Editing Heinrich Himmler (section)

== Marriage and family ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1969-056-55, Heinrich Himmler mit Frau und Tochter Gudrun.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Himmler with his wife Margarete and daughter [[Gudrun Burwitz|Gudrun]] ]]

Himmler met his future wife, [[Margarete Himmler|Margarete Boden]], in 1927. Seven years his senior, she was a nurse who shared his interest in herbal medicine and [[homoeopathy]], and was part owner of a small private clinic. They were married in July 1928, and their only child, [[Gudrun Burwitz|Gudrun]], was born on 8 August 1929.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|p=17}} The couple were also foster parents to a boy named Gerhard von Ahe, son of an SS officer who had died before the war.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|p=258}} Margarete sold her share of the clinic and used the proceeds to buy a plot of land in Waldtrudering, near Munich, where they erected a prefabricated house. Himmler was constantly away on party business, so his wife took charge of their efforts—mostly unsuccessful—to raise livestock for sale. They had a dog, Töhle.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=109–110}}

After the Nazis came to power the family moved first to Möhlstrasse in Munich, and in 1934 to [[Tegernsee (lake)|Tegernsee]], where they bought a house. Himmler also later obtained a large house in the Berlin suburb of [[Dahlem (Berlin)|Dahlem]], free of charge, as an official residence. The couple saw little of each other as Himmler became totally absorbed by work.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=27}} The relationship was strained.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=109, 374–375}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|p=40–41}} The couple did unite for social functions; they were frequent guests at the Heydrich home. Margarete saw it as her duty to invite the wives of the senior SS leaders over for afternoon coffee and tea on Wednesday afternoons.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=111}}

[[File:Several images of SS leader Heinrich Himmler with his daughter Gudrun, varies dates.gif|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Himmler and his daughter [[Gudrun Burwitz|Gudrun]] ]]

[[Hedwig Potthast]], Himmler's young secretary starting in 1936, became his mistress by 1939. She left her job in 1941. He arranged accommodation for her, first in [[Mecklenburg]] and later at [[Berchtesgaden]]. He fathered two children with her: a son, Helge (born 15 February 1942, Mecklenburg) and a daughter, Nanette Dorothea (born 20 July 1944, Berchtesgaden). Margarete, by then living in [[Gmund am Tegernsee|Gmund]] with her daughter, learned of the relationship sometime in 1941; she and Himmler were already separated, and she decided to tolerate the relationship for the sake of her daughter. Working as a nurse for the [[German Red Cross]] during the war, Margarete was appointed supervisor in one of Germany's military districts, [[Wehrkreis III]] (Berlin-Brandenburg). Himmler was close to his first daughter, Gudrun, whom he nicknamed ''Püppi'' ("dolly"); he phoned her every few days and visited as often as he could.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=466–68}}

Margarete's diaries record that Gerhard left the [[National Political Institutes of Education|National Political Educational Institute]] in Berlin due to poor examination results. At 16 he joined the SS in [[Brno]] and fought on the Eastern Front. He was captured by the Russians but was later returned to Germany.{{sfn|Himmler|2007|p=285}}

Hedwig and Margarete both remained loyal to Himmler. Writing to Gebhard in February 1945, Margarete said, "How wonderful that he has been called to great tasks and is equal to them. The whole of Germany is looking to him."{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=732}} Hedwig expressed similar sentiments in a letter to Himmler in January. Margarete and Gudrun left Gmund as Allied troops advanced into the area. They were arrested by American troops in [[Bolzano]], Italy, and held in various internment camps in Italy, France, and Germany. They were brought to Nuremberg to testify at the trials and were released in November 1946. Gudrun emerged from the experience embittered by her alleged mistreatment and remained devoted to her father's memory.{{sfn|Himmler|2007|p=275}}{{sfn|Sify News|2010}} She later worked for the West German spy agency [[Federal Intelligence Service|''Bundesnachrichtendienst'' (BND)]] from 1961 to 1963.{{sfn|''Deutsche Welle''|2018}}