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| Chancellery of Adolf Hitler | |
|---|---|
| Name | Chancellery of Adolf Hitler |
| Native name | Kanzlei des Führers |
| Formed | 1933 |
| Preceding1 | Reich Chancellery |
| Dissolved | 1945 |
| Jurisdiction | Nazi Germany |
| Headquarters | Old Reich Chancellery, New Reich Chancellery |
| Chief1 name | Adolf Hitler |
| Chief1 position | Führer and Reich Chancellor |
Chancellery of Adolf Hitler
The Chancellery of Adolf Hitler was the central personal office of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, serving as a nexus connecting the Führer to institutions such as the Reichstag, Gestapo, Schutzstaffel, Wehrmacht, and NSDAP. It operated alongside the Reich Chancellery and interacted with bodies including the Reich Ministry of the Interior, Reich Ministry of Justice, Propaganda Ministry, and Foreign Office. The Kanzlei played a pivotal role in administering directives that reached the SS, SA, Hitler Youth, and German Labor Front.
The Kanzlei emerged after Nazi seizure of power in 1933 when Adolf Hitler consolidated offices formerly associated with the Weimar Republic and the Reichstag Fire. Early development involved figures from the NSDAP apparatus such as Rudolf Hess, Martin Bormann, and Hans Lammers, reflecting competition with ministries including the Reich Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Expansion accelerated during the Night of the Long Knives and the reorganization of 1934–1936, paralleling structural changes in the SS under Heinrich Himmler and the German Army under Werner von Blomberg and Werner von Fritsch.
The Kanzlei comprised multiple departments and offices staffed by personnel drawn from the NSDAP, SS, civil service and military. Key functional subdivisions interacted with the Reich Security Main Office, Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, Foreign Office, and the Office of the Four Year Plan. Administrative control by Martin Bormann centralized personnel, files, and access to Adolf Hitler, shaping relations with the Reich Chancellery and the Führer Headquarters network such as Wolfsschanze and Führerbunker. The organizational chart mirrored parallel hierarchies found in the German High Command and the Prussian state bureaucracy.
The Kanzlei handled petitions, clemency requests, personnel matters, and political correspondence between Adolf Hitler and entities including the Reichstag, Reichswehr, Ministry of Propaganda, and foreign dignitaries from Italy and Japan such as representatives of the Italo-German Pact and the Tripartite Pact. It coordinated with legal authorities like the People's Court and the Reich Ministry of Justice on issues from amnesties to criminal prosecutions, and influenced policies in occupied territories including interactions with the Reichskommissariat Ukraine and General Government. The Kanzlei processed nominations for awards such as the Iron Cross and handled personal matters of the Führer, linking to initiatives by Albert Speer and directives affecting the Armaments Ministry.
Personnel included senior aides and secretaries who served as gatekeepers between Adolf Hitler and ministers like Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler, and Julius Streicher. Prominent officials associated with Kanzlei functions encompassed Martin Bormann, Hans Lammers, Walter Buch, and clerks tied to the Party Chancellery of the NSDAP. Connections extended to military adjutants from the OKW and political operatives in the SA leadership. The staff routinely coordinated with judges and prosecutors from institutions such as the People's Court and with industrialists like Fritz Todt and Albert Speer.
The Kanzlei mediated access to Adolf Hitler and thus influenced appointments, dismissals, and policy signals that shaped initiatives like the Nazi racial policies, Kristallnacht, and measures against political opponents including actions by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst. It played a role in implementing directives that intersected with the Final Solution as coordinated among the RSHA, SS, and regional authorities in occupied zones such as Warsaw and Lublin District. Through control of paperwork and petitions, the office affected decisions in economic mobilization tied to the Four Year Plan and military strategies debated among Heinz Guderian, Erich von Manstein, and Wilhelm Keitel.
The Kanzlei maintained complex, competitive relationships with the Reich Chancellery, Reich Ministry of the Interior, Propaganda Ministry under Joseph Goebbels, and the Foreign Office under Joachim von Ribbentrop. It coordinated with enforcement organs such as the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei under the Reich Security Main Office led by Reinhard Heydrich and later Ernst Kaltenbrunner, while negotiating influence with party structures like the NSDAP Reichsleitung and the Hitler Youth leadership. Interactions extended to industrial councils representing firms like Krupp and IG Farben and to the Vichy regime in occupied France.
The Kanzlei operated from the Old Reich Chancellery and the New Reich Chancellery designed by Albert Speer, and connected to Führer residences and command centers including Berghof and Führerbunker. Security was provided by SS guards, Reichssicherheitsdienst, and Gestapo detachments whose operations intersected with Heinrich Himmler's organizations. The buildings housed archives, seal offices, and secure teleprinters linked to the Führer Headquarters network and were targeted during Allied operations such as Operation Gomorrah and the Bombing of Berlin.
After May 1945 the Kanzlei's records and personnel became focus of Allied occupation of Germany investigations, Nuremberg Trials, and denazification processes overseen by authorities including the International Military Tribunal and Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS). Documents informed prosecutions of officials connected to crimes prosecuted under principles established by the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal and statutes referencing violations seen at Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Majdanek. Postwar scholarship by historians referencing archives in Bundesarchiv, U.S. National Archives, and institutions like the Institute of Contemporary History shaped understanding of the Kanzlei's role in state crimes and transitional justice.