Adolf Hitler Biography

Born: April 20, 1889, Braunau am Inn, Austria

Died: April 30, 1945, Berlin, by suicide 

Adolf Hitler was leader of Germany during the Third Reich (1933 – 1945) and the primary instigator of both the Second World War in Europe and the mass execution of millions of people deemed to be "enemies" or inferior to the Aryan ideal. He rose from being a talentless painter to dictator of Germany and, for a few months, emperor of much of Europe, before the constant gambling approach which had led him that far now brought only disaster.

His empire was crushed by an array of the world's strongest nations, and he killed himself, having killed millions in turn.

Childhood

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20th 1889 to Alois Hitler (who, as an illegitimate child, had previously used his mother’s name of Schickelgruber) and Klara Poelzl. A moody child, he grew hostile towards his father, especially once the latter had retired and the family had moved to the outskirts of Linz. Alois died in 1903 but left money to take care of the family. Hitler was close to his mother, who was highly indulgent of Hitler, and he was deeply affected when she died in 1907. He left school at 16 in 1905, intending to become a painter. Unfortunately, he wasn't a very good one.

Vienna

Hitler went to Vienna in 1907 where he applied to the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts but was twice turned down. This experience further embittered the increasingly angry Hitler, and he returned when his mother died, living first with a more successful friend (Kubizek), and then moving from hostel to hostel, a lonely, vagabond figure.

He recovered to make a living selling his art cheaply as a resident in a community 'Men's Home.' During this period, Hitler appears to have developed the worldviewthat would characterize his whole life: a hatred for Jews and Marxists. Hitler was well placed to be influenced by the demagogy of Karl Lueger, Vienna’s deeply anti-Semitic mayor and a man who used hate to help create a party of mass support.

Hitler had previously been influenced by Schonerer, an Austrian politician against liberals, socialists, Catholics, and Jews. Vienna was also highly anti-Semitic with a press extolling it: Hitler's hate was not unusual, it was simply part of the popular mindset. What Hitler went on to do was present these ideas as a whole and more successfully than ever before.