Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, on the Austrian side of the border with Bavaria, on 20 April 1889 (he did not acquire German citizenship until 1932). Alois Hitler, his alcoholic father who had been brought up as “Alois Schicklgruber” (his mother's maiden name), was a fifty-two-year-old customs officer when Adolf was born; Adolf's mother, Klara Pölzl, was the twenty-nine-year-old second cousin of Alois and also his third wife. Alois died in 1903 when Adolf was fourteen and, although Klara doted on her son, his general arrogance and laziness ensured that he failed to take his school-leaving certificate when ...