Now in 1964 our little Austrian painter is simply an old man and artist of some renown living quietly in Berlin. What of his compatriots in real life?
Frankly, we don't know. But we did have one idea.
When thinking of who is chancellor in 1964 we didn't want to pick some no name that no American is going to know. Who was chancellor? I don't know.
But you know whose the German chancellor in the Austrian Painter's 1964? We had a good idea. We also think the idea is predictable but we don't care.
Say hello to Chancellor Speer.
In our 1964 Speer became Hitler's confidant and harbored ambitions. He even thought the Allies would tap him to run post-war Germany.
Ahhhhh...but how does he rise to power in the universe of the Austrian Painter? Same way really. He is hired during the Great Depression to oversee some German construction projects. The Kaiser likes him, recommends him to the chancellor, he runs for the reichstaag, rises through the ranks and eventually....
Why not?
We have a few questions. To which party would he belong in 1964 and would he be interested in redesigning Berlin?
We shall see,
Awhile back you mentioned that many Alt History stories choose 1964 for their start point, my question is why? I couldn't figure it out. Secondly only cause there are gaps here what would you recommend from an American perspective on the Korean war and pre heavy American involvement in Vietnam...if anything like those exsist.
ReplyDeleteWell, the first Alt hist novel i read was Fatherland and this takes place in 1964. Author Robert Harris chose this as Hitler's 75th Birthday, its 20 years after the end of the war in our 1964, it allowed him to make Joe Kennedy President, and Hitler's neo-classical design aesthetics fit well into that era. Not quite sure what you mean on question #2
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