dead in the apartment, shot with his pistol, an apparent suicide. Hitler was in Nuremberg at the time. The relationship was important to him, likely the most intense of his life. ^[10] Hitler began seeing more of Braun after the suicide.

Braun herself attempted suicide on 10 or 11 August 1932 by shooting herself in the chest with her father's pistol.^[11] Historians feel the attempt was not serious, but was a bid for Hitler's attention.^[12][13] After Braun's recovery, Hitler became more committed to her and by the end of 1932 they had become lovers.^[14] She often stayed overnight at his Munich apartment when he was in town.^[15] Braun worked as a photographer for Hoffmann from 1933 on.^[16] This position enabled her to travel—accompanied by Hoffmann—with Hitler's entourage, as a photographer for the NSDAP.^[17] Later in her career she worked for Hoffman's art press.^[18]

According to a fragment of her diary and the account of biographer Nerin Gun, Braun's second suicide attempt occurred in May 1935. She took an overdose of sleeping pills when Hitler failed to make time for her in his life.^[19] Hitler provided Eva and her sister with a three-bedroom apartment in Munich that August, ^[20] and the next year the sisters were provided with a villa in Bogenhausen.^[21] By 1936, Braun was at Hitler's household at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden whenever he was in residence there, but she lived mostly in Munich.^[22] Braun also had her own apartment at the new Reich Chancellery in Berlin, completed to a design by Albert Speer.^[23]

Braun attended the Nuremberg Rally for the first time in 1935, as a member of Hoffman's staff. Hitler's half-sister, Angela Raubal (the dead Geli's mother), took exception to her presence there, and was later dismissed from her position as housekeeper at his house in Berchtesgaden. Researchers are unable to ascertain if her dislike for Braun was the only reason for her departure, but other members of Hitler's entourage saw Braun as untouchable from then on.^[24]

Hitler wished to present himself in the image of a chaste hero; in the Nazi ideology, men were the political leaders and warriors and women were homemakers.^[25] He believed that he was sexually attractive to women and wished to exploit this for political gain by remaining single, as he felt this would increase his appeal.^[26][27] He and Braun never appeared as a couple in public; the only time they appeared together in a published news photo was when she sat near him at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The German people were unaware of Braun's relationship with Hitler until after the war.^[12] According to Speer's memoirs, Braun never slept in the same room as Hitler and had her own rooms at the Berghof, in Hitler's Berlin residence, and in the Berlin bunker. Speer later said, "Eva Braun will prove a great disappointment to historians."^[28]

Braun's political influence on Hitler was apparently minimal. She was never allowed to stay in the room when business or political conversations took place,^[25] and was sent out of the room when cabinet ministers or other dignitaries were present.^[29] She was not a member of the Nazi Party.^[30][31] Her main interests were sports, clothes, and the cinema. By all accounts, she led a sheltered and privileged existence and seemed uninterested in politics.^[32] One instance when she took an interest was in 1943, shortly after Germany had fully transitioned to a total war economy. Among other things, this meant a potential ban on women's cosmetics and luxuries. According to Speer's memoirs, Braun approached Hitler in "high indignation"; Hitler instructed Speer, who was armaments minister at the time, to quietly arrange for production of women's cosmetics and luxuries to cease rather than instituting an outright ban.^[33]

Braun continued to work for Hoffmann after commencing her relationship with Hitler. She took many photographs and movies of members of the inner circle, and some of these were sold to Hoffmann for extremely high prices. She received money from Hoffmann's company as late as 1943, and also held the position of private secretary to Hitler.^[34] This guise meant she could enter and leave the Chancellery unremarked, though she used a side entrance and a rear staircase.^[35][36]

On 3 June 1944, Braun's sister Gretl married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, who served as Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's liaison officer on Hitler's staff. Hitler used the marriage as an excuse to allow Braun to appear at official functions, as she could then be introduced as Fegelein's sister-in-law.^[32] When Fegelein was caught in the closing days of the war trying to escape to Sweden or Switzerland, Hitler ordered his execution.^[37][38] He was shot for desertion in the garden of the Reich Chancellery on 28 April 1945.^[39]

Lifestyle[link]

Conversion of Hitler's small vacation home he purchased in 1933 on the mountain at Obersalzberg began in 1934 and was completed by 1936. A large wing was added onto the original house and several additional buildings were constructed. The entire area was fenced off, and remaining houses on the mountain were purchased by the NSDAP and razed. Braun and the other members of the entourage were cut off from the outside world when in residence. Speer, Hermann Göring, and Martin Bormann had houses constructed inside the compound.^[40]

Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, stated in his memoirs that Hitler and Braun had two bedrooms and two bathrooms with interconnecting doors at the Berghof, and Hitler would end most evenings alone with her in his study before they retired to bed. She would wear a "dressing gown or house-coat" and drink wine; Hitler would have tea.^[41] Public displays of affection or physical contact were nonexistent, even in the enclosed world of the Berghof.^[42] Braun took the role of hostess amongst the regular visitors, though she was not involved in running the household. She regularly invited friends and family members to accompany her during her stays, the only guest to do so.^[43]

After learning about the failed 20 July plot to kill Hitler, Braun wrote to him, "From our first meeting I swore to follow you anywhere even unto death. I live only for your love."^[44] Hitler named Braun in his will, to receive 12,000 Reichsmarks yearly after his death.^[45] He was very fond of her, and worried when she participated in sports or was late returning for tea.^[46]

Braun with Hitler, walking their dogs

Braun was very fond of her two Scottish Terrier dogs named Negus and Stasi and they feature in her home movies. She usually kept them away from Hitler's German Shepherd, Blondi.^[47] Blondi was killed by one of the entourage on 29 April 1945 when Hitler ordered that one of the cyanide capsules obtained for Braun and Hitler's suicide the next day be tested on the dog.^[48] Braun's dogs and Blondi's puppies were shot by Hitler's dog handler, Fritz Tornow, on 30 April.^[49]

Marriage and suicide[link]

In early April 1945, Braun travelled from Munich to Berlin to be with Hitler at the Führerbunker. She refused to leave as the Red Army closed in on the capital.^[50] After midnight on the night of 28–29 April, Hitler and Braun were married in a small civil ceremony within the Führerbunker.^[51] The event was witnessed by Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. Thereafter, Hitler hosted a modest wedding breakfast with his new wife.^[52] With Braun's marriage, her legal name changed to Eva Hitler. When she signed her marriage certificate she wrote the letter B for her family name, then lined this out and replaced it with Hitler.^[52]

After 1:00 pm on the afternoon of 30 April 1945, Braun and Hitler said their farewells to staff and members of the inner circle.^[53] Later that afternoon, at approximately 3:30 pm, several witnesses reported hearing a loud gunshot.^[54] After waiting a few minutes, Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, and Hitler's SS adjutant, Otto Günsche, entered the small study and found the lifeless bodies of Hitler and Braun on a small sofa. Eva had bitten into a cyanide capsule,^[55] and Hitler had shot himself in the right temple with his pistol.^[56] The corpses were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were burned.^[57] Braun was 33 years old when she died.

The charred remains were found by the Russians and secretly buried at the SMERSH compound in Magdeburg, East Germany, along with the bodies of Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their six children. On 4 April 1970, a Soviet KGB team with detailed burial charts secretly exhumed five wooden boxes of remains. The remains were thoroughly burned and crushed, after which the ashes were thrown into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearby Elbe.^[58]

The rest of Braun's family survived the war. Her mother, Franziska, died at age 96 in January 1976, having lived out her days in an old farmhouse in Ruhpolding, Bavaria.^[44] Her father, Fritz, died in 1964. Gretl gave birth to a daughter—whom she named Eva—on 5 May 1945. She later married Kurt Beringhoff, a businessman. She died in 1987.^[59] Braun's elder sister, Ilse, was not part of Hitler's inner circle. She married twice and died in 1979.^[59]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

Further reading[link]

• Alexander, Alex (2005) (in Dutch). In De Ban Van Hitler: Maria Reiter, Geli Raubal, Unity Mitford, Eva Braun. Rijswijk: Elmar. ISBN 978-90-389-1547-0. 
• Gun, Nerin E. (1968). Eva Braun: Hitler's Mistress. New York: Meredith Press. OCLC 712347. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eva Braun

• Eva Braun's home movies, part 1
• Eva Braun's home movies, part 2
• Eva Braun's home movies, part 3
• Eva Braun's home movies, part 4

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