Notes from Fuehrer HQ
Will be published approx. on 27. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-80568-008-6 (ISBN)
Description
As a young writer of blazing promise, Felix Hartlaub went missing in the final days of the Second World War, leaving behind diaries, notes and incomplete drafts that provide a singularly evocative portrait of life in wartime.
From 1941, Hartlaub was posted in various Nazi military command headquarters, a historian tasked with writing the Wehrmacht's official record of the war. In private, he wrote the disaffected, ruthlessly clear-eyed and often beautiful fragments that make up Notes from Fuehrer HQ, now translated into English for the first time by the acclaimed Michael Hofmann.
Moving from a strangely bucolic barracks in Ukraine to tense bureaucratic headquarters on the Eastern Front to the bizarre, seedy micro-climate of a command train, these dispatches conjure the absurdity and turmoil of life within Hitler's war machine through the eyes of a remarkably perceptive, disabused observer.
From 1941, Hartlaub was posted in various Nazi military command headquarters, a historian tasked with writing the Wehrmacht's official record of the war. In private, he wrote the disaffected, ruthlessly clear-eyed and often beautiful fragments that make up Notes from Fuehrer HQ, now translated into English for the first time by the acclaimed Michael Hofmann.
Moving from a strangely bucolic barracks in Ukraine to tense bureaucratic headquarters on the Eastern Front to the bizarre, seedy micro-climate of a command train, these dispatches conjure the absurdity and turmoil of life within Hitler's war machine through the eyes of a remarkably perceptive, disabused observer.
Reviews / Votes
His narrative skill and unflinching gaze upon the protagonists at the centre of power exert a powerful fascination * neue deutschland * Offers a rare glimpse into everyday life at the epicenter of power * NZZ am Sontag * A master of meticulous observation * der Freitag *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80568-008-6 (9781805680086)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Felix Hartlaub grew up in Mannheim, the son of an art historian and museum director who was ejected from his post by the Nazis. Hartlaub studied history and was called up immediately upon graduating in 1939. Initially serving in a barrage balloon unit, he was then posted to do archival research and record the progress of the war in Occupied Paris and in various Nazi headquarters. He wrote the diaries, notes and drafts for which he is now known throughout the war up until he went missing in Berlin in May 1945.
Michael Hofmann is a translator and poet who was born in Freiburg, Germany. His most recent collection of poetry, One Lark, One Horse, was published by Faber in 2019. He has translated some of the most acclaimed modern and contemporary German-language writers, including Franz Kafka, Joseph Roth and Jenny Erpenbeck.
Michael Hofmann is a translator and poet who was born in Freiburg, Germany. His most recent collection of poetry, One Lark, One Horse, was published by Faber in 2019. He has translated some of the most acclaimed modern and contemporary German-language writers, including Franz Kafka, Joseph Roth and Jenny Erpenbeck.
Content
Introduction by Michael Hofmann 9
Werewolf 17
In the Tangle of the Balkans 45
The Czar's Courier 116
[The Express into the Abyss] 126
Notes 151
Werewolf 17
In the Tangle of the Balkans 45
The Czar's Courier 116
[The Express into the Abyss] 126
Notes 151