How Hitler's foreign minister planned to retire in Cornwall after Nazi conquest of Britain
One of Hitler's most senior Nazis set his heart on a stylish retirement in Cornwall following Germany's invasion of Britain, new research reveals.
Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Fuhrer's foreign minister, planned to live in St Michael's Mount, one of the most beautiful locations in the country.
He had served as the Nazi ambassador to Britain in the late 30s and had his eye on the picturesque tidal island, which is 400 yards offshore, after spending a week in Cornwall in 1937.
He also plotted to keep Tregenna Castle, near St Ives, as a holiday home once the Nazis had achieved world domination.
Von Ribbentrop's love affair with Cornwall tallies with stories that the Luftwaffe was ordered to avoid bombing particular sections of the Cornish coast.
He was one of Hitler's closest henchmen and was notorious for his arrogance when serving in London. He was eventually hanged as a war criminal following the Nuremburg Trials.
His designs on Cornwall emerged after local artist Andrew Lanyon spent three years researching the Nazi's links with the county.
Drawing on local testimony and contemporary reports, he said Von Ribbentrop had expressed a desire to move there after the war.
He said: 'In one visit, he was here for about five days in 1937. He brought his aides with him and went to St Ives.
'He said how much he enjoyed Cornwall. He said: "You are going to be invaded, you need an air raid shelter."
'He said Hitler had promised him the whole of Cornwall, and when he saw Tregenna Castle he wanted to live there. But when he saw St Michael's Mount he thought that was better - I suspect he wanted Tregenna Castle as his holiday home, he was that arrogant.
'One of the striking things about him was his arrogance. One of the reasons that my own grandfather joined Bomber Command was because he had spent half a day playing golf with Ribbentrop, and felt dirty. He was terribly boastful.'...
Read entire article at Daily Mail (UK)
Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Fuhrer's foreign minister, planned to live in St Michael's Mount, one of the most beautiful locations in the country.
He had served as the Nazi ambassador to Britain in the late 30s and had his eye on the picturesque tidal island, which is 400 yards offshore, after spending a week in Cornwall in 1937.
He also plotted to keep Tregenna Castle, near St Ives, as a holiday home once the Nazis had achieved world domination.
Von Ribbentrop's love affair with Cornwall tallies with stories that the Luftwaffe was ordered to avoid bombing particular sections of the Cornish coast.
He was one of Hitler's closest henchmen and was notorious for his arrogance when serving in London. He was eventually hanged as a war criminal following the Nuremburg Trials.
His designs on Cornwall emerged after local artist Andrew Lanyon spent three years researching the Nazi's links with the county.
Drawing on local testimony and contemporary reports, he said Von Ribbentrop had expressed a desire to move there after the war.
He said: 'In one visit, he was here for about five days in 1937. He brought his aides with him and went to St Ives.
'He said how much he enjoyed Cornwall. He said: "You are going to be invaded, you need an air raid shelter."
'He said Hitler had promised him the whole of Cornwall, and when he saw Tregenna Castle he wanted to live there. But when he saw St Michael's Mount he thought that was better - I suspect he wanted Tregenna Castle as his holiday home, he was that arrogant.
'One of the striking things about him was his arrogance. One of the reasons that my own grandfather joined Bomber Command was because he had spent half a day playing golf with Ribbentrop, and felt dirty. He was terribly boastful.'...