Adolf Hitler’s only visit to Paris occurred on 23 June 1940. Architects Albert Speer and Hermann Giesler accompanied him, along with his favorite sculptor Arno Breker, arriving very early on a Sunday morning in the Führer’s private Junkers Ju 52 plane at Le Bourget airport at 6 o’clock after setting off from Brûly-de-Peche at 4 a.m. Due to his intense and lifelong passion for architecture, Hitler had always dreamt of visiting Paris. The visit took place the day immediately after the armistice had come into effect. The delegation left the airport in a fleet of open-top Mercedes and entered the city through the Porte de la Villette. The streets were almost empty as the majority of the Parisians, fearing massive bombings as the German troops invaded France, had fled the city to the countryside. Hitler spent only three short hours in Paris, what he referred to as a “Blitzbesuch” or quick visit, where he visited such highlights as the Opera Garnier, the Madeleine Church, Napoleon’s tomb, the Trocadero, the Pantheon, and the Eiffel Tower.

Opéra Garnier

Adolf Hitler was most interested in the Opéra Garnier, as he already knew much about the building long before his visit, due to Hitler’s lifelong passion for architecture. Albert Speer later recalled many of the details of their hour long tour of the opera house. “The great stairway, famous for its spaciousness, notorious for its excessive ornamentation, the resplendent foyer, the elegant, gilded parterre, were carefully inspected. All the lights glowed as they would on a gala night. Hitler had undertaken to lead the party. A white-haired attendant accompanied our small group through the deserted building. Hitler had actually studied the plans of the Paris opera house with great care. Near the proscenium box he found a salon missing, remarked on it, and turned out to be right. The attendant said that this room had been eliminated in the course of renovations many years ago. ‘There, you see how well I know my way about,’ Hitler commented complacently.”

“He seemed fascinated by the Opera, went into ecstasies about its beauty, his eyes glittering with an excitement that struck me as uncanny. The attendant, of course, had immediately recognized the person he was guiding through the building. In a businesslike but distinctly aloof manner, he showed us through the rooms. When we were at last getting ready to leave the building, Hitler whispered something to his adjutant, Brückner, who took a fifty-mark note from his wallet and went over to the attendant standing some distance away. Pleasantly, but firmly, the man refused to take the money. Hitler tried a second time, sending Breker over to him; but the man persisted in his refusal. He had only been doing his duty, he told Breker.” -Albert Speer

Église de la Madeleine

Hitler had most eagerly anticipated his visit to ‘Église de la Madeleine’, a landmark that incapsulated the magnificence of classical Greek and Roman architecture. The church was also closely associated with Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who Hitler drew parallels with himself and greatly admired. Back in 1806, Napoleon revitalized the building-up process of Paris and ordered a commemoration not only to Mary Magdalene but also to the victories of the French army during his reign. Hitler was also searching for inspiration for his grandiose plans of his upcoming rebuilding of many German cities, and a magnificent architectural masterpiece such as ‘Église de la Madeleine’ surely would fuel his creative ambitions. The visit to the imposing edifice suddenly became unexpectedly hurried part way through the tour, as it seems the building did not impress Hitler very much. He was greatly disappointed with the interior of the church, saying it was too ‘academic’, and apparently didn’t possess the right balance with the grand French Empire style that was so strikingly implemented on the facade.

Trocadéro & Eiffel Tower

Instead of being accompanied by his usual military entourage, Hitler approached Paris as both a tourist and a cultured man of the arts, bringing along his three favorite ‘men of art’, both of his favorite architects Albert Speer and Hermann Giesler, and the famous sculptor Arno Breker. Another huge motive was that Hitler could greatly impress these men with a display of his own proficiency on the topic of the architecture of Paris, and that this trio would appreciate the experience just as much as him. The Führer likewise wanted to inspire his team of architects and his favorite sculptor for his upcoming transformation of Berlin into the world capital of Germania, which in his mind would soon come to entirely overshadow Paris in both beauty and scale. 

‘The former military attache in Paris drove ahead of us as guide. With our dimmed lights we could only see the silhouettes of the buildings. We passed check points – the guards stepped out and saluted; one could detect that the armistice was not yet fully in force. Adolf Hitler sat in front of me and I remembered the past winter evening when he talked about Paris, and I recalled his confidence that he would view the city soon. Now his wish was coming true. But he did not come to Paris as the Supreme Commander of the German Wehrmacht – he arrived as the Bauherr (construction chief) of the new German cities which he already envisioned with their new aspects. He came here to compare architecture, to experience the atmosphere of the city in the company of his two architects and one sculptor, even though we were accompanied by a military entourage – soldiers who had certainly gained the honour of seeing the French capital with him.’ -Hermann Giesler

On the Esplanade du Trocadéro, a large promenade in front of the Eiffel Tower just across the River Seine, the group admired the view of the tower, and several well known photographs were taken as propaganda material of Hitler’s victory over France and Western Europe. Meanwhile the French had cut the elevator cables of the Eiffel Tower so that if Hitler wanted to reach the top, he would have had to climb the 1,665 steps. This was reported along with the phrase “Hitler conquered France, but he never conquered the Eiffel Tower.” Afterwards, the cars drove past the Eiffel Tower, and along the Champ de Mars to the École Militaire (military academy) and past the statue of renowned WW1 hero Marshal Joseph Joffre, “the Victor of the Marne” which Hitler ordered to be destroyed.

A complete record of this day was published in the book ‘Ein Anderer Hitler’ by Hermann Giesler which contains a full eye-witness description of his famous visit to Paris. Giesler provides a full account of his own personal conversations with Hitler concerning his sweeping architectural plans for the cities of Berlin, Munich and Linz, which it was envisaged would embody the concept Grossdeutschland (Greater Germany).

Les Invalides

During his sightseeing tour of Paris, Hitler stopped to view Napoleon’s tomb at the Dôme des Invalides. Albert Speer described the visit in his book “Inside the Third Reich” and places the date of his tour with Hitler as 25 June 1940. A very interesting controversy begins here amongst historians, bringing up the suggestion that Hitler visited Paris more than once and that the famous Eiffel Tower photographs were actually taken on a later date than when he’s seen donning a white trench coat, versus the impressive leather coat seen in the iconic shots. According to International News Service journalist Pierre J. Huss, who knew Hitler and interviewed him, the Führer had made an unannounced visit to Les Invalides before the “official” sightseeing tour. The photos below were claimed to be made during an earlier visit. Hitler wears the white dustproof gabardine coat that Huss describes, and not the darker greatcoat he wore when photographed at the Trocadero in front of the Eiffel tower. Perhaps Hitler simply switched into the greatcoat for the sake of taking some sharply impressive shots before switching back into the more casual white one? Historians continue to argue the date of this event, but the majority agree there was just the one visit that occurred on 23 June 1940.

“There are people who put their rank and title on their gravestones,” Hitler told his cameraman, Walter Frentz. “In my case two words will be enough: Adolf Hitler. The German people would know who it was if the only word was Adolf.”

On 15 December 1940, as a gesture of friendship, Hitler ordered that the remains of Napoleon’s son, Napoleon II (1811-1832), Duke of Reichstadt, be moved from the Kaisergruft in Vienna to lie beside Napoleon’s tomb in the Invalides. At midnight, the coffin was transported through Paris on a gun carriage.

Pantheon

After passing in front of the Assemblée Nationale, the convoy headed on toward the Jardins du Luxembourg and took south to have a view of the Place de l’Observatoire (Paris observatory) and the statue of Marshal Michel Ney before heading to the Panthéon, a place dedicated to the greatest French men and women. According to Albert Speer, the size of the neo-classical building impressed Hitler very much. Otherwise Hitler showed great disappointment with the Pantheon that stood at the top of the Latin Quarter by abruptly leaving the building. Once out in the open again, he shook his head and heaved a great sigh…

‘“My God, it does not deserve its name, if you think about the Roman Pantheon with its classical interior, the unique lighting from the wide open ceiling – it combines dignity with gravity. And then you look at that” – and he pointed back – “more than sombre even on this bright summer day.” As they returned to their car, a few women spotted them, crying out: c’est lui – that’s him!”

Sacré Coeur

The end of Hitler’s tour concluded with a visit to the iconic church of Sacré Coeur on Montmartre, a very surprising choice given Hitler’s specific architectural taste, according to Albert Speer. Later that same day Hitler made a special request of Speer:

‘Draw up a decree in my name ordering full-scale resumption of work on the Berlin buildings… Wasn’t Paris beautiful? But Berlin must be made far more beautiful. In the past I often considered whether we would not have to destroy Paris,’ he continued with great calm, as if he were talking about the most natural thing in the world. ‘But when we are finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow. So why should we destroy it?’” 

Geisler recalled the trip to Montmartre saying that Hitler barely glanced at the Sacré Cœur. From the elevated terrace in front of the church, he simply wanted to consider the vista of Paris that he had just visited. After a hurried visit through the interior of Sacré Coeur, Hitler left Paris. By nine o’clock that morning the sightseeing tour was over. In all, Hitler had spent barely three hours in the city, before returning in triumph to Berlin. One year later in 1941, he remarked over dinner with Speer:

“I’ve seen Rome and Paris, and I must say that Paris, with the exception of the Arc de Triomphe, has nothing on the scale of the Coliseum, or the Castel Sant’Angelo or St Peter’s. These monuments, which are the product of a collective effort, have ceased to be on the scale of the individual. What I saw in Paris has disappeared from my memory: Rome really seized hold of me. My dearest wish would be able to wander about in Italy as an unknown painter.” -Adolf Hitler

Bonus Photo: