Annelies

Annelies Henkell, born 12-01-1896 in Mainz, the daughter of the champagne giant Otto Henkell   and Käthe Michel, an aristocratic lady who often wearied a monocle ?. Annelies visited the Volksschule in Mainz and in 1907 the family moved to the von Beethoven street in the Wiesbaden suburb, Biebrich, in a beautiful house and Annelies always felt herself exalted about everybody. Her parents themselves by the way lived a pretty Spartan lifestyle, no waste of money was the rule. Annelies wasn’t a pretty looking girl but intelligent, full for zest of life and fun, but somewhat malicious. Her health was not the best and she needed several operations for a chronic sinusitis and inflammation. She all her life suffered from headache problems, had private school lessons, history, German and religion and was an excellent student, her teacher was her beloved Mrs. Guttmann. Her greatest interest was painting and studied for years art history in Munich. She temporary was engaged with Herman Hommel an uncle of the later NS Minister Albert Speer (see Speer), but when she in the summer of 1919 met the large blond Joachim Ribbentrop (see Ribbentrop) during a tennis tournament, she was lost. The good looking Oberleutnant with sparkling blue eyes, great dancer, good dressed and gentlemen, was a real dandy. She didn’t like his view as a man of the world, but was fascinated by him, as he walked around arrogant with his English umbrella. He asked the hand of Annelies but her parents didn’t see him as the man for there Spirit’s business and tried to prevent their relation. As Annelies fanatic carried on her parents surrounded and thew marriage took place on 20-07-1920, Annelies 24 years old. Joachim Ribbentrop born 30-04-1893 in Wessel am Rhein from an old nobility family, with a father Richard Ribbentrop, with Prussian roots who admired Bismarck (see Bismarck). As his mother already had died in 1902, his father with three children remarried Olga von Prittwitz and Gaffron and he had a carefree youth. For the meanwhile diplomat a enamoured Annelies Henkell was a piece of luck and a change of life. It was a marriage of convenience but turned in real love and he never regretted this step. From the beginning he was under influence of Annelies who loved and dominated him and he had to explain all his political steps. At last he was totally controlled by her and he accepted. On 20-07-1923 son Rudolf was born ,    on 20-07-1922, daughter Bettina  and later, Adolf, Ursula and Barthold. Her parents allowed them a large house in Berlin Dahlem, Lentzeallee 7-9.   Ribbentrop was meanwhile the German representative of Whiskey Concern, Johnny Walker and enlarged his emporium. They became very wealthy and lived in big style. It didn’t take long before political and foreign diplomats discovered this Ribbentrop society were they could make many interesting contacts. All these nobility people frustrated Ribbentrop and the couple realized that Ribbentrop’s aunt Gertrude  a “ von Ribbentrop” was and they found an solution. They convinced aunt Gertrude to adopt cousin Joachim and on 15-05-1925 he was allowed to add the aristocratic von to his name. During most of the Weimar Republic era, Ribbentrop was apolitical and displayed no anti-Semitic prejudices. A visitor to a party thrown by Ribbentrop in 1928 recorded that Ribbentrop had no political views beyond a vague admiration for Gustav Stresemann,

     he died age 51, on 03-10-1929, fear of Communism and a wish to restore the monarchy. Several Berlin Jewish businessmen who did business with Ribbentrop in the 1920s and knew him well later expressed astonishment at the vicious anti-Semitism Ribbentrop was to display in the Third Reich, saying that they did not see any indications that he had held such views when they had known him. As a wealthy partner in the Henckel-Trocken champagne firm, Ribbentrop did business with Jewish bankers, and organized the Impegroma Importing Company ("Import und Export großer Marken") with Jewish financing. On 18-01-1933, Hitler had the first of several secret meetings with von Papen (see von Papen) at Ribbentrop's house in the exclusive Dahlem district of Berlin.  It was over dinner at Ribbentrop's house on the evening of 22-01-1933 that von Papen made the fateful concession that if the government of General von Schleicher (see von Schleicher) were to fall, he would abandon his demand for the Chancellorship and instead use his influence with President von Hindenburg (see Hindenburg) to ensure that the Chancellorship went to Hitler Among Ribbentrop's guests that night were Hitler; von Papen; Hermann Goering (see Goering),  Major Oskar von Hindenburg (see Oskar von), the politically powerful son of the President and Otto Meißner (see Meissner), the Presidential State Secretary. When he saw Annelies Henkell, Hitler (see Adolf Hitler) always said there is the Iron One, “She wears the trousers” in the house of Ribbentrop. Joseph Goebbels (see Goebbels) said about Ribbentrop, he bought his name, he married for the Henkell money, his position he got by swindle and the political choices were from his wife. Annelies joined the NSDAP 01-12-1932 with number 1.411.594 and was always there with all secret meetings in their house and advised her husband where possible. In April 1933 the new NS Reichskanzler came to their house to thank von Ribbentrop for his help. Annelies parents were no Nazis, not even as the Nazis abolished the Sekt tax after their victory. Von Ribbentrop became the new advisor from Hitler and the Ribbentrops had made it and no Jewish guests were invited anymore. The new guests were Himmler (see Himmler) and his wife Magarethe and  Ernst Röhm (see Röhm). Annelies followed her husband in all his foreign travels. They got four children, the third was called after his stepfather Adolf but pastor Martin Niemöller from Dahlem, an anti Nazi, didn’t want to baptize the child and came to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. He survived the camp and the war, he died old age 92, in Wiesbaden, on 06-03-1984.  In 1936 they left for London, and stayed there till the occupation of Austria in March 1938, from this fact von Ribbentrop didn’t know anything and was again very upset. Ribbentrop, totally surprised heard the facts being with Chamberlain for a dinner. The family von Ribbentrop filled their many trunks and left for Germany in a hurry. Annelies would over Joachim have a important voice in the Pact with the Russians, but as the war with England broke out, not expected, the Ribbentrop’s had gambled their luck away. They spend the most time on their country estate Sonnenberg and von Ribbentrop tried time and time again to tighten the relationship with Hitler but without result. When the Russians approached in April 1945 they went to Berlin, separated, Joachim stayed in Berlin and Annelies with the children could reached the Rheinland and the couple would see each other first in the prison of Nuremburg. During the process she supported her husband with reliving material, but Joachim was found guilty on all points and sentenced to death by hanging, by hangman John Woods (see Woods). Annelies remained a real national socialist and was integrated in the former Dachau concentration camp, in Munich, where she wrote her memories to excuse and explained their behavior during the war. She returned to the Rheinland, was for her fortunately not "entnazifiziert" "screened" for her Nazi life and could keep all the family money. In 1953 she wrote a book `Between London and Moscow` and remained to explain all the faults to other people as her Joachim.  Annelies Von Ribbentrop-Henkell, still malicious , died age 77, on 05-10-1973 in Wuppertal Ebenfeld and is buried in the Henkell family grave in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, on the the gravestone Joachim's name.(see Ribbentrop).