Walter Wagner (notary)
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Walter Wagner (25 June 1907 – 29/30 April 1945) was the notary who married
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 ...
to
Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...
in the ''
Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
'' on 29 April 1945.


Career

Wagner was a lawyer who had joined the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
on 1 July 1931. In 1938 he was appointed acting head of the Central Legal Department in the Berlin Gau (Administrative Region). This position was formerly confirmed in January 1944 by Reichsminister
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
, acting in his capacity as Gauleiter of Berlin. Wagner also represented Goebbels and the Berlin Gau in connection with the re-settlement of Berlin residents in ''Reichsgau Wartheland'', a large area of Poland which had been annexed by the invading German armed forces in 1939. Wagner carried out duties in that area from January 1943 to February 1944 and was based in Posen, the capital, where he not only met the local Governor,
Arthur Greiser Arthur Karl Greiser (22 January 1897 – 21 July 1946) was a Nazi German politician, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) of the German-occupied territory of ''Wartheland''. He was one of the perso ...
, but his future wife, Cordula Kroepels, an NSV (National Socialist People's Welfare) social worker who was also involved in the re-settlement programme. Following their marriage on 10 March 1944, they moved to an apartment in Berlin-Buch where they lived together until October 1944. Wagner also held a position with the local Pankow council as administrator of their refuse collection services. In October 1944 Cordula, who was heavily pregnant, left Berlin to live with her mother at Wyk auf Fohr (the second largest of the North Frisian Islands) where their son Michael was born on 1 November. In October 1944 Wagner joined the "Gauleitung" Battalion of the Berlin component of the Volkssturm (Home Guard). He continued living in his Berlin-Buch apartment together with his sister Gustl who last saw him in April 1945 when he was taken to the ''Führerbunker''.


Wagner marries Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun

In late April Hitler decided to marry Eva Braun and subsequently directed Goebbels to find a registrar who could carry out the ceremony. On 28 April Goebbels ordered the Waffen SS to locate Wagner (who he knew possessed the required qualifications) and bring him to the ''
Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
''. The Waffen SS despatched a unit in an armoured personnel carrier to Wagner's home, only to find that he was fighting in the Friedrichstrasse area. Once located he was taken to the ''Führerbunker'' where he realised that the correct paperwork was not available. The armoured unit was then obliged to take him back to Pankow where he found the correct documents. They then returned to the ''Führerbunker''. Wagner performed the ceremony just after midnight. The event was witnessed by Goebbels and
Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery. He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information ...
. Almost immediately afterwards Wagner left the ''Führerbunker'' and rejoined his unit.


Wagner's death

Wagner's unit was now charged with the defence of the
Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...
. The fighting was desperate and chaotic. Wagner's friend, colleague and company commander, Erich Illing, was severely wounded by Russian tank fire. Wagner, the Number 1 Section Commander immediately assumed command of the company. As he continued the fight in the Anhalter Bahnhof area he was shot in the head and killed. It was less than 24 hours since he had married Hitler and Eva Braun. His body was never found.


Post World War II

In 1951 Wagner's widow, Cordula, who had moved to Hamburg with the son he had never seen, wished to remarry. She petitioned the Hamburg Court to issue a death certificate and, after submitting a number of affidavits from individuals who had been present at the time of Wagner's death, it was finally granted. In 1963 ''Stern'' magazine reported to the Hamburg Court that there were rumours circulating in Frankfurt that Wagner was living there. The court reopened the case. Gustl was questioned by a judge in Wyk and Cordula was interviewed in Mannheim. The case was subsequently closed.


The Last Card

Walter Wagner was an enigma. Plucked from obscurity at a critical moment in world history he enjoyed a few brief hours of fame before plunging back into obscurity and dying almost immediately afterwards in the Apocalypse that was Berlin in April 1945. Both his Christian name and surnames were common throughout Germany. However, as the notary who had married Hitler and Eva Braun his name appeared in every major work on the
Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...
and Hitler's last days. However, although he was portrayed in many post war films, the real Walter Wagner remained a faceless individual until 2004 when the first photograph of him was published in ''Hitler and Women – The Love Life of Adolf Hitler''. In 1980, investigative writer Ian Sayer purchased a postcard, handwritten by Walter Wagner on 30 March 1945. It was addressed to his wife on the Frisian island of Fohr where she was living with his, as yet, unseen son. The stamp was a typical Nazi stamp bearing Hitler's effigy. Someone had written at the top in another hand "The Last Card". Wagner's handwriting was so indecipherable that it took Sayer 22 years to obtain a full translation. During the intervening period Sayer had attempted to locate any surviving members of Wagner's family. In 2002 he located Wagner's son, which prompted the publication of ''Hitler and Women'' which contained the first photograph of Wagner to be published. During his investigation Sayer had learned that Wagner's wife had been interrogated by British Intelligence at the end of the war to establish if she had heard from Wagner who had disappeared in Berlin. He was wanted for questioning in connection with the marriage of Hitler and Eva Braun. The British Intelligence officer had retained the card and sold it at auction 35 years later.


Portrayal in the media

The scene of Hitler's wedding is depicted in the films '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'', ''The Bunker'' and ''
Der Untergang ''Downfall'' (german: Der Untergang, it, La caduta – Gli ultimi giorni di Hitler) is a 2004 German-language historical drama, historical war film, war drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by its producer, Bernd Eichin ...
'' (Downfall), all of which correctly portray Wagner, in accordance with Nazi law, asking Hitler and Braun to confirm that they were of pure "
Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
" descent before the marriage can proceed. Walter Wagner has been portrayed by the following actors in film and television productions: * Georg-Michael Wagner in the 1971 Eastern Bloc co-production ''Liberation: The Last Assault'' *
Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...
in the 1973
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
film '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' *
John Ringham John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was a British actor who appeared on both television and stage. Among his roles was that of Norman Warrender in the 1980s sitcom ''Just Good Friends''. Early life Ringham was born in Che ...
in the 1973
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
television production ''
The Death of Adolf Hitler ''The Death of Adolf Hitler: Unknown Documents from Soviet Archives'' (german: Der Tod des Adolf Hitler: Unbekannte Dokumente aus Moskauer Archiven, links=no) is a 1968 book by Soviet journalist Lev Bezymenski, who served as an interpreter in t ...
'' * Robert Austin in the 1981
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television production ''The Bunker'' * Norbert Heckner in the
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
German film ''Downfall'' (''Der Untergang'') * Unknown actor in the BBC documentary series
Rise of the Nazis ''Rise of the Nazis'' is a British documentary series about the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The first series aired in 2019, followed by the second and third series in 2022. Several historians and military experts give thei ...
in season 3 episode 3 Into the Abyss
September 2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Walter 1907 births 1945 deaths Notaries Lawyers in the Nazi Party Jurists from Berlin Volkssturm personnel killed in action