| On the Bückeberg, a 160 meter (520 foot) ridge 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of the city of Hameln. From 1933 to 1937, the Reichserntenankfeste (“Reich Harvest Festival”) was held the 1st Sunday after Michaelistag (“Saint Michel’s Day”, September 29). Reichserntenankfeste was a major Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP – “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”) event. Traditionally it was the 3rd largest Nazi rally, after the annual Reichsparteitag (“Reich Party Day”) Nuremberg Rallies and the May Day (May 1) celebrations. Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda (“Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) commissioned architect Albert Speer (March 19. 1905 – September 1, 1981) to create a rural gathering space for the Nazi Party to hold Reichserntenankfeste. He selected the Bückeberg because of its historic past, its proximity to rail connections, and the gentle slope gave an unobstructed view of the speakers’ stand. Plus Bückeberg was in the public domain, so the cost was minimized. Workers from the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD – “Reich Labor Service”) planed the grounds, ran speaker wire and hung lights, and built a power generating station. This view looks down the Führerweg (“Führer’s Way” or “Middleway”), the passage through which Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) at Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) would walk to the speakers’ stand, encountering millions of admirers. Photographer Hugo Jaeger caught some of the 1 and quarter 1,000,000 participants in the 1937 Reichserntenankfeste. Hitler arrived at the Hotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg on October 1, 1937, shortly after seeing Italian Duce and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) in Berlin. After a visit to Düsseldorf on Saturday, October 2, Hitler arrived at the Bückeberg at 1200 Hours on October 3. By 1855 Hours, he was driven to Kaiserpfalz to review the Grand Tattoo of the Wehrmacht from the terrace. He returned to Berlin overnight by his special train. Hugo Jaeger (January 18, 1900 – January 1, 1970), a photographer, worked for Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reich Chancellor”) Adolf Hitler’s (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann (September 12, 1885 – December 16, 1957), from 1936 to 1945. This gave him direct access to the Führer and his entourage. He was a pioneer of color photography, working with Agfa film and developing chemicals. After the war, he managed to hide around 2,000 negatives near Munich, which he sold to LIFE magazine in the 1960s. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0826.jpg |
| Image Size | 450.98 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2008 x 1344 |
| Photographer | Hugo Jaeger |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 3, 1937 |
| Location | Konzentrationslager Buchenwald |
| City | Weimar |
| State or Province | Thuringia |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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