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Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler Heights, the Obersalzberg, Postcard (March 21, 1933)

In Mein Kampf, Hitler described how his years in Vienna had opened his eyes to the darkest depths of human existence. It was then that he began to see cities as centers of the "Jewish-capitalist world conspiracy," as places of moral decline and suffering. Henceforth he idealized pre-industrial rural life and saw in the peasant population the backbone of racial stability and national strength. After becoming chancellor, Hitler chose the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden (Bavaria) as his representative residence and the second seat of his government. “The Führer’s Reserved Area” on the Obersalzberg included Hitler’s own residence (the “Berghof”), houses for Nazi bigwigs, the "small Reich chancellery," various administrative buildings, and a number of SS barracks and bunkers. Hitler often spent several months a year on the Obersalzberg and handled much of his governmental business from there. He also liked to pose for propaganda photos in the idyllic Alpine landscape; these pictures were supposed to illustrate his closeness to nature and the people. The photo shows the so-called Adolf Hitler Heights on the Obersalzberg. The inscription on the rock on the foreground reads: "When God loves someone, he lets him live in Berchtesgaden." Photo by H. Huber.

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Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler Heights, the Obersalzberg, Postcard (March 21, 1933)

© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz / H. Huber