The Swastika-draped building to the right of this 'photo is the building in Branau-am-Inn which, on 20 April, 1889, Adolf Hitler was born.  This 'photo was, obviously, taken during the period of Nazi rule in Austria at which time the street was named "Adolf Hitler Strasse".  A gate in the medieval town wall can be seen at the end of the street; to its right, slightly closer, stands the local bakery.  The place still looks much as it does in this 'photo, minus the Swastikas.

I gather that the building has been pretty well neglected since WW2 (although the outside has a nice coat of paint).  At the moment, a debate is going on in Branau as to how it might be used - with suggested uses ranging from an apartment development to a "memorial site".  I would hesitate to make any suggestion ... JR.

Not exactly a stable with a manger ...

Hitler poses for Heinrich Hoffmann, butt-on-desk, in his office at the Berghof.  Even here, in a location that, one suspects, he found comfortable in comparison to the marble-topped magnificenct of his office at the Reich Chancellery, I do not think that the Fuhrer was much of a "desk man".  Wandering around the terrace, telling Desk Men like Lammers and Bormann what to do was probably more of his style ... Best regards, JR.

The Ultimate Desk Nazi (2).

Bearer party and honour guard (headed by Adolf Galland, left, in helmet with sword) remove the body of Ernst Udet from the Ministry of Aviation building, Berlin, 21 November, 1941.  Udet was Germany's second-highest scoring fighter ace in WW1 and a member of Manfred von Richthofen's fighter wing.  He was by common agreement a supremely gifted pilot, and made his living after the war as a stunt/air show pilot, until enticed into the National Socialist Party in return for the use of a couple of aeroplanes.  He continued to delight in entertaining his friends to hair-raising flights and flying stunts.  Whatever about his part as a Nazi-promoting hero, Udet's involvement with "official Naziism" was unfortunate for him.  An intelligent, artistic, Devil-may-care character, he was disastrously unsuited to his role as Minister for Aircraft Supply and, when the (inevitable) failures to meet requirements for aircraft and equipment in the face of supply shortages began to arise, he increasingly became a scapegoat for Goering and a target for his ambitions deputy, Erhard Milch.  Depression followed, and heavy "self medication" expanded his already considerable alcohol habit.  On 17 November, 1941, following an almighty night of fine eating and heavy drinking in the company of friends, Ernst Udet shot himself to death.

The Air Ministry was a venue for several high profile Luftwaffe funerals in the course of WW2.  The building somhow managed to survive the war more-or-less intact.  It was used, in turn, as government headquarters by the government of the German Democratic Republic.  I understand that it is now occupied by offices of the German Finance Ministry - a place of some interest to people in my country at the moment ... Best regards, JR.