There’s not huge amount of interesting information on the East Wing that I can think of so let’s walk right past it and I’ll update this section if anything comes to light.
I’ve included this post-battle photo (courtesy Feldgrau) because it again shows that distinctly unDeutsch kink in Voss-Strasse.
Here’s a nice shot of the East Wing. See if you notice anything:
I guarantee that you didn’t realise that the picture above is a pencil drawing. It was a page from a book published to celebrate the opening of the NRK. The book includes a collection of really excellent drawings, some of which I’ll include later. In the meantime, here’s another couple of photos. The first photo with the East Wing in the background, IMO, backs up my theory that the street was much wider pre-war :
… and here it is six years later under new management (note the four plaques fixed to the wall behind the columns):
The East Wing did abut the Borsig Palais, the building which we have encountered before: if you’ve been paying attention and have a good memory you may recall we touched on the assassination of Herbert von Bose in Post 10: Getting Around.
Like Erich Klausener who was murdered across the street at much the same time in the Transport Ministry, von Bose had underestimated his opponents. He and another bloke had prepared a dossier that they were going to give to Hindenburg and this was supposed to convince Hindenburg to mobilise the Reichwehr against the Nazis, specifically the SA. So far so good. On June 17th 1934, von Papen delivered his Marburg speech which was “intended to serve as a signal to all opposition forces in Germany to prepare to rise up against National Socialism” (Wikipedia). And it did offer a glimmer of hope as lots of people agreed that it was a jolly good speech. But as far as “rising up against National Socialism” goes , it is to me almost a definition of optimism. The Nazis had won power only five months before.
A glimmer of hope? Not to the Nazis. On June 30th 1934, the Night of the Long Knives / Fall Kolibri / Blood Purge / Rohm Putsch – take your pick, it’s all the same event – began. Actually, it was more like The Mid-Morning of the Long Knives because sometime after 10 am a number of SS and Gestapo individuals entered the building and shot von Bose in the back ten times.
For me, a subsequent event has a particular resonance. The SA leadership (post-Rohm and post-more-than-a-few-others) were ensconced in the Borsig Palais where Hitler could keep a close eye on them. Speer was detailed to remodel the building and when he turned up he saw a pool of von Bose’s blood on the floor:
“In one of the rooms I saw a large pool of dried blood on the floor. There, on June 30, Herbert von Bose, one of Papen’s assistants, had been shot. I looked away and from then on avoided the room. But the incident did not affect me any more deeply than that.” (Page 94 of my Australian 1970 edition of “Inside the Third Reich”)
The last sentence to me shows an answer to a question I get asked very often. How did people let it happen? I think for many of the people in high places who lived at that time, the answer is in this attitude: “I can do all right in this regime if I avert my eyes, keep my mouth shut and don’t ask questions…”
And the people who die get a plaque, read by tourists and unwilling children on compulsory school excursions:
It’s worth thinking about as you tuck into your spring rolls at the Peking Ente or as you pick up that fridge magnet that will make your neighbours back home in Bankstown green with envy, that you could very well be standing in, or close to, the very spot where one of these men breathed their last…
As I’ve mentioned before, I believe the Borsig Palais was situated pretty much where the Peking Ente is today, so now we’re back at the Wilhelmstrasse. Let’s turn left in the direction of Unter den Linden and walk towards An der Kolonnade . However, if we stop just past the Peking Ente we should be standing pretty much where the entrance to the Ehrenhof (Court of Honour) stood. Interestingly, for me at least, is the fact that there were traffic lights outside this entrance so that official vehicles could drive in. The vehicles drove in the left-hand entrance, drove clockwise, deposited their occupants and then were driven out the right-hand entrance. Having not seen any photographic evidence of them, I would suggest that the traffic lights may have been temporary (i.e. assembled when needed).
Let’s go in and have a quick look although if you really want a thorough look inside, Christoph Neubauer’s DVD is still the best bet.
vossstrassedotcom 