Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945)
Early Life
- Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, at half past six in the evening on an Easter Saturday in Braunau Am Inn, Austria.
- Parents were Alois (1837-1903) and Klara (1860-1908) Hitler. Hitler’s father was married three times. First to a woman much older than himself, then to women who were young enough to be his daughters.Klara Polzl (1860-1907) was Hitler’s mother and was the eldest of only three surviving children out of 11. Officially, Hitler’s father, Alois, and his mother were second cousins and needed government permission to marry.
- One step-brother, Alois (b. 1882) and one step-sister, Angela (1883-1949) both from father's previous marriage.
- The name Hitler means “small holder” and appears interchangeably with the names Hiedler, Hietler, Huttler, and Hutler.
- June 25, 1895 Hitler's father (Alois) retired
- January 3, 1903 father died
- October 1907 took entrance exam for Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (rejected)
- October 1908 applied to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts for the second time (not even admitted to test)
- December 21, 1908 Hitler's mother (Klara) dies of breast cancer
10. Hitler lived briefly in a homeless shelter after his mother died and after his second rejection from an art schoolWorld War I
- May 1913 leaves Vienna and moves to Munich, Germany
12. Historians have noted that Hitler had almost hypnotic oratory over large groups and that he used his own personal charisma and an understanding of crowd psychology while public speaking
13. August 3, 1914 petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to join in a Bavarian regiment (granted)
14. December 1914 awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class
15. October 7, 1916 wounded in combat (grenade splinter in leg)
16. August 4, 1918 awarded the Iron Cross, First Class 17. Hitler was seriously injured twice during WWI. In October 1916 he was wounded by a grenade splinter. In October 1918 he went temporarily blind from a gas attack.
18. While at the hospital recuperating his eyes, he heard the news about the end of the First World War.
19. Became a Bildungsoffizier (educational officer) for the German Army
20. Hitler joined the small right-wing German Workers Party on September 20th 1919
21. April 1, 1924 sentenced to five years in prison (only served nine months)
22. While in jail, he dictated ‘Mein Kampf’, his autobiography and political manifesto.
23. December 20, 1924 released from Landsberg Prison
24. February 25, 1932 granted German citizenship
25. Ran for President of Germany in the July 1932 elections (lost to von Hindenburg)
1933 to 1945
26. January 30, 1933 becomes Chancellor of Germany
27. February 28, 1933 a presidential decree gives him emergency powers
28. August 2, 1934 von Hindenburg died and the next day Hitler become the supreme leader of Germany by assuming both the powers of President and Chancellor (with the title of Führer)
29. September 7, 1937 declares the end of the Treaty of Versailles
30. Hitler was Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1938.
31. Some historians believe that Hitler had Parkinson’s disease.
32. November 8, 1939 assassination attempt against him at the Bürgerbräu Keller in Munich
33. April 29, 1945 writes his last will and political testament
34. Hitler and Eva Braun were married in 1945 and killed themselves 36 hours later. Braun was 33 years old. Hitler was 56
35. April 30, 1945 commits suicide in the Berlin bunker