As the noose of war tightened around Berlin, Adolf Hitler retreated to the safety of his underground lair, the Führerbunker, on January 16, 1945. This fortified bunker complex beneath the Reich Chancellery would become his command center and eventual tomb. With Soviet forces mere miles away, Hitler's move signaled the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. The once-feared leader was now a recluse, isolated from the devastation above, yet still clinging to power.