Klessheim Castle as "The Fuehrer´s Guesthouse" 1838-1945

On Adolf Hitler`s request, Klessheim Castle was assigned its new function as the "Fuehrer`s Guesthouse" after extensive reconstruction measures and new furnishing corresponding with national-socialistic (NS) style. Despite the immeasurable wealth of documentation, the construction and furnishing, the function and cultural significance of this by its special status for NS time`s outstanding Castle has not yet been scientifically investigated until today. The research project is divided into two sub areas: 1) Reconstruction of the rebuilding of the castle which had been designed as a hunting lodge by J.B. Fischer von Erlach. Reconstruction the furnishings (contemporary furnishings or antiques) with an emphasis on the purchases during World War II from the international art trade and the integration of objects from museums in Vienna. 2) Analysis of the importance of Klessheim Castle in the context of the representational buildings of the NS upper echelons. The focus will be on the governmental buildings constructed for Hitler in Berlin and Munich and particularly the Obersalzberg near Klessheim; the construction and collection activities, especially the one of Hermann Goering as well as the one of the Gauleitung in Salzburg and Vienna. The baroque Castle was perfect for Hitler`s intention to use the magnificent ambience for the reception of his state guests. Despite the fact, that the baroque castle did not meet Hitler`s personal artistic taste he preferred the simplicity of classical greek architecture the property offered ideal conditions serving the intended function. In 1942 Hitler welcomed Benito Mussolini as his first state guest. In this context it is of interest, whether aside of taste criteria, owed to actual Zeitgeist the individual stylistic preferences of the two dictators could be compared, or if Hitler was inspired by Mussolini`s representation buildings when he was visiting Mussolini in Venice (1934) and Rome (1938). The aim of the research project is to extensively document for the first time the function and the use of Klessheim Castle during the NS era by means of fundamental source processing. The art-historical and historical fundamental research consequently provides a qualitative evaluation of the castle as a major NS representational building in an international context. An aesthetic analyse of the building and the interior design will be basic research for national socialistic aesthetics. An essential aspect of the project is the research on the art purchases for Klessheim in the NS era. On the basis of the to date untreated total furnishings of a NS representational building and with regard to the NS art looting the project makes a significant contribution to the desideratum of a study of the network of Austrian art dealers during the period of the NS regime.

In 1940, at the request of Adolf Hitler, Castle Kleßheim was subjected to extensive conversion measures and furnished and decorated in a style corresponding to national socialism (NS) in line with its new function as guest house of the Führer. Using an immense quantity of documentation material, the construction and equipment, function and cultural significance of this castle complex, which held such a special position for the NS period, was scientifically investigated for the first time. The structure of the publication, which will be released in 2017, can be divided into two parts:1) A reconstruction of the conversions of this cultural gem, which was designed as a hunting lodge by J. B. Fischer of Erlach, as well as a reconstruction of the entire interior furnishings (contemporary furnishings and antiques) with a main focus on the provenance research of the wartime purchases of the international art trade and the integration of objects from Vienna's museum inventories.2) Analysis of the significance of Castle Kleßheim in the context of the representative buildings of the NS political elite, with a focus not just on the government buildings that were built for Hitler in Berlin and Munich or Obersalzberg in the immediate vicinity of Kleßheim, but in particular the construction and collecting activities of Hermann Göring as well as the Gauleitung in Salzburg. The building is also compared to the buildings of the political elite in Europe.It was possible to demonstrate that Adolf Hitler spared no expense, even during wartime, to convert and expand Castle Kleßheim and furnish it luxuriously. The construction project was classified as kriegswichtig (important to the war effort) with a priority level of I. A significant aspect of the project was the research regarding the art purchases made for Kleßheim during the NS period. In contrast to the assumptions in place at the beginning of the project, most of the furnishings were not provided by the Salzburg art dealer Friedrich Welz (19031980). An interior designer from Berlin by the name of Arthur Heinrich Kreiser (18891958), delivered most of the antiques. Kreiser has been completely unknown in the provenance research. A total of 19 paintings in the inventories of the Land of Salzburg were identified as wartime purchases, 18 were supplied by Arthur H. Kreiser and one by Friedrich Welz. Thus, the project made a significant contribution to the provenance research with respect to art theft and art trade during the NS period.A further aim of the research project was to document the function and utilisation of Castle Kleßheim during the NS period for the first time, through a fundamental processing of the sources. The fundamental art-historical and historical research made it possible to carry out a qualitative evaluation of the castle as a significant NS representative building in an international context and even as the project was ongoing, it was met with general and scientific interest, thus making a significant contribution to the understanding of aesthetics during the NS period.