Paris
There's some discussion about the date of Hitlers visit to Paris. Albert Speer, who was with Hitler in Paris, said it was June 28, 1940. Two other men who were with Hitler said it was June 23, 1940. Looking at the timetable of the Hitlerpages seems to make clear that the visit must have been taken place on June the 23th. Untill someone proves me wrong we can say that on that date Hitler was driven through Paris. A few pictures and a short movie were made of this event. Some pictures I made of the movie can be found on this page.
1. Hitler stayed at Bruly-
During that stay he made several trips, like the one to Compeigne (June 21)
and the one to Paris (June 23).
2. Airport Le Bourget (Paris)
3. N2 -
4. Opéra Garnier
5. Boulevard des Capucines
6. La Madeleine
7. Rue Royale
8. Place de la Concorde
9. Avenue des Champs-
10. Arc de Triomphe
11. Avenue Foch
12. Arc de Triomphe
13. Avenue Raymond Poincaré
14. Trocadero (taking the wrong way around the roundabout)
15. Pont d’Lena
16. Past the Tour d'Eiffel
17. Champs de Mars and Ecole Militaire
18. Most likely through Avenue de Tourville
19. Place Vauban
20. Dome des Invalides
21. Through the church St.Louis des Invalides and the courtyard of Les Invalides (where the cars were waiting)
22. Quai d’Orsay -
23. Boulevard Saint-
24. Past the French War Ministry and through the Rue Bonaparte
25. Past the church St. Sulpice
26. Palais du Luxembourg (Rue de Vaugirard)
27. Odéontheater
28. Boulevard Saint-
29. Rue Soufflot
30. Panthéon
31. Detour to Boulevard Montparnasse, Café Closerie des Lilas
32. Boulevard St.-
33. Ile de la Cité -
34. Palais de Justice, St. Chapelle
35. Notre Dame
36. Pont d’Arcole
37. Hotel de Ville
38. Musee Carnavalet (on the rue des Francs Bourgeois)
39. Place des Vosges
40. Rue de Rivoli -
41. Louvre
42. Back past the Opéra
43. Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin -
44. Butte de Montmartre, Sacre Coeur
45. Back to Le Bourget (Hitlers plane circled over Paris a few times, before returning to airport Gros Caillou)
The locations Hitler saw
Airport Le Bourget (Paris)
Location : inbetween the avenue John Fitgerald Kennedy, Avenue du Général de Gaulle and
the Avenue du 8 Mai 1945
Today : bussiness airport
Left: Hitler at the
airport Le Bourget
Right: A picture of Le Bourget
made in 1937
Hitlers route (the places where his car stopped are underlined)
It’s not possible to ride the exact tour in modern traffic, with all the new regulations
like one-
Opéra Garnier (Palace Garnier)
Location : Place de l'Opéra
Today : still there
Hitler was very interested in the Opéra Garnier and he already knew a lot about the building before he visited it.
The Opéra in modern times
(picture: Kuypers, Hitler verovert Parijs)
inside the opera house
(picture: Kuypers, Hitler verovert Parijs)
La Madeleine
Location : Place de la Madeleine at one end of the Rue Royale and Boulevard de la Madeleine
Today: still there; church
Hitler liked the outside better than the inside. He was fascinated by the area around the building, like the Place de La Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli.
Pictures made of stills of the movie of Hitler visiting Paris. These (bad quality) pictures show him getting out of his car, entering the gate and climbing up the stairs of La Madeleine.
Left: Hitler leaving La Madeleine
(picture: Adolf Hitler in Bilddokumenten seiner Zeit)
Right, above: The cars of driving away from the building
(picture: Hitlers Paris movie)
Right, below: La Madeleine in 2004 (picture: www.wikipedia.nl)
Place de la Concorde
Location : Place de la Concorde, at the other end of the Rue Royale
Today: still there
A picture of the square made in 1885 (picture: public domain, en.wikipedia.org)
The Place de la Concorde in 2005 (picture : en.wikipedia.org)
Hitlers car on the Place de la Concorde (picture: Hitlers Paris movie)
Champs-
Location: Avenue des Champs-
Today : still there
Hitler wanted to have an avenue in Berlin like the Champs-
Statues of the horses of Marly (the original statues were (and still are) in the Louvre)
The Champs-
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
An old postcard of the Champs-
Hitlers car drives onto the Champs Elysées, past the horses of Marley (picture : Kuypers, Hitler verovert Parijs)
The Champs-
(picture : hitlerpages)
Arc-
Location : Place Charles de Gaulle (called Place de l'Étoile before)
Today : still there
The Champs-
The Arc-
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Hitlers motorcade driving towards
the Arc -
(picture : Hitlers Paris movie)
Hitlers motorcade driving away from
the Arc -
(picture : Hitlers Paris movie)
Hitlers motorcade driving on the square of the Arc -
Three recent pictures of the Arc -
Avenue Foch/ Arc-
Location : one of the avenues starting (or ending) at the Place Charles de Gaulle
Today : still there
After driving towards the Arc-
A picture of the Avenue Foch as taken from the Arc-
Avenue Foch
(the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Champs de Mars
Location : gardens around the Place Jacques Rueff, between the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire
Today: still there
Hitler was driven to the Ecole Militaire. He left the car to look at the Champs de Mars and the Ecole Militaire.
The Champs de Mars as seen
from the Eiffel Tower
(picture: wikipedia.org)
The Champs de Mars with the Ecole Militaire at the end
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Ecole Militaire
Location : Place Joffre, Avenue de La Motte-
Today : still there
The façade of the military school was another thing Hitler liked.
The Militairy School faces the Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars (picture: public domain, fr.wikipedia.org)
The Ecole Militaire in 2009
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
The street in front of the Ecole Militaire (turning to the right and directly left on the Place Joffre, takes you to the Place Vauban)
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
N2 -
Route
The N2 runs past the area of
Porte de la Villette
Rue de la Fayette
Avenue de Flandre
Rue Gluck (behind Opéra Garnier)
Route
Hitlers car on the Rue Gluck
Boulevard des Capucines
Boulevard des Capucines
Route
Rue Royale
Route
The Rue Royale in 1900
(picture: fr.wikipedia.org)
A picture of the Trocadero taken
from the Eiffel Tower
Trocadero, Tour d'Eiffel (getting there by taking the Avenue Raymond Poincaré )
Location: Place du Trocadero
Today : still there
Hitler didn't like iron buildings but he liked the Eiffel Tower and the area around it very much.
Hitler and the Eiffel Tower
(picture : Hitlers Paris movie)
(picture: hitlerpages)
Hitler looking at the Eiffel Tower from the Tracadero square (picture: Hitlers Paris movie)
Hitlers car driving to the Trocadero
(picture : Hitlers Paris movie)
Hitlers car stops at the Trocadero
(picture : Hitlers Paris movie)
Avenue Raymond Poincaré
Route
The Trocadero from the other side
(picture : the Hitlerpages, 2009)
The Trocadero and the road behind it
(picture : the Hitlerpages, 2009)
The same location almost 69 years later
(picture : the Hitlerpages, 2009)
The Eiffel Tower. The left picture was taken from the spot were Hitler stood.
(picture : the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Pont d’Iena
route
The Pont d’Iena with the
Trocadero in the background
The Pont d’Iena and the Eiffel Tower
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Bridge d’Iena
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Hitler took this bridge on his way to the Ecole Militaire, located on the other side of the Eiffel Tower
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Left: The bridge, the Eiffel Tower, and the Champs de Mars with the Ecole Militaire on the other side
(picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Statue Marechal Joffre
Location: Place Joffre between the Champs de Mars and the Ecole Militaire
Today: still there
Hitlers car stopped directly behind the statue of Marechal Joffre, to take a look at the Champs de Mars and the Ecole Militaire.
Hitlers car behind the statue of marechal Joffre
Centre and right: The statue of marechal Joffre today
(pictures: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Place Vauban
route
The Place Vauban today
(picture: www.justfrance.com)
Church of St.Louis des Invalides and the courtyard of Les Invalides
Location: Place Vauban, behind the Dome des Invalides
Today: still there
Hitler and his men walked through the church of St. Louis and the courtyard of Les Invalides to the cars that were waiting at the other side of the buildings.
Boulevard Saint-
Location : Boulevard Saint-
Today : still there
Hitlers motorcade took the Boulevard Saint-
The Boulevard Saint-
(picture : en.wikipedia.org)
Boulevard Saint-
Location : Boulevard Saint-
Today : still there
Hitlers motorcade took the Boulevard Saint-
The Boulevard Saint Michel today
Palais du Luxembourg
Location : Rue de Vaugirard
Today : still there
Hitlers motorcade took the Boulevard Saint-
The Palais du Luxembourg
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Odéon Theatre
Location : Place Paul Claudel, Rue de Vaugiard
Today : still there
Hitlers motorcade took the Boulevard Saint-
The Odéon Theatre in Paris
(picture : en.wikipedia.org)
Panthéon
Location : end of Rue de Soufflot
Today : still there
Hitlers motorcade took the Boulevard Saint-
The Panthéon in the
Quartier Latin in Paris
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Ile de la Cité
Location : Island in the river Seine; the Boulevard du Palais runs in the centre of it; it's the island of the Notre Dame
Today: still there
It seems like Hitler and his men only briefly visited the island of the Notre Dame.
The Ile de la Cité with the
Notre Dame by night
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Notre Dame
Location : Place du Parvis Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cité
Today : still there
A quick look at the Notre Dame was part of the trip through Paris.
Left: The Notre Dame of Paris by night (picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Right: The Notre Dame by daylight (picture: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Quai d’Orsay -
Route
The Palais Bourbon of the
Chambre de Deputies
Past the French War Ministry -
Route
Left: Rue Bonaparte
Right: St. Sulpice
Rue Soufflot
Route
Rue Soufflot and the Panthéon
Detour to Café Closerie des Lilas
Location: Boulevard Montparnasse 171/ croner Avenue de l'Observatoire
Today: still there
The Closerie des Lilas was a meeting place of writers, painters and other artists. Sculptor Arno Breker, who was with Hitler, Giesler and Speer, showed Hitler the café and the statue of Marechal Ney. Breker had worked in this area.
An old picture of the café and a recent picture of the statue of Marechal Ney
Boulevard St.-
Route
Square de Cluny
Palais de Justice, St. Chapelle
Location: Boulevard du Palais, Ile de la Cité
Today: still there
Hitler got out of the car to see the St. Chapelle, the only remaining part of the old castle that used to be there.
Three pictures of the Palais de Justice with the church St. Chapelle on it’s left side.
(pictures: the Hitlerpages, 2009)
Rue de Rivoli
Location : Rue de Rivoli
Today: still there
Hitler liked the Rue de Rivoli because of the uniformity of it's buildings.
The Rue de Rivoli and the Louvre (picture : fr.wikipedia.org)
Louvre
Location : Rue de Rivoli, between de Place de la Concorde and the Rue de l'Amiral Coligny
Today : still there
Hitler did like the Louvre as a building. It looks like he didn't enter the building.
Colonnade of the Louvre
(picture : nl.wikipedia.org)
Pont d’Arcole
Route
Hitler left the Ile de la Cité over the Pont d’Arcole
Hotel de Ville
Location: Place de l’Hotel de Ville
Today: still there
At the Hotel de Ville, on the other side of the Seine, the cars stopped again.
Hotel de Ville
(picture: nl.wikipedia.org)
Musée Carnavalet
Location: Rue des Francs Bourgeois
Today: still there
Hitler also visited the Musée Carnavalet.
The Musée Carnavalet
(picture: nl.wikipedia.org)
Place des Vosges -
Route
Les Halles today, with on the picture the Forum des Halles
(picture: nl.wikipedia.org)
The Place des Vosges
(picture: nl.wikipedia.org)
Past the Opéra -
Route
Chaussée d’Antin in the 19th century
(picture: © Northwestern University)
Place de Clichy today
Pigalle is the area of the
Moulin Rouge
Both pictures on the left:
Hitler at Montmartre
(picture : Kuypers, Hitler verovert Parijs)
Butte de Montmartre, Sacre Cœur
Location : Ru du Chevalier de La Barre
Today : still there
Hitler took the time to look at the view of Paris at the end of the trip. After that the group went back to the plane.
View from the Montmartre
(picture: nl.wikipedia.nl)
The Sacre Coeur
(picture: nl.wikipedia.org)
