Adolf Hitler's private library was

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's private collection of books, excluding books he purchased for the German state library.

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who is best known for his role as the Nazi Party national youth leader and head of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. He later served as ''Gauleiter'' and ''Re ...

, the leader of the Hitlerjugend, claimed that Hitler had about 6,000 volumes and that he had read each one. Tyler James Oechsner put his collection at 16,300 volumes. No records exist to confirm this amount as several books were destroyed by The Allies.Miskolczy, 2003 Although contemporaries say that he loved reading works by German authors, Nietzsche in particular, "there is no sign of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

or Nietzsche in his library." He is said to have believed that

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

was far superior to Goethe and Schiller. He had a copy of 's 1925 translation of Shakespeare's collected works. He was fond of quoting certain lines throughout his life. Copies of Goethe, Schiller, Dante, and Schopenhauer may have been destroyed by Allied bombing so there is no way of knowing for certain whether his collection was lacking. His collection is said to have included "first editions of works by philosophers, historians, poets, playwrights, and novelists." He owned illustrated copies of '' Don Quixote'' and '' Robinson Crusoe'', which he ranked, along with ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'' and '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'', as the great works of world literature. Hitler himself was a voracious reader: he claimed to read at least one book a night, if not more. He was also given books as gifts by females of his acquaintance. "The only outstanding classical literary text found in his library today is the collected writings of

Kleist Kleist, or von Kleist, is a surname. von Kleist: *August von Kleist (1818–1890), Prussian Major General *Conrad von Kleist (1839-1900), German politician (German Conservative Party), member of Reichstag *Ewald Georg von Kleist (ca. 1700–1748), ...

History

The first description of his private collection was published in 1942. Hitler's private books that were kept in the

Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...

in Berlin were confiscated by the Soviets and sent to Moscow. Books in Munich and

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 Berchtesgaden; the ...

(as well as Hitler's Globe from Berchtesgaden) were taken as war booty by individual American soldiers. Three thousand volumes were later discovered in a Berchtesgaden salt mine, and they were taken by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. The largest volume that has been recovered is about the German colonies, with a dedication written to Hitler, encouraging the "re-acquisition of the colonies." They are now in a special locked room in the Library of Congress where they can be accessed five at a time and read in the rare book reading room. Eighty books that belonged to Hitler were identified in the basement of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

History

References

Further reading