German Leadership

A Night at the Opera - Hitler and Horthy.

Hitler hosts Hungarian "Regent" Admiral Horthy at a gala performance of Wagner's music drama "Lohengrin" at the Berlin Staatsoper during the Regent's visit to Berlin, 1938. "Lohengrin" was the first opera of which Hitler had attended a live performance, and he retained a soft spot for it, notwithstanding the fact that it was overshadowed by Wagner's later works. Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel that there may have been an obscure joke intended by treating Horthy to a performance of this particular work. Without going into the plot, it involves the 9th-10th century German King, Henry the Fowler, taking time off from his main task of the moment to sort out a little local difficulty among his vassals in Brabant. And what might his main task have been ? Why, to make war on the Magyars who, in his time, were supposedly threatening to overrun the German duchies (they were certainly extracting a lot of tribute/blackmail). In real history, the real Henry finally defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Riade, thus ending the Magyar threat to Germany. Not sure whether anybody pointed out these facts to the Regent. By the way - Heinrich Himmler seems to have regarded himself as a descendant of Henry the Fowler. Nowt so queer as folk ... Best regards, JR.