Tag Archives: Munich

Georg Elser’s Bomb Plot To Kill Hitler (Volume 2, Number 4) Part One

Georg Elser’s failure is one of the most remarkable stories in European history.

Georg Elser, Circa 1939
Georg Elser, Circa 1939

The contrast between Adolf Hitler and Georg Elser could not have been more dramatic.  Hitler was a fanatically driven over achiever who had overcome his lower middle class background, lack of education and early personal failures to become one of the most charismatic and extroverted political figures of the twentieth century.  Elser was a simple woodworker, with an intermittent work history, an unmarried loner with little interest in politics or the world beyond the small towns of Southern Germany where he lived and grew up.  But, on November 8, 1939, the lives of these two individuals would intersect in a manner that today seems inconceivable.

Burgerbraukellar, After the War.
Burgerbraukellar, After the War.

November 8 was an important date in the history of Nazi Germany and the life of Adolf Hitler.  It was on this date in 1923, that Hitler rushed into Munich’s Burgerbraukeller beer cellar with a group of followers and attempted to disrupt a speech of one of the political officials charged with ruling the German state of Bavaria.  Behaving theatrically, Hitler leapt onto a table, fired a pistol shot into the air and proclaimed “The national revolution has broken out! The hall is filled with six hundred men, nobody is allowed to leave!”  Hitler’s poorly conceived revolt would end the next day, after a march of Hitler and his followers was fired upon by soldiers and police in Central Munich.

Hilter Addressing the "Alte Kampfers", Burgerbraukellar
Hilter Addressing the “Alte Kampfers”, Burgerbraukellar

Less than ten years after his release from prison, Hitler would be named Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933.    To commemorate the success of the Nazi party and the sacrifice and struggle of what he called his Alte Kampfers, “Old Fighters” who had been with him from the beginning, Hitler began a tradition of addressing this group at the site of the start of the Nazi political struggle, the Burgerbraukeller, annually on November 8.

Hitler, Burgerbraukeller, 1939, in Front Of Pillar
Hitler, Burgerbraukeller, 1939, in Front Of Pillar

Despite the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939 would be no different.  On November 8, Hitler flew with his entourage from Berlin, landed in Munich and in the early evening proceeded to the raucous hall jammed with Hitler’s most fanatical adherents.  Shortly after eight PM he proceeded to the dais in the reception hall, a giant Swastika flag draped on the massive pillar behind him framing Hitler dramatically.

George Elser’s Bomb Plot To Kill Hitler (Volume 2, Number 4) Part 2

Georg Elser’s failure is one of the most remarkable stories in European history.

Burgerbraukeller, After Explosion
Burgerbraukeller, After Explosion

At precisely 9:20, the first of George Elser’s clocks activated perfectly the bomb detonated with a tremendous blast that pulverized the speaker’s platform, shattered the pillar behind it and brought the roof of the building down upon its inhabitants.  Dust and debris filled the air, the room now shrouded in darkness with beams falling and screams for help.  Seven people were killed immediately, one would die later at the hospital.

Gestapo Headquarters, Berlin, Prinz Albrecht Strasse
Gestapo Headquarters, Berlin, Prinz Albrecht Strasse

Surprisingly, it took a while for anyone to connect Georg Elser with the bombing, but he was eventually brought to Munich.  Himmler was placed in charge of the investigation and he quickly delegated direct authority to his immediate subordinates.  By November 12, several employees of the Burgerbraukellar, including the manager who had confronted him in the storage closet incident, positively identified him as a habitual customer.  This was enough to bring on what could be termed “enhanced interrogations” essentially beatings that left him moaning and bloody according to one eyewitness.  Stuttgart Gestapo officer would descend on Konigsbrunn and quickly talk to the daughter of one of Elser’s benefactors who let him live in their home in exchange for carpentry.  She told of Georg showing her pictures of the Burgerbraukellar and his funny wooden suitcase with the false bottoms and his work at the quarry with dynamite.  This must have arched a few Gestapo eyebrows in Munich and intensified the physical thrashing typical when a suspect needs to make a confession.  Elser was eventually taken to Gestapo headquarters in Berlin.

Dachau, Crematorium Building
Dachau, Crematorium Building

On April 9, an SS officer came to Elser’s cell and ordered him to prepare for an interrogation.  Elser was confused, he had not been formally interrogated for many years, now so close to the end of the war, what questions could he possibly answer?  He walked out of his cell, escorted by another SS man who lead Elser in a general direction that might hopefully end at the camp entrance.  But suddenly the guard directed Elser along the path that lead to the crematorium in the rear of the camp.  Elser knew then that the end had come.

Georg Elser Plaque, Site of the Burgerbraukeller, Munich
Georg Elser Plaque, Site of the Burgerbraukeller, Munich

The Burgerbraukeller was finally demolished in 1979, ten years later a plaque would be installed at the site of the pillar where Elser’s bomb was detonated, a small square was named after Elser near the home in Munich where he stayed briefly before the attack.

Elser Memorial, Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin
Elser Memorial, Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin

In 2011, official recognition of Elser as a national hero was evidenced by the dedication of a fifty-five foot steel profile sculpture installed on the Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin.  Elser never set foot in the German capital, but today any pedestrian who passes by his memorial will have to pause and reflect on the remarkable determination and sacrifice of a simple man who only wanted to save his country.

Georg Elser’s Bomb Plot To Kill Hitler (Volume 2, Number 4)

The information for this podcast came primarily from two books:

Bombing Hitler, by Helmut Haasis

Bombing Hitler: The Story of the Man Who Almost Assassinated the Führer

The Lone Assassin, by Helmut Ortner

Lone Assassin: The Epic True Story of the Man Who Almost Killed Hitler

Georg Elser was interrogated many times by the Nazi government.  These interrogations were preserved which is why much of what he did is public knowledge and discussed in these books in detail.

 

King Ludwig II of Bavaria, (Volume 1, Podcast 8)

King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a Beautiful Madness

Wonderful Atlantic Monthly Photo Essay on Ludwig II

Ludwig II as a young man
Ludwig II as a young man

Ludwig II was born on August 25, 1845.  His father, Maximillian, was then the Crown Prince of Bavaria.  His grandfather, Ludwig I, was the King of Bavaria and a member of the House of Wittlesbach, the ruling dynasty that had governed the Kingdom of Bavaria, for over six hundred years.

ludwig II #2
King Ludwig II

Upon Maximilian’s death, Ludwig became Ludwig II at the age of eighteen.  His childhood had not been particularly happy, raised by governesses and without interaction with or affection from either of his parents, he spent much of his time in emotional isolation.  He also developed a hostility toward his younger brother Otto, feeling that because he was the heir and expected to reign eventually as the king, he was held to a much higher standard.

Ludwig and his fiancee, Sophie of Bavaria
Ludwig and his fiancee, Sophie of Bavaria

Unfortunately, Ludwig immediately had misgivings and began to realize that moving forward with the marriage would be a disaster.  Publicly, he initially attempted to maintain an appropriate veneer of enthusiasm and affection, privately the courtship featured nothing more than an occasional furtive kiss on the brow.  Ludwig spent much of the summer arriving at Sophie’s family’s palace at Possenhoven at all hours of the night where the couple would engage in awkward small talk and interact without any real passion.  By the end of the summer and the impending August wedding date, Ludwig decided to postpone the event.  His explanation was that the wedding would be rescheduled for October 12, the anniversary date of his grandfather, Ludwig I, and father, Max II.  But when Ludwig also cancelled the wedding on this date, Sophie’s parents demanded that he either set a permanent date or call it off for good.  Ludwig chose to characterize this demand as impertinent and informed Sophie that as a result, the engagement was officially ended.

Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle

As Ludwig became more isolated from day to day reality, his preoccupation with architecture and building became more prominent.  As early as 1868 he had written to Wagner of his desire to build a castle in the style of German folklore, something that might be occupied by one of the heroic figures of a Wagnerian opera.  Having thoroughly explored the area surrounding Hohenschwangau, Ludwig selected a dramatic location on a raised plateau known as the Pollat Gorge.  Sketches were composed by architects after consultations with Ludwig II about his vision for the building.  Construction began in 1869, it would not end until after Ludwig’s death.  Initially called New Hohenschwangau Castle it would ultimately be named Neuschwanstein, or “New Swan Stone” Castle.

Ludwig in middle age
Ludwig in middle age

During Ludwig’s lifetime, the public was forbidden to enter the palace grounds.  Only servants or an occasional expressly invited visitor were permitted.  This was in line with the ever more reclusive life that Ludwig began to pursue in the 1870’s.  He spent his days sleeping and nights reading obscure literature frequently from the era of Louis XIV.  He commissioned plays and operas to be performed privately in large theaters in Munich for his benefit with no other audience.  He would take evening rides in his gilded carriage or sleigh in winter, his footmen dressed in the manner of the court of Louis XIV, the king drawn by white horses that made a spectacular impression on the rural inhabitants of backwoods Bavaria.

ludwig II lying in state
Ludwig II lying in state

The death of Ludwig II was met by shock and grief throughout Bavaria.  The king’s body was conveyed to the capital where it would publically lie in state for three days in the chapel of the Residenz.  An immense funeral procession would convey the king to St. Michael’s Church and his burial place in the church crypt, a procession that would take over two and a half hours.  The funeral of Ludwig is believed to be the largest state occasion in the history of the city of Munich.