Hitler family | |
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Ethnicity | Austrian Germans |
Earlier spellings | Hiedler |
Place of origin | Austria |
Members | |
Traditions | Roman Catholics |
The Hitler family comprises the relatives and ancestors of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was effectively dictator of Germany, holding the titles Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945. He is most remembered for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and the Holocaust.
Before the birth of Adolf Hitler the family surname had many variations that were often used almost interchangeably. Some of the common variances were Hitler, Hiedler, Hüttler, Hytler, and Hittler. Alois Schicklgruber (Adolf's father) changed his name on 7 January 1877 to "Hitler", which was the only form of the last name that Adolf used.
The family has long been of interest to historians and genealogists because of the biological uncertainty of Hitler's paternal grandfather as well as the family's inter-relationships and their psychological effect on Hitler during his childhood and later life.
Hitler is a spelling variation of the name Hiedler, meaning one who resides by a Hiedl - in Austro-Bavarian dialects a term for a subterranean fountain or river.
"The Hitler family descends from Stefan Hiedler (born 1672) and his wife, Agnes Capeller. Their grandson was Martin Hiedler (17 November 1762 – 10 January 1829), who married Anna Maria Göschl (23 August 1760 – 7 December 1854). Martin and Anna were the parents of at least three children, Lorenz, about whom there is no further information, Johann Georg (baptised 28 February 1792 – 9 February 1857), who was the stepfather of Alois Hitler (father of Adolf), and Johann Nepomuk (19 March 1807 – 17 September 1888), a maternal great-grandfather of Adolf Hitler. They were from Spital (part of Weitra), Austria."