Hitler family

Hitler
Ethnicity	Austrian
Information
Earlier spellings	Hiedler
Place of origin	Austria
Notable members	Adolf Hitler, Alois Hitler, Paula Hitler, Angela Hitler, William Patrick Hitler, Heinz Hitler

The Hitler family comprises the relatives of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most remembered for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and the Holocaust.

Contents 1 Family history 1.1 Earliest family members 1.2 Johann Georg and Johann Nepomuk 1.3 Father of Alois Hitler 1.4 Pölzl family 1.5 1870s 1.6 1880s 1.7 1890s 1.8 1900s 2 List of family members 3 Other relatives 4 Hitler family tree 5 Braun family tree 6 Footnotes 7 References

Family history

Earliest family members

The Hitler family descends from Stefan Hiedler (born 1672) and his wife, Agnes Capeller. Their grandson was Martin Hiedler (17 November 1762 – 10 January 1829), who married Anna Maria Göschl (August 23, 1760 – 7 December 1854). Martin and Anna were the parents of at least three children, Lorenz, in which there is no further information, Johan Georg (baptised 28 February 1792 – 9 February 1857), who is the stepfather of Alois Hitler (father of Adolf), and Johann Nepomuk (28 February 1792 – September 17, 1888), a maternal great grandfather of Adolf Hitler.^[1] They were from Spital, Austria.

Johann Georg and Johann Nepomuk

Brothers Johann Georg and Johann Nepomuk Hiedler are connected to Adolf Hitler several ways, although the biological relationship is disputed.

Johann Georg was considered the officially accepted paternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler by the Third Reich. Whether Johann Georg was in fact Hitler's biological paternal grandfather is considered unknown by modern historians, but his case is the most plausible and widely accepted.^[2] He married his first wife in 1824 but she died in childbirth five months later. In 1842, he married Maria Anna Schicklgruber and became the legal stepfather to her illegitimate five year old son, Alois.

Johann Nepomuk Hiedler (also known as Johann Nepomuk Hüttler) was named after a Bohemian Saint Johann von Nepomuk. Some view this name as evidence that Johann Nepomuk and subsequently his great-grandson Adolf Hitler had some Czech blood. However, Johann von Pomuk/Johann Nepomuk, was an important saint for Bohemians of both German and Czech ethnicity. Using Nepomuk just indicates ties to Bohemia, without indication of ethnicity. Johann Nepomuk became a relatively prosperous farmer and was married to Eva Maria Decker (1792–1888) who was fifteen years his senior.

Father of Alois Hitler

The actual father of Alois is disputed. Legally, Johann Nepomuk was the step-uncle of Alois Schicklgruber (later Alois Hitler), the stepson of his brother Johann Georg Hiedler, a wandering miller.^[3] For reasons unknown, he took in Alois when he was a boy and raised him. It is possible that he was, in fact, Alois' natural father but could not acknowledge this publicly due to his marriage. Another, and perhaps simpler, explanation for this kindness is that Johann Nepomuk took pity on the ten year old Alois and took him in. Alois was, after all, the stepson of Johann Georg, and Johann Nepomuk may have known that in fact Alois was Johann Georg's natural child. After the death of Alois' mother Maria, it could hardly have been a suitable life for an ten-year old child to be raised by an itinerant miller. Johann Nepomuk died on September 17, 1888.

In any case, Johann Nepomuk left Alois a considerable portion of his life savings. Johann Nepomuk's granddaughter, Klara had a longstanding affair with Alois before marrying him in 1885 after the death of his second wife. In 1889 she gave birth to Adolf Hitler.

It was later claimed Johann Georg had fathered Alois prior to his marriage to Maria, although Alois had been declared illegitimate on his birth certificate and baptism papers; the claim that Johann Georg was the true father of Alois was not made after the marriage of Maria and Johann Georg, or, indeed, even during the lifetime of either of them. In 1877, twenty years after the death of Johann Georg and almost thirty years after the death of Maria, Alois was legally declared to have been Johann Georg's son.^[4]

Accordingly, Johann Georg Hiedler is one of three people most cited by modern historians as having possibly been the actual paternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler. The other two are Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, the younger brother of Johann Georg, and a Graz Jew by the name of Leopold Frankenberger. In the 1950s, this third possibility was popular among historians, but modern historians now think it highly unlikely as the Jews were expelled from Graz in the fifteenth century and were not permitted to return until the 1860s, several decades after Alois' birth.^[5]

Pölzl family

Johanna Hideler, the daughter of Johann Nepomuk and Eva Decker Hiedler, was born on 19 January 1830 in Spital (part of Weitra) in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria. She lived her entire life there and was married to Johann Baptist Pölzl (1825–1901), a farmer and son of Johann Pölzl and Juliana (Walli) Pölzl. Johanna and Johann had 5 sons and 6 daughter, of which 2 sons and 3 daughters survived into adulthood. The three daughters who survived into adulthood were Klara, Johanna, and Theresia.

1870s

At the age of 36, Alois Hitler was married for the first time, to Anna Glasl-Hörer, who was a wealthy, 50-year-old daughter of a customs official. She was sick when Alois married her and was either an invalid or became one shortly afterwards. Not long after marrying his first wife, Alois Hitler began an affair with 19-year-old Franziska "Fanni" Matzelsberger, one of the young female servants employed at the Pommer Inn, house #219, in the city of Braunau am Inn, where he was renting the top floor as a lodging. Smith states that Alois had numerous affairs in the 1870s, resulting in his wife initiating legal action; on 7 November 1880 Alois and Anna separated by mutual agreement. Matzelsberger became the 43-year-old Hitler's girlfriend, but the two could not marry since under Roman Catholic canon law, divorce is not permitted. In 1876, three years after Alois married Anna, he hired Klara Pölzl as a household servant. She was the 16-year-old granddaughter of his step-uncle (and possible father or biological uncle) Nepomuk. If Nepomuk was Alois' father, Klara was Alois' half-niece. If his father was Johann Georg, she was his first cousin once removed. Matzelsberger demanded that the "servant girl" Klara find another job, and Hitler sent Pölzl away.

1880s

On 13 January 1882, Matzelsberger gave birth to Hitler's illegitimate son, also named Alois, but since they were not married, the child's last name was Matzelsberger, making him "Alois Matzelsberger." Hitler kept Matzelsberger as his wife while his lawful wife Anna grew sicker and died on 6 April 1883. The next month, on 22 May at a ceremony in Braunau with fellow custom officials as witnesses, Hitler, 45, married Matzelsberger, 21. He then legitimized his son as Alois Hitler, Jr.^[6] Matzelsberger went to Vienna to give birth to Angela Hitler. Matzelsberger, still only 23, acquired a lung disorder and became too ill to function. She was moved to Ranshofen, a small village near Braunau. During the last months of Matzelsberger's life, Klara Pölzl returned to Alois' home to look after the invalid and their two children.^[7] Matzelsberger died in Ranshofen on August 10, 1884 at the age of 23. After the death of his second wife, Pölzl remained in his home as housekeeper.^[8]

Pölzl was soon pregnant by Alois. Smith writes that if Hitler had been free to do as he wished, he would have married Pölzl immediately but because of the affidavit concerning his paternity, Hitler was now legally Pölzl's first cousin once removed, too close to marry. He submitted an appeal to the church for a humanitarian waiver.^[9] Permission came, and on 7 January 1885 a wedding was held at Hitler's rented rooms on the top floor of the Pommer Inn. A meal was served for the few guests and witnesses. Hitler then went to work for the rest of the day. Even Klara found the wedding to be a short ceremony. Throughout the marriage, she continued to call him uncle.

On 17 May 1885, five months after the wedding, the new Frau Klara Hitler gave birth to her first child, Gustav. A year later, on 25 September 1886, she gave birth to a daughter, Ida. Her son Otto followed Ida in 1887, but he died shortly after birth. During the winter of 1887–1888, diphtheria struck the Hitler household, resulting in the deaths of both Gustav (8 December) and Ida (2 January). Klara and Aloishad been married for three years, and all their children were dead, but Alois still had the children from his relationship with Matzelsberger, Alois Jr., and Angela. On April 20, 1889, Klara gave birth to Adolf.

1890s

Adolf was a sickly child, and his mother fretted over him. Alois was 51 when he was born, and wanted him to become a shoemaker much like his own father, François. Hitler had little interest in child rearing and left it all to his wife. When not at work he was either in a tavern or busy with his hobby, keeping bees. In 1892, Hitler was transferred from Braunau to Passau. He was 55, Klara 32, Alois Jr. 10, Angela 9 and Adolf was three years old. In 1894, Hitler was re-assigned to Linz. Klara gave birth to their 5th child, Edmund, on 24 March 1894, and so it was decided that she and the children would stay in Passau for the time being.

In February 1895 Hitler purchased a house on a nine acre (36,000 m²) plot in Hafeld near Lambach, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Linz. The farm was called the Rauscher Gut. He moved his family to the farm and retired on 25 June 1895 at the age of 58 after 40 years in the customs service. He found farming difficult; he lost money, and the value of the property declined. On 21 January 1896 Paula was born. Alois was often home with his family. He had five children ranging in age from infancy to 14; Smith suggests he yelled at the children almost continually and made long visits to the local tavern. Robert G. L. Waite noted, "Even one of his closest friends admitted that Alois was 'awfully rough' with his wife [Klara] and 'hardly ever spoke a word to her at home.'" If Hitler was in a bad mood, he picked on the older children or Klara herself, in front of them. After Hitler and his oldest son Alois Jr. had a climactic and violent argument, Alois Jr. left home, and the elder Alois swore he would never give the boy a penny of inheritance beyond what the law required.

1900s

Edmund, the youngest Hitler boy, died of measles on 2 February 1900. Alois wanted his son Adolf to seek a career in the civil service. However, Adolf had become so alienated from his father that he was repulsed by whatever Alois wanted. Adolf sneered at the thought of a lifetime spent enforcing petty rules. Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted.

Alois Hitler died in 1903, and he left Klara a government pension. She sold the house in Leonding and moved with young Adolf and Paula to an apartment in Linz, where they lived frugally. Three or four years later a tumor was diagnosed in her breast. Following a long series of painful iodoform treatments given by her doctor Eduard Bloch, Klara died at home in Linz on 21 December 1907. Adolf and Paula were at her side.^[10][11] Owing to their mother's pension and money from her modest estate, the two siblings were left with some financial support. Klara was buried in Leonding near Linz.

Adolf Hitler had a close relationship with his mother, was crushed by her death and carried the grief for the rest of his life. Speaking of Hitler, Bloch later recalled that after Klara's death he had seen in "one young man never so much pain and suffering broken fulfilled". Decades later in 1940 Hitler showed gratitude to Bloch (who was Jewish) by allowing him to emigrate with his wife from Austria to the United States.^[12]

List of family members

• Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), German dictator
• Eva Braun (1912–1945), wife
• Alois Hitler, Sr. (1837–1903), father
• Klara Hitler (1860–1907), mother
• Alois Hitler, Jr. (nee Matzelsberger) (1882–1956), elder half-brother
• Angela Hitler (1883–1949), elder half-sister
• Four of Adolf's siblings died in infancy or early childhood of illnesses:

• Gustav Hitler (May 15, 1885 – December 8, 1887 in Braunau am Inn), elder brother. According to old OSS files, it seems that Gustav was also the reason for the marriage of his parents, because Klara was already five months pregnant at that time. He died during an outbreak of diphtheria in 1886, along with his younger sister Ida.
• Ida Hitler (September 25, 1886 – January 2, 1888 in Braunau am Inn), elder sister, died of diphtheria.
• Otto Hitler (1887 in Vienna), elder brother, lived only 3 days.^[13]
• Edmund Hitler (March 24, 1894, Passau – February 2, 1900, Leonding), younger brother, one of only three surviving children by 1900, died of measles.

• Paula Hitler (1896–1960), younger sister and only full sibling to survive into adulthood
• Bridget Dowling, sister-in-law
• Geli Raubal, niece
• Gretl Braun, sister-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun
• Heinz Hitler, nephew
• Hermann Fegelein, brother-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun
• Ilse Braun, sister-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun
• Johann Georg Hiedler, presumed grandfather
• Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle, and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather
• Leo Raubal Jr, nephew
• Maria Schicklgruber, grandmother
• William Patrick Hitler, nephew

Other relatives

• Geli Raubal (1908–1931), niece, daughter of Angela.
• William Patrick Hitler (1911–1987), nephew, son of Alois Jr.
• Heinz Hitler (1920–1942), nephew, son of Alois Jr. Captured and killed by the Red Army.

Hitler family tree

Braun family tree

Footnotes

• (Dutch) Vermeeren, Marc (2007). De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889–1907 en zijn familie en voorouders. Soesterberg: Uitgeverij Aspekt. pp. 420 blz. ISBN 90-5911-606-2. 
• Bullock, Alan (1953). Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. ISBN 0-06-092020-3. 
• Fest, Joachim C. (1973). Hitler. Verlag Ullstein. ISBN 0-15-141650-8. 
• Kershaw, Ian (1999). Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris. W W Norton. ISBN 0-393-04671-0. 
• Maser, Werner (1973). Hitler: Legend, Myth and Reality. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-06-012831-3. 
• Smith, Bradley F. (1967). Adolf Hitler: His Family, Childhood and Youth. Hoover Instituted. ISBN 0817916229. 

References

1. ^ See, e.g., Adolf Hitler's online family tree at about.com, Online Family Tree. Family trees can also be found in various Hitler biographies; see, e.g., Toland, John (1976). Adolf Hitler. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0385037244 ("Toland"); Kershaw, p. 5.
2. ^ See, e.g., Kershaw, p. 4.
3. ^ Toland, p. 4.
4. ^ Toland, pp. 4–5. Johann Georg's younger brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, engineered the plan to change Alois' surname to "Hitler" and to have Johann Georg declared the biological father of Alois in 1876. Johann Nepomuk collected three "witnesses" (his son-in-law and two others), who testified before a notary in Weitra that Johann Georg had several times stated in their presence that he was the actual father of Alois and wanted to make Alois his legitimate son and heir. The parish priest in Doellersheim, where the original birth certificate of Alois resided, altered the birth register. Alois was thirty-nine years old at the time and was well-known in the community as "Alois Shicklgruber."
5. ^ See Toland, pp. 246–7; Kershaw, pp. 8–9. Toland's conclusion is based on the research of Nikolaus Preradovic, University of Graz, who examined the books of the Jewish congregation at Graz and who concluded that, prior to 1856, there had not been "one single Jew" in Graz since the fifteenth century. Kershaw concludes that, whoever Alois' father may have been, he was not a Jew from Graz.
6. ^ "Hitler As He Knows Himself", report by Walter Langer for the OSS
7. ^ "The Mind of Adolf Hitler",Walter C. Langer, New York 1972 p.114
8. ^ "The Mind of Adolf Hitler",Walter C. Langer, New York 1972 p.114
9. ^ Alois petitioned the church for an episcopal dispensation citing "bilateral affinity in the third degree touching the second" to describe his rather complicated family relationship to Klara. The local bishop apparently believed this relationship was too close to approve on his own authority, so he forwarded the petition to Rome on behalf of Alois, seeing instead a papal dispensation, which was approved before the birth of the couple's first child. See Rosenblum article.
10. ^ http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/mother.htm
11. ^ Biography of Klara Hitler Spartacus Educational. Retrieved on 17 August 2007.
12. ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler.html
13. ^ Binion, Rudolph (1976). Hitler among the Germans. New York: Elsevier. pp. 144. ISBN 0-444-99033-X. 

Adolf Hitler Politics Political views Political directives Speeches Mein Kampf Zweites Buch Last will and testament Events Military career Rise to power Streets named after Hitler Cabinet Hitler Third Reich World War II The Holocaust Assassination attempts Death Places of residence Führer Headquarters Brown House Berghof (Kehlsteinhaus) Reich Chancellery Wolf's Lair Werwolf Adlerhorst Private train Führerbunker Wolfsschlucht I Wolfsschlucht II Anlage Süd Felsennest Civilian residences Braunau am Inn Linz Vienna (Meldemannstraße dormitory) Munich Personal life Reichssicherheitsdienst, 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (Bodyguards) Health Religious views Sexuality Hitler's Table Talk Vegetarianism 50th birthday Personal belongings Blondi (dog) Hitler's Globe Private library Family Eva Braun (wife) Alois (father) Klara (mother) Alois Jr. (half-brother) Angela (half-sister) Gustav (brother) Ida (sister) Otto (brother) Edmund (brother) Paula (sister) Leo Rudolf Jr. (half-nephew) Geli (half-niece) Elfriede (half-niece) William Patrick (half-nephew) Heinz (half-nephew)