Gretl Braun

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gretl Braun and her second husband, Kurt Berlinghoff (after 1954)

Margarete Berta "Gretl" Braun (born August 31, 1915 in Munich ; † October 10, 1987 in Steingaden ) was one of Eva Braun's two sisters , along with Ilse Braun . She belonged to the inner circle of Adolf Hitler at the Berghof . On June 3, 1944, Braun married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein , the liaison officer of the Waffen SS to the Führer Headquarters . After the marriage of Hitler and her sister Eva, Gretl Braun became his sister-in-law, shortly before the couple died together by suicide .

biography

Early life

Gretl Braun's mother: Franziska Braun

Gretl Braun was the youngest of three daughters of the teacher Friedrich (Fritz) Braun and the tailor Franziska (Fanny) Kronberger. After dropping out of secondary school in Medingen at the age of 16, she worked as a secretary in the photo studio of Heinrich Hoffmann , who became known as Hitler's photographer and who also employed her sister Eva. In August 1935, Hitler found his sister a three-room apartment in Munich and the following year a villa in Bogenhausen . Her father did not agree with this arrangement. The sisters were enthusiastic photographers and in 1943 Gretl attended the Bavarian State College for Photography .

With Eva Braun at the "Berghof"

Gretl Braun spent a lot of time with her sister Eva at Hitler's Berghof in the Bavarian Alps, where she enlivened the formal atmosphere with jokes, cigarette smoking and flirting with the orderlies. Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge explained to Gretl Braun why he hated smoking, but could not persuade her to give it up. Gretl Braun fell in love with Hitler's adjutant Fritz Darges , who was released in 1944 after a disobedient comment by Hitler and assigned to the Eastern Front.

marriage

On June 3, 1944, Gretl Braun married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein , who was the liaison officer of Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler to the Führer Headquarters. The wedding took place at Mirabell Palace in Salzburg - with Hitler, Himmler and Bormann as witnesses. Her sister Eva prepared the wedding. The wedding reception at the Berghof and the celebration in the Kehlsteinhaus on Obersalzberg lasted three days. The marriage gave Hitler a plausible reason to invite Eva to public appearances. Fegelein was known as a playboy and had many extramarital affairs.

Fall of the "Third Reich"

Three days after Braun's wedding to Fegelein, the Allies landed in Normandy . The Gesellschaft am Berghof disbanded on July 14, 1944 when Hitler went to his military headquarters and never returned. On January 19, 1945 Gretl and Eva Braun arrived at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, but returned to Berchtesgaden on February 9. Eva Braun later traveled back to Berlin alone. On April 23, Eva Braun wrote her last letter to Gretl, requesting that all her business papers be destroyed, but that her personal correspondence be kept and buried. None of these documents were found after the war.

Gretl Fegelein-Braun was pregnant and was still living at the Berghof when her husband was arrested on April 28, 1945 for deserting an apartment in Berlin after he had fled the Führerbunker. At first Hitler considered assigning Fegelein to the defense of Berlin out of consideration for Eva Braun, but he gave the order to arrest Himmler and shoot Fegelein after Himmler had offered the Western allies to surrender. Hitler married Eva Braun in the early morning hours of April 29th, and on the afternoon of April 30th, 1945 the couple died by suicide. On May 5, 1945 Gretl Fegelein-Braun gave birth to a daughter on Obersalzberg, whom she named in memory of her sister Eva.

Next life

Gretl Braun married Kurt Berlinghoff on February 6, 1954 in Munich. Her daughter Eva Barbara Fegelein died of suicide on April 8, 1971, after her boyfriend died in a car accident. Gretl Braun died on October 10, 1987 in Steingaden, Bavaria, at the age of 72.

literature

Web links

Commons : Gretl Braun  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heike B. Görtemaker : (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, p. 31 ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 .
  2. ↑ Heike B. Görtemaker: (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , pp. 34-35.
  3. ^ Anton Joachimstaler: The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. Brockhampton Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8 , p. 299.
  4. ↑ Heike B. Görtemaker: (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , pp. 94-96.
  5. ↑ Heike B. Görtemaker: (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , pp. 100, 173.
  6. ↑ Guido Knopp : Hitler's Women. [in English]. Routledge, New York 2003, ISBN 978-0-415-94730-5 , p. 3.
  7. ^ Anton Joachimstaler: The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. Brockhampton Press, 1999 p. 299 ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8 .
  8. ^ Ian Kershaw : Hitler: A Biography. WW Norton 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 , p. 491.
  9. ↑ Traudl Junge, Melissa Müller, Melissa (eds.): Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2003, ISBN 978-0-297-84720-5 , p. 117.
  10. ↑ Gordon Williamson: The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror. Barnes & Noble Publishing, New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-7607-8168-5 , p. 251.
  11. ↑ Michael Miller: Leaders of the SS and German Police. Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-93-297-0037-2 , p. 316.
  12. ↑ Heike B. Görtemaker: (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , p. 216.
  13. ^ Alan Bullock : Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. Konecky & Konecky, New York 1999, ISBN 1-56852-036-0 , p. 395.
  14. ^ A b Ian Kershaw: Hitler: A Biography. WW Norton 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 , p. 942.
  15. ^ Ian Kershaw: Hitler: A Biography. WW Norton 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 , ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 .
  16. ^ Heike B. Görtemaker: Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , pp. 2, 25, 229.
  17. ^ Heike B. Görtemaker: Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9 , p. 86.
  18. ^ Ian Kershaw: Hitler: A Biography. WW Norton 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 , p. 946.
  19. ^ Ian Kershaw: Hitler: A Biography. WW Norton 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6 , p. 947.
  20. ^ Heinz Linge : With Hitler to the End: The Memoir of Hitler's Valet. Frontline Books-Skyhorse Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-60239-804-7 , p. 199.
  21. ↑ Michael Miller: Leaders of the SS and German Police. Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-93-297-0037-2 , p. 315.
  22. ^ Angela Lambert: The Lost Life of Eva Braun. Century, London 2006, ISBN 978-1-84413-599-8 , p. 463.
  23. ↑ Michael Miller: Leaders of the SS and German Police. Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-93-297-0037-2 , pp. 315-316.
personal data
SURNAME Braun, Gretl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Braun, Margarete Berta (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sister of Eva Braun, sister-in-law of Adolf Hitler
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1987
Place of death Steingaden