Hitler (family)

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Adolf Hitler's family came from the Lower Austrian Waldviertel , where the family name can be traced back to the 15th century in other spellings, and they lived briefly in Braunau am Inn (Upper Austria), where Adolf Hitler was born.

etymology

Hitler is a spelling variant of the family name Hiedler from Hitler's ancestors, which was first used by Adolf Hitler's father Alois Hitler (see below). Hiedler is derived from Hiedl , a word from the Bavarian and Austrian dialect for an underground water source or river. The Germanist Theodor Siebs recommended the pronunciation with a long i ([ˈhiːtlər]) in his pronunciation dictionary from 1931. The onomastic Max Mangold said: "It can be assumed that the relevant Nazi authorities - perhaps Hitler himself - disliked this pronunciation and was therefore banned."

parents

Alois Hitler (1837–1903), father of Adolf Hitler
Klara Hitler, b. Pölzl (1860–1907), mother of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the third (not, as assumed until 2016, the fourth) of six children from the third marriage of customs officer Alois Hitler to Klara Hitler , née Pölzl. Adolf Hitler described his father as strict and irascible .

The father's maiden name was Alois Schicklgruber , his name was changed to Alois Hitler in 1876 when the local pastor of Döllersheim changed Alois' birth entry from “ illegitimate ” to “married” and crossed the name Schicklgruber . However, he did this only after the death of Alois Hitler's alleged biological father, Johann Georg Hiedler, after he had acknowledged his fatherhood according to witness statements. However, Hiedler had not given an official declaration of paternity. It is therefore also possible that Johann Georg's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler from Weitra , is Alois' biological father, especially since it was Johann Nepomuk who, as the foster father, pushed for the change of the birth entry. What is certain is that Anna Maria Schicklgruber from Strones is Alois' mother. Hans Frank circulated the rumor that Anna Maria Schicklgruber had been impregnated when she was working as a maid in the house of the Graz Jew Frankenberger, but this is considered refuted. According to today's view, Klara was Alois' niece of the second degree through her uncle Johann Georg Hiedler.

The circumstances why "Hitler" was entered when the name was changed in 1876 - and not "Hiedler" or "Hüttler" - have not been clarified.

Klara Pölzl was Alois Hitler's third wife. In 1875 his first marriage was Anna Glasl-Hörer, who was 14 years his senior. The marriage remained childless and Anna died in 1883. In the same year, 1883, Alois married Franziska Matzelsberger, who was 24 years his junior. There are two children from this connection. Alois Hitler junior (1882–1956) was born even before the marriage, and their daughter Angela Hitler (1883–1949) was born three months after the marriage . Franziska died of tuberculosis a short time later. In 1885 Alois married Klara Pölzl for the third time, who had previously looked after his children. Alois Hitler's children from his second and third marriage grew up together in the same household in Braunau.

siblings

Alois and Klara Hitler's marriage resulted in a total of six children, four of whom died of illness as a child; only Adolf and his younger sister Paula reached adulthood. Based on statements made by Paula during interrogation by the US Army shortly after the end of the war in 1945, the Hitler biographers assumed for a long time that Adolf was the fourth child from this marriage: According to this, three older siblings - Gustav, Ida and Otto - were considered to have been Infants died. With regard to Otto (born in 1887 according to Paula), this information turned out to be incorrect: In 2016, a research in the parish of Braunau am Inn revealed that Otto was born in 1892, three years after Adolf, and died six days after his birth. The younger brother Edmund died of measles in 1900 at the age of six, which is said to have shaken the eleven-year-old Adolf badly.

  • Gustav (May 17, 1885 - December 9, 1887), died of diphtheria
  • Ida (* September 23, 1886; † January 22, 1888), also died of diphtheria
  • Adolf (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945), suicide
  • Otto (June 17, 1892 - June 23, 1892), died of hydrocephalus
  • Edmund (March 24, 1894 - June 29, 1900), died of measles
  • Paula (born January 21, 1896 - † June 1, 1960)

Paula, who lives in Vienna, had taken on the surname Wolff, apparently at the instigation of her brother Adolf. It is not clear how the relationship between the siblings was initially. There is evidence that Adolf Hitler later tried to guarantee Paula a secure financial livelihood. Paula remained unmarried and childless, so that today there are no living descendants from the marriage of Adolf Hitler's parents. Adolf Hitler himself married Eva Braun (1912–1945) shortly before his suicide . The theory that Adolf Hitler had an affair with the French Charlotte Eudoxie Alida Lobjoie during his time as a soldier at the front in World War I, from whom Jean Loret would have emerged as an illegitimate son, is considered unlikely in Hitler's research ; it was essentially only represented temporarily by Werner Maser .

Half siblings

Alois Hitler junior (first Matzelsberger , after the marriage of his parents Hitler , since 1945 Hiller ; born January 13, 1882 in Vienna , † May 20, 1956 in Hamburg ) soon went his own way. He broke off his training as an engineer, was convicted and sentenced to prison for theft. After his release he emigrated to London. There he married Bridget Dowling from Ireland , with whom he had a son, William Patrick Hitler ,who was born in 1911. In 1915 Alois junior left his family and returned to Austria, married Hedwig Heidemann - without having previously divorced his wife Bridget - whogave birth to Heinrich Hitler in 1923. In the book Mein Kampf , Alois jun. not mentioned, neither apparently had any contact with each other during Adolf Hitler's rule. Alois jr. got by with odd jobs and then in Berlin as a restaurant owner. After the war he changed his name to Alois Hiller. He died in Hamburg in 1956.

The relationship between Adolf Hitler and his half-nephew William Patrick Hitler (born March 12, 1911 in Liverpool ; † July 14, 1987) was strained. William Patrick moved from England to Germany after the National Socialists came to power and apparently hoped for personal advantages through his relationship with the dictator. Since William Patrick apparently attempted blackmail, who is said to have threatened to reveal family secrets to the public, the two fell apart, William Patrick returned to England and emigrated to the USA in 1939 , where he was initially related to the German Tried to take advantage of the dictator through a strong media presence. In 1944 he joined the US Navy. After his release in 1947, he withdrew from the public. His ideological position remains unclear; the adoption of the name Stuart-Houston (which is on his headstone on Long Island ) has been considered by some historians to be close to anti-Semitic ideas because of the echo of Houston Stewart Chamberlain . William Patrick Hitler had four children with his wife Phyllis (1925-2004), whom he married in 1947: Alexander Adolf Hitler (* 1949), Louis Hitler (* 1951), Howard Hitler (* 1957, † 1989 in a car accident) and Brian Hitler (* 1965). All four children later gave up the surname Hitler and distanced themselves from their great-uncle, the dictator.

Bridget Dowling (* 1891 in Dublin , Ireland , † 1969 on Long Island ) was Adolf Hitler's sister-in-law. She married Alois Hitler junior in 1909. As the mother of William Patrick Hitler, she emigrated to the USA with him in 1939.

Angela Hitler (later Raubal , later Hammitzsch ; * July 28, 1883 in Vienna ; † October 30, 1949) apparently always had a good relationship with her half-brother Adolf. She married the civil servant Leo Raubal senior, with whom she had three children, Leo (1906–1977), Angela, called "Geli" (1908–1931), and Elfriede (1910–1993). Their father died in 1910. In the 1920s, Angela, who had lived in Vienna until then, moved to Adolf Hitler in Munich, and later to his “ Berghof ” on the Obersalzberg . In 1936, however, the relationship between Adolf and Angela worsened and Angela moved with her daughter Elfriede to Dresden, where she married the architect Martin Hammitzsch . Angela died in 1949.

Leo Raubal Juniors (* October 2, 1906 - August 18, 1977) exact relationship to his uncle Adolf remains unclear. In particular, it is uncertain whether Leo Adolf was complicit in the death of his sister Geli or not; there are contradicting statements on this. In some cases, Leo is even considered the dictator's favorite nephew. Leo made a career as a chemist, then took part in the Russian campaign as a soldier and was captured by theSovietsnear Stalingrad . In 1955 Leo Raubal junior returned to Austria from captivity. He died in 1977 while on vacation in Spain. His son Peter, who became an engineer, refuses to this day any claim to an inheritance.

Angela "Geli" Raubal (born June 4, 1908 in Linz , † September 18, 1931 in Munich ) came to Vienna in 1917 with her mother and siblings. In 1923, when she was just 15 years old, Adolf Hitler was appointed her guardian. It is reported that she was subsequently a fun-loving girl with a number of admirers, a circumstance that Adolf Hitler was anything but pleasant. There are speculations about a possible love affair between Adolf and her, but Adolf Hitler himself is said to have denied such a thing with the remark that the age difference did not allow a relationship. Shortly after a personal argument between Adolf Hitler and Geli in 1931, Geli shot himself. Her relationship with Adolf Hitler wasthematizedin the film The Niece - Hitler's Forbidden Love .

Relatives of Adolf Hitler

Hitler made sure that his origins remained as unclear as possible. “You mustn't know,” he said of his political opponents in 1930, “where I come from and what family I come from.” His opponents speculated that Hitler's father came out of a relationship between his grandmother and a Jew ; a thesis that has since been disproved, see Frankenberger thesis . In order to counteract such assumptions, Hitler presented in his book Mein Kampf an "adjusted" version of his family history, which was made the official version of the events in the " Third Reich " through propaganda . Comparable glossing over and the formation of myths can also be found in the official biographical accounts of Josef Stalin .

Hitler's relations with his living relatives - his parents were already dead when he began his political career - were generally characterized by restraint and a conscious distance. The only exception was his relationship with his half-sister Angela and their daughter Geli Raubal , for whom Adolf Hitler took on the role of guardian.

family tree

Notes on the family tree

  • For the sake of simplicity, the childless marriage between Alois Hitler and Anna Glasl-Hörer is not registered.
  • Since Martin Hiedler and Anna Maria Goschl are three generations away on the father's side and four generations on the mother's side from Adolf Hitler, one generation must be skipped in a line on the father's side. When looking at the years of birth it would make the most sense to portray Alois Hitler a generation above his current position, but this would look ugly as he would then no longer be on the same line as his wives.
  • The children of Theresia Pölzl and Anton Schmidt should actually be on the same line as Adolf Hitler, but this would make the family tree very broad and may not be fully displayed on some screens. Therefore, these were registered a generation later.

family tree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Johann Hiedler
(1725–1803)
 
 Maria Anna Neugeschwandter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Johannes Schicklgruber
(1764–1847)
 
 Theresia Pfeisinger
(1769–1821)
 
 Martin Hiedler
(1762-1829)
 
 Anna Maria Goschl
(1760-1854)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 unsure;
see Alois Hitler
 
 Maria Schicklgruber
(1795–1847)
 
 Johann Georg Hiedler
(1792-1857)
 
 Lorenz Hiedler
 
 Johann Nepomuk Hiedler
(1807–1888)
 
 Eva Maria Decker (1792–1888)
 
 Laurenz Pölzl
(1788–1841)
 
 Juliana Walli
(1797-1831)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Walburga Hiedler
(1832–1900)
 
 Johanna Hiedler
(1830–1906)
 
 
 
 Johann Baptist Pölzl
(1828–1902)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Franziska Matzelberger
(1861-1884)
 
 
 
 
 
 Alois Hitler
(1837–1903)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Klara Pölzl
(1860–1907)
 
 
 
 
 
 Johanna Pölzl
(1863-1911)
 
 
 
 
 
 Theresia Pölzl
(1868–1935)
 
 
 
 Anton Schmidt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bridget Dowling
(1891-1969)
 
 Alois Hitler junior
(1882–1956)
 
 Hedwig Heidemann
 
 Leo Raubal senior
(1879–1910)
 
 Angela Hitler
(1883-1949)
 
 Martin Hammitzsch
(1878–1945)
 
 Gustav Hitler
(1885-1887)
 
 Ida Hitler
(1886–1888)
 
 Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945)
 
 Eva Braun
(1912-1945)
 
 Otto Hitler
(1892-1892)
 
 Edmund Hitler
(1894-1900)
 
 Paula Hitler
(1896-1960)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Phyllis Jean-Jacques
(1925-2004)
 
 William Patrick Hitler
(1911–1987)
 
 Heinz Hitler
(1920–1942)
 
 
 
 
 
 Leo Raubal junior
(1906–1977)
 
 Geli Raubal
(1908–1931)
 
 Elfriede Raubal
(1910–1993)
 
 Ernst Hochegger
(1910–?)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ignaz Koppensteiner
(1901–1949)
 
 Maria Schmidt
(1899–1953)
 
 Johann Schmidt
(1894–1941)
 
 Eduard Schmidt
(† 1951)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alexander Adolf Stuart-Houston
(* 1949)
 
 Louis Stuart-Houston
(* 1951)
 
 Howard Ronald Stuart-Houston
(1957-1989)
 
 Brian William Stuart-Houston
(* 1965)
 
 Peter Raubal
(* 1931)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Heiner Hochegger
(* 1945)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Relatives of Eva Braun

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Friedrich Braun
 
 Franziska Kronberger
(1885–1976)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mr. Hofstatter
 
 Ilse Braun
(1909–1979)
 
 Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945)
 
 Eva Braun
(1912-1945)
 
 Gretl Braun
(1915–1987)
 
 Hermann Fegelein
(1906–1945)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eva Barbara Fegelein
(1945–1975)
 
 

See also

literature

Especially on the topic, compare the publications by, based on a critical evaluation of the original documents received

  • Karl Merinsky: The end of the Second World War and the occupation in the area of ​​Zwettl in Lower Austria. Phil. Diss. Vienna 1966.
  • Karl Merinsky: Zwettl and the Döllersheim military training area. A contribution to the contemporary history of Lower Austria. In: Between Weinsberg, Wild and Nebelstein. Building blocks for local history of the Hohen Waldviertel . Zwettl 1974, pp. 137–169 (Ed. Franz Trischler, with the support of the Lower Austrian State Government).

Movie

  • Oliver Halmburger and Thomas Staehler: Hitler family. In the shadow of the dictator. Documentary. With the collaboration of Timothy Ryback and Florian M. Beierl. Munich: Oliver Halmburger Loopfilm GmbH u. Mainz: ZDF History 2005

Web links

Wiktionary: Hitler  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945), politician. In: biographien.ac.at. Austrian Biographical Lexicon, accessed on February 26, 2019.
  2. ↑ Criminal and crook names: The cruel Wüterich. spiegel.de, February 3, 2006, accessed on September 14, 2015 .
  3. ^ Max Mangold: Phonology of Names - Pronunciation. In: Name research. An international handbook on onomastics (= handbooks on linguistics and communication studies, vol. 11; ed. V. Ernst Eichler et al.), Part 1, Berlin / New York 1995, pp. 409–414, here p. 411.
  4. ↑ a b c The error in Adolf Hitler's biography in Oberösterreichische Nachrichten (nachrichten.at) on May 30, 2016 with original documents from the birth register and the death report from the "Neue Warte am Inn" dated July 2, 1892.
  5. ↑ a b Hitler had younger brother in kurier.at on May 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ Cf. origin of Alois Hitler .
  7. ↑ See Ian Kershaw : Hitler. 1889-1936. Stuttgart 1998, p. 37.
  8. ↑ Hitler's Boyhood. https://www.historyplace.com/ , 1996, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Cf. George Victor: Hitler. The Pathology of Evil. Potomac Books, 1999, ISBN 1-57488-228-7 .
  10. ↑ New findings: Hitler had a younger brother with a water head , in berliner-zeitung.de on May 31, 2016.