Although van den Bruck was unimpressed by Hitler when he met him in 1922 and did not join the Nazi Party, the phrase was nevertheless adopted by the Nazis to describe the totalitarian state they wanted to set up when they gained power, which they succeeded in doing in 1933.
Iako Hitler nije bio impresioniran van de Brukom kada ga je upoznao 1922. godine, i, još k tome nije bio priključen nacističkoj stranci, nacisti su ipak usvojili frazu Das Dritte Reich kojom su dali značaj totalitarnoj državi koju su htjeli uspostaviti kada su stekli vlast, a što su uspjeli 1933. godine.