Ernst Hanfstaengl

Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl (Munich, February 2, 1887 - November 6, 1975) was a friend of Adolf Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
Munich - February 2 - 1887 - November 6 - 1975 - Adolf Hitler - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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His mother was Katharine Wilhelmina Heine, daughter of William Heine, a (lithographer, Union General, possibly pallbearer to Lincoln) and a cousin of John Sedgwick. His godfather was Duke Ernst II. He attended Harvard University where he composed football songs and became acquainted with Walter Lippmann and John Reed. He graduated in 1909.

Related Topics:
William Heine - Lithograph - Union - Lincoln - John Sedgwick - Duke Ernst II - Harvard University - Football - Walter Lippmann - John Reed

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While in the Fifth Avenue branch of his father's business (Franz Hanfstaengl, Fine Art Publishing House) he would practice piano at the New York Harvard Club where he became friends with both Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
Fifth Avenue - New York Harvard Club - Theodore Roosevelt

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On February 11, 1920, Hanfstaengl married Helene Niemayer/Helen Neemeyer of Long Island. They had their only son, Egon Ludwig, almost a year later (he eventually enlisted in the US Army air corps). A daughter, Hertha, died at 5.

Related Topics:
February 11 - 1920 - Long Island - US Army

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Ernst later returned to Germany and became friends with Adolf Hitler, who called him "Putzi". He wrote Brownshirt marches based on his Harvard football songs. After the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch he sheltered Hitler in his attic and Helene reportedly prevented Hitler from killing himself.

Related Topics:
Germany - Adolf Hitler - Brownshirt - 1923 - Beer Hall Putsch

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Hanfstaengl financed both the publication of Mein Kampf and the formation of the NSDAP's official newspaper Völkischer Beobachter. He later claimed to have participated in the firing of the Reichstag. As a native English speaker with many connections to higher society in both England and America he became head of the Foreign Press Bureau in Berlin. Aside from this official position much of his importance lay in his friendship with Hitler, who relaxed when "Putzi" played the piano.

Related Topics:
Mein Kampf - NSDAP - Völkischer Beobachter - Firing of the Reichstag

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As the NSDAP gathered power, several disputes arose between Hanfstaengl and Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. He was shunted off of Hitler's staff in 1933. Ernst and Helene divorced in 1936. Hanfstaengl fell completely out of Hitler's favour after he was denounced by Unity Mitford, a close friend of both the Hanfstaengls and Hitler.

Related Topics:
NSDAP - Joseph Goebbels - 1936 - Unity Mitford

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In 1937 Hanfstaengl received orders to parachute into an area held by the nationalist side of the Spanish Civil War, to assist in negotiations. Immediately suspecting a plot against his life, onboard the plane he pressed for more details from the pilot, who eventually admitted he'd been ordered to drop Hanfstaengl over loyalist-held territory, which would have meant almost certain death. Hanfstaengl convinced the pilot to let him escape at a fuel stopover by faking a machine damage.

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He made his way to Switzerland and after securing his son Egon's release from Germany, moved to England where he was imprisoned as an enemy alien after the outbreak of World War II. He was later moved to a prison camp in Canada. In 1942 Hanfstaengl was turned over to the U.S. (likely after Roosevelt's personal intercession) where he helped to create a psychological profile of Hitler but in 1944 was handed back to the British, who returned him to Germany after the end of the war.

Related Topics:
Switzerland - World War II - Canada - 1942 - 1944 - British

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William Shirer, a CBS journalist who resided in Nazi Germany until 1941 and was in frequent contact with Hanfstaengl described him as an "eccentric, gangling man, whose sardonic wit somewhat compensated for his shallow mind."

Related Topics:
William Shirer - CBS

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He wrote Unheard Witness (1957) about his experiences.

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