In the late 1930s, very few photographers were using color film. German photographer Hugo Jaeger was an early adopter, and when Adolf Hitler was introduced to Jaeger’s work, he liked what he saw.
“The future,” Hitler reportedly told Jaeger, “belongs to color photography.”
Between 1936 and 1945, Jaeger was granted unprecedented access to Hitler, traveling and chronicling, in color, the Fuhrer and his confidants at small gatherings, public events and, quite often, in private moments. Here, LIFE.com presents a small selection of photographs from Jaeger’s astonishing—and chilling—archive, featuring Hitler with his fellow Nazis, sycophants and assorted hangers-on.
Adolf Hitler attends the 1939 launching of the battleship Tirpitz.Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNazi troops parade before Hitler in 1938 Nuremberg.Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA hand-worked castle inlaid with precious stones, given to Hitler for his 50th birthday, April 20, 1939.Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesJulius Schaub, Hitler's personal aide and adjutant, at a party. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGerman actress Hannelore Schroth at a reception for German artists held in the Berlin Chancellery in 1940. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesActress Marieluise Claudius leans back in a chair in the Chancellery during an artists reception, Berlin, 1940. A prolific film actress during the 1930s, she died of heart failure in 1941, at age 29. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesHitler observes military maneuvers in St. Polten, Austria, in the spring of 1939. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesHitler speaks in Munich on the 15th anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, in which Hitler and other Nazi party members attempted to overthrow the German government. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesAdolf Hitler chats with several young women on a promenade of the German cruise ship Robert Ley, named after a prominant Nazi and head of the Labour Front, on its maiden voyage in April, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesBritish Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (front row, second from right) walks past a Nazi honor guard on the way to a meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1938. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesAdolf Hitler at the 1939 International Auto Exhibition in Berlin. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesAdolf Hitler at the 1939 International Auto Exhibition in Berlin. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesFerdinand Porsche (left, in dark suit) presents a newly designed convertible VW to Adolf Hitler in celebration of the Fuhrer's 50th Birthday, Berlin, Germany, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNighttime Munich is lit with torches and festooned with swastikas in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, 1938.Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesHitler salutes German troops in 1938. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesHitler waves from aboard the Robert Ley. Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
