Adolf Hitler receives a Christmas gift from two Father Christmases (Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The pictures, published by German newspaper Die Welt, offer an overview of 24 Christmases between 1920 and 1944, even though the Nazi leader said on December 13, 1941: “Christianity is the greatest, that has ever been produced by a human brain in its delusion, a mockery of all that is divine,” according to the notes of Heinrich Heim, a former aide to Martin Bormann. Despite his distaste, Hitler did not seek to outlaw Christmas traditions, but rather attempted to replace them with a celebration of National Socialism.
For instance, the SS officially only celebrated Yule from 1935 onwards, regarding it as a winter solstice to be celebrated throughout the empire, instead of the classic Christmas.
Nevertheless, Christmas traditions were so popular almost all the regime’s representatives regularly attended Christmas parties.
As for Hitler himself, his itinerary, compiled by researcher Harald Sandner in decades of work, gives an overview of his daily life – and even he marked the occasion, albeit in a non-Christian fashion.
The first records of Hitler at Christmas are from December 24, 1920 – when he visited the family of Oskar Körner, the then Second Chairman of the NSDAP, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party.
Körner was married with two teenage sons and is likely to have celebrated Christmas in a traditional fashion in their apartment in the wealthy Munich district of Haidhausen.
Apparently, Hitler enjoyed himself enough to go again in 1921 and 1922.
However, The year after that how year, such celebrations were impossible, given Körner had been shot during so-called Beer Hall Putsch of November 9, 1923, which saw Hitler launch a failed coup-d’etat and ended up with him being held in custody in Landsberg am Lech prison.
But after his release Hitler chose the villa of another wealthy supporter, Ernst “Putzi” Hanfstaengl,for Christmas Eve – when Christmas is typically celebrated as the main day of the festivities – in 1924.
Hitler was no big fan of Christmas – but still went to Christmas parties (Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)
After his appointment as German Chancellor in 1933, Hitler established a new tradition: speaking on Christmas Eve in front of “Old Fighters” of the Munich NSDAP at their Christmas party – from 1933 to 1935 at the Hotel “Wagner”, 1936 to 1938 at the “Löwenbräukeller”.
On December 18, 1937, at the Christmas party for the employees of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler receives a gingerbread gift from two Santa Clauses.
On Christmas Eve 1939, the “Supreme Commander” visited bunkers of the western wall in the Saarland unannounced, handing out small candles and Christmas trees decorated with silver tinsel and biscuits, chocolate, gingerbread and drinks.
On December 24, 1940, he was in occupied France, in the vicinity of the port city of Boulogne on the English Channel. He visited two Luftwaffe fighter squadrons during the day, but in the evening retired to his special train, which was bombproof in a tunnel at Le Coudray-sur-Thelle.
Adolf Hitler wanted to replace Christmas with a celebration of National Socialism (Image: GETTY)
The next three Christmases Hitler spent in the Wolfsschanze, his headquarters in East Prussia. Little known about any festivities during that time, but there are more details about the last Christmas Eve in the life of the dictator, at the Führer Headquarters Adlerhorst in Wiesental on the edge of the Taunus.
Hitler was apparently woken at 11.45am on Christmas Eve, 1944, attending had some meetings before having lunch at 2 pm.
At about 6 pm generals of the Wehrmacht High Command passed by, and there was tea.
Between 8pm to 11pm – the actual celebration – the calendar only state “private”.
At 11 pm there was dinner, then a situation lecture, at 1.50am on the morning of December 25, 1944, Hitler had more tea, before saying goodbye to his entourage at 4am.
(Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg)