On June 3, 1944, just days before the Allied landings in Normandy, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun attended a wedding that became the last major social gathering for the Nazi elite. The bride was Gretl Braun, Eva’s sister, and the groom was SS officer Hermann Fegelein. The celebration lasted three days at Hitler’s mountain residence, the Berghof.
Hermann Fegelein was born on October 30, 1906, in Ansbach, then part of the German Empire. His father owned a riding school in Munich, where Fegelein became an accomplished rider and competed in jumping events. During this time, he met Christian Weber, an early Nazi Party member who influenced his political views.
In 1928, Fegelein joined the Bavarian State Police and trained as an officer cadet. His superiors saw him as ambitious but difficult to steer in a healthy direction. His police career ended abruptly in the summer of 1929 after he broke into a superior’s office to steal exam questions. Officially, it was reported that he resigned for family reasons.
Fegelein joined the Nazi Party and the SA, also known as the Brownshirts, in 1930. In April 1933, he switched to the SS, believing it would advance his career. He worked at his father’s riding institute, which also served as a meeting venue for the SS.
By the mid-1930s, Fegelein had taken over the administration of the riding institute. In November 1935, he helped prepare facilities for the equestrian events of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In July 1937, SS chief Heinrich Himmler appointed him commander of the SS main riding school in Munich.
Fegelein won the prestigious Brown Ribbon of Germany in 1938 and hoped to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics. Those plans ended when World War II began with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.
Fegelein commanded the Death’s Head horse regiment, which arrived in Poland after the campaign ended. The unit took part in Operation Intelligenz, a systematic effort to eliminate Poland’s intellectual and cultural leaders. Victims included teachers, priests, professors, and other influential figures.
In December 1939, Fegelein’s unit was involved in the mass shooting of 1,700 people in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw. Prisoners were taken by truck to the forest, stripped of their belongings, and led to pits where they were shot. Those still alive were shot in the head, and in some cases, the wounded were burned alive.
In April 1941, Fegelein faced court-martial charges for incidents from 1940. He and his unit had stolen money and luxury goods to send back to Germany. A search of the SS Cavalry School in Munich found a lorry, a six-cylinder Mercedes, clothes, furs, and other stolen goods.
Fegelein was also accused of murder motivated by greed, including ordering arrests and executions at the Gestapo prison in Warsaw. He was charged with having an unlawful relationship with a Polish woman, who became pregnant. When the pregnancy was discovered, Fegelein reportedly forced her to have an abortion.
Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Gestapo, tried to investigate the charges, but Himmler intervened each time. Fegelein convinced Himmler he was being unfairly targeted and became known as Himmler’s “Golden Boy.”
In April 1940, Fegelein’s unit executed 250 Polish men. Despite his reports claiming his troops acted cleanly, there were many incidents of killing and robbing civilians without orders.
Fegelein took part in the Battle of France in May 1940 and was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. In June 1941, he participated in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
One month after the invasion, Himmler assigned Fegelein’s regiments to operations in the Pripet Marshes, an area in present-day Belarus and Ukraine. The operation targeted Jews, suspected partisans, and others deemed undesirable.
In August 1941, Himmler ordered that all male Jews over age 14 be executed. Women and children were to be driven into the swamps and drowned, but the water was too shallow, so they were shot instead. Fegelein’s final report stated his unit killed around 16,000 people. His unit lost 17 dead, 36 wounded, and three missing.
In February 1942, Fegelein led an assault near Cherino in western Russia, encircling and destroying enemy forces and killing 1,800 Red Army soldiers. From May to July 1943, his division was involved in anti-partisan operations that led to thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of deportations, and the destruction of hundreds of villages.
In September 1943, Fegelein was severely wounded and spent weeks in the hospital. After recovering, Himmler assigned him to Hitler’s headquarters staff as a liaison officer and SS representative.
Fegelein was known for his charisma and extroverted personality, especially around women. He often joined the drinking sessions of Nazi elites and said the only things that mattered to him were his career and a life full of fun.
Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect, described Fegelein as one of the most repulsive people in Hitler’s inner circle. Another officer, Baron von Loringhoven, saw him as a vulgar social climber with poor manners.
Fegelein was known as a playboy, flirting with women and engaging in numerous affairs. Eva Braun appreciated having someone from Hitler’s inner circle with whom she could dance and flirt. Rumors circulated that Fegelein may have had an affair with Eva, but he ultimately proposed to her younger sister, Gretl.
The wedding took place on June 3, 1944, at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg. Hitler, Himmler, and Martin Bormann served as witnesses. The reception at the Berghof lasted three days.
The celebration was interrupted on June 6, 1944, when reports arrived of the Allied landings in Normandy.
During the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944, Fegelein was at the Wolf’s Lair headquarters in East Prussia. He sustained a minor wound to his left thigh from the bomb explosion.
By early 1945, Nazi Germany was collapsing. Soviet forces launched the Battle of Berlin in mid-April, and by April 27, the city was completely surrounded.
On April 27, Hitler sent some of his Gestapo bodyguards to track down Fegelein, who had abandoned his post. Fegelein was found drunk in his Berlin apartment, wearing civilian clothes and preparing to flee to Sweden or Switzerland. He carried cash, jewelry, and a briefcase containing documents that hinted at attempted peace negotiations with the Allies.
Fegelein was dragged back to the Führerbunker, still intoxicated, and held in a makeshift cell. On the evening of April 28, Hitler learned from a BBC broadcast that Himmler had attempted negotiations with the Western Allies.
Hitler ordered that Fegelein be stripped of all ranks and commanded a court-martial. According to journalist James P. O’Donnell, Fegelein was so drunk that he was crying, vomiting, and urinating on the floor. He refused to answer to Hitler, saying he would answer only to Himmler.
The proceedings were closed, and Fegelein was turned over to the security squad. On April 28, 1945, at age 38, he was taken to the garden of the Reich Chancellery and shot.
Eva Braun pleaded with Hitler to spare her brother-in-law, arguing that her sister was in the late stages of pregnancy. Hitler was unwavering, viewing Fegelein’s actions as deceit and treachery.
On April 29, 1945, Hitler married Eva Braun. The following day, they both committed suicide.
Fegelein’s wife, Gretl, survived the war and gave birth to their daughter, Eva Barbara Fegelein, on May 5, 1945. The daughter committed suicide in April 1971 after her boyfriend died in a car accident. Gretl remarried and died at age 72 in 1987.