Führerbunker
The Reich Chancellery bunker was initially constructed as a temporary air-raid shelter for Adolf Hitler, who actually spent very little time in the capital during most of the war. Increased bombing of Berlin led to expansion of the complex as an improvised permanent shelter. The elaborate complex consisted of two separate shelters, the Vorbunker completed in 1936, and the Führerbunker located lower than the Vorbunker and to the west-southwest, completed in 1944. They were connected by a stairway set at right angles and could be closed off from each other by a bulkhead and steel door. The Vorbunker was located beneath the cellar of a large reception hall behind the old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstrasse 77. The Führerbunker was located about 20 meters below ground beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery, north of the new Reich Chancellery building at Voßstraße 6. Besides being deeper under ground, the Führerbunker had significantly more reinforcement. Its roof was made of concrete almost three meters thick. About 30 small rooms were protected by approximately 50 centimeters of concrete; exits led into the main buildings, as well as an emergency exit up to the garden. The development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive programme of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940. The construction cost for the Führerbunker totaled 1,349,899.29 Reichsmarks.
Hitler moved into the Führerbunker on the 16th of January 1945. His senior staff, including Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels, as well as Braun, joined them in April, while Magda Goebbels and their six children took residence in the upper Vorbunker. Two or three dozen support, medical, and administrative staff were also sheltered there. These included Hitler's secretaries including Traudl Junge, a nurse named Erna Flegel, and Sergeant Rochus Misch who was both bodyguard and telephone switchboard operator. Initially, Hitler continued to use the undamaged wing of the Reich Chancellery where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study. Afterwards, he would have tea with his secretaries before returning to the bunker complex for the night. After several weeks of this routine, Hitler seldom left the bunker except for short strolls in the chancellery garden with his dog Blondi. The bunker was crowded, the atmosphere was oppressive, and air raids occurred daily. Hitler mostly stayed on the lower level where it was quieter and he could sleep. Conferences took place for much of the night often until 05:00. The bunker complex was self-contained. However, as the Führerbunker was below the water table conditions were unpleasantly damp with pumps running continuously to remove groundwater. A diesel generator provided electricity and well water was pumped in as the water supply. Communications systems included a telex, a telephone switchboard, and an army radio set with an outdoor antenna.
On the 16th of April, the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin and they started to encircle the city by the 19th of April. Hitler made his last trip to the surface on the 20th of April his 56th birthday going to the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery where he awarded the Iron Cross to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth. That afternoon Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time. Hitler was in denial about the dire situation and placed his hopes on the units commanded by Waffen-SS General Felix Steiner the Armeeabteilung Steiner. On the 21st of April Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the encircling Soviet salient and ordered the German Ninth Army south-east of Berlin to attack northward in a pincer attack. That evening Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler was told at his afternoon situation conference on the 22nd of April that Steiner's forces had not moved and he fell into a tearful rage when he realised that the attack was not going to be carried out. He openly declared for the first time the war was lost and he blamed his generals. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself. On the 23rd of April Hitler appointed General of the Artillery Helmuth Weidling commander of the LVI Panzer Corps as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area replacing Lieutenant Colonel Ernst Kaether. The Red Army had consolidated their investment of Berlin by the 25th of April despite the commands being issued from the Führerbunker.
Hitler married Eva Braun after midnight on 28, the 29th of April in a small civil ceremony within the Führerbunker. He then took secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. Hans Krebs Wilhelm Burgdorf Goebbels and Bormann witnessed and signed the documents at approximately 04:00. Hitler then retired to bed. Late in the evening of the 29th of April Krebs contacted Jodl by radio requesting immediate report on the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. In the early morning of the 30th of April Jodl replied that Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke commander of the centre government district of Berlin informed Hitler during the morning of the 30th of April that he would be able to hold for less than two days. Later that morning Weidling informed Hitler that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition that night and again asked him for permission to break out. Weidling finally received permission at about 13:00. Hitler shot himself later that afternoon at around 15:30 while Eva took cyanide. In accordance with Hitler's instructions his and Eva's lifeless bodies were wrapped in blankets carried outside and burned. Goebbels became the new Head of Government and Chancellor of Germany Reichskanzler in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament. Reichskanzler Goebbels and Bormann sent a radio message to Dönitz at 03:15 informing him of Hitler's death.
The first post-war photos of the interior of the Führerbunker were taken in July 1945. On the 4th of July American writer James P. O'Donnell toured the bunker after giving the Soviet guard a pack of cigarettes. Many soldiers politicians and diplomats visited the bunker complex in the following days and months. Winston Churchill visited the Chancellery and bunker on the 14th of July 1945. That month Life photojournalist William Vandivert photographed the bunker. During separate investigations by the Western allies a bloodstain was noted on Hitler's bed frame. According to historian Mark Felton a British officer surmised that Hitler could have been shot in bed with a less bloody death occurring on the sofa. On the 11th of December 1945 the Soviet Union allowed a limited investigation of the bunker grounds by the other Allied powers. Two representatives from each nation watched several Germans dig up soil including the site where Hitler's remains had allegedly been exhumed that May. The representatives planned to continue the work but when they arrived the next morning an NKVD armed guard met them and accused them of removing documents from the Chancellery. This was denied and no further outside probes were allowed for years.
As part of a disinformation campaign the Soviets alleged that Hitler escaped or died by poison while maintaining secrecy about their investigation. In May 1946 the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs tasked forensicist Piotr Semenovsky with investigating the scene although it had by then already been contaminated by numerous individuals. In the bunker study Semenovsky observed blood stains on the sofa and possibly traces of blood on the wall. He also found blood in some corridors and spurts of blood on the upper walls of the stairwell leading to the emergency exit. The outer ruins of both Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets between 1945 and 1949 as part of an effort to destroy the landmarks of Nazi Germany. A detailed interior site investigation by the Soviets including measurements took place on the 16th of May 1946. Thereafter the bunker largely survived although some areas were partially flooded. In December 1947 the Soviets tried to blow up the bunker but only the separation walls were damaged. In 1959 the East German government began a series of demolitions of the Chancellery including the bunker. Because it was near the Berlin Wall the site was undeveloped and neglected until 1988, 89.
During extensive construction of residential housing and other buildings on the site work crews uncovered several underground sections of the old bunker complex for the most part these were destroyed. Other parts of the Chancellery underground complex were uncovered but were filled in resealed or ignored. Government authorities wanted to destroy the last vestiges of these Nazi landmarks. The construction of the buildings in the area around the Führerbunker was a strategy for ensuring the surroundings remained anonymous and unremarkable. The emergency exit point for the Führerbunker which had been in the Chancellery gardens was occupied by a car park. On the 8th of June 2006 during the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup a single information board was installed to mark the location of the Führerbunker. The board including a schematic diagram of the bunker can be found at the corner of In den Ministergärten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Straße two small streets about three minutes' walk from Potsdamer Platz. The board was designed to present a mundane historical record rather than a memorial. Rochus Misch one of the last people living who was in the bunker at the time of Hitler's suicide attended the ceremony. In 2025 blood from the sofa in Hitler's study was used by Turi King of the University of Bath for DNA analysis. The blood was confirmed to be Hitler's by comparing it to a relative's DNA.
Common questions
When was the Führerbunker completed?
The Führerbunker was completed in 1944. It was located lower than the Vorbunker and to the west-southwest of the Reich Chancellery.
Who lived inside the Führerbunker during the final days of World War II?
Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Martin Bormann, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels, their six children, and various support staff including Traudl Junge and Rochus Misch resided there. The complex held about 30 small rooms for these individuals.
What date did Adolf Hitler die in the Führerbunker?
Hitler shot himself on the 30th of April 1945 at around 15:30. His body was wrapped in blankets and burned outside the bunker later that day.
How much did it cost to build the Führerbunker?
The construction cost for the Führerbunker totaled 1,349,899.29 Reichsmarks. The Hochtief company built the facility as part of an extensive programme of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940.
When were the first post-war photos taken of the interior of the Führerbunker?
The first post-war photos of the interior were taken in July 1945. American writer James P. O'Donnell toured the bunker on the 4th of July 1945 after giving a Soviet guard cigarettes.