Eckhard, Christian.

Eckhard, Christian, born 01-12-1907 in Charlotteburg, Berlin. Christian first joined the Reichsmarine (German Navy) in 1926. In 1928 and 1929, he attended officer candidate courses. Thereafter, he continued in the navy and obtained the rank of Leutnant zur See on 01-10-1930. In 1934, Eckhard transferred to the Luftwaffe  glider school in Warnemünde.  He was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann on 01-04-1935. He was transferred to the Air Ministry in July 1938 and onto the General Staff. On 01-06-1940, he was promoted to Major and from 15-01-1941 was attached to Chief of the Armed Forces Command Staff at Adolf Hitler’s Führer Headquarters.   Eckhard was promoted to Oberstleutnant  on 15-03-1942.

It was there at Hitler’s HQ that Eckhard met Gerda “Dara” Daranowski, her on the photo with Hitler and Johanna Wolf,

  who were working as Adolf Hitler’s private secretaries. Dara Christian was engaged to Hitler’s driver Erich Kempka,

but later married Eckhard Christian  They were married on 02-02-1943

  and Gerda Christian took a break from her employment for Hitler. Her work was taken over by Traudel Junge,   who later was married to Hitler’s aid Hans Junge.

  Eckhard was promoted to Oberst on 01-03-1943. Thereafter, Eckhard here with Generalmajor Karl Kreipe   was appointed Ia of the Luftwaffe Command Staff at Hitler’s request. In mid-1943, Gerda Christian returned to Hitler’s staff as one of his private secretaries.  After the death of Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek,

  Eckhard, under on the right of Hitler, was again promoted to Generalmajor and made Chef des Luftwaffe-Führungsstabes (Chief of the Luftwaffe Command Staff) at Hitler’s request on 01-09-1944.

In April 1945, Eckhard was stationed in Berlin at the Führerbunker Headquarter. He left the bunker complex on 22-04-1945 to become chief of the liaison staff of the Luftwaffe to OKW  Command Staff North. His wife, Gerda, was one of two secretaries who volunteered to remain with Hitler in the Führerbunker.

On 08-05-1945, Eckhard was captured in Mürwick  by British troops and held in custody until 07-05-1947. Gerda did not ever reunite with her husband, Eckhard, after the war ended. In fact, Gerda divorced Eckhard in 1946 because he did not remain with her in the Führerbunker until after the death of Hitler. Gerda Christian had filed for divorce in 1946, since she could not forgive her husband for not remaining with her in the leader’s bunker. On the evening of 30-04-1945, in the first group led by SS brigade leader Wilhelm Mohnke     (a total of ten groups of about 20 persons) left the Führerbunker. Traudl Junge, Else Krüger   (Martin Bormann‘s secretary) and Constanze Manziarly  (Hitler’s cook) were also kidnapped, raped, and presumed murdered by Russians on May 2, since then they have been lost. While Günsche, Mohnke, and so many others were in Soviet captivity, Gerda Christian could go to Bavaria. She had a close friendship with Otto Günsche until her life.

Death and burial ground of Eckhard, Christian.

  Eckhard died on 03-01-1985, age 77 in Bad Kreuznach and is buried in Bad Kreuznach, suburb Ebernburg in the Königsgartenstrasse,  in the Urn wall, Nr. 10. My friend Wolfgang Linke from Frankfurt am Main visited the graveside for me and sent the grave photo’s.

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