هلنه بكشتاين

هلنه بكشتاين
Helene Bechstein
Helene Bechstein in 1934
وُلِدَ
Helene Capito

(1876-05-21)21 مايو 1876
توفي20 أبريل 1951(1951-04-20) (aged 74)
عـُرِف بـمعلمة الإتيكت لـ أدولف هتلر
الزوجإدوين بكشتاين
التوقيع

هِلِنه بكشتاين ( Helene Bechstein وكان لقبها قبل الزواج Capito ، ألمانية pronunciation: [heˈleːnə ˈbɛçʃtaɪn]؛ 26 مايو 1876 – 20 أبريل 1951) كانت سيدة مجتمع وسيدة أعمال ألمانية. وكانت معلمة الإتيكت لـ أدولف هتلر[1] وكانت زوجة إدوين بكشتاين، صاحب، ولاحقاً مالك أغلبية أسهم C. Bechstein، [2] صانع البيانو الشهير.

لعبت سيدة الصالونات الثرية هيلين بيكشتاين (Helene Bechstein) دوراً محورياً في الصعود السياسي للزعيم النازي أدولف هتلر خلال عشرينيات القرن الماضي. التقت هتلر لأول مرة في عام 1921. تولت تدريبه على آداب السلوك والتعامل في الصالونات المخملية. علّمته طريقة تناول الطعام والحديث أمام النخبة الألمانية. ساعدته في التخلص من أسلوبه الخشن كعسكري سابق. فتحت له أبواب صالونها الثقافي في برلين وميونخ. عرّفته على كبار رجال الأعمال، والصناعة، والمثقفين المؤثرين في المجتمع الألماني.

الخلفية

Helene Capito was born in Düsseldorf on 21 May 1876.[3] Helene married Edwin Bechstein, the son of Carl Bechstein, the owner of the C. Bechstein piano factory.[4] Both Helene and her husband were conservative nationalists.[5]

In 1923, following C. Bechstein becoming a limited company, Helene and Carl started buying the majority of shares with Helene speaking in public on the company's behalf.[2] At numerous events, she was heard making antisemitic comments, which led to a number of high-profile musicians boycotting C. Bechstein pianos. In 1934, the company was restructured so that Helene became the majority shareholder. To help raise capital, she sold company property to Hermann Göring through his capacity as Minister President of Prussia.[2]

هتلر

Bechstein first met Adolf Hitler in 1921 through the writer Dietrich Eckart at her Berchtesgaden villa. She took a liking to him, invited him to stay at her home when he was in Berlin,[6] and when he was imprisoned after the failed Beer Hall Putsch,[7] she would regularly visit him in prison. She once claimed to the prison that he was her adopted son. Upon Hitler's release, Bechstein introduced him to German high society in Berlin.[8] Along with Elsa Bruckmann and Winifred Wagner, she helped to teach Hitler table manners and helped reform his public image.[1] Bechstein also bought him neat shoes and respectable evening dress.[9]

Both Bechstein and Hitler grew close to each other, with Bechstein giving Hitler gifts including a Daimler built Mercedes,[10] which cost RM26,000.[4] She called him "mein Wölfchen" ("my little wolf"), stating she would have liked to have had him as a son.[11] Hitler reciprocated by allegedly giving her an original manuscript of Mein Kampf.[12] The Bechsteins both publicly funded Hitler,[13] giving him the funds to continue publishing the newspaper Völkischer Beobachter.[2]

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Hitler awarded her the Golden Party Badge in 1934.[14] Bechstein herself did not join the Nazi Party until 1944. Bechstein had hoped that Hitler would marry her daughter.[8]

Later life

After Nazi Germany's surrender in the Second World War, C. Bechstein was commandeered by the Allies in the US Occupation Zone and Bechstein's shares were confiscated by the Americans.[2] The company was not permitted to start making pianos again until 1948.[8] Bechstein herself was sentenced to 60 days hard labour and had 30% of her assets stripped from her for being a Nazi collaborator.[15] She died in 1951.[2]

References

  1. ^ أ ب Von Schmid (27 December 2001). "B E C H S T E I N : Wohlklang aus Seifhennersdorf" (in الألمانية). Zeit.de. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. ^ أ ب ت ث ج ح "Carl Bechstein History" (PDF). Marks on Pianos. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. ^ Schad, Martha (2009). Sie liebten den Führer: wie Frauen Hitler verehrten (in German). Herbig. p. 42. ISBN 9783776626131.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ أ ب Delaforce, Patrick (2017). "Appendix B "A Rouge's Gallery"". The Fourth Reich and Operation Eclipse. Fonthill Media. ISBN 9781781554005.
  5. ^ Wilson, Andrew Norman (2011-06-08). Winnie And Wolf (in الإنجليزية). Random House. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4464-9304-5.
  6. ^ Shirer, William L. (2011-10-11). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (in الإنجليزية). Simon and Schuster. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-4516-5168-3.
  7. ^ King, David (2017-07-13). The Trial of Adolf Hitler: The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany (in الإنجليزية). Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-5116-3.
  8. ^ أ ب ت "WWII Aftermath favored Steinway –". Chicago Tribune. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  9. ^ Mak, Geert (2012-07-31). In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century (in الإنجليزية). Random House. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-4481-5575-0.
  10. ^ Starkey, John (2023-09-30). Hitler's Motorcars: The Führer's Vehicles From the Birth of the Nazi Party to the Fall of the Third Reich (in الإنجليزية). Frontline Books. p. 1901. ISBN 978-1-3990-7142-0.
  11. ^ Porter, Monica. "The dark charm of Adolf Hitler". Daily Express. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  12. ^ Von Daniel Haufler (8 November 1996). "Wo einst Bechstein klimperte". Die Zeit (in الألمانية). Zeit.de. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  13. ^ Pool, James (1997-10-01). Who Financed Hitler: The Secret Funding of Hitler's Rise to Power, 1919-1933 (in الإنجليزية). Gallery Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-671-76083-0.
  14. ^ Schmidt, Ulf (2007-08-15). Karl Brandt: The Nazi Doctor: Medicine and Power in the Third Reich (in الإنجليزية). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-84725-031-5.
  15. ^ "DRITTES REICH ZEITGESCHICHTE: Helene Bechstein (1876–1951) – Reisepass" (in الألمانية). Invaluble. Retrieved 7 November 2017.