Margarete “Gretl” Braun (born 31 August 1915 in Munich - 10 October 1987) was one of the two sisters of Eva Braun. She was a member of the inner social circle of Adolf Hitler at the Berghof and became the sister-in-law of the Nazi dictator following his marriage to Eva hours before they committed suicide together.
Contents |
Born in Munich, Gretl Braun was the youngest of three daughters of school teacher Friedrich "Fritz" Braun and Franziska "Fanny" Kronberger, who both came from respectable Bavarian families and she was raised as a catholic.
After attending the secondary school in Medingen she worked as a clerk for the publishing company of Heinrich Hoffmann, the official photographer for the Nazi Party, who also employed her sister Eva.[1] In the Mid 1930s Adolf Hitler arranged an apartment and later a house for Eva and Gretl via Hoffmann. Their father Fritz was reportedly not pleased with this arrangement and wrote to protest about it.[2]
She spent much time with Eva Braun at Hitler's Berghof in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps, where she is said to have lightened the formal atmosphere somewhat by having fun, smoking and flirting with orderlies.[3] According to Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, Hitler explained to her at length why he detested smoking but she would not give up the habit. Junge also claims that Gretl fell for Hitler's SS Adjutant Fritz Darges,[4] but he was suddenly dismissed by Hitler and posted to command a unit on the Eastern Front following an insubordinate comment at a meeting. Hitler's personal doctor Dr Karl Brandt commented that Eva treated her younger sister 'almost like a personal maid'. Both Eva and Gretl were keen photographers and Gretl attended the Bavarian State School of Photography.[1] She also features prominently in some of Eva's Color home movies that provide an insight into their life at the Berghof. Eva's best friend Herta Schneider and her children were also regulars at the Berghof and feature in the movies,[5] but their older sister Ilse was not a member of the Hitler's inner circle because she lived in the distant city of Breslau and she did not meet him until 1939.
On June 3, 1944 she married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein who served as Heinrich Himmler's liaison officer on Hitler's staff. Their wedding took place at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg[6] with Hitler,[7] Himmler and Martin Bormann as witnesses. A wedding reception at the Berghof and party at the Eagle’s Nest at Obersalzberg were also attended by Hitler, Himmler and Bormann. The wedding party lasted two days. The wedding provided Hitler with a formal link to Eva and the opportunity to include her at public functions.
Three days after Gretl's wedding the D-Day landings took place and the social scene at the Berghof effectively ended on July 14, 1944 when Hitler left for his military headquarters, never to return.[3] In January 1945 Gretl and Eva arrived at the Reich Chancellory in Berlin to be with Hitler, but they left for Berchtesgaden on 9 February because Hitler wanted Eva out of danger. Eva later returned alone to Berlin and on April 23, 1945 she wrote her last letter to Gretl and included a request for her to destroy all her private correspondence.[7]
Gretl was pregnant when her husband was arrested for desertion on April 28 (or 29), 1945 in an apartment in Berlin, having gone missing from the Führerbunker. He is thought to have been executed that day on the orders of Hitler who married her sister only hours later. She gave birth to a daughter (named Eva Barbara [died on 28 June 1971[8]] in memory of her sister) on May 5, 1945 at Obersalzburg.
Gretl married for a second time in 1954 and died in Steingaden, Bavaria aged 72.
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
