Heinrich Hoffmann (1885 – 1957) served as Adolf Hitler’s official photographer from when Hitler took control of the Nazi party in 1921 until his death in 1945. Hoffmann estimates he took over half a million photographs of Hitler over the course of his career. His portraits were the most significant source of Nazi propaganda materials published over the course of close to 25 years, everything from postcards, posters, magazines, postage stamps and picture books. Click on eachtheme below to see a complete photo albumdevoted to that particular event or topic.
The area around Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg on the Austrian border was by far Adolf Hitler’s favorite travel destination. So much so that this is where he constructed a third home outside of his Munich and Berlin residences and created a second outpost of the Reich Chancellery. He had first vacationed in the area beginning in the early 1920s and instantly fell in love with this spot. He often visited the nearby Obersee and the Königssee in the summer months and loved hiking in the mountains. Bad Godesberg on the Rhine and Heiligendamm on the Baltic Sea where also frequent holiday spots he enjoyed. Heinrich Hoffmann extensively photographed Hitler on his many vacation excursions and published these images on various collectible items such as these postcards and cigarette cards.
Adolf Hitler touring the Königssee (King’s Lake) on an excursion Lurssen motor yacht in 1934. The Königssee is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park.Adolf Hitler on The Königsee passing by St. Bartholomew’s Roman Catholic Church. The church is located at the western shore of the Königssee lake, on the Hirschau peninsula.Adolf Hitler passing Sankt Bartholomä chapel on a boat tour of the Königsee. St. Bartholomew’s is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in the Berchtesgadener Land district of Bavaria in Germany. It is named after Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, patron of alpine farmers and dairymen.Adolf Hitler enjoying an outing on the Königssee with his press chief Otto Dietrich on 24 July 1935.Adolf Hitler relaxes on a boat trip with Joseph Goebbels and some beautiful young ladies on Lake Tegernsee on 2 August 1932. Hitler even takes a turn at steering the boat, and later enjoys an overnight stay at the Seehotel zur Post on Seestrasse in the resort town of Tegernsee.Adolf Hitler relaxes on a boat trip with Joseph Goebbels on Lake Tegernsee on 2 August 1932. Hitler even takes a turn at steering the boat, and later enjoys an overnight stay at the Seehotel zur Post on Seestrasse in the resort town of Tegernsee.View of the Chiemsee Autobahn Rasthaus from the lake side, showing Hitler in a boat by the Rasthaus dock in 1937. The Raststätte Chiemsee was the first large service area on the Autobahn. Chiemsee is a large resort lake in southern Bavaria located between Munich and Salzburg and therefore a route traveled frequently by Adolf Hitler. The Rasthaus was opened on August 27, 1937 with 520 seats, and featured a rounded corner room known as the Führerzimmer, Hitler’s own special dining area.Adolf Hitler in front of the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. This hotel was the place where Hitler made up his plans to ‘purify’ the SA and its leader Ernst Röhm, on 30 June 1934. It was here that Hitler met the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain between 21 and 23 September 1938, and where he proposed the condition of the annexation of the Sudetenland in the Czech-Slovakian Republic. The Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg near Bonn was a hotel in which Adolf Hitler liked to stay during the years of the 1930s. He visited the hotel for the first time on 28 November 1926 and returned over 70 times.Adolf Hitler on the terrace of his personal suite at the Hotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. Hitler stayed in the “Führersuite” with room number 106. This room had been especially adapted for his frequent stays and consisted of a large reception area, a sitting room, working office and a comfortable bedroom. A large bed was situated at the bulletproof window with a vista over the river Rhine.Postcard showing Adolf Hitler on a boat excursion along the Rhine River on 26 August 1934.Adolf Hitler and Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels on the beach of Heiligendamm on the Baltic on September 1, 1935. Heiligendamm is a German seaside resort founded in 1793. It is the oldest seaside spa in continental Europe. Heiligendamm is part of the town Bad Doberan in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and historically belongs to Mecklenburg. Heiligendamm was always regarded as the most elegant seaside resort in Germany. Nobility from throughout Europe used it as a summer getaway well into the 20th Century.Hitler with his sister Angela and niece Geli Raubal in Kolberg in August 1931.This resort on the Baltic Sea is now Kołobrzeg, Poland.Adolf Hitler during a break at the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth on the Starnberger See in Feldafing on 29 April 1933. Lake Starnberg is Bavaria’s second largest lake and is known for the tragic death of King Ludwig II, who drowned here under mysterious circumstances in 1886. On Rose Island in the middle of Lake Starnberg the king had received famous guests including Empress Elisabeth and Richard Wagner.Cigarette card featuring Adolf Hitler in the countryside of Hiltpoltstein, Franconia, visiting the Kriegerdenkmal (War Memorial) just west of the city on 6 June 1931. Hiltpoltstein is a market village in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany. At the center of the photograph is Hiltpoltstein Castle.Adolf Hitler with Winifred Wagner, the widow of Siegfried Wagner, visiting the Teufelshöhle (Devil’s Cave) in Pottenstein on 3 May 1932. This is one of more than 1,000 caves in Franconian Switzerland, a popular tourist retreat. Notice Hitler’s car and leather driving cap!Adolf Hitler enjoys a cruise on the Rhine on 26 August 1934 with Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Hoffmann.Adolf Hitler near the lakeside at Königssee on 21 May 1933.Adolf Hitler stands by the lakeside at Königssee on 21 May 1933.Adolf Hitler stands by the lakeside at Königssee on 21 May 1933.A postcard showing Adolf Hitler and his personal adjutant Wilhelm Brückner near the lakeside at Hintersee on 19 July 1933.Adolf Hitler visits Hintersee with Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Brückner and his sister Paula. This was on 19 July 1933 after he became Chancellor. Notice he’s carrying his dog whip!Famous photograph of Adolf Hitler on the western bank of the Obersee in Berchtesgaden on 3 June 1933.Another postcard of Adolf Hitler standing on the western bank of the Obersee in Berchtesgaden on 3 June 1933.Unser FÜHRER mit Generalinspekteur Dr. Todt im Hotel Post am Hintersee / Our FÜHRER with Inspector General Dr. Todt in the Hotel Post at Hintersee in 1934.Adolf Hitler enjoying a sunny day at Predigtstuhl mountain above Bad Reichenhall. The cable car system to the mountain resort is the oldest continually operating cable car in the world, and much of the system is original to it’s construction in 1928. Hitler had a fear of heights but was persuaded to visit the Predigtstuhl for a photo opportunity with Heinrich Hoffmann on 31 May 1933.
Adolf Hitler enjoys the view on the Predigtstuhlbahn (cable car) ride up to the top of Predigtstuhl Mountain. At the top he enjoyed coffee at the Berghotel Predigtstuhl and a photograph opportunity signing autographs with children.
Der Führer auf der Aule Alm bei Garmisch 13. März 1935. Hitler at the Aule Alm restaurant on 13 March 1935.Adolf Hitler on 22 April 1935 at the Gschwandtnerbauer Aule Alm restaurant in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Hitler spent his Easter holiday touring sites around Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bavaria with Eva Braun in late April of 1935.Adolf Hitler on 22 April 1935 at the entrance to Schloss Linderhof, the smallest of the three palaces built by Ludwig II of Bavaria. Hitler spent his Easter holiday touring sites around Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bavaria with Eva Braun in late April of 1935, including Ludwig ll’s Herrenchiemsee Castle.Adolf Hitler on a day trip to Lake Chiemsee in late April 1935. He travelled on the steamer Ludwig Fessler across Lake Chiemsee to Herrenchiemsee Castle on Herreninsel island.Original picture postcard of Adolf Hitler with a little girl, SS men, Baldur von Schirach and Wilhelm Brückner from Photo Hoffmann taken at Mad King Ludwig’s Schloss Herrenchiemsee in Prien in April 1935.Adolf Hitler stands with Eva Braun and Julius Schaub on his tour of Schloss Herrenchiemsee in Prien in April 1935.Adolf Hitler on the dock for the crossing to Herrenchiemsee Castle in April 1935.
Adolf Hitler paid another visit to Herrenchiemsee Castle with Robert Ley, Martin Bormann, Joseph Goebbels and Eva Braun on 18 July 1939, captured here in this rare color photograph.
Adolf Hitler signs autographs for SA men while out on a boating excursion on Lake Chiemsee the day after the NSDAP Leaders Conference held in nearby Bad Reichenhall. Hitler took the steamer Ludwig Fessler across the lake to the island of Herreninsel while visiting Prien am Chiemsee on 3 July 1933.Adolf Hitler and Franz Seldte enjoying a boating excursion on Lake Chiemsee the day after the NSDAP Leaders Conference held in nearby Bad Reichenhall. Hitler took the steamer Ludwig Fessler across the lake to the island of Herreninsel while visiting Prien am Chiemsee on 3 July 1933.Adolf Hitler taking the steamer Ludwig Fessler across the lake to the island of Herreninsel while visiting Prien am Chiemsee on 3 July 1933.Adolf Hitler having lunch with Eva Braun and her friends at the yachting school in Prien in 1934.Postcard of Adolf Hitler on holiday, “Erholungsreise in Wiesbaden” at the Hotel Rose with Joseph Goebbels on 21 March 1935. The visit included a tour of the state rooms of the Kurhaus and lunch in the Kurhaus pavilion hall before Hitler walked over to the State Theatre to see the “Aida” opera.Adolf Hitler shows off his large cactus garden at his summer holiday home, Haus Wachenfeld (later the Berghof), circa 1933.Adolf Hitler visits the Gästehaus Hoher Göll with Karl Brandt on 12 April 1936.
I love history and have always been infatuated with the design and style of the 1920’s. Unfortunately I can’t time travel back to this era, so I live vicariously through books, movies and photos.
Heinrich Hoffmann Photo Gallery 