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Munich 1939

Georg Elser made another trip to Munich in April 1939 to check how the hall was guarded and accessed. He also measured the pillar he wanted to install the explosives inside. His attempt to get a job in the Bürgerbräukeller failed, however.

He moved to Munich in August 1939, lodging with Alfons and Rosa Lehmann at Türkenstrasse 94 from September. He lived on his savings. Elser would hide on the hall’s gallery every evening and get locked in after the Bürgerbräukeller closed for the night. Using simple tools, he was able to prepare the pillar above Hitler’s lectern for the planned assassination during more than thirty nights between August and November of 1939. Elser finished this work in early November 1939.

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Bürgerbräukeller hall, after 1920.
Private
The decorator Alfons Lehmann and his wife Rosa lived at Türkenstrasse 94 in Munich. The young couple, who were expecting their first child in October 1939, advertised for a sub-tenant in August 1939. Georg Elser moved into a small room overlooking the backyard in their second-floor apartment on September 1, 1939, for just under 4 marks a week. He worked there undisturbed on the sketches and constructions for his explosive device during the day. In the evenings he would go to the nearby Bürgerbräukeller, not returning until the early morning.
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Georg Elser introduced himself as a cabinetmaker and inventor; the Lehmanns knew nothing about his assassination plans. Rosa Lehmann later described Elser as a very private person, who never received visitors or mail. When Georg Elser was bedridden due to a severe inflammation of his right knee in early October, Rosa Lehmann brought him food. He handed in notice for his accommodation as of November 1, 1939, but remained officially registered there. Alfons Lehmann was therefore arrested by the police a few days after the attack, interrogated, and imprisoned for several weeks. As Rosa Lehmann had spent a long time in hospital after a difficult childbirth and did not come home until October 23, she had to endure daily police and Gestapo interrogations in her own home.
Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand
Georg Elser’s first address in Munich was Blumenstrasse 19, followed by Türkenstrasse 94. Both rooms were close to the Bürgerbräukeller, to which Elser regularly walked in the evenings. He entered the building via the main entrance on Rosenheimer Strasse and often left it via the less frequented rear entrance on Kellerstrasse. When he had to get rid of building rubble, Elser would leave via Kellerstrasse with a small suitcase, tipping the contents into the nearby River Isar. The master cabinetmaker Brög’s workshop was in the direct vicinity of Elser’s apartment on Türkenstrasse. This gave Elser an opportunity to manufacture many parts for his explosive device himself, and he spent most of his time at the workshop during the final weeks before his assassination attempt. Elser had some metal parts worked on in various nearby workshops, for instance in the Solleder metalworking shop on Türkenstrasse, at the Kustermann foundry on Rosenheimer Strasse, or in Max Niederhofer’s turning and metalworking shop on Rumfordstrasse. He also bought all his small parts and materials in the surrounding area.