Anhalter Bahnhof

Anhalter Bahnhof is the station where Paul von Hartmann’s mission brought him face to face with the security surrounding Adolf Hitler’s special train. In the smoke and gloom of its vast concourse, he had to pass police patrols, armed guards and a luggage inspection while carrying both a secret envelope and a Walther pistol. The station’s public routines became a threshold he could cross only by keeping his fear concealed.

The concourse and its signals

Hartmann arrived after dark. Police patrolled outside the pillared entrance with dogs; inside, the glass-roofed concourse rose as high as a Gothic cathedral. Swastika banners hung several storeys above the platforms. The departure board showed trains for Leipzig, Frankfurt-am-Main, Dresden and Vienna, but made no mention of Munich or a special train. At 8:37 p.m., the absence of that information left Hartmann uncertain about where to go.

An official of the Reichsbahn noticed his hesitation and, after Hartmann explained his mission, insisted on escorting him personally. The official’s intervention carried him deeper into the station, where a crowd of about a hundred people, mostly women, had gathered near the gate, apparently expecting the Führer to pass. Schutzstaffel personnel kept them back while police dog-handlers and armed guards checked passengers.

Inspection at the gate

The scrutiny at the entrance put Hartmann’s concealed weapon at immediate risk. As a sentry checked the luggage of another passenger, Hartmann considered turning back and disposing of his pistol in the toilets; instead, the Reichsbahn official ushered him forward. The sentries exchanged Hitler salutes with him and examined his identity card before one ordered him to open his suitcase.

With his hands shaking, Hartmann balanced the case on his knee and raised the lid. The sentry searched through two shirts, underwear and a leather shaving kit, then picked up the envelope, shook it and returned it to the case. He did not discover the pistol. After the guard directed Hartmann towards the train and returned his identity card, Hartmann walked onto the platform while the sentries began checking the passenger behind him.

The train and the platform

The train stood about twenty metres along the track. Hartmann counted seven spotless, dark-green carriages, each bearing a gold Nazi eagle with outstretched wings; every carriage door was guarded by a Schutzstaffel sentry. A black locomotive at the front vented steam under guard as well. Hartmann walked slowly to the rear carriage, looked back at the floodlit roof spars and the black sky beyond them, and climbed aboard.

The rear carriage was a sleeper, with compartments on the left. In its corridor, a Schutzstaffel adjutant carrying a clipboard halted and gave the Hitler salute. Hartmann recognised him as the white-jacketed attendant he had threatened at the Reich Chancellery earlier that morning. He returned the salute with a snap intended to look convincingly fanatical, then followed the adjutant. The station had allowed him through, but only by making each step—from the uncertain departure board to the guarded carriage—another test of whether his disguise would hold.