|
At
6.30pm April 20 1889 Adolf was born in the Austrian village of
Braunau Am Inn. He was born in humble circumstances into a family
of Catholic peasants.
Adolf had a younger brother and sister, Edmund and
Paula, an older half-brother, Alois, and half-sister, Angela.
He was particularly devoted to his mother, Klara,
and in later years he wrote a poem, "Your Mother" which
was obviously inspired by Klara. |
Klara
Hitler was a gentle and hard-working mother who doted on her children.
She accompanied her children to church every Sunday. |
Alois
Hitler was a domineering father, a customs official who achieved
his status through hard work. He attended church once per year
- on the Emperor's birthday.
When
8 years of age, Adolf was admitted to the Catholic school attached
to the abbey. He did very well at school and attended choir
lessons and became an altar boy.
|
But
whenever there was action - or mischief - Adolf was the ringleader.
From an early age he showed strong leadership ability. While
in school he used the German greeting "Heil", and
enjoyed singing the German anthem "Deutschland Uber Alles"
Adolf
saw his first swastika at the abbey at the main gate and
on the pulpit. It was an old European symbol for good
luck. Many countries used the swastika symbol at the time,
including the United States. Parts of Asia still use the
swastika symbol in the 21st century.
At
age 11 Adolf developed a strong love of reading. Combined with
his intelligence and photographic memory, his knowledge and
understanding of things would one day astound even experts in
their fields.
Then
the police caught and jailed Alois Jr for theft. The Hitler
family was disgraced. His father disinherited him. Adolf was
deeply affected by the pain caused, particularly to his mother.
Alois
died when Adolf was almost 14. After that Adolf moved
to a boarding room at Linz to be close to his school.
Instead of school-work, he spent much of his time reading
and drawing.
Alois
Jr, Adolf's older brother, was put in prison once more, again
for theft. It is reported that Adolf never told his mother.
He intercepted Alois' letter, to spare Klara a repetition of
her previous emotional hurt. He answered Alois in reply:
"To steal and to be caught means that you are not even
a good thief. In that case my advice is to go hang yourself"
|
The Hitler family
& friends. (Enlarged right)
Adolf is probably in front;
Klara and Alois 2nd and 3rd from left.
The above photo is over 100 years old.
Mr. Matakovich has made it clear that he will enforce the copyright on this with his vast wealth and legal muscle.
Our technical experts have verified that Mr. Matakovitch is the owner of said website.
Our legal advisors have determined that Mr. Matakovitch is in fact the owner of the said photo and have advised us to comply with Mr. Matakovich's demand. Therefore the above two images have been removed from this page.
|
We sincerely apologise for the missing above images.
The following email sent to ATG on 20 April 2007 explains why this was necessary. The images were sent to ATG by a supporter. Since the photographs in question are over 100 years old, it was presumed that they were in the public domain.
Visitor email : matakovich@earthlink.net
Visitor Name : jeff matakovich
Visitor Country: california
Email Title : hitler family photo
VisitorComment : this photo of the hitler (sic) is copyrighted! remove it from your website or face
legal problems.
http://www.hitlerwatercolor.com
|
By the time
Adolf was 15 he was determined to become an artist. He was also,
by then, a German Nationalist with a keen interest in history,
particularly the recent excavation of ancient Troy. |
He
deeply admired his history teacher, but teachers in general
did not impress Adolf.
"We pupils of the old Austria were brought up to respect
old people and women," Adolf later said; "but on our
professors we had no mercy; they were our natural enemies."
Adolf
was regularly involved in pranks and practical jokes,
usually as the ringleader. Klara was forced to transfer
her son to a different school in Steyr the next year.
In July 1905, Adolf successfully finished his high-school
education.
On
receiving his school completion certificate, Adolf and
his friends went to a country inn and got so drunk he
passed out - and was helped where he lay beside the road
the next morning by a passing milkmaid. His certificate
was gone. Later he learned that while drunk he had torn
it into pieces and used it as toilet paper. He was totally
humiliated and deeply ashamed. Adolf swore to his landlady
that he would never touch alcohol again as long as he
lived. And that was the first - and last time Adolf ever
got drunk.
Klara
and her family then moved to Linz and Adolf lived with
them in a small room - where he would read, paint and
write poetry.
Illness
then overtook Adolf - a severe lung hemorrhage. After
a very slow recovery he lost interest in completeing
his school diploma and decided to become an artist. |
Young
Adolf Hitler practised his painting and sketching as best he
could. He never had any formal training.
It is curious that,
with no heart for schoolwork, this sickly lad developed an insatiable
love of reading and knowledge and understanding of complex subjects.
He borrowed huge
quantities of books from various libraries, joined the museum
society - and took a deep interest in architecture - and theater
- and opera. |
Karl's
Church in Winter - Watercolor painting
by Adolf Hitler |
August Kubizek
Adolf
and Kubizek would often walk around Linz and stop where he
could study, criticize or praise the architecture of the buildings.
He knew that one day he would become famous. In fact, he began
to dream of uniting the German Empire and leading his people
|
It
was while at the opera that Adolf met August Kubizek,
who would become a close friend. Both desperately poor,
both in love with opera, it was inevitable that they would
regularly meet in the cheapest seats or standing room
at the opera.
Adolf
was very mature for his age, including refined speech
and manners. This earned respect from his peers and
even from grown-ups. His knowledge of art, world affairs,
mythology, air travel and any other subject that could
interest an inquiring mind became profound, especially
to Kubizek and his mother and sister, Paula, whom he
would lecture on various subjects. At his mother's urging,
Adolf began piano lessons in October 1906.
Then the budding artist was refused admittance to the art Academy
in Vienna after failing their test. Only 28 out of 113 candidates
were accepted, thus not
a great shame, but Adolf was devastated. And yet in the
midst of his unhappiness he was still
determined to be an artist.
|
Then
Klara developed breast cancer. A very distressed Adolf
returned from Vienna to become the man of the house,
bearing his new responsibilities with maturity and tender
compassion for his ailing mother.Adolf also took charge
of his eleven year-old sister, Paula, and tutored her.
He cooked his mother's favorite meals. He assisted with
the washing and scrubbing of floors. He did anything
he could to make his mother more comfortable. No son
was ever more diligent toward his mother. Klara was
buried on Christmas eve, 1907. Christmas lost its allure
for Adolf, and in later years he preferred to spend
Christmas alone in meditation.
After
the war Klara's Jewish physician, Dr. Bloch, would describe
Adolf as: "a fine and exemplary
son who bore such a deep love and concern for his dear
mother which one finds on this globe only in extremely
exceptional cases"
Adolf
gave part of his inheritance to his stepsister and her
husband, since they had agreed to take care of Paula.
His landlord gave him a letter of recommendation which
described him as "...mature and sensible beyond his
years", and with that, Adolf returned to Vienna in
search of his future greatness. |
Grave
of Alois&Klara Hitler |
Lohengrin
|
Adolf
indulged in every intellectual and cultural fancy he could,
later admitting to attending Wagner's "Tristan"
opera more than 30 times. "For
me, Wagner is something Godly and his music is my religion"
he would later state to an American reporter. He saw Lohengrin
ten times and could recite the entire libretto by heart.
Girls invariably made adolf shy, and although interested
- he remained polite but aloof. The low moral values
displayed in Vienna distressed him, especially the scourge
of prostitution. Syphilis was rife and Adolf condemned
the government for not stepping in to control the epidemic
spread of the dreaded disease. He once took Kubizek
for a tour in a decadent street and lectured him on
what he termed "commercial love". The men
were there only to satisfy their urges and the women
only to make money. An
astute comment from an 18 year-old.
Vienna's town planners also met with Adolf's disdain. He saw
the need for more parks and greenery. Railroads should skirt
the city and where essential, trains should run underground.
Adolf's ideas were thirty years ahead of his time, and later
in life he would implement many such innovations. These and
other revolutionary ideas were expanded upon in many sketches
and discussions with Kubizek. |
|
