Eva Braun before the war
Adolf Hitler kept a personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, on call in Munich in 1929, in part because he liked to study his appearance while gesticulating during his delivery of speeches. While visiting his photographer’s shop one afternoon he met Eva Braun, then 17 years old. Braun was both a clerical assistant and model, and had a talent for photography herself. Two years later they began seeing each other socially, though at first it was a relationship known only to Hitler’s innermost circle. Their relationship began shortly after the death of Hitler’s niece Geli Raubal, and continued for the rest of their lives.
Less than a year after the suicide of Geli Raubal, Braun attempted suicide by shooting herself in the chest. Hitler began paying more attention to her as she recovered and she began to be allowed to travel with Hitler’s entourage, albeit officially as part of Hoffmann’s staff. She also began to stay overnight occasionally at Hitler’s Munich apartment and was allowed to stay at the Berghof, again under the guise of working for Hoffmann. In 1935 she attempted to commit suicide a second time, according to diary entries because Hitler wasn’t paying her enough attention. This attempt was with an overdose of sleeping pills.
By the mid-1930s Braun and her sister Gretl were sharing a Munich apartment paid for by Hitler and she had her own rooms at Hitler’s retreat in Obersalzberg and in the Chancellery in Berlin. In 1935 Hitler’s longtime housekeeper and mother of his late niece was dismissed from his service after complaining of Braun’s presence in the Hitler household, a decision which solidified Braun’s relationship with Hitler in the eyes of the rest of the Nazi leadership. Braun was never photographed in a manner in which she appeared to be accompanying Hitler, and the rest of the inner circle did not acknowledge her before the press or cameras. She was a secret as far as the German people were concerned.
Braun was not allowed to be present when business was discussed, though whether Hitler sought her opinions on a personal basis will likely never be known. Braun expressed little interest in matters of state in any event, her interests were more in the line of entertainment, sports, and clothing. As war approached and the German economy began to shift to war production she expressed outrage over the resulting shortage of soap, cosmetics, and other items deemed important to her, but there is no indication that her concerns were of any interest to Hitler.
After Rudolph Hess flew to England Braun was officially designated as Hitler’s private secretary. She remained on Hoffmann’s official staff as well, positions which offered her unfettered access to the Chancellery and explained her presence as part of Hitler’s entourage. As Germany prepared for war Braun remained near Hitler no matter where he was, earning her the backbiting of other women of the inner circle and the unspoken but readily apparent contempt of senior Nazi’s wives. Hitler on several occasions spoke to his advisors regarding their wives behavior towards Eva, demanding that she be treated respectfully.