Speer: Hitler's Architect

563 Pages·2015·6.02 MB·English

by  Martin Kitchen

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Typeset in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd Printed in Great Britain by Gomer Press,
Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kitchen, Martin.
Speer: Hitler’s architect/Martin Kitchen.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-300-19044-1 (cloth: alkaline paper) 1. Speer, Albert, 1905–1981. 2. Speer, Albert, 1905–
1981—Political and social views. 3. Cabinet officers—Germany—Biography. 4. Architects—Germany—
Biography. 5. Nazis—Biography. 6. War criminals—Germany—Biography. 7. Germany—Politics and
government—1933–1945. 8. Germany—Military policy. I. Title.
DD247.S63K57 2015
943.086092—dc23
[B]
2015023355
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ALFRED FRANKE
In memoriam
Ein König, der Unmenschliches verlangt,
Findt Diener gnug, die gegen Gnad und Lohn
Den halben Fluch der Tat begierig fassen.
Goethe, Iphigenie auf Tauris, Act 5 Scene 3
A king who enjoins inhuman deeds
Will find enough retainers, who for grace and payment
Avidly accept half the anathema.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments

Introduction
1 The Young Architect
2 Nuremberg and Berlin
3 Germania
4 The State of German Armaments in 1942
5 Minister of Armaments
6 Labour: Free, Forced and Slave
7 The Consolidation of Power
8 The Challenge to Power
9 Miracle Weapons
10 The End in Sight
11 Defeat
12 Nuremberg
13 Spandau
14 The Good Nazi
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
1 Speer, 1933. BArch, Bild 146II-277 / o.Ang.
2 Speer as a child with his brother. ullstein bild.
3 Speer and Margarete on their wedding day, Berlin, 1928. bpk.
4 Paul Ludwig Troost, 1933. ullstein bild.
5 Wilhelm Kreis, 1920s.
6 Speer presents plans to Hitler at the Berghof, 1934. Granger, NYC.
7 The ‘Cathedral of Light’ above the Zeppelintribune, Nuremburg, 1936.
BArch, Bild (o.Ang.).
8 Speer presents Hitler with a model of the German Pavilion he has designed
for the World’s Fair in Paris, 1937. Mary Evans Picture Library.
9 Speer, Hitler and Mayor Willy Liebel inspect the Nazi Party rally grounds
under construction in Nuremberg, 1938. BArch, Bild 183-2004-1103-501 /
o.Ang.
10 View of the garden front of the New Reich Chancellery, c.1940–41. Photo
by Max Krajewski.
11 The Marble Gallery, New Reich Chancellery, 1939. BArch, Bild 183-
K1216-501 / Heinrich Hoffmann.
12 Hitler’s study, New Reich Chancellery, 1939. akg-images.
13 Model of Germania, 1939–44. BArch, Bild 146III-373 / o.Ang.
14 Speer with Hitler, Hermann Giesler and others in Paris, 1940. BArch, Bild
183-H28708 / o.Ang.
15 Arno Breker sculpting a bust of Speer, 1942. ullstein bild – Rohrbach.
16 Speer and Hitler taking a walk together at Obersalzberg, 1940. ullstein bild.
17 Hitler with some of Speer’s children at the Berghof, 1942. ullstein bild –
Walter Frentz.
18 Speer driving five of his six children in a BMW convertible.
19 Robert Ley, Speer and Herbert Backe at Wannsee, 1942. BArch, Bild 183-
B21775 / o.Ang.
20 Hitler awards Speer the Fritz Todt Prize, 1943. BArch, Bild 146-1979-026-
22 / Heinrich Hoffmann.
21 Speer, Xaver Dorsch and Karl Dönitz on a submarine, 1943–44. BArch, Bild
146III-372 / o.Ang.
22 Speer inspects a Soviet T-34, 1943. BArch, Bild 183-J14589 / Willi
Kobierowski.
23 Speer, Goebbels and others at Peenemünde, 1943. BArch, Bild 146-1992-
093-13A / Hans Hubmann.
24 Speer, Erhard Milch and others watch a V1 launch, 1943. BArch, Bild 183-
J15733 / o.Ang.
25 Heinrich Himmler directs Speer and others during the preparation for
Hindenburg’s funeral, 1934. akg-images.
26 Survivors lie among corpses at Mittelbau-Dora, c.1945. DachauKZ.
27 The ‘Staircase of Death’ at Mauthausen, 1939–44. BArch, Bild 192-269 /
o.Ang.
28 Speer makes a speech to munitions workers in a bomb-damaged factory,
1944. BArch, Bild 146-1981-052-06A / o.Ang.
29 Speer demonstrates the increase in German arms production before company
managers of the armaments industry, 1944. ullstein bild.
30 Speer on the western front, 1944. BArch, Bild 183-1984-1206-511 / Willi
Ruge.
31 Speer’s arrest, 1945. BArch, Bild 146-1985-079-31 / o.Ang.
32 Speer in his cell at Nuremberg, 1945. Image courtesy of the Harvard Law
School Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
33 Albert Speer on trial at Nuremberg. Photograph courtesy of Aidan J.
McQuade.
34 Speer gardening in Spandau. ullstein bild – Sakowitz.
35 Speer and Margarete after his release from prison, 1966. ullstein bild –
Imagno / Votava.
36 Speer presents The Spandau Diaries (1966), 1975.