Reichschancellery
The Reichschancellery was the seat of the German government until the end of the Second World War. It was located in the German capital city, Berlin.
As Chancellor of Germany and the Führer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler was frequently present in the Reichschancellery. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, Players, TV: Let's Kill Hitler) Beneath the Chancellery was the Führerbunker, where Hitler spend the last days of his life. (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass)
History
Heart of the Reich
The Chancellery's origins stemmed from the Bismarck era. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"]) Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. (AUDIO: Neverland) Thereafter, much of his time was spent in his Chancellery office, where he indulged in minor luxuries and largely-ceremonial gestures while he delegated the important state-building duties to his senior ministers. (PROSE: Players) Like numerous other buildings throughout the Third Reich, it was decorated both inside and out with the Nazi swastika. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, TV: Let's Kill Hitler)
In late 1936, Hitler summoned Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Ambassador to Britain, to his office to receive a report about his progress in securing an alliance with the United Kingdom. Ribbentrop's report was initially positive, but when his gambit collapsed later on, he sheepishly returned to Hitler's office bearing the bad news. Furious, Hitler was overcome with an unnatural anger and flew into a violent rage, during which he wrecked much of his office and chased Ribbentrop from the building (and the country), prompting Martin Bormann to hire a shadowy psychic adviser. (PROSE: Players)
Aliens in the office
Hitler's office met a similar fate on numerous occasions, caused by the presence of the Timewyrm which was trapped inside his mind. Her psychic powers often scattered the furniture whenever Hitler lost control of his emotions. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)
In 1938, the Teselecta infiltrated the Reichschancellery, posing as a janitor mopping the corridor floors. The crew hunted down Erich Zimmerman and executed him in his office on the charge of category three hate crimes. In disguise as Zimmerman, the Teselecta then entered Hitler's office and tried to execute him too, almost realising too late they were too early in his time stream. Hitler was unwittingly saved by the Eleventh Doctor when his TARDIS smashed through the office window and struck down the Teselecta. Hitler fired a shot at the Teselecta which hit Mels, who regenerated into River Song in the centre of the office. Rory Williams punched Hitler and locked him in a cupboard on the Doctor's instructions, and the intruders subsequently set off on pursuits through the streets of Berlin. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler)
At the end of August 1939, the Seventh Doctor was invited into Hitler's office where the Führer asked him about the future. The Doctor warned Hitler that his aggression would lead Britain to resist him. The unwelcome revelation awoke the Timewyrm once more. The Doctor became the first person to witness the effects of her powers on Hitler and survive. The office was ruined in the maelstrom yet again before Hitler lost consciousness and Bormann entered to investigate the disturbance. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)
Second World War
After the German declaration of war on Poland in the Reichstag on 1 September 1939, the Seventh Doctor was once again present in Hitler's office on the morning of 3 September, as Hitler awaited a response from the British. Ribbentrop and an interpreter named Schmidt arrived at 9 o'clock with an ultimatum from the British Ambassador demanding Germany withdraw from Poland within two hours. Shouting Ribbentrop and Schmidt from the room, Hitler began to lose control to the Timewyrm once more but the Doctor urged him to resist, unwittingly teaching Hitler how to control his powers. The reinvigorated Hitler ordered the British ultimatum rejected and then departed the Chancellery to make preparations for the new war. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)
In the last days of the European war, as the Soviet Union descended on the city in the Battle of Berlin, Hitler and his generals and ministers retreated to the Führerbunker beneath the Reichschancellery. There, he continued his attempts to direct the hopeless fight against the Red Army. After addressing the Hitler Youth Brigade on 20 April, his 56th and final birthday, Hitler never left its confines again. Many of his followers fled the Bunker over the following days as the Red Army advanced on the Zitadelle, the inner ring of the city. The Reichschancellery was one of their main targets, located in Sector Nine with the other government buildings.
On 30 April, the Sixth Doctor arrived outside the Chancellery building and the Bunker after being blackmailed by Adolf Hitler, Jr. in 2001. Hitler Jr. gained an ill-fated audience with his father, who did not believe the stranger's bizarre stories. Hitler killed Hitler Jr. and committed suicide shortly after; his wife of one day, Eva Braun, feigned her death and escaped. As the Chancellery was hit by Russian artillery, Hitler's body was burned along with decoy bodies. Once the victorious Soviets were in control of the city, all information within the Reichschancellery and the Führerbunker fell into their hands, where they remained for decades. (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass)
