Bob Chen <[log in to unmask]> replies me:

>Ian Kershaw mentiones this in his new biography, "Hitler: 1889-1936:
>Hubris," part of a larger discussion of Hitler's impulsiveness,
>shiftlessness and general inability to finish what he started.

Various sources have suggested that the only in his life that Hitler
was working hard with continously, was building up his party on the
"Kampfjahre".

>devising grandiose schemes shared only with the willing (August
>'Gustl') Kubizek (a music student friend of Hitler's in Vienna) --

oh! you are right, the friend was Kubizek, not Hanisch.

>Kershaw also discusses Hitler's amateurish music criticism and his
>devotion to "the Wagner Cult" (his words, not mine).  "Adolf's passion
>for Wagner ...  knew no bounds," he writes.  In Vienna, Hitler and Kubizek
>saw Lohengrin, "which remained Hitler's favourite," 10 times.  "For him,"
>Kubizek later wrote, "a second-rate Wagner was a hundred times better than
>a first-class Verdi."

I am not so sure it [Lohengrin] remained Hitler's favourite.  As far as
I know his favourite changed from first Lohengrin to Rienzi to Parsifal
finally to Die Meistersinger.  In ancient times I found an analysis by
C.G.Jung on the Net on Mister Hitlers selfmade identification with
Klingsor.  I'll see if I can find it again, and I will post it here,
it was very interesting.  It was coupled with an analysis on Picassos
identification with Parsifal, which came out in his painting with Parsifal
and the hoovering sword - which of course always is a sort of phallos
symbol:-)

>There's more in Kershaw's book on Hitler and Wagner, much of which is very
>interesting indeed. (I just started reading it over the weekend. I'm about
>250 pages into it.) Hope this helps.

Thank you for your informative and interesting post Bob. I am about 200
pages into Bullock's Hitler biography, so if you want we can race reading:-)

James Zehm
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