Who succeeded Hitler in April 1945 as Head of State and President of Germany?
"modest wedding breakfast with his new wife. Hitler then took secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. It left instructions to be carried out immediately following his death, with Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels assuming Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor respectively. He signed these documents at 04:00 and then went to bed (some sources say Hitler dictated the last will and testament immediately before the wedding, but all agree on the timing of the signing). On the afternoon of 29 April, Hitler learned that his ally, Benito Mussolini, had"
"under the jurisdiction of the German state at any one time. After the ""Machtergreifung"" of the Nazi Party in 1933, state power had been personified more and more within Reich Chancellor (""Reichskanzler"") Adolf Hitler, who upon the death of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934 simultaneously served as head of government and as head of state (styled ""Führer"" and ""Reichskanzler""). Furthermore, by the final months of the war, governmental functions at all levels within Nazi Germany had been assimilated into the apparatus of the Nazi Party. Following Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945, the successor regime appointed"
"Empire and the German Empire. The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, on 30 January 1933. The NSDAP then began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and Presidency. A national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer (leader) of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitler's"
"Joseph Goebbels as Head of Government with the title of ""Reichskanzler"" (Chancellor). Furthermore, Hitler expelled both Göring and Himmler from the party. Rather than designate one person to succeed him as ""Führer"", Hitler reverted to the old arrangement in the Weimar Constitution. He believed the leaders of the air force (""Luftwaffe"") and SS (""Schutzstaffel"") had betrayed him. Since the ""Kriegsmarine"" had been too small to affect the war in a major way, its commander, Dönitz, became the only possible successor as far as Hitler was concerned more or less by default. On 1 May, the day after Hitler's own suicide,"
"single list of Nazis and ""guest candidates"". Secret voting technically remained possible, but the Nazis made use of aggressive extralegal measures at the polling stations to intimidate the electors from attempting to vote in secret. Thousands of his decrees were based explicitly on the Reichstag Fire Decree, and hence on Article 48. In Hitler's 1945 political testament (written shortly before his suicide), he appointed Admiral Karl Dönitz to succeed him. However, he named Dönitz as President, not Führer, thereby re-establishing a constitutional office which had lain dormant since Hindenburg's death ten years earlier. On 30 April 1945, Dönitz formed what"
"was first established by the Weimar Constitution, which was drafted in the aftermath of World War I and the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1918. In Germany the new head of state was called the ""Reichspräsident"". Friedrich Ebert (SPD) served as Germany's first president, followed by Paul von Hindenburg. The office effectively came to an end upon Hindenburg's death in 1934 and its powers merged with those of chancellor. Adolf Hitler now ruled Germany as ""Führer und Reichskanzler"", combining his previous positions in party and government. The office, however, was not abolished and briefly revived at the end of"
"him his successor. He then appointed Karl Dönitz, the Navy's commander-in-chief, as president of the Reich and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide on 30 April 1945, a few hours after a hastily arranged wedding. Göring was freed on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit, and he made his way to the US lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than to the Soviets. He was taken into custody near Radstadt on 6 May by elements of the 36th Infantry Division of the US Army. This move likely saved Göring's life;"
"surrendered on 29 April. On 30 April, the Reichstag was captured, signalling the military defeat of Nazi Germany, Berlin garrison surrendered on 2 May. Several changes in leadership occurred during this period. On 12 April, President Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman. Benito Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on 28 April. Two days later, Hitler committed suicide in besieged Berlin, and he was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. Total and unconditional surrender was signed on 7 and 8 May, to be effective by the end of 8 May. German Army Group Centre resisted in Prague"
"On 1 May, the ""Reichssender Hamburg"" radio station interrupted their normal program to announce that Hitler had died that afternoon, and introduced his successor, President Karl Dönitz. Dönitz called upon the German people to mourn their Führer, who he stated had died a hero defending the capital of the Reich. Hoping to save the army and the nation by negotiating a partial surrender to the British and Americans, Dönitz authorized a fighting withdrawal to the west. His tactic was somewhat successful: it enabled about 1.8 million German soldiers to avoid capture by the Soviets, but it came at a high"
"to stand up; he even urinated on the floor. It was the opinion of the judges that he was in no condition to stand trial. Therefore, Mohnke closed the proceedings and turned Fegelein over to Rattenhuber and his security squad. On 29 April 1945, Burgdorf, Krebs, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed Hitler's last will and testament. After Hitler's suicide on 30 April 1945, Goebbels assumed Hitler's role as chancellor. On 1 May, Goebbels dictated a letter to Soviet Army General Vasily Chuikov, requesting a temporary ceasefire and ordered General Krebs to deliver it. Chuikov commanded the Soviet"
"Göring Telegram The Göring Telegram was a message sent by Adolf Hitler's designated successor—Hermann Göring—on 23 April 1945 asking for permission to assume leadership of the crumbling Third Reich. The telegram caused Hitler to strip his hand-picked successor of power and appoint new political successors, Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz. Hermann Göring had been the second most-powerful man in the Nazi Party for some time before Hitler came to power in 1933. During the early years of the Hitler regime, Göring continued to pile on titles at will, including President of the Reichstag, Minister-President and acting ""Reichsstatthalter"" (governor) of Prussia"
"naming Göring as his successor in the event of his death. To replace him, Hitler named ""Großadmiral"" Karl Dönitz as President of the Reich and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. ""Reichsführer-SS"" and Interior Minister Heinrich Himmler was also expelled from the party and sacked from all of his state offices for attempting to negotiate peace with the western Allies without Hitler's ""knowledge"" and against permission. Hitler declared both Himmler and Göring to be traitors. Hitler appointed the following as the new Cabinet and as leaders of the nation: Witnessed by Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, General Wilhelm Burgdorf, and General"
"breakout. During the afternoon, Hitler shot himself and Braun took cyanide. In accordance with Hitler's instructions, the bodies were burned in the garden of the Reich Chancellery. In accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Joseph Goebbels, the Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, became the new ""Head of Government"" and Chancellor of Germany (""Reichskanzler""). At 3:15 am, ""Reichskanzler"" Goebbels and Bormann sent a radio message to Admiral Karl Dönitz informing him of Hitler's death. Per Hitler's last wishes, Dönitz was appointed as the new ""President of Germany"" (""Reichspräsident""). Starting from 16:00 on 30 April, the 1st Battalion of the"
"of the Party. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz was appointed as the new ""Reichspräsident"" (president of Germany) and Goebbels became head of government and Chancellor of Germany. Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide later that day. On 2 May, the Battle in Berlin ended when General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, unconditionally surrendered the city to General Vasily Chuikov, the commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army. At around 11:00 pm on 1 May, Bormann left the ""Führerbunker"" with SS doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger, Hitler Youth leader Artur Axmann, and Hitler's pilot Hans Baur as"
"1945, at which the victorious Allied leaders (Harry S. Truman; Winston Churchill and his successor, Clement Attlee; and Joseph Stalin) met to decide the future of Germany and postwar Europe in general. The conference ended with the Potsdam Agreement and the Potsdam Declaration. The government of East Germany (formally known as the German Democratic Republic (German: ""Deutsche Demokratische Republik"", DDR)) tried to remove symbols of ""Prussian militarism"". Many historic buildings, some of them badly damaged in the war, were demolished. When in 1946 the remainder of the Province of Brandenburg west of the Oder-Neiße line was constituted as the state"
"appointment as Hitler's successor, Himmler's position became untenable, and Dönitz summoned him to Plön that night to tell him so. With Himmler and Göring standing accused of treasonable negotiation with the enemy, Hitler in his political testament had named Grand Admiral Dönitz his successor as Reich President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and designated Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels head of government as Reich Chancellor. Goebbels committed suicide in the Berlin ""Führerbunker"" on 1 May. The same day Dönitz accepted the offices of Supreme Commander and Head of State in separate broadcast addresses to the German armed forces, and"
"was adopted on 1 December 1933: It has to be noted that all references to the constitution and the office of Reichspräsident, then held by aging war hero Paul von Hindenburg, had already been removed. Instead, more emphasis was put on religion and patriotism. In August 1934, after Hindenburg died, Hitler merged the offices of Reichsprasident and Reichskanzler, and declared himself ""Führer and Reichskanzler"". War Minister Werner von Blomberg issued a new wording which became known as Führereid, the ""Hitler oath"": Now ""Volk and Fatherland"" had been superseded by the person of Hitler himself, who would be Führer and supreme"
"Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was a German politician, demagogue, and Pan-German revolutionary. He was leader of the Nazi Party (""Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei""; NSDAP), and rose to power in Germany as Chancellor in 1933 and Führer (""Leader"") in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland in September 1939. He closely supervised military operations during the war and by December 1941 had full control of all strategic decisions, especially on the Eastern Front. He was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust. Hitler"
"(""President of Germany"") and Joseph Goebbels as the new ""Reichskanzler"" (Chancellor of Germany). However, Goebbels committed suicide the following day, leaving Dönitz as the sole leader of Germany. German forces in Italy surrender: On 29 April, the day before Hitler died, Oberstleutnant Schweinitz and Sturmbannführer Wenner, plenipotentiaries for Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff and SS Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, signed a surrender document at Caserta after prolonged unauthorised secret negotiations with the Western Allies, which were viewed with great suspicion by the Soviet Union as trying to reach a separate peace. In the document, the Germans agreed to a ceasefire and surrender"
"his intercessor Chancellor Brüning and appointed Franz von Papen, a declared anti-democrat, his successor. Although Hitler lost the presidential election of 1932, he achieved his goals when he was appointed chancellor on 30 January 1933. On February 27, Hindenburg paved the way to dictatorship and war by issuing the Reichstag Fire Decree which nullified civil liberties. Hitler succeeded Hindenburg as head of state upon his death in 1934, whereafter he abolished the office entirely, and replaced it with the new position of ""Führer und Reichskanzler"" (""Leader and Reich Chancellor""), cementing his rule. The 1932 election was the second of only"
"during the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony on 19 July, primarily to make him as senior to the other Wehrmacht commanders made ""Generalfeldmarschall"" that day, and confirm his position as Hitler's designated successor. Nevertheless, in April 1945, when Göring suggested to Hitler that he assume leadership, Hitler relieved Göring of his duties and named a new successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. The appointment was made on or before the day of Hitler's suicide (30 April 1945), but notification by Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels was delayed until 1 May 1945. Reichsmarschall Reichsmarschall, Marshal of the Reich (literal translation: ""Empire"" or ""Realm""),"
"tried to seize power by entering into negotiations with Count Bernadotte. On 28 April 1945, the BBC reported Himmler had offered surrender to the western Allies and that the offer had been declined. From mid-April 1945, elements of the last Reich government and the Commander of the Navy, Admiral Karl Dönitz, moved into the buildings of the ""Stadtheide Barracks"" in Plön. In his last will and testament, dated 29 April 1945, Hitler named Dönitz his successor as ""Staatsoberhaupt"" (Head of State), with the titles of ""Reichspräsident"" (President) and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The same document named Propaganda Minister"
"was the senior submarine officer in the ""Kriegsmarine"". In January 1943, Dönitz achieved the rank of Großadmiral"" (grand admiral) and replaced Grand Admiral Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. On 30 April 1945, after the death of Adolf Hitler and in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Dönitz was named Hitler's successor as head of state, with the title of President of Germany and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. On 7 May 1945, he ordered Alfred Jodl, Chief of Operations Staff of the OKW, to sign the German instruments of surrender in Reims, France. Dönitz remained as"
"Hitler family The Hitler family comprises the relatives and ancestors of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (""Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei"", abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was dictator of Germany, holding the titles Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as ""Führer und Reichskanzler"" from 1934 to 1945. He is noted for his central role in the rise of fascism in Germany, provoking the start of World War II, and the death of millions"
"Office of the Reich"". This law stated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of president would be abolished and its powers merged with those of the chancellor. Hitler thus became head of state as well as head of government, and was formally named as ""Führer und Reichskanzler"" (leader and chancellor), although ""Reichskanzler"" was eventually quietly dropped. With this action, Hitler eliminated the last legal remedy by which he could be removed from office. As head of state, Hitler became commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Immediately after Hindenberg's death, at the instigation of the leadership of the ""Reichswehr"", the traditional loyalty"
"marriages after 1945 of Ilse and Gretl have been excluded. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Hitler family The Hitler family comprises the relatives and ancestors of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (""Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei"", abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was dictator of Germany, holding the titles Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as ""Führer und Reichskanzler"" from 1934 to 1945. He is noted for his central role in the rise"
"on the roof above Berlin"". During the early hours of 30 April, Weidling informed Hitler in person that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition during the night. Hitler gave him the permission to attempt a breakout through the encircling Red Army lines. That afternoon, Hitler and Braun committed suicide and their bodies were cremated not far from the bunker. In accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Admiral Karl Dönitz became the ""President of Germany"" (""Reichspräsident"") in the new Flensburg government, and Joseph Goebbels became the new Chancellor of Germany (""Reichskanzler""). As the perimeter shrank and the surviving defenders"
"forces in the south and west, and under Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at Plön for forces in the north and east; but then Hitler had stalled on transferring executive military authority to them. On 27 April Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl, of the Army High Command, met at Rheinsburg with Karl Dönitz and Heinrich Himmler to discuss the war situation now that the fall of Berlin could not be averted. Himmler took the chair as the acknowledged deputy Führer; and, since the disgrace and dismissal of Hermann Göring, Hitler's expected successor. As they were leaving Rheinsberg on 28 April, Himmler"
"Through successive ""Reichsstatthalter"" decrees, Germany's states were effectively replaced by Nazi provinces called ""Gaue"". After June 1941 as World War II progressed, Hitler became preoccupied with military matters and spent most of his time at his military headquarters on the eastern front. This led Hitler to rely more and more on Bormann to handle the domestic policies of the country. On 12 April 1943, Hitler officially appointed Bormann as Personal Secretary to the Führer. By this time Bormann had de facto control over all domestic matters, and this new appointment gave him the power to act in an official capacity"
"his new government, but nor could he afford to alienate the SS who remained armed and powerful. He tacitly set Hitler's instructions aside and continued to see Himmler on a daily basis without according him any formal appointment. It was only on 6 May 1945, while final negotiations were in prospect for a capitulation to U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the west, that Dönitz dismissed Himmler from all his posts, and appointed Stuckart in his place. Dönitz had hoped to be able to appoint Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as Commander in Chief of the Army and Chief of"
"him as his successor and deputy in all his offices. As the Second World War progressed, Göring's standing with Hitler and with the German public declined after the Luftwaffe proved incapable of preventing the Allied bombing of Germany's cities and resupplying surrounded German forces in Stalingrad. Around that time, Göring increasingly withdrew from the military and political scene to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of which was taken from Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Informed on 22 April 1945 that Hitler intended to commit suicide, Göring sent a telegram to Hitler requesting permission to assume control"
"Berlin, the crumbling Nazi capital, even as the city was encircled and trapped by the Soviets and the Battle of Berlin raged. On April 30, Adolf Hitler, with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, committed suicide in his bunker to avoid capture by Soviet troops. In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as the new German leader. But Germany lasted only 7 days longer under the ""Flensburg government"" of Dönitz. He surrendered unconditionally to the Americans, British, and Soviets on May 8, 1945. In late July and August 1945 the Potsdam Conference finally disbanded"
"ruin. Hanke's fanaticism and unconditional obedience to Hitler's orders impressed Hitler, who in his political testament appointed him to be the last ""Reichsführer-SS"" and Chief of the German Police, replacing Heinrich Himmler on 29 April 1945. Eight days before, Hanke had been honored with the Nazi Party's highest decoration, the German Order, a reward for his defence of Breslau against the advancing Soviet Red Army. Hanke's ascendancy to the rank of ""Reichsführer-SS"" was a result of Hitler proclaiming Himmler a traitor for his secretly attempted surrender negotiations with the Western Allies. Hitler stripped Himmler of all his offices and ranks"