Hitler family
Encyclopedia
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 , 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
.
, Austria
.
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. 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.
(later Alois Hitler), the stepson of his brother Johann Georg Hiedler
, a wandering miller. 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.
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.
) 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.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
(20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) an Austrian-born German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
as Führer und Reichskanzler
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most remembered for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
in Europe, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
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. They were from SpitalWeitra
Weitra is a small town in the district of Gmünd in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located within the rural Waldviertel region on the upper Lužnice river, near the border with the Czech Republic. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Brühl, Großwolfgers, Oberwindhag,...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
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
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
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. He married his first wife in 1824 but she died in childbirth five months later. In 1842, he married Maria Anna Schicklgruber
Maria Schicklgruber
Maria Anna Schicklgruber was Adolf Hitler's paternal grandmother.- Family :Maria was born in the village of Strones in the Waldviertel area. She was the daughter of Theresia Pfeisinger , and farmer Johannes Schicklgruber...
and became the legal stepfather to her illegitimate five year old son, Alois
Alois Hitler
Alois Hitler was an Austrian civil servant who was the father of Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
.
Johann Nepomuk Hiedler (also known as Johann Nepomuk Hüttler) was named after a Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
Saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Johann von Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk is a national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional...
. 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 Hitler is disputed. Legally, Johann Nepomuk was the step-uncle of Alois SchicklgruberAlois Hitler
Alois Hitler was an Austrian civil servant who was the father of Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
(later Alois Hitler), the stepson of his brother Johann Georg Hiedler
Johann Georg Hiedler
Johann Georg Hiedler was born to Martin Hiedler and Anna Maria Göschl . He was considered the officially accepted paternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler by the Third Reich...
, a wandering miller. 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
Klara Hitler
Klara Hitler née Pölzl was an Austrian woman, the wife of Alois Hitler and the mother of Adolf Hitler.-Family background and marriage:...
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
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
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.
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
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. The other two are Johann Nepomuk Hiedler
Johann Nepomuk Hiedler
Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, also known as Johann Nepomuk Hüttler , was a maternal great-grandfather and possibly also the paternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler....
, the younger brother of Johann Georg, and a Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
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.
Pölzl family
Johanna Hideler, the daughter of Johann Nepomuk and Eva Decker Hiedler, was born on 19 January 1830 in Spital (part of WeitraWeitra
Weitra is a small town in the district of Gmünd in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located within the rural Waldviertel region on the upper Lužnice river, near the border with the Czech Republic. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Brühl, Großwolfgers, Oberwindhag,...
) in the Waldviertel
Waldviertel
The Waldviertel is the northwestern region of the Austrian state Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and the north by the Czech Republic and to the east by the Manhartsberg , which is the survey point dividing Waldviertel...
of Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part 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
Klara Hitler
Klara Hitler née Pölzl was an Austrian woman, the wife of Alois Hitler and the mother of Adolf Hitler.-Family background and marriage:...
, Johanna, and Theresia.
List of family members
- Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
(1889-1945), German dictator - Eva BraunEva BraunEva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
(1912–1945), wife. - Alois Hitler, Sr.Alois HitlerAlois Hitler was an Austrian civil servant who was the father of Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
(1837–1903), father - Klara HitlerKlara HitlerKlara Hitler née Pölzl was an Austrian woman, the wife of Alois Hitler and the mother of Adolf Hitler.-Family background and marriage:...
(1860–1907), mother - Alois Hitler, Jr.Alois Hitler, Jr.Alois Hitler, Jr., born Alois Matzelsberger , was the son of Alois Hitler and Franziska Matzelsberger, and was the half-brother of Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
(nee Matzelsberger) (1882–1956), elder half-brother - Angela HitlerAngela HitlerAngela Franziska Johanna Hammitzsch , first married to Leo Raubal, Sr., was the elder half-sister of Adolf Hitler.-Life:...
(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 InnBraunau am InnBraunau am Inn is a town in the Innviertel region of Upper Austria , the north-western state of Austria. It lies about 90 km west of Linz and about 60 km north of Salzburg, on the border with the German state of Bavaria. The population in 2001 was 16,372...
), 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 diphtheriaDiphtheriaDiphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
in 1886, along with his younger sister Ida. - Ida Hitler (September 25, 1886 - January 2, 1888 in Braunau am Inn), elder sister, died of diphtheriaDiphtheriaDiphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
. - Otto Hitler (1887 in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
), elder brother, lived only 3 days. - Edmund Hitler (March 24, 1894, PassauPassauPassau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
- February 2, 1900, LeondingLeondingLeonding is a city situated to the southwest of Linz, Austria in the state of Upper Austria. It has a population of about 22,269 and an area of 24.05 km²...
), younger brother, one of only three surviving children by 1900, died of measlesMeaslesMeasles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
. - Paula HitlerPaula HitlerPaula Hitler was the younger sister of Adolf Hitler and the last child of Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl...
(1896–1960), younger sister and only full sibling to survive into adulthood
Other relatives
- Geli RaubalGeli RaubalAngelika Maria "Geli" Raubal was Adolf Hitler's half niece. Born in Linz, Austria-Hungary, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Leo Raubal Sr. and Hitler's half-sister, Angela Raubal...
(1908–1931), niece, daughter of Angela. - William Patrick HitlerWilliam Patrick HitlerWilliam Patrick "Willy" Stuart-Houston was the nephew of Adolf Hitler. Born to Adolf's half-brother Alois Hitler, Jr., and his first wife Bridget Dowling, William later moved to Germany and subsequently escaped, eventually going to the United States where he enlisted to fight in World War...
(1911–1987), nephew, son of Alois Jr. - Heinz HitlerHeinz HitlerHeinrich Hitler was the son of Alois Hitler, Jr. and his second wife Hedwig Heidemann and the nephew of German dictator Adolf Hitler...
(1920–1942), nephew, son of Alois Jr. Captured and killed by the Red ArmyRed ArmyThe Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.