Adolf Hitler's Monument to Anton Bruckner


Adolf Hitler's sketch of his planned Bruckner monument

One of the most significant factors in the reception of Anton Bruckner's music was the appropriation of his work by the National Socialists in Germany in the 1930s through World War II. It was known that Bruckner was one of Adolf Hitler's favorite composers and that he was planning for a cultural center in Linz and Saint Florian that would pay homage to Bruckner and his music. Hitler even had plans for a Bruckner monument which he sketched out in 1942.

In 1988, Albert Speer, Hitler's primary architect wrote the following note regarding this sketch:

I declare on oath that this sketch, depicting a monument to the composer Anton Bruckner, was drawn in my presence by Adolf Hitler. The memorial was to be erected in Linz. This sketch is entered in the enclosed directory under the number 111 as « Bruckner Monument in Linz » . This directory was created in 1937 and continued under the head of my architects' office, Otto Apel, until the end of the War. A photocopy is enclosed.

An allegorical figure should be placed on the column. A memorial plaque for Bruckner was planned in the lower part. This sketch was made in Hitler's special train on the night of November 7th to 8th, 1942, on the journey from the main district of Rastenburg to Munich. The dramatic events of this trip are described on pages 259 and 260 of my « Memoirs » . The date of November 9, 1942, is erroneously entered in the list.