Having established themselves as the first pair of Nazi Germany, Emma and Göring flashed with nonchalant ease on the Berlin social scene, cherishing their shared love of ostentation. Göring could pose no worse than Emma and was famous for his bizarre costumes - he often received guests wearing toga and Turkish slippers. Outside of his residence, he wore multicolored and elaborate uniforms with medals that he willingly awarded to himself as the commander of the Luftwaffe, the German air force.
His wardrobe was an inexhaustible source of jokes for the Germans amused by these quirks, who tirelessly laughed at Göring's new outfits. These were rather good-natured than malicious jokes, as the grotesque vanity of the prime minister of Prussia made him seem more human and closer to the average German than other Nazi leaders. "Your Excellency," says Göring's adjutant. "A pipe burst at the Air Ministry!" Göring turns to his wife and exclaims, "Emmy, quick! Bring me my admiral uniform! ”
Living in the style of ancient emperors
A typical example of their ostentatious behavior was the party they hosted on Göring's forty-third birthday on January 12, 1936. Over two thousand guests donated fifty marks each - the money was donated to charity - to participate in the event at the Berlin State Opera. The symphony orchestra won waltzes and polished jazz melodies, champagne poured in streams, a lottery was conducted. The gifts include miniature marzipan tanks and machine guns, and a diamond-cut swastika brooch. Apparently, Magda excused herself with being sick, and Hitler, who did not want to be pushed to the background, stayed at home.
The article is an excerpt from the book Wives of the Nazis. Women who love James Wyllie's criminals, just released on the market by Agora Publishing House
The popular belief that the Göring were behaving like an imperial couple from antiquity was further strengthened by the fact that they decided to breed lions at home. Emmy borrowed cubs from the Berlin Zoo and returned them there as adult animals, treating the lions as harmless pets or children:
When we put the newly arrived lion cub in the bathtub for the first time, we were very scared. However, it soon knew that she would be bathed once a week and allowed herself to be soaped.
Emmy indulged in all this masquerade to hide the nasty truth about Göring's real work. Its turbocharged Luftwaffe underwent combat baptism during the Spanish Civil War, supporting Franco's nationalist forces, and razed the town of Guernica. Henriette Hoffmann, who married Baldur von Schirach, leader of the Hitler Youth in 1932
, very aptly captured the psychological mechanism of Emma's escape into the world of fantasy:
She would be pleased if [...] the uniforms were stage costumes, her palace a scenery, the sounds of war with the effects produced behind the scenes, and her wonderful gifts only with props. She always rejected reality.
Competition
Magda and Geobbels tried to keep pace with the Göring. Undoubtedly, most of the people who met Magda at countless parties, diplomatic evenings and official celebrations found her a charming creature. The notable exception was Bella Fromm, who stated that she had never seen a "woman with such cold eyes," full of "determination and unbridled ambition."
Emmy Sonnemann (first from left) at the opening gala of the German-Polish Institute in Berlin; next to them are seated successively:her fiancé Hermann Göring, the Polish ambassador in Berlin Józef Lipski, prince Karl-Eduard von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, Joseph Goebbels, 1935
However, whichever way she turned, Magda found Emma and her husband who left their mark on all events and ahead of their rivals at every turn. One of the most important dates on the social calendar was racing day. The Berlin racecourse was managed by the Union Club, founded in 1867, which had five hundred members paying regular fees.
The club grew rapidly under the Nazi rule. There were bigger stands, more horses, new facilities around the track, including a horse lounge and clinic, as well as a separate area for high-ranking clients like Magda and Emma, where they could eat, drink and bet freely. Goebbels tried to tie his name to the club with the annual fashion show there - and chose Bella Fromm to help. Göring easily outperformed him, offering the biggest ever cash prize for the winner of the Berlin Grand Prix - renamed the Grand Prix of the Third Reich Capital - the most important race of the year.
Fabulous wealth
However, no matter how much Goebbels and Magda tried to shine, they were always in a losing position due to Göring's enormous income. Only Hitler was richer than Göring. Most military experts believed that the air force would prove to be the decisive formation in the next major war, so the main beneficiary of Hitler's rearmament program was the Göring Luftwaffe. It was Göring who made decisions about the design and production of aircraft:he signed contracts and distributed the enormous funds that he received from the state and private investors. This allowed him to shamelessly siphon money from the Luftwaffe budget and accept bribes from the companies he contracted.
In 1936, Göring's empire grew - Hitler handed over the four-year plan to him. The aim of the program was to convert the economy to the needs of total war and to ensure Germany's self-sufficiency in the most important raw materials:iron ore, steel, crude oil and rubber. Hitler lost his patience with the economy minister who sluggish in the implementation of the arms program.
Adolf Hitler and Göring, 1940
By creating the four-year plan and handing it over to Göring - although he had neither the appropriate qualifications nor experience - Hitler deprived the minister of influence and promoted a man striving for war as stubbornly as himself. Once Göring took power over this huge conglomerate, he was given the opportunity to abuse on a large scale :German companies such as BMW and Bosch, Swedish Electrolux and Ericsson as well as American Standard Oil and General Motors came into his sphere of personal influence.
Though Goebbels was no less corrupt than Göring, his sources of income and wealth were incomparably more modest. The Goebbels had an official residence in the Ministry of Propaganda, a house in Berlin, and two lakeside properties not far from the city. The largest was the English-style house on Schwanenwerder Island, with a pony stable and a four-bedroom guest outhouse. The second residence, a bit smaller, but also stately - and paid for by the state - was in Lanke.
Göring and Emma, on the other hand, had three houses in Berlin, as well as the constantly expanding Carinhall and a large house in Obersalzberg. Göring had two more locks which he inherited from his godfather. Goebbels bought himself a sailboat, of which he was immensely proud - but Göring had two mighty yachts, the Carin I and the Carin II. On the other hand, the piece of forest that Goebbels acquired was no match for the hundred thousand acres surrounding Carinhall, where Göring hunted. Guests visiting both couples for better food - both in quantity and quality - could count on Emma and Göring on the table. The meals served at Goebbels were modest, so the guests often ate before the party.
Travels of the elite
Emmy and her husband had an even better vacation. Both couples often traveled abroad, combining business with pleasure - sometimes only for a few days, sometimes for longer. However, Goebbels traveled mostly alone, because Magda was often pregnant or recovering from the birth. She saw Rome and northern Italy several times, and went with her husband and several other couples on a ten-day trip to Greece in September 1936. After short stops in Budapest and Belgrade, the whole group flew to Athens, where they were greeted by cheering crowds and were also hosted by lunch. They then met the king and had a meeting with the prime minister, after which they had some time to explore. Goebbels admired the souvenirs of antiquity - the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the amphitheater in Delphi - but Magda, tired of the heat, did not have the strength to admire the monuments.
The article is an excerpt from the book Wives of the Nazis. Women who love James Wyllie's criminals, just released on the market by Agora Publishing House
Later, on a four-day boat trip around the various islands and their monuments, she suffered from seasickness.
Emmy, on the other hand, often and willingly went on cruises with her yachts, whether on the Rhine or the Adriatic. She also participated in state visits to potential allies. In the spring of 1939, she flew with Göring to Libya. They stayed at the summer residence of the fascist governor, Marshal Italo Balbo, who waged a brutal war against local insurgents to maintain Italian domination.
The day after their arrival there was a huge welcome party with "large illuminated fountains and Moorish guards" which made Emmy think of "the tales of the Book of the Thousand and One Nights." Other highlights of the trip were the military parade and the camel ride in the desert, which Emmy likened to "cruising through a stormy sea." The following year, they both visited the Balkans, where they were hosted by the royal families of Bulgaria and Serbia, and where they spent time in "a truly fairy-tale castle by the sea."
The article is an excerpt from the book Nazi Wives. Women who love James Wyllie's criminals, which has just been released on the market by Agora Publishing House