Rising to 115 metres Berlin's Teufelsberg is not only one of Berlin's highest points, but also a place steeped in history. Berlin's university headquarters were to be based here under National Socialism, after the war it became the largest depot for post war rubble and later the winter sports, climbing and wine making centre of the city. A radar station was built on Teufelsberg and the Western allies listened in to the East from the top. The equipment has been abandoned since 1992 and Teuf...

“Captivating . . . [HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction.” —James Wood, The New Yorker**The basis for the major motion picture, "The Man with the Iron Heart " available on streaming and home video.HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible—until two exiled operatives, a Slovak an...

In 1942 Germany, Traudl Junge was a young woman with dreams of becoming a ballerina when she was offered the chance of a lifetime. At the age of twenty-two she became private secretary to Adolf Hitler and served him for two and a half years, right up to the bitter end. Junge observed the intimate workings of Hitler’s administration, she typed correspondence and speeches, including Hitler’s public and private last will and testament; she ate her meals and spent evenings with him; and she wa...

In Witness to Nuremberg, the chief interpreter for the American prosecution at the Nuremberg trials after World War II offers his insights into dealing directly with Hermann Goering, a leading member of the Nazi Party, as well as the story of his own colorful, eventful life before and after the trials. At age twenty-two, Richard Sonnenfeldt was appointed chief interpreter for the American prosecution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. His pretrial time spent with Hermann Goering ...

A riveting account of Georg Elser’s attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler—and change the course of history—right before the outbreak of World War II.Living as a carpenter who had spent time working in a watch factory, Georg Elser was just an ordinary member of society living in Munich. That is, however, until he took it upon himself to attempt to assassinate the Führer, Adolf Hitler. Being a common man who opposed the Nazi regime, Elser took the skills from his craft...

Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Berlin, Germany.Berlin is best known for its historical associations as the German capital, internationalism and tolerance, lively nightlife, its many cafes, clubs, and bars, street art, and numerous museums, palaces, and other sites of historic interest.Berlin's architecture is quite varied. Although badly damaged in the final years of World War II and broken apart during the Cold War, Berlin has reconstructed itself greatly, e...

On the night of November 9, 1989, massive crowds surged toward the Berlin Wall, drawn by an announcement that caught the world by surprise: East Germans could now move freely to the West. The Wall -- infamous symbol of divided Cold War Europe -- seemed to be falling. But the opening of the gates that night was not planned by the East German ruling regime -- nor was it the result of a bargain between either Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.It was...

Based on previously classified documents and on interviews with former secret police officers and ordinary citizens, The Firm is the first comprehensive history of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, at the grassroots level. Focusing on Gransee and Perleberg, two East German districts located north of Berlin, Gary Bruce reveals how the Stasi monitored small-town East Germany. He paints an eminently human portrait of those involved with this repressive arm of the government, featurin...

'The story in this book is so gripping and fascinating that it is remarkable that it has never been told in this way before' Simon Heffer, Literary Review'Masterly ... His writing is brisk, confident and colourful ... a pleasure to read' Sunday TelegraphThe true story of a one-handed pianist and the fall of his aristocratic familyThe Wittgenstein family was one of the richest, most talented and most...

The author, a travel journalist, was born and lives in Germany. This guide focuses on the Rhine & Mosel Valleys, including Mainz, Cologne, Bonn, Trier, Worms, Speyer and more - with the kind of inside detail that only a resident can provide. The Rhine valley is one of Germanys prime tourist attractions. The most interesting part of the valley is between Speyer, with the largest Romanesque cathedral in Germany, and Cologne (Köln), with the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. In between i...

Following her acclaimed memoirs Against the Stream and Out of Passau, Anna Rosmus revisits the crimes perpetrated in her German hometown during the Second World WarPassau, a small Bavarian city situated along the border with Austria, had gone decades without acknowledging the roles—however small or large—its citizenry played in the atrocities of World War II. When Anna Rosmus attempted to rectify this oversight, she was met with praise from everywh...

An ordinary German soldier’s letters home from Poland and Russia during World War IIReluctant Accomplice is a volume of the wartime letters of Dr. Konrad Jarausch, a German high-school teacher of religion and history who served in a reserve battalion of Hitler's army in Poland and Russia, where he died of typhoid in 1942. He wrote most of these letters to his wife, Elisabeth. His son, acclaimed German historian Konrad H. Jarausch, brings them together here...