24/08/2012

1915

HISTORICAL HITLER SITES

1914 - 1915 - 1916 - 1917 - 1918

BELGIUM and FRANCE

Since Hitler had become a dispatch runner in November 1914, he spent most of his time at the regiment headquarters. That means that he did not take part of the action that took place in the front line. In the beginning of 1915 Hitler was in Messines, but the maps of the Messines area are on the 1914 page. After Messines Hitlers regiment went to the region of Neuve-Chapelle in France. After that the headquarters of the regiment were located at Fournes-en-Weppes and Fromelles. In both places still are buildings where Hitler lived when he was a soldier. In 1940 he went back to these villages. The World War 2 pages of the Belgium and France section of this website show more of that period. Old year, new years day and right after that - Warneton and Bas-Warneton The regiment has a 4 days rest. January 3 - Messines area January 6 - Messines The regiment goes to the village of Messines for a rest. They find shelter in the Kloster and in cellars of different houses. January 9 - Messines The regiment goes back to the front line near Messines. January 24 - Messines The Befehlstelle of the first batallion lays under fire. The commanders go to new Sttzpunkte at the Bad- und Mittelferme. January 30 - Messines, Comines, Warneton The regiment gets replaced. - They stay near Befehlstelle Lugferme - Some companies stay at the front line - Some go to Messines and Warneton - Some go to the Kellerferme - The regimentsstaf is at Messines or Comines Somewhere in February St. Elooi Hitlers Regiment, says Hitler in a letter, is left of Eloi (where the English were beaten). This must be St. Elooi (Belgium), south of Ieper. Theres a war memorial on the Armetierseweg . Near St. Elooi, along the the Voormezelestraat, is the location of the Bayernwald. February - Messines February 5 - Wervicq The first batallion marches through Werwicq to the crossing near Molire, because king Ludwig III comes there to visit the troops. March - Comines According to a vague description the regiment or parts of it spent 6 days in Comines. March 8/9 - Tourcoing (Meijers book says March 6) At night the regiment is replaced. They go to Tourcoing to serve as Reserve Troops. Their location is the Kronprinz-Rupprecht-Kazerne at the Rue de Chnes Houpline (an old spinnery). They rest for 14 days. March 10 - Battle of Neuve-Chapelle On March 10 13 the battle of Neuve-Chapelle took place. The British aim was to capture the village of NeuveChapelle. They were succesful, but the efforts stagnated after having taking just 1100 meters of land. About 13.000 British and 12.000 German soldiers were killed. Two British war cemeteries are on the Rue du Moulin just outside Neuve-Chapelle. To get to Neuve-Chapelle the German List-regiment got transported towards Lille by train. They went to Marquilles by train. The troops were stationed at: Wicres (theres still a German war cemetery there), Le Willy and Sainghin. The regiment took part of the battle of Neuve-Chapelle. The 1st and 3rd batallion went through the woods of Biez to reach Neuve-Chapelle. The regiments staf was located at the so called Ferme de Biez (location unknown). The troops travelled from Halpegarbe, through the wood, where they waited at the edge of the wood for the attack. The 1st batallion got to the crossing, southwest of Neuve Chapelle, but the enemy was not longer at the eastside of the villlage, but on the fields southwest of the woods of Biez. March 12/13 - Battle of Neuve-Chapelle The trenches in the area are enlarged, but the Germans are not able to take the village. March 13/14 - Marquilles At night the regiments marches from the front lines to Marquilles. Quartier at Salom. The shelter on the same day for the 1st batallion was at Petit Hantay and La Bourse. The shelter for the 1st batallion was at Petit Hantay hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 1/12

24/08/2012

1915

and La Bourse. The Regiment staf goes to Grand and Petit Moisnil.
Kaart Sat Terr. Earth

Lille Tourcoing weergeven op een grotere kaart

TOURCOING (FRANCE)
Kronprinz-Rupprecht-Kazerne (an old spinnery) Location: Rue de Chnes Houpline Today: Unknown On March 8/9 1915 Hitlers regiment was replaced to Tourcoing to serve as reserve regiment. They find shelter inside what the Germans called the Kronprinz-Rupprecht-Kazerne, an old spinnery. They rest in Tourcoing for 14 days. Station Tourcoing Location: Place Pierre Smard Today: This is the modern station of Tourcoing. Its absolutely not certain that Hitlers regiment took the train at this station. To get to Neuve-Chapelle in March 1915 the German List-regiment got transported towards Lille by train. From there they went to Marquilles by train.

The area of Lille station in WW1

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

NEUVE-CHAPELLE (FRANCE)
Kaart Sat Terr. Earth

Neuve Chapelle weergeven op een grotere kaart

English War Cemeteries Location: Rue du Moulin, behind the houses (signs lead the way) Today: Still there Hitlers regiment was in the battle of Neuve-Chapelle in 1915. The English tried to capture the village. A lot of soldiers died in the battle of 1915. They are burried on these graveyards.

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

2/12

24/08/2012

1915

The English Cemeteries in Neuve-Chapelle. The Left picture shows both of them (right next to the trees in the background is the second one) (pictures: the Hitlerpages, 2009)

The fields around the graveyards with the village of Neuve-Chapelle in the background. The cemeteries are on the English side of the village. The Woods of Biez are on the other side (behind the village).
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)

March 14 - Lille The regiment is replaced and travels back towards Lille by train. March 17 untill May 1915 - Fromelles On March 17 the regiment goes back to Fromelles , through Marquilles station. Locations in Fromelles: Rote Banke, Ferme Deleval (region Rue Deleval). The Befehlstelleis located at Fromelles-Nord, 1100 meters west of the Rote Banke. The second Befehlestelle (Bayern) was located southeast of Deleval Ferme. The Regiments Befehlstelle was at the Schlo Fromelles in the cellar of a house opposite to a Sanittsunterstand . The Regiment Staf was at a house of a notary in the so called Mnsterstrasse (number 50). The Regiment Ordonanzen stay at the house of Schwarzen Marie. April 22 - Second Battle of Ieper Hitlers regiment takes part in the Second Battle of Ieper. During that battle the Germans used gas for the first time, surprising the allied forces. May 2 May 8/9 - Front (Fournes) The 1st batallion is at the front. May 8/9 - Fournes At night the troops go to Fournes. Hitler is said to have drawn several drawings of a house called Zur Schwarzin Marie. The house was named after its hostess. May 9 (about 10 oclock) - Fournes area Back at the front. On May 9/10 theres some heavy fighting going on in the area. May 10/11 - Fournes The 2nd and 3rd batallion go to Fournes (partly). May 12/13 - Fournes At night theyre back to the front line. May 13-19 - Fournes-La Bassee The 3rd batallion leaves for La Bassee in this period. May 17 - Fournes and La Bassee At night the 9th and 10th company go to La Bassee. May 18 - Violaines Some of the troops arrive at Violaines. They find shelter in a hof (a public garden). Around May 26 - Fromelles The regimentsstaf is located at Fromelles. May 29 - Wavrin and La Bassee The second company goes to Wavrin and later on to La Bassee. May September - Fromelles The regiment stays at the Fromelles area. July 13 - La Bassee A training takes place at La Bassee. September 24/25 - Battle of La Bassee The 1st and 3rd company go to join the other troops at the Battle of La Bassee. October 2-8 - La Bassee Parts of the regiment are at La Bassee, near the channel, southwest of Auchy. If Hitler was here or not remains uncertain. October 7 - Hitler switches companies Hitler becomes a member of the 3rd company. Autumn 1915 - La Bassee Hitler was at La Bassee in the autumn of 1915. Its not clear when exactly, because the companies of the regiment went there on different dates. Winter 1915-1916 - Fromelles In November and December its pretty quiet at the front in Fromelles.

FOURNES EN WEPPES (FRANCE)

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 3/12

24/08/2012

1915
Kaart Sat Terr. Earth

Regiment Building Location: de Faidherbe, a een fewgrotere houses west and across the road from the Rue du 8 Mai 1945 Fournes en Rue Weppes weergeven op kaart Today: Still there, it is turned into a Mairie today Hitler was stationed here in 1915. There are different pictures made of Hitler accompanied by fellow soldiers. Most of them are made in the garden of the regiment building. A famous but unclear picture shows Hitler in the Rue Faidherbe in 1915.

Above: Hitler in the Rue Faidherbe, 1915 (picture: Meijer, 1934) Centre, above: The 1st company at the Schloallee in Fournes, May 1915
(picture: Solleder, 1932)

Centre, below: Graveyard German soldiers in 1915 in Fournes

(picture: Solleder, 1932)

Right: The church of Fournes

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

Fournes, 1915, Hitler is the second one form the right

Above and right: Hitler and his fellow-couriers in Fournes in April 1915 Above: Hitler is sitting on the left
(picture: Russel, 2006)

Right: Hitler is standing on the right

(picture: Russel, 2006)

Fournes, Regiment Building 1916

(picture: Russel, 2006)

Fournes, Regiment Building 1940

(picture: Heinrich Hoffmann)

Fournes, Regiment Building, date hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 4/12

24/08/2012 unknown, Hitler alone

(picture: Russel, 2006)

1915

Fournes, Regiment Building. The couriers of the regiment: Hitler is in the front row on the left. (picture:
Weber, 2010)

Inside the Regiment Building. Max Amann is on the front row, on the right. Hitler is not on this picture
(picture: Weber, 2010)

The Regiment building untill recently. The picture on the right shows the garden, with the same wall as in 14-18

The regiment building in 2009. The Mairie was closed, so I couldnt get behind the building. When the gate is open, it should be easy to take a look behind the building. It seems like the garden walls are still there.
(pictures: the Hitler Pages, 2009)

Butchery Fournes Location: Rue Faidherbe 966 Today: Still there This is another building where Hitler was stationed in 1916. During the second world war the butchery was guarded and there was a sign that said: In diesem Quartier lag 1916 unser Fuehrer Adolf Hitler als Soldat des Bayr. JNF. RGT. List. The sign is broken, but it is in the museum of Fromelles.

Hitler was back at the butchery in Fournes en Weppes in 1940. (pictures: Heinrich Hoffmann) The picture on the right shows guards in front of the house.

The former butchery today. The picture in the middle shows the hooks of the sign that was there in WW2, saying Hitler had been stationed there. The picture on the right shows the contours of the old entrance and shop window in the wall. (picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009) Brewery Le Febre Location: Unknown This location is connected to the rumour of Hitler being a homosexual. All I can say is that the location itself is indeed a location that has something to do with the German troops. The Erinnerungsbltter of the List Regiment (Solleder, 1932) mention it. Hitler must have been there, since the village is not that big. But that is, off course, on its own no proof of his possible feelings for the male gender. Chateau/ Schloss hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 5/12

24/08/2012

1915

Location: Unknown, but there is a Avenue du Chateau in the village The Erinnerungsbltter of the List Regiment (Solleder, 1932) mention the castle of Fournes as a place where German troops of commanders were stationed. According to Weber (2010) Hitler worked at the castle of Fromelles (and not Founes) for three days and at the regiment headquarters in Fournes for three days a week. Where the castle was, remains a small mystery. Unterstand Location: Unknown Hitler made sketches of an Unterstand (shelter) in 1915. Russel (2006) says the Unterstand was near Fromelles. Joachimsthaler (1989) thinks its the Ruhequartier of the German Ordonanzen in Fournes, called Zur Schwarzen Marie. Fournes and Fromelles are not that far apart, though. The sketches were coloured and worked over by an artist after 1933.

Three drawings of the Unterstand Zur Schwarzen Marie. The first one looks a little different, but it must be the same house from a slightly different perspective. The coloured drawing (Russel 2006) is worked over by an artist after 1933. The bike of the first sketch (Joachimsthaler, 1989) and the plank standing against the wall of the second (Joachimsthaler, 1989) are both of the third picture. All three pictures show the same stairs next to the house.

FROMELLES (FRANCE)
Kaart

more about Fromelles here

Sat Terr. Earth

Fromelles May 1915 weergeven op een grotere kaart

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

6/12

24/08/2012

1915

A map of the front near Fromelles, May 1915

(Solleder, 1932)

This map shows the Gefechtsbefehlstelle of RIR 16 in Fromelles and the location of the Regimentsstab building in Fournes in 1915. (Joachimsthaler, 1989)

Fromelles 1916
(picture: Meijer, 1934)

The Graveyard
(picture: Meijer, 1934)

Shelters near Fromelles

(picture: Solleder, 1934)

The church of Fromelles

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

House on the Gartenstrasse between Fromelles and Aubers, 1916

(picture: Solleder, 1932)

House between Fromelles and Aubers

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

A trench near Fromelles

(picture: Joachimsthaler, 1989)

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

7/12

24/08/2012 House between Fromelles and Aubers

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

1915

Trenches near Fromelles in May 1915

(picture: Joachimsthaler, 1989)

Farm where Hitler was stationed Location: Southern edge of Fromelles, on the D22, last farm on the left Today: Still there Hitler was stationed in a farm on the edge of Fromelles. Hitlers regiment was in this region in several periods of the war. In 1940 Hitler visited the farm again.

Hitler in Fromelles in 1940

A drawing made by Hitler (probably redone) of a farm in Fromelles, that was the Verbandplatz of the regiment of Hitler in 1915.
(Russel, 2006)

Could this be the same farm as the one drawn by Hitler?

(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)

Rote Banke and the House mit weissem Zaun Location: Rue Delval (on the corner of the road to Ptillon) Look at the map for the exact locations. Today: Unknown, but there are still houses there. Hitler knew the area the Germans called the Rote Banke very well. He drew a picture of the Haus mit weissem Zaun that was also on the Rue Delval. A drawings Hitler made near Fromelles. The aquarel Haus mit weissem Zaun is made northwest of Fromelles, near the Roten Banke, in 1915. A lot of drawings of Adolf Hitler were redone or coloured by a better artist after 1933.
(Russel, 2006)

Dachau Location: Rue Delval (look at the map for the exact location) Today: Unknown The Germans gave German names to the locations of the areas they were at. An area at one of the ends of the Rue Delval was called Dachau. Every Meldegnger in the area must have known the place.

Dachau, near Fromelles

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

Deleval Ferme Location: Rue Delval (exact location unknown) Today: Unknown Another marking point in the area was the Deleval Ferme.

The Deleval Ferme

(picture: Solleder, 1932)

Senling of Pionierpark Sendling hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 8/12

24/08/2012

1915 Location: Somewhere behind the front line The book of Adolf Meijer shows a picture of a place called Senling. Its another location that might be hard to find back. Adolf Meyer met Hitler for the second time at the Pionierpark Sendling. He writes that on this occasion Hitler had to bring officers from the Pionierpark to the front.

Senling
(picture: Meijer, 1934)

Sttzpunkt Starnberg Location: Somewhere between the Deleval-Ferme (Rue Deleval) and the front line Today: Unknown Adolf Meyer, who wrote the book Mit Adolf Hitler im Bayerischen Reserve Infanterie Regiment 16 List says that he met Hitler here in 1915 for the first time. Truppenverbandplatz Location: Unknown Another building Solleder mentions is the Spital or Truppenverbandplatz, a fieldhospital, in Fromelles.

The Spital in Fromelles

(picture: Solleder, 1932)

Fromelles Station Location: Unknown Theres no railway running through Fromelles anymore. In WW1 there was. The picture below shows a runed station.

The station of Fromelles

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

Befehlstelle Bayern Location: Unknown The book Adolf Meijer made about the First World War shows a picture of the Befehlstelle Bayern. Hitler must have know the place.

Befehlstelle Bayern.
(picture: Meijer, 1934)

WW1 bunker Location: Unknown There is discussion about what the exact Hitlerbunker was in World War 1. There are (still) a lot of WW1-bunkers in the area and its obvious that Hitler has seen more than one. Pictures of Hitler made in 1940 in front of a bunker are widespred on the internet. The pictures below show Hitler in front of a WW 1 bunker. It doesnt look like its the same bunker as the two so called Hitlerbunkers in the Fromelles/Aubers region.

These pictures were probably taken on June 26, 1940, somewhere in Belgium or France, most likely near Fromelles. Where these bunkers were and why Hitler went there is unknown. The picture on the right shows Hitler, Ernst Schmidt hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html 9/12

24/08/2012

1915 and Max Amman from up close. (pictures left and centre: Russel, 2006) The real Hitlerbunker Location: At the end of Rue de la Biette (outside the village) is a soccerfield, behind it in the fields is the bunker Today: Still there Of this German bunker can be proven that Hitler was there in 1940, because there are pictures made of the event. What the bunker ment fot Hitler in WW1 is not clear.

Hitler visited this bunker in 1940 (pictures: Heinrich Hoffmann)

The bunker today

(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2007)

The wrong Hitlerbunker Loocation: Road between Fromelles and Aubers (D141), just a few steps from the road Today: Still there On the road between Fromelles and Aubers are a lot of bunkers. One of them is the so called Hitlerbunker, the bunker where Hitler was said to have been stationed in 1915. There is no prove that this is a bunker Hitler used to stay at. There are also no pictures of Hitler visiting the bunker in 1940.

The Bunker on the road between Fromelles and Aubers

(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2007)

Close-up of the bunker

(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2007)

The bunker is a German bunker indeed, but there are no pictures of Hitler visiting this bunker in 1940. Its sure though that he knew this area very well...
(pictures: the Hitlerpages, 2007)

LA BASSEE (FRANCE)

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

10/12

24/08/2012

1915
Kaart Sat Terr. Earth

La Bassee in 1917, when the List regiment was also is in the region.
(Solleder, 1932)

Kaart

Sat

Terr.

Earth

Between Fournes and La Bassee weergeven op een grotere kaart

A map of the so called Hohenzollern Werk, an area soutwest of Auchy, 2-8 October 1915. The map on the left could mark the same area. (Solleder, 1932)

Auchy, region La Bassee weergeven op een grotere kaart

Kaart Sat Terr. Earth

The channel near La Bassee

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

La Bassee weergeven op een grotere kaart

The brewery of La Bassee

(picture:Meijer, 1934)

La Bassee
(picture: Meijer, 1934)

The channel near La Bassee

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

The station of La Bassee

(picture: Meijer, 1934)

The second batallion of RIR 16 in the Schlosspark of La Bassee at a divine service outdoors in 1916
(picture: Solleder, 1932)

Another picture of the station of La Bassee, March 1917. Max Amann (a wartime friend of Hitler and the publisher of Mein Kampf) is the man on the left.
(picture: Joachimsthaler, 1989)

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

11/12

24/08/2012

1915

HOME - BIBLIOGRAPHY - PICTURES - LINKS - MURDERING HITLER - FHQs - NEWS

hitlerpages.com/pagina100.html

12/12