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Speer's girlfriend from an early stage was Margarethe Weber (1905–87). He began began courting Margarete (Margret) Weber (1922). Her father was a successful craftsman overseeing a shop with 50 workers. Speer's mother was not impressed with the Weber family. The Webers had no social standing. Albert simply ignored his parents on the matter. They contemplated marriage from an early point in their relationship. Margarethe patiently waited for him to complete his university studies. They married (1928). It would, however, be 7 years before Albert's mother invited Margarethe to stay. And 6 years before the children began arriving. We are not sure just why, but presume it was a financial matter. It was not until the NAZI take over that Speer had a reasonable income (1933). Once Albert Jr. arrived (1934), the other five children arrived more or less regularly in good order, often the sign of a happy marriage. The Speers had six children, Albert Jr. (1934), Hilde, Fritz, Margarete, Adolf (1940)--later renamed Arnold, and Ernst (1942). The children had a happy childhood. The war and NAZI war crimes were outside their experiences. They were thrilled by the trips to Obersalzberg and the dranatic Alpine landscape. They recalled trips up the mountain to a frienfly neighbor--Adolf Hitler. When visiting the Berhof, while the adults would talk, Eva Braun would treat them to American Mickey Mouse cartoons. [Breloer] Speer was a doting father, altough after he became armaments minister was away from home a great deal. The idelic childhood of course changed with the end of the War. Arnold thought that 'war criminal' was his father’s new profession. They secretly exchanged letters in prison. Speer after his release was unable to reestablish his relationship with the children, even with his Albert. They had been close and Albert had followed the family profession. Hilde writes, "One by one my sister and brothers gave up. There was no communication." [Sereny, pp. 664–65.]
Breloer, Heinrich. Finnish television producer. Prepared a documentary on the Speer family and interviewed some of the children. .
Sereny, Gitta. Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth (Knopf: 1995).
Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich (Avon, New York, 1970), 734p.
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