“All visitors are shown their host’s model kennels, where he breeds magnificent Alsatians. Some of his pedigree pets are allowed the run of the house, especially on days when Herr Hitler gives a “Fun Fair” to the local children. On such a day, when State affairs are over, the Squire himself, attended by some of his guests, will stroll through the woods into hamlets above and below. There rustics sit at cottage doors carving trinkets and toys in wood, ivory, and bone. It is then the little ones are invited to the house. Coffee, cakes, fruits, and sweets are laid for them on trestle tables in the grassy orchards. Then Frauen Goebbels and Göring, in dainty Bavarian dress, perform dances and folk-songs, while the bolder spirits are given joy-rides in Herr Hitler’s private airplane.”

Extract from a reportage at Berghof, Hitler’s mountain home, in a 1938 edition of English magazine Homes & Gardens.

Complete article with pictures in The Guardian.

This (now) disturbing article showing Hitler in an intimate setting reminded me of a very moving documentary i saw a few years ago. In Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary by Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer, the late Traudl Junge recounts her experiences as a private secretary of the polite, soft-spoken and gentle Hitler (via). She felt terribly guilty for having admired a man she later came to understand as one of the most evil human beings ever to have trod the earth. “He was a pleasant boss and a fatherly friend,” she was said. “I deliberately ignored all the warning voices inside me and enjoyed the time by his side almost until the bitter end.”

See also: Chambermaid at Berghof (in German but with images).
Via Otomano.