Adolf Hitler Schulen

Adolf Hitler Schools (AHS) were boarding schools during the Nazi era, which were similar to the National Political Educational Institutions ("Napolas") and were among the National Socialist elite schools.

Baldur von Schirach had tried in vain to get the elite national political educational institutions under his influence. When Robert Ley's son failed the (very difficult) entrance exam for Napola, Schirach and Ley got together and founded the Adolf Hitler Schools as pre-schools for the Ordensburgen. The five-year school period (before the war a six-year school period was originally planned) was concluded with the diploma of the Adolf Hitler Schools, which was equivalent to the state high school diploma and was intended to open any party and state career for graduates.

While the Napolas were subordinate to the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and thus to Reich Minister Bernhard Rust, the NSDAP and the Hitler Youth under Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and the German Labor Front under Robert Ley controlled the Adolf Hitler Schools. The founding of Adolf Hitler schools can be dated to January 15, 1937 with Adolf Hitler's decree, on which he granted the approval that the "National Socialist schools to be set up, which are also to be used as pre-schools for the National Socialist Ordensburgen", were allowed to bear his name. The students were grouped from ten participating districts, each district had to provide 30 students between the ages of 12 and 13 years.

Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and Reichsorganisationsleiter Robert Ley issued a statement on January 17, 1937, in which the AHS is defined in more detail. It was submitted at a time when the aims and tasks of the AHS were not yet clear, and was due to the fact that it was published quickly by the two initiators. It initially included the following six points:

1. The Adolf Hitler Schools (AHS) are units of the Hitler Youth (HJ) and are managed by them responsibly. The subject matter, curriculum and teaching staff are determined uniformly across the whole of the country by the undersigned Reichsleiter.
2. The AHS has six classes. Admission generally takes place at the age of twelve.
3. Those boys who have proven themselves to be outstanding in the German Young People and who are proposed by the responsible authorities are accepted into the AHS.
4. School education is free of charge.
5. School supervision is one of the sovereign rights of the Gauleiter of the NSDAP. He either exercises it himself or hands it over to the Gauschulungsamt.
6. After passing the school leaving examination, the Adolf Hitler student has any career in the party and the state open to them.

The high-ranking officials of the party and the Hitler Youth leaders selected the students. Both forms of the elite school of the Third Reich had in common that they wanted to attract enthusiastic and capable National Socialists. Another thing they have in common is that they were set up as free boarding schools in castles and nationalized boarding schools. However, while a career as a future party functionary was desired at the Adolf Hitler Schools as pre-schools for the NSDAP Ordensburgen, the Napola graduates lacked this emphasis on continuing their studies or taking up a career.

For the selection of suitable students, the district leaders of the selected districts, and later all districts, should use the following criteria:

• “Evaluation of the boy by the Hitler Youth. Has the boy already distinguished himself and asserted himself as a leader by nature, as a ringleader, so to speak?
• The correct racial evidence of his ancestors (guidelines of the Racial Political Office, of course illegitimate children are equated with legitimate children, provided they meet this requirement). (Note: Proof of ancestry going back to January 1st, 1800 was requested)
• Complete health.
• Proof of the hereditary health of the clan.
• Activity of the parents in the ethnic community (party affiliation, activity in the branches of the party and the affiliated associations) "

From 1938 the selection criteria were specified and instructions were issued by Gebietsführer Kurt Petter, the inspector of the AHS, on how the technical and qualitative implementation of the selection process should be carried out. In addition to the criteria mentioned above, the instructions clearly show that, in addition to the cognitive skills that the students had to demonstrate in the selected groups of around eight Pimpfen, the entire daily routine was used for the assessment and significant value was placed on social skills (ability to work in a team; Comradeship; helpfulness).

Initially (until 1941) ten AHS were planned, which were run under three names (school number; name after the Gau; future location).

School 11 was established in 1941 and School 12 was added in 1943 by splitting off from School 8.

Since the school operation was to take place in new school buildings with the corresponding National Socialist architecture, the students of the above districts were first brought together in the Ordensburg Krössinsee in Western Pomerania. The groundbreaking ceremony for the ten planned AHS buildings took place on the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's above-mentioned decree on January 15, 1938, simultaneously in all ten districts. Robert Ley and Baldur von Schirach laid the foundation stone personally in School 3 in Waldbröl, while the Gauleiter took on this task in the other districts.

Due to the war and the shortage of manpower and materials, the construction project stalled, so that all schools with a total number of around 1,500 students were housed in the Ordensburg Sonthofen (Oberallgäu) in 1940. This solution was evidently unsatisfactory, so that alternatives were sought. Since the planned buildings could not be completed in a reasonable time, they started looking for suitable buildings.

That is why, in autumn 1941, the schools were relocated to the following provisional locations:

• NS-Ordensburg Krössinsee (School 1)
• Drachenburg Castle, Königswinter (School 3)
• NS-Ordensburg Vogelsang (Schools 4, 7 and 10)
• Sonnenstein Castle (as AHS Plauen / Vogtl.) (School 5)
• Blankenhain Castle near Weimar (School 6)
• NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen, Oberallgäu (Schools 2, 8 and 9)