ON THIS DAY: 16 JANUARY 1945: Adolf Hitler moved into the 'Fuhrerbunker.

ON THIS DAY: 16 JANUARY 1945: Adolf Hitler moved into the 'Fuhrerbunker.


Adolf Hitler moved into the 'Fuhrerbunker': a subterranean complex located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

 Constructed in two phases between 1936-44, it was the last of the Fuhrer Headquarters used by Hitler during WWII. 

Once Hitler moved into the bunker it became the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of the war.

 It consisted of approximately 30 small rooms protected by four metres (13 ft) of concrete along with a concrete roof that was three metres (9.8 ft) thick. 

Hitler's own accommodation was decorated with high-quality furniture taken from the Reich Chancellery and several framed oil portraits, including one of Frederick the Great.

 Other chambers included a conference-map room, kitchen and wine store, telephone switchboard and a suite for the Goebbels family. 

Because the bunker was below the water table, conditions were unpleasantly damp with pumps continuously removing groundwater. 

A diesel generator provided electricity and well water was pumped in.

 Although there was an army radio set, as conditions deteriorated Hitler ironically received much of his war news from BBC radio broadcasts. 

Significant events took place within the bunker as the Nazi regime collapsed. 

Hitler spent much of his time in denial about the military situation and repeatedly berated and blamed his generals.

 He married Eva Braun on the night of 28-29 April and the couple committed suicide on 30 April.

 Their bodies were burned in the Reich Chancellery garden on Hitler's instructions.

Joseph Goebbels then headed the Nazi government but he and his wife Magda poisoned their children before they shot themselves on 1 May. 

Surviving bunker staff broke out before the bunker was captured by Soviet forces. 

The ruins of the bunker were subsequently levelled by the Soviet and East German authorities over a series of decades. 

It's location is now marked by an information board although the complex has become famous as the last stand of an infamous tyranny.

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