Klara Hitler
| Klara Hitler Klara Hitler | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | 12 August 1860 Spital, Weitra, Austria | ||
| Died | 21 December 1907 (aged 47) Linz, Austria | ||
| Spouse | Alois Hitler | ||
Klara Hitler (née Pölz; b. 12 August 1860 in Spital, Weitra, Austrian Empire, German Confederation; d. 21 December 1907 in Linz, Austria-Hungary) was the wife of Alois Hitler and mother of Gustav Hitler, Ida Hitler, Otto Hitler, Adolf Hitler, Edmund Hitler and Paula Hitler [1].
Life
Family background and marriage
Klara was born in the Austrian village of Spital, Weitra as the daughter of Johann Baptist Pölzl and his wife Johanna, née Hiedler/Hüttler.
In 1876 (other sources state 1875), 16-year-old Klara was hired in Braunau as a household servant by her relative Alois Hitler, three years after his first marriage to Anna Glasl-Hörer (d. 1883). After his mother, Anna Maria Schicklgruber, married Johann Georg Hiedler/Hüttler, Alois was officially designated as Hiedler's son. Klara's mother was Hiedler's niece Johanna Hiedler, who married Johann Baptist Pölzl, making Klara and Alois second cousins.
Alois changed his name to "Hitler" on 4 June 1876, which was officially confirmed on 6 January 1877. He therefore met the requirement of his uncle Johann Nepomuk Hiedler/Hüttler (Klara's maternal grandfather), who put Alois in his testament. Historians are still not sure, if Johann Georg or even his younger brother Johann Nepomuk (many sources claim neither) the true father of Alois was, although church records in Döllersheim show (the pastor notes "Hitler", not Hiedler), stepfather Johann Georg Hiedler officially claimed fatherhood.
After the death (Tuberculosis) of Alois Hitler's (de) second wife Franziska Matzelsberger (1861–1884; two children: Alois Hitler Jr., born 1882, and Angela, born 10 August 1884), Alois Hitler Sr. and Klara were married on 7 January 1885 in a wedding held early that morning at Hitler's rented rooms on the top floor of the Pommer Inn in Braunau. Even though Klara Pölzl was only a second-degree cousin, the two, bride and groom, required a dispensation from the church in order to be able to marry. They received, on request of the bishop in Linz, a certificate (parere) from the Pope in Rom.
Alois worked as a customs official (k.k. Zollamts-Oberoffizial). Their first son Gustav was born on 15 May 1885. Ida followed on 23 September 1886. Both infants died of diphtheria during the winter of 1886-1887. A third child, Otto, was born and died in 1887.
Adolf (who was said to have Klara's big, steel blue eyes) was born 20 April 1889, followed by Edmund on 24 March 1894 and Paula on 21 January 1896. Edmund died of measles on 28 February 1900, at the age of five.[2]
Klara was a devout Roman Catholic and attended church regularly with her children.[3] Of her six children with Alois, only Adolf and Paula survived childhood.
Later life
When Alois Hitler died in 1903 he left her a government pension. She sold the house in Leonding and moved with young Adolf and Paula to an apartment in Linz, where they lived frugally. Three or four years later a tumor was diagnosed in her breast.
Death
She died of breast cancer on 21 December 1907. Adolf and Paula were at her side.[4] Owing to their mother's pension and money from her modest estate, the two siblings were left with some financial support. Klara was buried in Leonding near Linz.
Remembrance
Adolf Hitler had a close relationship with his mother, was crushed by her death and carried the grief for the rest of his life.
- While Hitler was not a mother's boy in the usual sense, I never witnessed a closer attachment. Their love had been mutual. Klara Hitler adored her son. She allowed him his own way whenever possible. For example, she admired his watercolor paintings and drawings and supported his artistic ambitions in opposition to his father at what cost to herself one may guess. – Eduard Bloch, jewish family doctor, who was allowed to emigrate with his wife from Austria to the United States, in an interview by the Office of Strategic Services (a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency)
Gallery
- Klara, Adolf and Alois Hitler.png
Klara, Adolf and Alois Hitler
- Klara Hitler.png
This medallion from the personal possessions of the Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler comes from his private apartment at Prinzregentenplatz 18 in Munich; it was, along with many other items, stolen by the jewish US-American First Lieutenant Ben Lieber ("Ben Lieber Collection").
- Hitler's family tree.png
Hitler's family tree
- Hitler visiting the grave of his parents in Leonding.png
Hitler visiting the grave of his parents in Leonding
See also
References
- ↑ Klara Pölzl Hitler - Find A Grave
- ↑ Vermeeren, Mar, De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889-1907 en zijn familie en voorouders, Soesterberg, 2007, Uitgeverij Aspekt, ISBN 978-90-5911-606-1 (Note: Source carried forward and only presumed reliable)
- ↑ "[She] was completely devoted to the faith and teachings of Catholicism…" Smith, p. 42
- ↑ Biography of Klara Hitler Spartacus Educational. Retrieved on 17 August 2007.