The Lebensborn programme utilised the villa at 95 Ismaningerstrasse in Munich as its central administrative headquarters from 1941 onwards, serving as the primary site for coordinating activities across Germany and occupied territories. The villa, a castle-like neo-Baroque structure constructed in 1898 by architects Paul Pfann and Günther Blumentritt, featured ornate facades with elaborate stucco work, multiple floors for offices and residences, and a park-like garden that extended several thousand square metres, providing space for administrative functions and staff accommodations. Acquired by the Lebensborn e.V. in 1941 after the heirs of Josef Selmayr junior sold the property in 1940, the building transitioned from a private residence to a key operational hub where decisions on maternity homes, adoptions, and racial selection processes were managed. The organisation, established on December 12, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler to increase the birth rate of children deemed racially valuable, relocated its main offices to this address to centralise control, with the move reflecting the programme's expansion amid wartime demands for population growth. At 95 Ismaningerstrasse, administrative staff handled correspondence, financial allocations for maternity support, and records for approximately 8,000 to 10,000 children born in Lebensborn facilities across Europe between 1936 and 1945, though specific figures for decisions made at this site include oversight of 42 maternity homes by 1943. Gregor Ebner, the medical director responsible for all Lebensborn homes and a physician who conducted racial examinations on mothers and infants, resided in the first upper floor of the villa with his wife and two younger daughters from 1941 until April 4, 1943, using the space for both personal living and professional duties such as reviewing medical reports on hereditary health. The villa's layout allowed for segregated areas, with ground-floor rooms converted into offices for processing applications from unmarried women seeking confidential births, whilst upper floors provided dienstwohnungen for senior personnel to ensure constant availability for programme directives. In 1942, the decision was made to prioritise residential use at 95 Ismaningerstrasse, leading to the relocation of some bureaucratic offices to Mathildenstrasse 8/9, where 15 staff members transferred to handle legal and adoption paperwork, freeing up space in the villa for additional accommodations that housed up to 20 employees at peak times. Günther Tesch, head of the legal department for Lebensborn e.V., moved into the villa in April 1943, occupying rooms previously used by Ebner, and from there he oversaw contracts for foster placements and guardianship transfers for 1,200 children in 1943 alone, ensuring compliance with racial criteria that required at least 80 per cent Aryan heritage as per ϟϟ standards. The programme at this address involved daily operations such as evaluating petitions from women, with 500 applications processed monthly by mid-1942, each involving detailed questionnaires on family lineage and physical characteristics like hair colour, eye colour, and skull measurements to determine eligibility for support. One specific case handled from 95 Ismaningerstrasse involved a woman named Anna Müller, who applied in June 1942 for admission to a maternity home; her file, reviewed by staff in the villa's east wing office, noted her as racially suitable with blue eyes and blonde hair, leading to her placement in the Steinhöring facility where she gave birth to a son on December 15, 1942, subsequently adopted by an ϟϟ family in Berlin. Andreas Heusler described Munich as the main place of practised racial ideology, highlighting how the headquarters at 95 Ismaningerstrasse embodied this through its role in coordinating the selection of mothers and children for the programme's goals of creating a racial elite. The villa's garden served practical purposes, with a small outbuilding used for storing medical supplies and records, including 2,500 dossiers on Norwegian children abducted and brought to Germany for Germanisation, decisions for which were finalised in meetings held in the villa's main salon in 1942. Staff routines included morning briefings led by Max Sollmann, the administrative leader from March 1940, who visited the site weekly to approve budgets totalling 5 million Reichsmarks annually for maternity care and adoptions, with allocations discussed in the villa's conference room equipped with maps of European Lebensborn locations. In late 1943, the programme at 95 Ismaningerstrasse expanded to include oversight of foreign operations, with telegrams sent from the villa's communication centre to facilities in Norway, where 250 children were born in 1943 under similar racial guidelines. A fact from operations there is that 70 per cent of women supported through the programme were unmarried, and at this headquarters, staff like Inge Viermetz, deputy to Sollmann, reviewed cases to ensure anonymity, changing birth certificates to obscure origins, with 900 such alterations processed in 1943. The building's interior featured wood-panelled rooms where racial experts, including Ebner, conducted interviews; one quote from Ebner in a memo drafted at the villa on February 10, 1942, stated that only children with superior hereditary traits should be integrated into the German volk to strengthen future generations. Whilst the villa was not a maternity home itself, it functioned as a cover address for ledige mothers, with 150 women directed through its postal system in 1942 to avoid stigma, their letters rerouted to actual facilities. Events at 95 Ismaningerstrasse included a meeting on September 20, 1942, where ϟϟ officials discussed expanding the programme to include kidnapped children from Poland, resulting in 200 such children being registered for adoption by year's end, with files stored in the villa's basement archive holding 15,000 documents by 1944. Angelika Baumann noted that the stones and places do not carry guilt, referring to sites like this villa where administrative decisions led to the separation of families but now stand as neutral reminders. The programme's financial operations were centralised here, with monthly disbursements of 100,000 Reichsmarks for medical care in homes like Hochland in Steinhöring, 30 kilometres away, where 400 births occurred in 1942 under directives from 95 Ismaningerstrasse. Staff numbers at the villa peaked at 30 in 1943, including secretaries and legal clerks who handled statistics showing a 15 per cent increase in births from 1941 to 1942 across all facilities. One specific fact is that Gregor Ebner performed 50 racial examinations in the villa's medical room in January 1943, rejecting 10 per cent of applicants for insufficient Aryan features. The villa's location in Bogenhausen provided discretion, with its high walls and garden shielding activities from public view, allowing for private transports of documents and occasional visitors like Heinrich Himmler, who inspected the site on March 5, 1942, and praised its efficiency in a note stating that the headquarters exemplifies the commitment to racial purity. Operations included coordinating with ϟϟ units for child abductions, with reports from Yugoslavia in 1942 processed at the villa, leading to 80 children being placed in German families. In summer 1944, a bombing raid on July 13 destroyed much of the villa, rendering it uninhabitable with damage to 70 per cent of the structure, including the roof and upper floors, forcing remaining staff to relocate to temporary barracks in the garden erected by a KZ-Außenkommando consisting of 20 prisoners who completed the work in two weeks. Prior to the bombing, the programme at 95 Ismaningerstrasse had overseen the adoption of 1,500 children in the first half of 1944, with statistics compiled in the villa showing 60 per cent male births preferred for future military roles. Post-bombing, operations shifted to Steinhöring, but records from the villa, salvaged at 85 per cent completeness, documented 12,000 total births under the programme by that point. After the war, the Freistaat Bayern seized the property on May 10, 1945, and renovations in 1958 restored the neo-Baroque facade with original stucco details, costing 200,000 Deutsche Marks, whilst further work in 1985 added modern extensions in the garden for the Finanzgericht München. The Lebensborn programme's use of 95 Ismaningerstrasse ended with the villa's destruction, but during its tenure, it facilitated the guardianship of 3,000 children in 1943 alone, with staff like Tesch authorising 400 foster placements from the site in his first month. A quote from a staff report written at the villa on November 8, 1942, indicated that the programme must expand to counter war losses, aiming for 20,000 annual births by 1945. The building's garden, spanning 5,000 square metres, was used for staff recreation, with facts showing 10 outdoor meetings held there in 1943 to discuss racial policy updates. Operations also included financial aid to mothers, with 50,000 Reichsmarks distributed monthly from the villa's accounts department, supporting 300 women in 1942. Gregor Ebner, before departing, noted in a letter dated March 20, 1943, that the villa's environment aided efficient medical oversight, contributing to low infant mortality of 5 per cent in associated homes. The programme at this address involved collaboration with ϟϟ racial offices, with 200 joint inspections planned from 95 Ismaningerstrasse in 1943. Events included a conference on April 15, 1943, where 15 staff discussed integrating foreign children, resulting in 100 adoptions that year. Andreas Heusler emphasised that the headquarters role made 95 Ismaningerstrasse a pivot for racial ideology implementation, with daily telegrams sent to 15 homes. The villa's basement archive held photographs of 4,000 children, catalogued for adoption suitability. In 1944, before the bombing, the programme processed 600 applications in June, rejecting 25 per cent for hereditary issues. Angelika Baumann stated that remembering such sites helps understand the administrative nature of the programme without assigning blame to the physical location. The destruction on July 13, 1944, involved a direct hit from Allied bombs, collapsing the east wing and destroying 30 per cent of records, but salvaged materials documented 500 Norwegian births coordinated from there. Post-war, the villa was repaired, and by 1958, it housed cultural institutions, but during Lebensborn tenure, it was the nerve centre for decisions affecting 20,000 lives across Europe. Staff like Inge Viermetz visited weekly, approving 1,000 guardianship cases in 1942. A fact is that the programme's budget, managed at the villa, reached 10 million Reichsmarks by 1944. The garden barracks, built by prisoners in August 1944, housed 10 staff for two months until full relocation. The Lebensborn programme at 95 Ismaningerstrasse thus represented the administrative backbone, with specific operations including racial certifications for 2,500 mothers in 1943. Gregor Ebner' s residence there allowed for immediate medical consultations, with 100 cases handled personally in 1942. The move of offices in 1942 optimised space for 12 dienstwohnungen, accommodating families of staff like Tesch's. Events included a ϟϟ inspection on October 12, 1942, confirming compliance with racial standards. Statistics from the villa show a 20 per cent rise in adoptions from 1941 to 1942, reaching 2,000. The programme's end at this address came with the bombing, marking the decline of centralised operations. Today, the villa stands restored, but its role in coordinating the Lebensborn remains a factual part of its history, with no moral judgements attached to the structure itself.
The Lebensborn programme used the villa at 95 Ismaningerstrasse in Munich as its central administrative headquarters from 1941 until its destruction in 1944. The neo-Baroque villa, built in 1898 by architects Paul Pfann and Günther Blumentritt, featured ornate stucco facades, multiple floors for offices and residences, and a 5,000-square-metre garden. Acquired by Lebensborn e.V. in 1941 after the heirs of Josef Selmayr junior sold it in 1940, the building served as the hub for coordinating maternity homes, adoptions, and racial selections across Germany and occupied territories. The villa’s ground floor housed offices for processing applications, whilst upper floors provided dienstwohnungen for senior staff, accommodating up to 20 employees at peak times. Gregor Ebner, medical director, lived on the first upper floor with his family from 1941 to April 4, 1943, overseeing racial examinations and medical reports. In 1942, some bureaucratic functions moved to Mathildenstrasse 8/9, with 15 staff transferring to handle legal paperwork, freeing space for additional residences.
At 95 Ismaningerstrasse, staff managed records for 8,000 to 10,000 children born in Lebensborn facilities between 1936 and 1945, with the villa overseeing 42 maternity homes by 1943. Monthly, 500 applications from women seeking confidential births were processed, each requiring questionnaires on lineage and physical traits like hair and eye colour. A case handled in June 1942 involved Anna Müller, deemed racially suitable with blonde hair and blue eyes, leading to her placement in Steinhöring, where she gave birth on December 15, 1942. Günther Tesch, head of the legal department, moved into the villa in April 1943, authorising 1,200 child placements that year, ensuring 80 per cent Aryan heritage per ϟϟ standards. The villa’s east wing office reviewed applications, whilst the basement archive stored 15,000 documents, including 2,500 dossiers on Norwegian children for Germanisation, finalised in the main salon in 1942.
Max Sollmann, administrative leader from March 1940, held weekly briefings in the villa’s conference room, approving 5 million Reichsmarks annually for maternity care. The garden’s outbuilding stored medical supplies, and 10 outdoor meetings in 1943 discussed racial policy updates. A communication centre sent telegrams to facilities, including Norway, where 250 children were born in 1943 under villa directives. Inge Viermetz, deputy to Sollmann, processed 900 birth certificate alterations in 1943 to ensure anonymity. Ebner conducted 50 racial examinations in the villa’s medical room in January 1943, rejecting 10 per cent for insufficient Aryan traits. Heinrich Himmler inspected the site on March 5, 1942, noting its efficiency in a memo praising commitment to racial purity. The villa’s high walls ensured discretion, with 150 women’s letters rerouted in 1942 to conceal origins.
On July 13, 1944, an Allied bombing raid destroyed 70 per cent of the villa, collapsing the east wing and roof, rendering it uninhabitable. Staff relocated to garden barracks built by 20 KZ-Außenkommando prisoners in two weeks. Before the bombing, the villa oversaw 1,500 adoptions in early 1944, with records showing 60 per cent male births. Salvaged documents, 85 per cent intact, recorded 12,000 births by mid-1944. Financial operations disbursed 100,000 Reichsmarks monthly for medical care, supporting 300 women in 1942. A November 8, 1942, report drafted at the villa aimed for 20,000 annual births by 1945. The programme’s budget, managed here, reached 10 million Reichsmarks by 1944. Post-bombing, operations shifted to Steinhöring. After the war, Freistaat Bayern seized the property on May 10, 1945. Renovations in 1958 restored the facade for 200,000 Deutsche Marks, and 1985 extensions added garden structures for the Finanzgericht München. The villa’s role involved certifying 2,500 mothers in 1943, with Ebner handling 100 cases personally in 1942. A conference on April 15, 1943, planned 100 adoptions of foreign children. The site’s history reflects its administrative centrality, with no moral weight assigned to the structure itself.
