War of Words: Hitler's Diplomatic Blitzkrieg

I. ELEVATOR TALK Obersalzberg, Germany. The Eagle’s Nest. August 1939. On a summer evening in August of 1939 a group of high ranking Nazis stepped out from a fleet of black 770 Mercedes Benzes and into a tunnel bore through solid rock. Snappily dressed in suites and ties, fedora hats and leather overcoats these top cabinet members strolled through the damp and cold tunnel leading to a round antechamber and a waiting gold elevator cabin. They were not descending into a bunker but rather ascending to the peak of the Kehlstein Mountain along the border of Germany and Austria. On the way up the Third Reich architect, Albert Speer glanced at his boss who was talking to himself: “I’ll send Goring, or if need be I’ll go myself.” The silence would not be broken again until the cabin arrived in a vestibule of a pavilion called, D-Haus. The D-Haus, an acronym for “diplomat’s house,” a spectacular marble and granite pavilion built on a mountain peak where meetings could be conducted in secret with whomever the Nazis wished. From every room spectacular views of the alpine snow peaks were silhouetted against the sky, villages dotted the valleys and clouds floated by the windows. Inside was a large conference room referred to as the Great Hall, suitable for gatherings of 100, off the side was a smaller den for meetings of just a few and there was the “Fuhrer Arbeitzimmer,” or Fuhrer study for the owner. Finally, a long dining room could hold a formal dinner for 32. A kitchen and security personnel room completed the structure. One diplomat, French Ambassador Francois Poncet referred to the house as the “Eagle’s Nest” after he became the first foreigner visit in October 1938. The idea and realization of the structure was that of Reichsleiter (Reich leader) Martin Bormann, who was tasked to oversee the Obersalzberg area’s construction area where the Fuhrer had his private residence, Der Berghof. Bormann went on a spending spree, building a green house, movie theater, hotel, post office and the Eagle’s Nest, the last structure he oversaw for the benefit of his Fuhrer. The Obersalzberg security chief, Bernhard Frank recalled that “Hitler could escape into the clouds to the Eagle’s Nest where he could relax and entertain dignitaries and heads-of-state, to get away from the day to day chore of running a government.” The Eagle’s Nest became available to Hitler at a time when the Munich Agreement was behind him. By 1938 the Fuhrer had in his Nazi sphere of influence three million German nationals of Czechoslovakia; he had annexed Austria and had taken back the Rhineland, and his appetite for more Lebensraum (living space) was not yet satisfied. During this time the international press covered Hitler exploits and made him the news-reel star of the day. The down side was that the press was becoming increasingly critical of his internal polices as well as his aggressive foreign policy. The western democracies, in particular the Roosevelt administration avoided Hitler at all costs. President Roosevelt recalled the American ambassador in 1939 to protest Hitler’s regime and its antics. As a result of the growing animosity towards him and his weariness of the foreign press, “its ridicules me,” he realized he could have meetings at his new Eagle’s Nest where it would be impossible for the press to “wait outside the front door” to report on yet another diplomatic blitz and victory by the Fuhrer. Beside the Eagle’s Nest was up a privately secured four mile road. Also the press could be told in Berlin and in Munich that Der Fuhrer was relaxing at the Berghof, while in fact his foreign ministers’ office could collect dignitaries at the nearby Salzburg airport to bring them up to the Eagle’s Nest for a secret conference.