The classic Nazi Munich tour presents the highlights of Hitler's rise to the "Führer". It vividly shows his beginnings with the German Workers' Party and how he celebrated successes in Munich's beer cellars. The 1923 coup failed, but Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf" in prison, became famous, found supporters such as Hess, Göring, Röhm, and Himmler, and became Reich Chancellor and Führer in 1933. The SS and SA were formed in Munich; the Gestapo here was the model for the secret police throughout the Reich. The tour shows all the important stages:
- We start at the City Hall/Marienplatz, where the swastika flag flew for the first time on March 9, 1933.
- At the Old Town Hall, we will talk about the "Reichskristallnacht", proclaimed by Joseph Goebbels in 1938.
- In the valley, we will stop by Sterneckebräu, where it all began in 1919, and in the immediate vicinity, we will see the hotel where the SS was formed in 1925. We discuss how Heinrich Himmler from Munich became the face of the regime of terror and remained so until the end.
- At the Hofbräuhaus, our next stop, Hitler gave a famous speech in 1920. This is where the Nazi party was founded and its party program was created. But also the SA, with Hermann Göring at the helm in 1923.
- The racist Thule Society had its headquarters in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. Hess, Rosenberg, and other prominent Nazis were members. Hitler's discoverer Dietrich Eckart was also a member of the Thule Society.
- Then we go to the Feldherrnhalle at Odeonsplatz, where the 1923 Putsch failed. We discuss how Hitler became world-famous through the trial and wrote "Mein Kampf" in Landsberg Fortress. We also talk briefly about the developments between 1923 and 1933 and how the Nazis benefited from the stock market crash.
- In the Square of the Victims of National Socialism, we talk about those persecuted by the Nazi regime from 1933: Jews, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, the disabled, etc.
- We stop briefly at the Gestapo headquarters and talk about its head, Reinhard Heydrich, but also about resistance fighters such as the Scholl siblings and the bomber Georg Elser.
- We then reach the Nazi Party headquarters and also take a look at the Führerbau. This is where the famous 1938 peace conference took place.
- Finally, we'll talk about Hitler's plans for Munich, about the Field of Honor that General Eisenhower had blown up, and about the importance of the Nazi era for today's Germany.
I show meaningful pictures from the period 1919–45 and am also happy to provide additional information, such as museums and book recommendations.
