Adolf Hitler's Family Background

Adolf Hitler had an interesting ancestry. There are many things that are known about his lineage but there were some twisted relations within the family that caused some one-sidedness to his family tree. Hitler was obviously German but there was also speculation that he was Jewish because his father was illegitimate and his father has three possible fathers, one of which was Jewish. Also, not very many members of his family stood out that well until him. He was the one who made his family name known. No one before him really did anything out of the ordinary except for the relationships that were held by some older members of the family, which means that there is not much amount of information that can be found on the family the farther back you go. You can see his lineage in the tree below.

The Father's Side of the Family

Adolf's father, Alois Hitler, was born to an unmarried, 42 year old peasant, Maria Anna Schicklgruber. He was an illegitimate child. No one knows who his true biological father was but science and history have narrowed it down to three possibilities. The first of those being Johann Georg Hiedler. This was his stepfather and later he was claimed birth father, but since he was illegitimate during that time period they did not have the technology to prove the fact true that he was his father. He did end up legitimizing Alois soon after he married Maria Anna. The second possibility is Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. This was Alois's step-uncle, Johann Georg's brother. He raised Alois throughout adolescence because Johann Georg and Maria Anna had some problems with raising him, but if he was the true biological father he never felt the need to claim it. After his death he willed Alois a big portion of his life savings which makes people look at him more seriously as the biological father since most people do not give away money to people that far outside of their family. The third possibility is Leopold Frankenberger. This was the son of the family Maria Anna was working for at the time she became pregnant. He was a 19 year-old Jewish boy and it was said that Hans Frank (Alois's lawyer who was hired to find out his true biological father) believed that this Jewish boy was his father. So those three possibilities make up Adolf Hitler's Grandfather.

Throughout Alois's life he married three times and after the death of his second wife he hired Klara Polzl to take care of his children, she was soon pregnant. In 1885 he married her and since she was by law his niece she called Alois uncle throughout the entire marriage. In total they had six children only two of which survived into adulthood. In a way Alois neglected his children, but not to the point where legal action had to come in. He used his work as an excuse and while he and Klara were married he had no relationship with his children. He died in Germany on January 3rd, 1903 after four of his children died and one had ran away.

Adolf's grandmother was born in northern Austria in a small picturesque but poor village. She was 1 of 11 children of which only six survived into adulthood. She was a Catholic and married Johann Georg Hiedler five years after Alois was born. Her parents were Theresia Pfeisinger and Johannes Schicklgruber. When Alois was growing up she sent him away to live with his uncle. No one really knows why she did this. It could have been because she knew that he was actually the birth father or it could have been because they did not have the money or supplies to take care of him. But no information has actually been found on the reason. Obviously, since this is Alois's mother, she was the one who birthed him and since his father was unknown there is something to say about her personality. Just from reasoning she was probably not the most responsible person in the world, either that or she just made a once in a lifetime mistake. So from that information an idea of who Maria Anna was can be pictured.

Then we go back to Maria Anna's parents, Theresia Pfeisinger and Johannes Shicklgruber. Almost no information is found about them. In fact if you look back up into the family tree they are not actually in it. So most likely they did not play a very important role in the Hitler family.

As you continue to go back in his ancestry less and less is found. People play a smaller and smaller role in his life. Also not everything is even known. People who research this for a living do not even know who all his lineage was. So this is as far back as information allows us to go on his father's side of the family.

The Mother's Side of the Family

Very little information is known about his mother's side of the family. Even less than what is known about this father's side. But what is known IS important because everything has a role in Hitler's life.

Adolf Hitler's mother was Klara Polzl. This was Alois Hitler's third wife. History tells us that she was a very good mother, almost the opposite of Alois. So obviously she was very concerned about her children, of which she had six of her own and two step-children. Of these eight children 4 survived into adulthood, most dying within the year they were born. She was Alois's niece by law so throughout the whole entire marriage Klara called him uncle. She died when she was 47 of breast cancer.

Her mother was Johanna Heidler and her father was Johann Polzl. They had 11 children only five of which survived into adulthood. There is not much information found after that point.

The majority of people in Hitler's family were farmers. They did nothing exceptionally out of the ordinary. They were just regular people who happened to be related to this "ethnic cleanser" and they could do nothing about it.

Conclusion

As you can see Hitler had an absolutely ordinary family. The majority of people in Hitler's family were farmers. They did nothing exceptionally out of the ordinary. They were just regular people who happened to be related to this "ethnic cleanser" and they could do nothing about it. Basically the only historically important person in the family is Adolf himself.