The Alpine cottage that would eventually be known as Haus Wachenfeld was first occupied in 1861 by Michael and Elisabeth Renoth. The property changed hands twice between 1891 and 1922. On 8 March 1922 the house was bought by Frau Margarete Winter-Wachenfeld, a merchant’s widow from Buxtehude near Hamburg. Frau Winter’s maiden name had been Wachenfeld; thus the property was named Haus Wachenfeld. Constructed in traditional Alpine style, this humble cottage would later achieve notoriety as the country home of none other, than Adolf Hitler. However, in order to fully appreciate the importance of Haus Wachenfeld (later known as the Berghof) and the role this beautiful mountainous region would play in the life of Adolf Hitler, we must go back to that point in time when Hitler first came to the area. Hitler visited Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg for the first time in April 1923. He came to see his old friend and mentor Dietrich Eckart. Eckart, as editor of Auf gut Deutsch! (In Good German!), an anti-Semitic periodical, was wanted for questioning regarding the anti-Semitic nature of his writing. Eckart had selected the Obersalzberg as a hiding-place in his efforts to avoid arrest. At that time Eckart was using the alias Dr Hoffmann, in an attempt to keep his whereabouts secret from the authorities. Hitler, for his part, and in an effort not to lead the police to Eckart, came to the area using the name Herr Wolf.
At the end of his visit, Hitler was, in his own words, ‘completely captivated’ by the region. Back in Munich and later that year, Hitler and the other Nazi leaders found themselves charged with high treason as a result of their unsuccessful attempt to seize power, (known as the Munich Beer-Hall ‘Putsch’ (Revolt)) on 9 November 1923. The authorities, having successfully suppressed the ‘revolt’ arrested Hitler two days later on 11 November. Hitler was discovered at the family home of his friend, Ernst ‘Putzi’ Hanfstaengl at Uffing near the Staffelsee, some seventy kilometres (forty-five miles) southeast of the Bavarian capital where he was found recovering from injuries sustained during the uprising. The would-be Führer (Leader) was held in Landsberg Prison until trials began the following year.
Adolf Hitler was charged with high treason. Should he be found guilty the maximum penalty for high treason at that time was the death penalty, failing that, life imprisonment. Amid much public interest trials began in Munich on 26 February 1924. Of the accused, Adolf Hitler would emerge the dominant figure. Franz Gürtner, Bavarian Minister of Justice personally saw to it that the judiciary was lenient during the Hitler trails. Gürtner, a member of the Deutschnationalepartei (German Nationalist Party) was a supporter of right-wing extremist politics. It was thanks to Gürtner’s influence and protection and the fact that all five judges had been selected for their sympathetic leanings towards the Nazi cause, that Hitler was permitted to speak in his own defence, interrupt proceedings at will, and to cross-examine witnesses at length. While going against all normal legal procedure, this highly irregular activity was nonetheless permitted by the presiding judge, Georg Neithardt. Hitler seized upon the interest of both the national and international press covering the event. His lengthy statements were printed verbatim in daily newspapers, not only in Germany, but around the world.