Hitler's Spy Princess

by Martha Schad

  At Rothermere’s behest, Princess Stephanie had taken great trouble over protocol. At table, the placement followed ‘French’ rules: the host sat at the centre, with his guest of honour, Hitler, on his right. Stephanie acted as hostess and sat opposite Rothermere. Beside her sat Ribbentrop. His wife Annelies, who was just as ‘anti-British’ as her husband, sat next to Rothermere’s son Esmond. Except for the journalist Ward Price, no other British were invited.

  What Stephanie had not of course remembered, if she ever knew, was that exactly ten years earlier, on 20 December 1924, Hitler had been released from imprisonment in Landsberg Castle. Hitler began to talk at length about his far from displeasing sojourn in Landsberg. The British were unable to follow his monologue. No interpreter had been invited, so Stephanie von Hohenlohe undertook the task herself. But interpreting for Hitler was exceptionally difficult, since he never drew breath.

  When the main course was served – roast chicken for everyone except Hitler, who had a vegetarian dish – the Führer plunged into the topic of Anglo-German friendship and its importance. Throughout the dinner no-one else was able to get a word in. Hitler did not touch his food at all. Rothermere could not even propose a toast, because the Führer went on talking and talking.

  Finally the peer stood up to make his speech. But at that moment someone carelessly knocked over a vase of flowers, which fell to the floor with a crash. Immediately, men from Hitler’s SS bodyguard burst into the room with pistols cocked, to protect their leader from what they took to be an attempted assassination. The Reich Chancellor left the hotel instantly, followed by Ribbentrop and his wife. Thus the meal ended without a dessert and with no warm speeches on the part of the guests.

  Yet Rothermere remained as keen as ever about Hitler and continued to make his papers into a mouthpiece for the Reich Chancellery.

  On 29 April 1935 Stephanie von Hohenlohe was once again the bearer of a letter from Rothermere, which she was to hand over personally to the Führer in Berlin. A mere four days later Hitler replied in an unusually detailed document which, because of its importance, is reproduced verbatim in Appendix IV.

  In this letter Hitler sketched out his vision of the future, an edifice of world peace that was supported by two central pillars, Germany and Britain – the two great Germanic races which together were to be masters of the world.

  When, on 2 October 1935, Italian troops invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), the ancient east African country ruled by Haile Selassie, a storm of protest swept through Britain.5 The Italian dictator Mussolini wanted to seize the whole vast country and colonise it. Lord Rothermere was at a loss as to how the spreading conflict might be halted. He wanted to hear Hitler’s opinion on this, so that he could publicise it in his newspapers and also pass it on to the government of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. However, for the moment Hitler had no time to answer his questions, although the peer wrote to him: ‘Princess Hohenlohe can provide you by word of mouth with further information about what I have in mind.’ This shows us once again that Stephanie von Hohenlohe was more than just a female courier; she was extremely well acquainted with the contents of these politically important letters.

  On 19 December 1935, at the end of a very troubled year, the Reich Chancellor expressed his views on the political situation in a detailed letter that he entrusted to the princess. This letter, in its translation by Hitler’s interpreter, Paul Schmidt, is also reproduced in full in Appendix V. Hitler thanks Lord Rothermere for the letter conveyed to him by Princess Hohenlohe and goes on: ‘In replying to you now, I must ask you, dear Lord Rothermere, not to make any public use of my reply, because it contains opinions, which I would otherwise express in a different wording or probably not express at all. This letter contains only opinions, and I have not the slightest doubt that they are entirely unsuited to influence public opinion or to make it change its own views in a world and at a time in which public opinion is not always identical with the innermost insight or wisdom…’

  Shortly before Christmas 1936 Lord Rothermere once again asked Princess Stephanie to take a gift and an accompanying letter to Hitler in Berlin. The present was a beautiful tapestry worth £2,200 (£55,000). Lord Rothermere’s letter reads:

  My dear Reich Chancellor,

  It gave me great pleasure to hear from Princess Hohenlohe that in spite of your tremendous work and the burden of your responsibilities, you are in high spirits and excellent health.

  I have long intended to give Your Excellency a present as a token of my sincere friendship, and have therefore asked Princess Hohenlohe to go to Berlin and take, with my best Christmas wishes, a tapestry. In selecting my present I was guided by the thought of Adolf Hitler the artist and not the great leader, whose complete indifference to worldly possessions is common knowledge.

  I hope that 1937 will bring prosperity to Germany and peace to the world.

  In sincere admiration and respect,

  Yours

  Rothermere

  This time too Lord Rothermere had given the princess a whole list of questions to put to Hitler verbally. But the Führer was unwilling to answer these in writing. The peer, who preferred the fine sunny weather of the Riviera to England’s winter cold, was holidaying there when he received a letter of thanks from Hitler, which ended with the words: ‘To answer the numerous and varied questions which Princess Hohenlohe has submitted to me is not terribly simple. Besides, I am very busy at the present time. Would you, dear Lord Rothermere, make [sic] me the pleasure of being my guest on the Obersalzberg between the 5th and 8th of January? We would then be able to discuss verbally and without haste all these problems.’

  Lord Rothermere and his lady adviser were delighted with the idea of visiting the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat on the Obersalzberg, south of Munich. Hitler sent his special train to meet them at the Austrian border, and they travelled in it to Berchtesgaden. The saloon carriage greatly impressed the guests. Its interior was wood panelled and there was hot and cold running water. The floors were covered in velvet carpeting and a small wall-mounted telephone enabled them to communicate with the other carriages. They arrived at Berchtesgaden late in the evening and were allowed to spend the night at the Berghof – something that up till then no guest had been allowed to do. Also staying on the Obersalzberg were Magda and Joseph Goebbels, ‘the almighty propaganda chief’, as Stephanie called him. She took a strong dislike to him from the start; his wife, on the other hand, she found very pleasant.

  Hitler’s adjutants often complained about the lack of structure in his daily routine, especially when he was staying at the Berghof. Normally, he would not appear until about 2 in the afternoon. But at least while his British guests were there, he was up by 10 a.m. Stephanie noticed how puffy Hitler’s face was. She presumed he was taking drugs.6

  At 11 o’clock they all sat down to breakfast in the intimate surroundings of a small sitting-room with an old-fashioned tiled stove. The princess was allowed to sit on the Führer’s right, with Lord Rothermere on his left. Stephanie observed Hitler very closely. He filled his teacup to the brim with sugar-lumps before having the tea poured on to them, and devoured three slices of cake.

  The princess translated the exchanges between Hitler and Lord Rothermere, but if required, Hitler’s personal interpreter, Dr Paul Schmidt, was on hand. Sadly, his memoirs contain no reference to this visit to the Berghof.

  In the afternoon, Hitler took Rothermere for a walk. These walks were always downhill, to a place where a car would be waiting to drive the Führer and his companions back up again. Hitler was not athletic and disliked physical exertion of any kind. During his walks the whole area was sealed off.

  As later records reveal, the two men chiefly discussed the possibility of a German alliance with Britain. Lord Rothermere was of the same opinion as his fellow press tycoon, Lord Beaverbrook, owner of the Daily Express among other papers. Both believed that there must never be another war between Britain and Germany. Hitler pretended to be satisfied with existin
g conditions but went on rearming. The second topic was the threat of international communism. And the third subject they broached was the ‘Jewish Question’. Once again Rothermere found himself in the role of a silent listener. Hitler’s monologue ended with the claim that the anti-Nazi campaign in Britain ‘is being backed by Winston Churchill, on behalf of his Jewish paymasters. Just as they did in Germany before we took power, it is the Jews who control the press in Britain too.’

  Much is revealed in Goebbels’ diary entry for 7 January 1937:

  Lord Rothermere and Princess Hohenlohe are here. Very small party for lunch. Rothermere pays me great compliments. Enquires in detail about German press policy. Strongly anti-Jewish. The Princess is very pushy. After lunch we retire for a chat. Question of Spain comes up. Führer won’t tolerate a hotbed of communism in Europe any longer. Is ready to prevent any more [pro-Republican] volunteers from going there. His proposal on controls seems to astonish Rothermere. German prestige is thus restored. Franco will win anyway … Rothermere believes Brit[ish] government also pro-Franco.

  After the evening meal the film ‘Stosstrupp [Shock-Troops] 1917’ was shown. Everyone was deeply moved, especially Lord Rothermere, who had lost two of his sons, Harold and Vere, in the First World War. The princess wept.

  At that time Stephanie felt very happy in Hitler’s company, since he declared himself fascinated by her and permitted himself to show little gestures of tenderness. As she never tired of relating subsequently, Hitler stroked her hair and once even gave her an intimate pinch on the cheek. To someone who believed she was a connoisseur of men, this was proof that Hitler did not have homosexual tendencies, as was rumoured, but in fact was ‘utterly normal’.

  In her private jottings we find the remark: ‘Eva Braun in the house’. She knew about Hitler’s mistress. Once again, Eva Braun had to suffer the humiliation of not being invited to join these guests for meals. Stephanie was sorry for Eva who, as she herself had experienced, was only allowed to enter the Reich Chancellery in Berlin by the tradesmen’s entrance.

  After the ‘chat’, Goebbels had another conversation with Hitler. They agreed that in certain circumstances Rothermere could be of very valuable service to the German Reich. He must therefore be well treated, not least in the eyes of the 7 million readers of his newspapers. The Propaganda Minister later confessed his expectations: ‘Rothermere writes good and useful articles in favour of an Anglo-German alliance. He is a strong supporter of the Führer. Refers to the days he spent on the Obersalzberg. So they did do some good. But how far we still are from his goal!’

  Very little about the two-day visit by the illustrious guests to the Obersalzberg was allowed to filter through to the general public. After consulting Hitler, Goebbels had issued express instructions to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Propaganda and National Enlightenment that no written reports were to be released, only photographs.

  Later, Stephanie was delighted to receive from Hitler a signed photograph in a silver frame and with the dedication: ‘In memory of a visit to Berchtesgaden’. The photo is the only one that shows the princess in the company of the Führer, unusually wearing a lounge suit, and the other guests at the Berghof.

  Before her return to London, while she was still staying at Munich’s Vier Jahreszeiten hotel, Adolf Hitler also sent her a further token of his special friendship – a large bunch of roses as well as a sheepdog puppy, which she immediately christened Wolf, after Hitler’s favourite Alsatian.

  Back in London, Stephanie wrote him an extravagant four-page letter of thanks:

  14, Bryanston Square

  London

  12.1.37

  My very dear Reich Chancellor,

  Our goodbyes were so hurried and surrounded by so many people, that I hardly had time to thank you properly for your hospitality.

  You are a charming host – not to mention your beautiful and excellently run home in that magnificent setting – which all leave me with a wonderful and lasting impression. It is no empty phrase when I say, Herr Reich Chancellor, that I enjoyed every minute of my stay with you.

  ‘My’ dog visited me in Munich; he is very – very handsome. The man who brought him felt it would not be a good idea to take him with me straight away, without letting him first get used to me. As I am very selfish and want him to be really ‘my’ dog – I immediately agreed to this and would now like to ask if it might be possible to keep the dog where he is – and then take him over later when I go to Austria?

  Your gift of the dog has given me great pleasure, not only because I love dogs – but also because, to me, dogs symbolise loyalty and friendship – which in this instance pleases me all the more.

  What a shame that you are no ordinary mortal, to whom one can say – I hope we meet again soon…!

  Once again, many thanks for the two wonderful days.

  In sincere friendship

  Stephanie Hohenlohe

  Hitler asked his adjutant, Fritz Wiedemann, to reply to Stephanie, now at the Igls Golf Hotel near Innsbruck, to say that the dog could stay in Munich for the time being. The princess never did pick up the animal. Wiedemann went on to thank her personally, and very warmly, for the two gifts sent to him from Paris labelled ‘Samples: no commercial value’ and signed off with a ‘Heil Hitler’. We have no clue as to what handsome gift the princess had sent to the adjutant. Wiedemann and ‘Her Highness’ had known each other at least since the Reich Party Rally of 1935.

  Princess Stephanie’s son, Prince Franz, writes in his biography of his mother that it was during her 1937 visit to the Obersalzberg that she made friends with Hitler’s adjutant, a ‘very cultivated, well brought-up man with considerable charm’.

  However, we may suppose that on her frequent visits to the Reich Chancellery as a courier, she saw Wiedemann time and again. What is more, in November 1936, Fritz Wiedemann turned up at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin to see Princess Stephanie, on the pretext that he wanted to hand over in person a photograph and a letter from Hitler for Lord Rothermere.

  Wiedemann asked ‘Your Highness’ – initially he wrote to the Princess in English – whether she could personally take the letter to Lord Rothermere; he also asked her to let him know where she could be reached. He went on to convey the Führer’s warmest good wishes and ended: ‘I kiss your hand as your very devoted Wiedemann.’

  It was on this occasion at the Adlon that the two became closer. When Stephanie von Hohenlohe and Fritz Wiedemann fell in love with each other, both were forty-five years old. Wiedemann had been married for eighteen years to the kind and good-natured Anna-Luise, known as ‘Gueggi’, the daughter of a wealthy Zürich silk manufacturer, and they had three children.

  The Führer’s adjutant simply oozed charm and missed no opportunity to pay court to a beautiful woman. The daughter of the American ambassador in Berlin at that time, Martha Dodd, who attended many parties given by the top Nazis, gushed about the ‘eroticism’ exuded by this ‘strong-man’ in Hitler’s closest circle. The young American woman saw him as: ‘Tall, dark, muscular, he certainly had great physical brawn and the appearance of bravery … Wiedemann’s heavy face, with beetling eyebrows, friendly eyes and an extremely low forehead, was rather attractive … But I got the impression of an uncultivated, primitive mind, with the shrewdness and cunning of an animal, and completely without delicacy or subtlety.’7

  She went on: ‘Certainly Wiedemann was a dangerous man to cross, for despite his social naiveté and beguiling clumsiness, he was as ruthless a fighter and schemer as some of his compatriots.’8 Sadly, the princess has not left any record of her impression of Fritz Wiedemann, except to comment on his unattractive ‘Prussian haircut’.

  The six-foot tall Friedrich Wiedemann was born in Augsburg on 16 August 1891, took his school-leaving examination there and immediately embarked on a military career. Wiedemann and Adolf Hitler had known each other since the First World War, when they served together in the 16th Reserve Infantry Regiment, Wiedemann as a staff adjutant, Hi
tler as a messenger. In fact Wiedemann was Hitler’s immediate superior. On 20 December 1918, a few weeks after the German surrender, Wiedemann was transferred to the 3rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment in Augsburg. On 19 June 1919 he was discharged from the army as a redundant officer, with the rank of ‘acting captain’; on 18 December of that year he was retrospectively promoted to full captain, backdated to 18 October 1918.

  Starting in July 1919 he became a small farmer with 20 acres in the Allgäu region of south-western Bavaria; then in 1921 he moved to Fuchsgrub in Lower Bavaria. It was there, in 1932, that he and some others set up the ‘Pfarrkirchen Central Dairy’, though the business soon ran into trouble with the Nazi authorities for giving short measure on its butter deliveries.

  In 1933, when things were going badly for Wiedemann financially, he asked two old army friends, Bruno Horn and Max Amann, now a Nazi newspaper owner, to put in a word for him with Hitler and see whether he could be made an officer in the Reichswehr, the regular army of the Weimar Republic.

  Before Christmas that year he had a meeting with Hitler at the Brown House in Munich, where the Führer offered him a post as his personal adjutant. So it was that on 1 February 1934 Wiedemann started work, initially for an induction period, on the staff of Rudolf Hess, the Deputy Führer. A month later, Hess’ secretary, Martin Bormann, summoned Wiedemann, who was not then a member of the Nazi Party; Bormann offered him a starting salary of 400 Reichsmarks per month and accepted him as a party member, with a membership number somewhere above 3,600,000.

  From the Brown House, the headquarters of the Nazi Party, Wiedemann went, on 2 January 1935, to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, as Personal Adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Hitler continued to address Wiedemann by his military rank, as ‘Captain’, though there could be no doubt about which of them was the senior now. And Wiedemann recalled that this was the same man he had once ordered to give the canteen a coat of paint in France. In his memoirs he commented: ‘It was certainly not the first time in world history that a man of humble and obscure origins … was driven to achieve things of which no-one would have thought him capable.’ However, the welcome Wiedemann received in Berlin was less than cordial, especially from those who saw their own influence threatened by his closeness to Hitler.