| 26 Apr 1894 |
Rudolf Hess born, Alexandria Egypt. |
| 1908 |
Family moves to Germany. |
| 1914 |
Joins 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment. |
| 1920 |
Meets Adolf Hitler. |
| 1 Jul 1920 |
Becomes the 16th member of the Nazi party. |
| 9 Nov 1923 |
Beer Hall Putsch ends with Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Hess's imprisonment. |
| 1927 |
Marries Ilse Prohl, a nice Nazi girl from Berlin. |
| 21 Apr 1933 |
Appointed Deputy Führer. |
| 1 Dec 1933 |
Appointed Reichsminister without Portfolio. |
| 1936 |
At the Berlin Olympics, meets the future Duke of Hamilton. Upon Hess's arrival in Scotland later, Hamilton prudently denies this meeting altogether, but family archives indicate that it did indeed occur. |
| 18 Nov 1937 |
Son, Wolf Rudiger Hess, born. Later, Adolf Hitler made Godfather. |
| 4 Feb 1938 |
Appointed to Secret Cabinet Council. |
| Sep 1939 |
Made second in line to Hitler's succession, after Hermann Goering. |
| 10 May 1941 |
Engages on a mysterious peace mission, wherein Hess flies solo in a Messerschmitt ME-110 from Augsburg to Scotland. After parachuting at Renfrewshire (near Glasgow), he tells farmer David McLean, "I have an important message for the Duke of Hamilton." McLean and Hess have tea together. |
| 11 May 1941 |
Two adjutants present Adolf Hitler with Hess's letter, after which he flies into a great rage. |
| Jun 1941 |
Hess rumored to have attempted suicide. |
| 1945 |
Hess returned to Germany for trial. |
| 1946 |
Closing statement at Nuremberg Trials: "For many years of my life, I had the privilege of working under the greatest man my nation has ever produced in it's thousand-year history. Even if I could, I would not erase this part of my life. I am happy that I did my duty for the German people, my duty as a National Socialist, and my duty as the Fuehrer's loyal adherent. I do not regret a thing. If I could start over again, I would behave just as I have behaved, even if I knew I would end up being burned on a pyre. Regardless of what people do in the future, I will stand before the judge of eternity. I will justify myself to him, and I know that he will acquit me." |
| 3 Jun 1947 |
Ilse Hess arrested, taken to Goggingen internment camp. |
| 23 Mar 1948 |
Ilse Hess released from Goggingen. |
| 1 Oct 1966 |
Fellow Nazis, architect Albert Speer and Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, released from Spandau prison in Berlin after their twenty year sentence. This leaves one solitary prisoner maintained at the facility, Rudolf Hess. |
| 1969 |
Wolf Hess visits father in prison for the first time. |
| 17 Jul 1987 |
Purportedly commits suicide, age 92. |
| 1991 |
Police ban all public gatherings at Wunsiedel Cemetery, where Hess is buried. |
| 1992 |
The majority of the Hess files released to the public. By law, this was not to happen until 2017, but the apparent coverup of Hess's murder and/or suicide prompted their early release. |
| 1995 |
Ilse Hess dies. At the funeral: Gudrun Himmler, Ilsebill Todt, Wolf-Rudiger Hess, Martin Bormann Jr. |