Carinhall was the country residence of

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

, built in the 1930s on a large hunting estate north-east of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in the Schorfheide Forest, in the south of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, between the lakes of Großdöllner See and Wuckersee.

History

Named in honour of his Swedish first wife, Carin Göring (1888–1931), the residence was constructed in stages from 1933 on a large scale. In June 1933, Göring commissioned the architect Werner March to build a Swedish-style hunting lodge. Carin Göring's remains had first been interred in Sweden following her death, but were moved to Carinhall in 1934 and placed in a crypt on the grounds. On 10 April 1935, Carinhall was the venue for Göring's wedding banquet with his second wife, Emmy Sonnemann. Carinhall became the destination for many of Göring's looted art treasures from across

occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

Emmyhall

The ''Reichsjägerhof'', Göring's smaller hunting lodge at Rominten in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(now Krasnolesye), in the Rominten Heath, was known as "Emmyhall" after his second wife.

Fate

To prevent Carinhall from falling into the hands of the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, the compound was blown up on 28 April 1945 at Göring's orders by a

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

demolition squad. Many of the art treasures were evacuated beforehand to

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

, but many also remained behind, some hidden in bunkers or buried in the gardens, where they were discovered, looted, and vandalized by Soviet soldiers and local residents. Only the monumental entrance gates, a few foundation structures, and decorative stones remain from the building. A bronze statue by

Franz von Stuck Franz Ritter von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with ...

, ''Kämpfende Amazone'' (1897), once at Carinhall, is now at

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in Brandenburg in north-eastern Germany, about northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005). The town is often called Waldstadt (forest town), beca ...

. Another statue, ''Kronenhirsch'' by Johannes Darsow, can be found at Tierpark Berlin in the district of Friedrichsfelde. A Roman sarcophagus decorated with lions, which Göring had acquired in 1942 from an art dealer in Rome, was recovered from the ruins and is now on display in the Neues Museum in Berlin.

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-03643A, Schorfheide, Überführung Karin Göring.jpg, Hitler and Göring head Carin Göring's funeral procession at Carinhall, 19 June 1934 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1979-175-10, Carinhall, Göring begrüßt SS-Führer.jpg, Göring greeting an SS officer at Carinhall File:Carinhall-2019-msu-8110 A.jpg, Carinhall in ruins, 1947 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-M0903-328, "Carinhall" zerstört.jpg, Carinhall in ruins, 1947 File:Eberswalde-amazone-2.jpg,

: ''Kämpfende Amazone'' (1897) formerly at Carinhall, now at

File:Kronenhirsch, Tierpark Berlin, 501-607.jpg, ''Kronenhirsch'' (1937) formerly at Carinhall, now at Tierpark Berlin File:Berlin Neues Mus SL3.2-2 Lion sarcophagus 02.jpg, Roman sarcophagus, formerly at Carinhall, now in the Neues Museum, Berlin

Legacy

In 1999, new interest was sparked by the book ''Görings Reich: Selbstinszenierungen in Carinhall'' which led to treasure hunters visiting the ruins, and concerns raised about the site becoming a neo-Nazi "shrine"."Berliners open treasure chest of evil" in ''The Times'', 28 September 1999. The state government of Brandenburg ordered the remains of the tomb of Göring's wife to be demolished.

References

Sources

* Roger Manvell - ''Der Reichsmarschall''. 1983. * Leonard Mosley - ''The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Goering''. 1975. * Carlos Díaz Domínguez - ''Tres colores en Carinhall'' 2011.

External links

Carinhall information (German)

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Uckermark (district) Nazi architecture Hunting lodges in Germany Hermann Göring Demolished buildings and structures in Germany