Hitler Youth & Countess von der Schulenburg WWII Interview with Lt.

[JuliaCWilliams]

Actually having talked to my mother in law again, this could be right. She is 87, but Werner was younger, so may have been about 14/15 when those pictures taken. Gunzel is still alive I believe. I can't remember where he lives. My mother in law is unfortunately very ill, so can't be very precise. I think she may have said that Gunzel lives in Nordsteimke (sp?). I know she was cross because he'd sold some land! The castle must be the new castle I would think, not the original Wolfsburg castle

[freephotoshoplessons]

@JuliaCWilliams So your Mother-in-law is kind of close to my dead father's age - he was born in 1922. He was an officer at 23 in WWII. Yes, it was the new castle, which was still called "Wolfsburg" even on postcards of the time (I have one postcard posted in the peacock video of the castle). If you read all the comments, Gunzel is still alive and you are right - he lives in Nordsteimke, a littel village in the city Wolfsburg. He was born in 1934 and Werner in 1930. Info on castle in description

[JuliaCWilliams]

My mother in law's grandfather was the Riding master to the Count von Schulenberg (Werner's parents/grandparents). As a child before the war, she played with Werner and Ina in the original castle. The von Schulenbergs were forced to leave in 1935, when Hitler wanted their land to build the VW Works. The von Schulenbergs were not supporters of the regime as far as I know, but had to go along with things. I am guessing the boy is Gunzel rather then Werner because of the age?

[freephotoshoplessons]

@JuliaCWilliams My father definitely met the Countess at the castle. The fact that she let one of her son's dress up in his Hitler Youth Uniform after occupation confuses me terribly - with a loaded gun. I keep thinking if it was a Polish or French little boy aiming a gun at a German Officer, would the outcome have been the same? Thank you for this new information. I have to put up a new link for the newspaper article on the treasure found in the walls of the "new castle" - old link dead.

[freephotoshoplessons]

@JuliaCWilliams We too thought the boy was Gunzel from age and looks, but from my description of the video: "Peter Steckhan, historian and keeper of the archives / documents of the family count von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg, has written me that the Hitler Youth in this clip was Werner Von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg." Werner is dead (died in 1962) so I can't contact him, so all I have is Mr. Peter Steckhan. If you have any other information I'd be thrilled to hear from you!

[freephotoshoplessons]

See my revised description on the castle! During the US Occupation of the castle and according to local postcards the castle was known commonly as "Wolfsburg Castle". But we did more digging and found the exact match to my father's postcards and photographs of the castle.

[HistorikerPS]

@freephotoshoplessons

The first pictures of the "Hitlerjugend" were taken in the courtyard of the old castle Wolfsburg (today in the city Wolfsburg). The young count in uniform is Werner von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg.

[freephotoshoplessons]

The reason I believe this is Gunzel Graf von der Schulenberg is that the age matched identically the child in the hitler youth outfit and he was the son of the Countess and mistress of the castle. The other photos of the hitler youth (en masse) were ones that the young boy gave to my father, as well as the one of him in the uniform. Thank you for telling me where the group photo was taken.

[HistorikerPS]

Count Günther had three sons:

1. Werner (*1930; + 1962);

2. Günzel (* 1934); he lives in Nordsteimke, a littel village in the city Wolfsburg. He has a great interest in the history of his family.

3. Rudolf (*1937); he lives in München.

[freephotoshoplessons]

@HistorikerPS My husband tried looking up Werner in english and german and he found no mention of him. We are curious why he was dressed in a hitler youth outfit with a loaded gun, while American Soldiers were occupying the castle. Also, it may be coincidence but the photo of Gunzel in the German newspaper (in video info) looks strikingly like the boy in the video. But it may be a strong family resemblance.

[freephotoshoplessons]

I have changed the wording in the information given for the video. I hope it is more accurate. I am now waiting for youtube to update it.

[HistorikerPS]

My name is Peter Steckhan. I am a historian and keeper of the archives / dokuments of the family count von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg.

Prehaps you have an interest in closer relations to the family or to me? There are about 300 fotographs taken from Schloss Neumühle and an report of an US-soldier visiting the castle 1945 in the archives.

[freephotoshoplessons]

@HistorikerPS My father and I would have great interest in seeing the report from the US soldier visiting the castle in 1945. I have 2 other segments from the 3 hour interview I did with my father about Wolfsburg Castle (Schloss Neumuhle) that I will post later.

[HistorikerPS]

@freephotoshoplessons

The other pictures with the officers were taken in front of castle "Neue Wolfsburg" (on a hill in a forest near Beetzendorf / Altmark) . These castle was built up from 1938 to 1942 by count Günther von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg (* 1891; + 1985), the father of Werner. The name of the architect is Paul Bonatz.

Count Günther and his family were forced to leave the old castle Wolfsburg.

[freephotoshoplessons]

I have several sources (with photographs from newspapers and tourists' photos) that says this castle is "Schloss Neumühle in der Altmark". Same thing, right? Also, if you click on the more info button, the more extensive information I have matches yours. My father and husband are fluent in German and the info is from German newspaper articles and sources.

[HistorikerPS]

The right name of the new castle was "Wolfsburg", given by count Günther. In the years 1938 to 1945 there was a great confusion: the old castle had the name "Wolfsburg" as well as the new castle. To stop these confusion after the world war you can read "Schloss Neumühle in der Altmark".

[FreeTheRocks]

This video mentions the Wolfsburg Castle...but not the fully functional castle in the town of Wolfsburg(Home of Volkswagen)...the castle he is talking about is near the town of Neustadt.

[msphotoshopaholic]

Like your Ken Burns' affect on photos!