Hitler is an extremely controversial figure in German history. In the annuals of German nationalism, he is usually wedged somewhere between Bismark and Martin Luther. He is widely seen, particularly amongst conservatives and (ironically) the old guard Junkers as the father of the Greater German Reich. He is seen as the liberator of Saar, commemorated by scores of bronze and iron statues resting in every town-square along the Rhine. Within the former Ostereich he is practically a saint, one can hardly pass a tourist shop without seeing cheap knickknack emblazoned with his portrait. In spite of every posthumous revelation about his own personal views and plans, his cult has been deified by the works of Goebbels and Riefenstahl.
Yet Hitler, presided over the greatest pogrom in the history of central europe. He was a vitrolic racist, anti-semite, and eugenicist who purged Germany of its disabled. Whats worse, many these policies continued to be enforced in Germany until the 70's, He executed his political opponents, destroyed the German unions, and confined registered communists and socialists alike to decade long terms in labor camps. His annexation of the Sudetenland, led to the crippling of Czechoslovakia and its transformation into a pathetic German client state. Whats more, Hitler's defacto alliance with Hungary would lead his successors to conduct a whirlwind of costly milary interventions into the Balkans.
Finally Hitler proved to be an inept economic planner. His rearmament plan was overly ambitious, and far beyond the scope and scale of the German economy. For all the prestige architecture, infrastructure and factory complexs german lacked either the domestic demand or export economy to justify their creation.
Yet Hitler is deified the most by contrast. His brief term as Fuhrer seemed to be a time of optimism, power, and triumph. His successors proved to be far less able, although they were largely burdened by economic ramifications of Hitler's actions.