Alois Hitler, born Alois Schicklgruber, was the father of Adolf Hitler, the notorious dictator who rose to power in Germany in the early 20th century. Alois Hitler was born on June 7, 1837, in the village of Strones, in what is now Austria. He worked as a customs official and eventually rose to the position of a senior customs official.
Marriages and Children
Alois Hitler married three times in his life. His first marriage was to Anna Glassl in 1873, but she died in 1883. He then married Franziska Matzelsberger in 1883, but she also passed away in 1884. Alois’s third and final marriage was to Klara Pölzl (later Klara Hitler), who was his niece. They married in 1885, and she became the mother of Adolf Hitler.
Alois Hitler had several children from his previous marriages, but only two survived to adulthood: Alois Jr. and Angela. With Klara, he had six children, but only two, Adolf and his sister Paula, survived to adulthood. The other four – Gustav, Ida, Otto, and Edmund – did not make it beyond childhood.
Relationship with his son, Adolf
Alois Hitler’s relationship with his son Adolf was reportedly strained. Alois was known for his authoritarian parenting style and had high expectations for his son’s success. However, Alois died in 1903, when Adolf Hitler was still a teenager, and they did not have a close relationship during Adolf’s rise to power.
It is important to note that while Alois Hitler’s role as Adolf Hitler’s father is significant in terms of family history, it does not define or explain the actions or ideologies of Adolf Hitler himself. Adolf Hitler’s beliefs and actions were his own and cannot be attributed solely to his relationship with his father.
Source of the name “Hitler”
After marrying Klara, he legally changed his last name from Schicklgruber to Johann, which was the name of his deceased stepfather. For reasons unknown to this day, the authorities misspelled his name as “Hitler”.
Did you know…?
The Hitlers’ financial woes even got worse after the death of Alois Hitler (1837-1903), who despite being “awfully rough” with Klara and her children, managed to provide for them. The Hitlers’ financial situation was so dire that the family doctor Eduard Bloch refused charging any fee for the medical services he provided them.
