A collection of private photographs showing Adolf Hitler in a series of bizarre poses to rehearse his public speeches has been published.

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© HHoffmann/BNPSThe photos of Hitler were taken by his personal photographer Heinrich Hoffman, to give the Fuhrer an insight into how he looked to the German public
The album features black and white images of the Nazi leader using expressive hand gestures and unusual poses taken by his personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann.

In one, he is seen raising his fist in the air while in another, he appears to be pointing to an imaginary audience. He is also seen leaning against a tree wearing lederhosen.

The photographs, taken in the late 1920s to show the dictator how he appeared to the German public, were later banned from being published by Hitler for being "beneath one's dignity".

But they were published in Hoffmann's memoirs entitled Hitler was my Friend in the 1950s, which have now been re-issued in English.

Hoffmann, who introduced Hitler to his then-studio assistant Eva Braun, survived the war and spent four years in prison for Nazi profiteering. He died in 1957, aged 72.

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© HHoffmann/BNPSThe photograph of Adolf Hitler in lederhosen and long socks that was rejected by the Fuhrer as 'beneath my dignity'
Historian Roger Moorhouse, who wrote the introduction to the new book, said: "It makes perfect sense that he would be doing this.

"We have this image now of Hitler almost as a buffoon, but he had a lot of charisma and his speeches made people sincerely believe he would lead them back to greatness.

"He was an absolutely spellbinding public speaker and these pictures show that it was something he worked very hard on."

The nine photographs were vetted by Hitler, who used them to decide how to address crowds. After seeing one in which he wore an SA cap, he ditched the hat and never wore it again.

"When you listen to his speeches now, he sounds like a ranting, raving maniac, but we know that it came across in a very persuasive way," Mr Moorhouse added.

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© HHoffmann/BNPSHitler would "vet" the pictures and decide whether to incorporate the various animated movements into his speeches
"These pictures give an important insight into how he practised. He was a showman and rehearsed his gestures to get a particular reaction from his audiences.

"He experimented with his own image and asked Hoffmann to take photographs for him to review. Then he'd look at them and say 'no, that looks silly' or 'I'm never doing that again'.

"He used Hoffmann as a sounding board, but never intended the images to be published.

"He was a very modern politician in that way. He was concerned about how he looked and his public persona."