Valencia Trader

Memories

The luxury home outside Denia set amidst high pine trees known as the Tossalet de Girona, has an interesting story to tell, for in 1940 it belonged to Johannes Bernhardt, who at one stage was the most important representative of Hitler in Spain.
Bernhardt, who was born in East Prussia, was working in Tetuan for an import/export company, and amongst the Germans there at the time, there was considerable support for Francisco Franco, and as a result he flew to Austria to meet with the Fuhrer to seek his support for Franco in the Spanish Civil War effort.
Wanting to keep the alliance secret, Bernhardt was put in charge of a company known as HISMA that was used to transport men and materials to and from Spain. The British Secret Services estimated that in one year and under Bernhardt’s supervision, some 320,000 rifles and 550,000 revolvers were sent to the Franco forces, which also increased Bernhardt’s standing. This increased even further when the Third Reich demanded some sort of compensation from Franco for its support. 
In 1940 when Bernhardt was living in Denia, he controlled a network of some 19 companies, and amongst their successes was the exploitation of the Galician tungsten mines, and this was eagerly accepted by the German war effort. During this time, Bernhardt lived in Denia, and occasionally went out in his sports car with the roof off – the only one of its kind in Denia at the time – and July 18 – the date of the start of the Franco revolt – was always celebrated at the Tossalet de Girona with a huge paella and everyone was invited.
As a result of his actions, Bernhardt received the house as a gift from the Franco regime that bought it and gave it to him for the price of 125,000 Pesetas (753 Euros in today’s money) with the Escritura or title deeds being signed by none other than Ramon Serrano Suñer, Franco’s brother-in-law. Eventually time passed and at the end of World War II the Allies published a Black List of 104 Nazis that were living in Spain, and Bernhardt’s name figured amongst them, and by 1949 they were demanded that Franco extradite him, which was constantly met with refusal. Two years later, in 1951, Bernhardt suddenly left Denia for Argentina, returning to Germany in 1975 and dying in Munich in 1980