Thursday, March 10, 2011

  • Eva Braun made up as jazz singer Al Jolson
  • Braun sunbathing and semi-nude behind umbrella
  • Hitler's long-time companion seen partying and smoking
Previously unseen images from the fascinating private albums of Eva Braun have come to light.
They give us incredible retrospective access to Hitler’s little-known companion and her life.
From her convent school education to her love of dogs, they chronicle a childhood and youth not dissimilar to all girls her age.
A photo titled 'Me As Al Jolson', from an album belonging to Hitler's companion Eva Braun, depicting her in Munich in 1937 in blackface as American actor Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer
A photo titled 'Me As Al Jolson', from an album belonging to Hitler's companion Eva Braun, depicting her in Munich in 1937 in blackface as American actor Al Jolson, who starred in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer
Enlarge   Adolf Hitler with guests at his birthday party at his residence, the Berghof, on April 20, 1943. On the far left is Eva Braun. Behind her is her close friend Herta Schneider
Adolf Hitler with guests at his birthday party at his residence, the Berghof, on April 20, 1943. On the far left is Eva Braun. Behind her is her close friend Herta Schneider

Enlarge   Braun posing with an umbrella, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1940. She was occasionally seen sunbathing and swimming nude. Adolf Hitler objected to such activities but was not around most of the time
Braun posing with an umbrella, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1940. She was occasionally seen sunbathing and swimming nude. Adolf Hitler objected to such activities but was not around most of the time

Braun in a rowboat on the Worthsee near Munich, 1937, and in her bathing suit near Berchtesgaden in 1940
The photographs even reveal a rebellious streak - she is caught on camera smoking and sunbathing nude.
But they also document Braun's growing relationship with Hitler and her acceptance into the bosom of the Nazi party.
Eva Braun was born in 1912 and attended the Beilngries convent school, in the town of the same name 70 miles north of Munich, where Eva’s family lived.
It is claimed she was an average student but who showed athletic prowess.
She had two sisters. The elder, Ilse who was born three years before her worked for and had a relationship with the Jewish surgeon Dr Martin Levy Marx until he emigrated to the U.S. in 1938. Ilse died in 1979.
Her younger sister Gretl, who was born in 1915, spent time with Braun among Nazi leaders. She married SS Obergruppenfuhrer Hans Fegelein in June 1944.
Enlarge   Eva and her sister Ilse (1908 - 1979) in a childhood photo from 1913
Eva and her sister Ilse (1908 - 1979) in a childhood photo from 1913

Eva as a nine-year-old at the Beilngries convent school in Beilngries, Germany, in 1922, and in a 1935 photo titled 'Carnival with Ege' of her and an unidentified friend at a house party in Munich

Enlarge   Braun exercising in her bathing suit at Konigssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1942. Eva Braun liked to go swimming at the lake, which is only 4 miles from Adolf Hitler's Berghof, where she lived with the Nazi dictator
Braun exercising in her bathing suit at Konigssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1942. Eva Braun liked to go swimming at the lake, which is only 4 miles from Adolf Hitler's Berghof, where she lived with the Nazi dictator
Enlarge   'My first carnival costume' is the title Braun wrote underneath this 1928 photo in her album. She was living with her family in Munich Germany, and attending the Lyzeum at nearby Tengstrasse
'My first carnival costume' is the title Braun wrote underneath this 1928 photo in her album. She was living with her family in Munich Germany, and attending the Lyzeum at nearby Tengstrasse

Enlarge   Eva Braun (left) and friends on vacation in Bad Godesberg, Germany, in 1937
Eva Braun (left) and friends on vacation in Bad Godesberg, Germany, in 1937
Eva Braun on hitler's balcony
Eva Braun and hitler
Braun drinks tea on Hitler's balcony. She first met him while she was working as a model for Heinrich Hoffmann, pictured above right as Hitler looks through an album of his work

Enlarge   Eva and her younger sister Margarethe 'Gretl' Braun (1915 - 1987) with Scottish terrier Negus at the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) above Berchtesgaden, Germany, in 1943. Gretl married SS Obergruppenfuhrer Hans Fegelein in June 1944
Eva and her younger sister Margarethe 'Gretl' Braun (1915 - 1987) with Scottish terrier Negus at the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) above Berchtesgaden, Germany, in 1943. Gretl married SS Obergruppenfuhrer Hans Fegelein in June 1944
Sun lover: Eva Braun sunbathing at Konigssee in 1940, four miles from the Berghof, where she lived with Adolf Hitler
Sun lover: Eva Braun sunbathing at Konigssee in 1940, four miles from the Berghof, where she lived with Adolf Hitler
Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 through photographer Heinrich Hoffmann - Braun, 17 at the time, worked for him as a model and part-time assistant; Hoffman was Hitler's personal photographer.
Within two years they had become a couple.
By 1936 she was a part of his household at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden and lived a luxurious and sheltered life throughout the Second World War - but she was kept secret from the German public.
The photos in this collection are from the private albums of Braun which were confiscated by the U.S. Army in 1945 and taken into the National Archives where many remained, largely undigitised.
Reinhard Schulz, collector and curator of photography stumbled across the images while researching seized records for an exhibition on Heinrich Hoffman and are now made available through Getty Images.
Despite her relationship with the Nazi leader, the photographs reveal a young woman who enjoys dressing up and acting the clown for the camera.
She appears to be equally at ease when with partying with her friends or the Nazi hierarchy - or just relaxing with her dogs.
Braun also apparently developed a love of American films such as Gone With The Wind.
And despite Hitler's dislike of it, Braun was also a smoker, and would regularly indulge her habit when he wasn't around. The fact he frowned upon her nude sunbathing too did not stop her.
Reports say she showed athletic prowess at school and this continued into her youth as she is photographed rowing on a lake near Munich and practising some yoga-esque poses.
Braun stayed loyal to her man throughout the War, and the couple finally married on April 29, 1945, as the Third Reich collapsed.
Within some 40 hours they were both dead, having committed suicide as the Russian Army closed in on Berlin.
It was the end of a fascinating story that we are only now afforded a true glimpse into thanks to these extraordinary images.
Eva Braun and Blondi, Adolf Hitler's German shepherd
hitler and dogs
Eva Braun was said not to like Hitler's German Shepherd Blondi, left, and had her own Scottish Terriers

Adolf Hitler with guests at the Berghof on New Year's Eve, 1939
Adolf Hitler with guests at the Berghof on New Year's Eve, 1939. Front row, from left: Wilhelm Bruckner (Hitler's Chief Adjudant), Christa Schroder (secretary of Hitler), Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler, Gretl Braun (Eva's sister), Adolf Wagner (Bauleiter Munich) and Otto Dietrich (Press Chief). 2nd row, from left: Gerda Daranowski (secretary of Hitler), Margarete Speer, Martin Bormann, Dr Karl Brandt and Heinrich Hoffmann. Above left to right: Dr Theo Morell (Hitler's personal physician), Hannelore Morell, Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer (Hitler's naval adjudant), Gerda Bormann, Max Wunsche (one of Hitler's SS aides) and Heinrich Heim (from Bormann's staff)
Eva Braun with her parents, Friedrich 'Fritz' and Franziska (centre) and her sisters Ilse (left) and Margarethe Gretl (second from right) in 1940
Eva Braun with her parents, Friedrich 'Fritz' and Franziska (centre) and her sisters Ilse (left) and Margarethe Gretl (second from right) in 1940

Enlarge   Eva Braun (first row, fourth from the right), aged nine with her classmates at the Beilngries convent school in 1922
Eva Braun (first row, fourth from the right), aged nine with her classmates at the Beilngries convent school in 1922
A portrait of Adolf Hitler stares eerily from the wall in Eva Braun's living room at the Berghof in 1937. Braun's rooms connected with Hitler's. She had moved into his residency the previous year
Eva Braun sitting on a table in the living room at her parent's house in Munich in 1929
A portrait of Adolf Hitler stares eerily from the wall in Eva Braun's living room at the Berghof in 1937. On the right she is pictured  sitting on a table in the living room at her parent’s house in Munich in 1929

Eva Braun and architect Albert Speer walking together near Adolf Hitler's residence in 1940. Eva Braun had a close relationship with Speer who designed a logo for her
Braun with two women and a person dressed as a polar bear in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, 1935, and walking with architect Albert Speer in 1940. Braun had a close relationship with Speer who designed a logo for her


Enlarge   Braun and colleagues at the office of the Heinrich Hoffmann photo agency in Munich in 1938. Braun (third from the right on the floor) first met Hitler at the agency in October 1929 and started a relationship with him in 1931
Braun and colleagues at the office of the Heinrich Hoffmann photo agency in Munich in 1938. Braun (third from the right on the floor) first met Hitler at the agency in October 1929 and started a relationship with him in 1931

Enlarge   Eva Braun celebrates carnival time at her parents' house in Munich in 1938. Among the group are her mother Franziska Katharina Braun (centre) and her sisters Ilse and Margarethe. The men are unidentified friends
Eva Braun celebrates carnival time at her parents' house in Munich in 1938. Among the group are her mother Franziska Katharina Braun (centre) and her sisters Ilse and Margarethe. The men are unidentified friends
'In Berchtesgaden - the first time' is the handwritten comment on this photo of Hitler from Braun's 1931 album. The photo shows Hitler at a cabin in the mountains at Berchtesgaden, followed by a bodyguard
'In Berchtesgaden - the first time' is the handwritten comment on this photo of Hitler from Braun's 1931 album. The photo shows Hitler at a cabin in the mountains at Berchtesgaden, followed by a bodyguard


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1364687/Id-walk-million-miles-Rare-images-Hitlers-wife-Eva-Braun-party-mode-unearthed.html#ixzz1GCf1UD3T