Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler c. 1939, copyright Elzbieta Sekowska/Bigstock.com

Date of Birth: 20 April, 1889

Place of Birth: Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)

Date of Death: 30 April, 1945

Place of Death: Berlin, Nazi Germany (now Germany)

Ethnicity: Austrian, some German

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-German politician. He was Führer of the Nazi Party, from 29 July, 1921 to 30 April, 1945, his death; Chancellor of Germany, from 30 January, 1933 to 30 April, 1945, and Führer of Germany, from 2 August, 1934 to 30 April, 1945. He was responsible for World War II and the Holocaust, the genocidal killing of six million Jews, and for the systematic killing of gays, Romani, and others.

He was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 1938.

He was the son of Klara/Clara (Pölzl) and Alois Hitler (born Alois Schickelgruber/Schicklgruber/Schikelgrueber), a civil servant in the customs service. His parents were Austrian, with some German ancestry on both sides. Alois might have had distant Czech ancestry. Hitler’s father was born in Strones, Waldviertel, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire. Hitler’s mother was born in Spital, Weitra, Austrian Empire, now Austria. Hitler was married to Eva Braun, until their deaths.

Hitler’s father was born out-of-wedlock.

Hitler’s paternal grandmother was Maria Anna Schickelgruber/Schicklgruber/Schikelgrueber (the daughter of Johannes Schickelgruber/Schicklgruber/Schikelgrueber and Theresia Pfeisinger). Maria Anna was born in Strones, Waldviertel, Archduchy of Austria. Johannes was the son of Jacob Schickelgruber/Schicklgruber/Schikelgrueber and Theresia Sillip. Hitler’s great-grandmother Theresia was the daughter of Johannes Pfeisinger and Gertraut Hagen.

Hitler’s biological paternal grandfather likely was Johann Georg Hiedler (the son of Martin Hiedler and Anna Maria Göschl/Gröschl). Johann was born in Spital, Weitra, Austria, and married Hitler’s grandmother during Hitler’s father’s early years. Martin was the son of Johannes/Johann Hiedler and Anna Maria Neugeshwandter. Anna Maria Göschl was the daughter of Laurenz Göschl/Gröschl.

Hitler’s maternal grandfather was Johann Baptist Pölzl (the son of Laurenz Pölzl and Juliana/Juliane Walli/Wally). Johann was born in Bauer in Spital. Laurenz was the son of Johann Pölzl and Theresia Ledermüller. Juliana was the daughter of Anton Wally and Anna Maria Stumpner.

Hitler’s maternal grandmother was Johanna Hüttler/Hiedler (the daughter of Johann Nepomuk Hüttler/Hiedler/Huettler and Eva Maria Decker). Hitler’s grandmother Johanna was born in Spital, Weitra, Waldviertel, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire. Johann was the son of Martin Hiedler and Anna Maria Göschl/Gröschl. Eva was the daughter of Joseph Tecker and Theresia Hinterlechner.

Hitler’s likely biological paternal grandfather Johann Georg Hiedler was the brother of Hitler’s maternal great-grandfather, Johann Nepomuk Hüttler/Hiedler/Huettler, who could also have possibly been Hitler’s paternal grandfather.

Although it is regarded as most likely among historians that Johann was Hitler’s biological paternal grandfather, the identity of Hitler’s biological grandfather remains unconfirmed. Hitler’s father Alois did not have a father listed on his birth certificate. When Alois was ten years old, he was sent to live with Johann Hüttler at his farm in Spital, Austria. Alois later inherited a large portion of Johann’s life savings. Some historians take that as evidence that he knew that he was Alois’ biological father, but could not admit it due to his marriage.

Hitler’s father was brought up with his mother’s surname, Schickelgruber/Schicklgruber/Schikelgrueber, and when he was five years old, Johann Georg Hiedler married his mother. Later in life, Alois stated that Johann Hiedler was his biological father. He went to a priest who agreed to add Johann Hiedler as his father on his birth certificate, which the state also proceeded in doing. He subsequently could legally change his name to that of his father, with a slightly different spelling.

There have been claims that Hitler’s biological paternal grandfather was Jewish. The idea appears to originate with a claim made after the war by Hitler’s personal lawyer, Hans Frank. He stated that Hitler told him to investigate Hitler’s ancestry, after being blackmailed by his nephew, William Patrick Hitler, who threatened to reveal so-called “embarrassing facts” about his ancestry. Hans Frank stated that when Hitler’s father was born, Hitler’s paternal grandmother was working in Graz, Austria, as a cook, for a Jewish family with the surname Frankenberger. Frank concluded that it was possible that Hitler’s biological paternal grandfather was the 19 year-old son of the family, Leopold Frankenberger. However, there is no evidence to suggest that a Frankenberger family was registered in Graz at the time, or that Leopold Frankenberger existed. Also, Jews had been expelled from the Austrian region where Graz was located in the 1500s, and were not allowed to return until the time that Hitler’s father was around 30 years old.

Hitler’s paternal great-grandmother, Theresia Pfeisinger, was born in Dietrichs, Germany, and Hitler’s paternal sixth great-grandfather, Jakob Weil, was born in Grömbach, Germany. Both of Hitler’s parents’ ancestries include several surnames that are more prevalent in Germany than in Austria, so Hitler may have had more German ancestry. One of Hitler’s paternal fourth great-grandfathers was Thomas Klezl. The surname Klézl is most prevalent in the Czech Republic, which might point toward a distant Czech ancestry. Many of Hitler’s family members lived close to the present-day border of the Czech Republic. Hitler’s maternal great-grandfather Johann was also named after a Bohemian saint, John of Nepomuk, which some view as evidence for Czech ancestry. However, John of Nepomuk was an important figure for Germans as well as for Czechs.

Journalist Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren conducted a DNA study in 2010. They stated that they tested saliva samples from 39 of Hitler’s living relatives, although they also stated that they did not obtain many of the saliva samples directly from the subjects, in one case using a discarded napkin. They said that the dominant haplogroup in their DNA was E1b1b1 (haplogroup refers only to a distant patrilineal ancestor, who perhaps lived thousands of years before the individual tested). The haplogroup E1b1b1 is said to originate in North Africa. However, the result is meaningless, given that research estimates that some carriers of the haplogroup have been in Europe longer than 10,000 years, and that 8 percent of Austrians and 5.5 percent of Germans carry the haplogroup E1b1b.

Sources: Genealogies of Adolf Hitler – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com