The title of this video has probably caused some head-scratching. What the hell is this bloke talking about, claiming to have stayed at Carinhall? Everyone knows that Carinhall was blown up in 1945. Is this some new format—Felton goes camping?
No, on the contrary, I stayed on the Carinhall estate in some comfort, in a building built on the orders of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring that remains today in perfect condition, overlooked in the demolitions of April 1945. In fact, more survives of Göring’s Carinhall than is generally supposed, and I’m going to show you. But before we dive into that, a quick history lesson concerning the big house. In 1933, Göring was appointed Minister-President of Prussia.
He had decided on acquiring a hunting lodge in the Schorfheide north of Berlin, and he wanted Hubertusstock, a fine lodge constructed for King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1849. Unfortunately for Göring, the owner in 1933 was the exiled Emperor Wilhelm II, living in the Netherlands, who objected to Göring taking possession. Casting around for another plot, Göring was gifted by Hitler forest around a lake called the Großdöllnsee. His new house, named Carinhall for his first wife, was designed by Werner March, who would later build the Berlin Olympic Stadium for the 1936 games.
Göring moved into Carinhall in 1934. It was then a two-story, 230-square-meter hunting lodge, surrounded by guardhouses and a fence, heavily guarded by members of the Hermann Göring Regiment. Göring paid nothing towards the costs of the lavish building. Hitler approved the funding in return for Göring hosting state guests and foreign dignitaries at the estate.
Only just over one hour and twenty minutes by car from Berlin, it became Göring’s playground, with excellent hunting and stuffed full of his growing art collection. In 1936, Carinhall was extended, mostly to house Göring’s growing collections. Göring also had cages built to house his pet lion cubs, which he borrowed from Berlin Zoo. A huge library, a hunting hall, a massive train set, and a multitude of other rooms.
In 1938, following the birth of his only child, Edda, Göring ordered Carinhall extended again, doubling its size. The major room constructed during this new building phase was a 400-square-meter mess hall with panoramic views across the lake, as well as a swimming pool, a new library, and a ballroom. Once again, Göring didn’t pay a single pfennig—the state picked up the Carinhall bill. There was even the ultimate doll’s house on the side for Edda Göring to play in, an exact miniature of Sanssouci Palace.
Göring also turned Carinhall into the unofficial headquarters of the Luftwaffe. In fact, Göring’s plan for Carinhall was eventually to turn the building into a giant art museum, to be opened in 1953 to celebrate his 60th birthday. During World War II, particularly as the war turned against Germany, Göring had the defenses at Carinhall stiffened. A series of large air raid bunkers were built, and the guard detail from the Hermann Göring Division increased to 200 men.
Eventually, there were six flak towers protecting the site, and Göring even had a decoy Carinhall constructed 8 kilometers north to fool enemy bombers. It was manned 24/7 by a detachment of pioneers from the Hermann Göring Division. However, the Allied Air Forces never attacked Carinhall. Göring could also fly into and out of Carinhall, having a small landing strip built 6 kilometers north of the estate at the edge of the Schorfheide forest.
It contained a couple of barrack blocks, a radio station, and a special camouflaged netted area to store his personal Junkers Ju 52 aircraft. This aircraft was kept ready for instant use at all times, and his personal pilots, Oberst Udet and Oberstleutnant Fechner, were always ready to fly the Reichsmarschall. In 1943, Göring ordered a large part of his art collection shipped south to the Altaussee salt mine in Austria for storage. Then, in January 1945, he moved more to Berchtesgaden, down the hill from his second holiday home near Hitler’s at Obersalzberg.
There, treasures were hidden in a special bunker beneath the Luftwaffe officers’ mess at Schönau am Königssee. The process of saving his art treasures continued until the very end of Göring’s power. More trains were procured and filled with all manner of art and Göring’s personal effects and shipped to Berchtesgaden. They would be found abandoned at Berchtesgaden station when US forces arrived in early May 1945.
A guard detail remained at the estate after Göring’s last departure. He had left orders that if the Red Army got close, they were to demolish the main building. On the 28th of April 1945, this is what the Luftwaffe guards did, reducing the estate to ruins using AZ Luftwaffe aerial bombs like giant mines. At war’s end, Göring surrendered himself to the Americans on the 7th of May 1945.
He started rumors that he had secreted art and gold in tunnels beneath Carinhall or had had them thrown into the Großdöllner Lake. And even today, people dig all over the site looking for this fabled treasure. The remains of Carinhall were professionally stripped by locals in the weeks after the war, and huge amounts of valuable furniture, light fixtures, marble, doors, etc. , ended up in local homes and still remain there today.
Post-war, the East German authorities leveled the remains of Carinhall, and if you go to the site today, it is absolutely littered with parts of the houses, from tiny fragments to enormous multi-ton slabs, now largely covered by forest and home only to snakes and bats. A number of underground rooms and bunkers remain at Carinhall today and are regularly picked over by treasure hunters. I managed to get a little way inside a few. So, back to my claim to have stayed at Carinhall.
Well, it’s not nonsense. As I mentioned, one part of Göring’s estate remains completely intact today and is in fact operating as a hotel. This building was the Carinhall guesthouse. Built in 1934, its purpose was to provide secure and comfortable accommodation for important dignitaries visiting Göring at Carinhall.
It is located in a scenic spot just across the lake from Carinhall proper. It has many features in common with the great house. For example, this bronze ram at the entrance and similar fixtures and fittings inside, though on a more functional scale than that of Göring’s main house. The building in the Nazi era was called the Schorfhaus, after Göring’s chief forester at Carinhall.
It was overlooked in the destruction of the main house, and in the post-war period, was of course inside East Germany. The East German leadership also enjoyed hunting, and in the 1960s, the Schorfhaus was requisitioned for use by the highest party leaders of East Germany. The entire site, including the ruins of Carinhall, was sealed off from the public and carefully guarded by the East German Army. And in the 1970s, the guesthouse was trebled in size with the addition of two large wings and associated buildings such as a swimming pool, sauna house, and so on.
And this special lecture-type theater for political meetings. When East Germany ceased to exist with German reunification in 1990, the Schorfhaus was sold and converted into a hotel called the Hotel Döllnsee Schorfheide, in which I stayed for one night a few days ago, taking a room in this East German extension. A word of caution for those non-Germans interested in staying at this hotel. It is deep within the old East Germany, where attitudes towards foreigners remain somewhat backward compared with Western Germany.
The kindest thing I can say is that it is a hotel that caters to Germans. However, the views are very nice, and the ruins of Carinhall are easily accessible on the other side of the lake. And speaking of ruins, there are at least four other intact structures from Göring’s Carinhall that can be seen other than the old guesthouse. These twin gatehouses at the entrance to the Carinhall main drive are completely intact, if a little battered.
To the rear of them, you can see how the original brick walls were faced with high-quality granite in the past to give an expensive look. Now, after nine decades, it is falling off. A distinctive feature of both gatehouses are carved representations of Göring’s rank—crossed Reichsmarschall’s batons, taken from his official standard. Immediately to the front of each gatehouse is an identical cottage.
These were actually barracks for part of the guard detail drawn from a special unit of Göring’s household troops, the Hermann Göring Panzer Division. So, there you have it. You can still stay at Carinhall if you like, which is little known more widely, and you don’t have to rough it under canvas, either. Interestingly, there is another relic of Göring on public display only 70 kilometers south of Carinhall at the German Military History Museum at the former RAF Gatow in West Berlin.
This powder blue Reichsmarschall’s tunic and trousers is one of only a few surviving Göring uniforms that is indisputably authentic. It was acquired from none other than Göring’s widow, Emmy, by the museum in the early 1970s, initially on loan. In 2013, the museum was able to purchase the uniform from Göring’s daughter, Edda. This very uniform was undoubtedly worn at Carinhall, for Göring had several in this color and style.
This example is unusual. Instead of having normal three-dimensional metal shoulder boards, as seen here on a summer uniform of Göring’s that I examined at the Imperial War Museum in London, it has a rare embroidered design. However, as I said, this uniform is completely authentic. Many thanks for watching.
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