|
Adolf Hitler Visits His
Homeland
Hitler visited Austria immediately following
the Anschluß, or union of Germany with Austria, on 12 March 1938. Although the Anschluß
has gone down in history (through hindsight) as being largely unpopular with the Austrian
people, this is somewhat of a misconception. It is true that the Austrian government of
1938 opposed the union, but the people of Austria had been in favor of union with Germany
since 1919, when the Austria-Hungarian Empire was dissolved by the victorious Allies
following World War I. Even the Austrian government supported a customs union, and
eventual complete Anschluß, between the two countries in 1931. This government
support cooled after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, but the popular
support for Anschluß never waned. Certainly, Hitler and the Germans were greeted
by huge crowds in places such as Braunau, Linz, Salzburg, and Vienna, all apparently happy
to celebrate the Anschluß.
This page makes no political statements.
Presentation of these sites here should in no way be taken as glorification, promotion, or
honoring of Nazi ideals. The photos are presented here purely for historical study.
Adolf Hitler's Birthplace
-- Braunau, Austria
|
|
Adolf Hitler was born in this
house in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on 20 April 1889. In 1889 the building was the Gasthof
Dafner, and the address was Vorstadt 219 (at some point, when this photo was taken, it
was apparently a gas station). (from Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler, wie ihn keiner kennt
(Hitler, As No-one Knows Him), Berlin, 1932) (MapQuest
Map Link) The house
itself is unmarked today, but a rock memorial stands on the sidewalk in front. For the curious,
the address now is Salzburger Vorstadt 15. According to a 1939-dated
postcard in the author's collection, Hitler was born in the room third from the left on the upper
floor (with the open window in the modern photo). (The house presented an
appearance of neglect for several years, but was
repaired and painted in 2002.) |
|
|
This view shows the house as it
appeared during much of the Third Reich period, decorated with garlands and
swastikas. (from "Adolf Hitler," Cigaretten-Bilderdienst, 1936
(author's collection) |
This colorized period photo shows
an SA parade past the house, which is labeled "Adolf Hitlers Geburtshaus."
(TimePics collection) |
|
|
Hitler's birthplace inspired
several Third Reich artists, whose works were often displayed at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst in Munich. "Das Geburtshaus des
Führers in Braunau am Inn - Hofseite" by Paul Geißler, 1943 (from Kunst der
Volk, Vienna, Hoffmann, 1943). |
|
|
| These photos show the
front and back of the house as it appeared during the period following the Anschluß,
1938-1945. (from "Wie die Ostmark ihre Befreiung erlebte - Adolf Hitler und sein
Weg zu Großdeutschland," Heinrich Hoffmann, 1938 (author's collection) |
View looking down Adolf Hitler Straße toward the
main square in Braunau.
Hitler's birth house is on the right. (period postcard in author's collection)
|
|
Another period painting --
"Braunau am Inn" by F. X. Weidinger, 1943 (from Kunst der Volk, Vienna,
Hoffmann, 1943), with a similar view today, taken from the
Inn River bridge. |
|
|
On 12 March 1938, following the
Austrian Anschluß, Hitler returned to Braunau, to a thunderous welcome from the
people of his hometown. His car is seen here just at the Braunau end of the Inn River
bridge. |
Same view today. The original iron
bridge between Simbach (Germany) and Braunau (Austria) has been replaced by a modern
concrete span, but the buildings in the background retain their original appearance. |
Hitler on his native soil once more. A swastika
flag has been draped over the
Austrian Doppeladler (Double Eagle) at the bridgehead. (This and the
photo
directly above are from "Hitler in seiner Heimat," by Heinrich Hoffmann,
Munich, 1938 (author's collection)
From Braunau, Hitler went on to
visit scenes of his youth, such as the school he had attended in Fischlham near Lambach,
and the house where his family lived in Leonding, near Linz.
|
|
| Adolf Hitler attended
his first two years of school in Fischlham, near Lambach, a town
southwest of Linz. The period scene (on the left) is a sketch by artist Paul Geißler,
part of a special showing of artwork on Hitler's youth at the Haus
der Deutschen Kunst 1943 exhibition (from Heinrich Hoffmann, Kunst dem Volk,
Vienna, 1943 (author's collection). The school was the low building at left, with three
windows. |
|
|
Front of the Fischlham school,
from a period postcard. |
The school building today (it is
no longer a school). |
|
|
Fischlham school
building in the 1930s (seen from the other side)
(from "Wie die Ostmark ihre Befreiung erlebte - Adolf Hitler und sein Weg zu
Großdeutschland,"
Heinrich Hoffmann, 1938 (author's collection) |
This marker was placed on the former school
building in 2000. It reads, "In Memoriam;
Adolf Hitler learned to read and write here, 1895-1897; Not Heil - Unheil - He brought
destruction and death to millions of people." On the other side is a piece of granite
from the Stairway of Death at Mauthausen concentration camp.
Click
here for a MapQuest map link to Fischlham.
-
|
|
| After Hitler's father
retired from the Austrian customs service, he moved his family to Leonding,
a suburb of Linz. Adolf Hitler always looked back on his early years in Leonding as the
happiest of his life, and he always thought of Linz as his home town. The painting on the
left was by F. X. Weidinger, another of the special 1943 exhibition (Hoffmann, Kunst
dem Volk, 1943). The Hitler house is in the left center of the view, in front of the
church. Other houses hide a duplicate view today, but this modern view shows the church
from the side yard of the former Hitler house. |
|
|
| The former Hitler house
is located today at Michaelsbergstraße 16 in Leonding. The building was in
disrepair for several years, but in 2002 it was refurbished and now serves
as an office for the cemetery across the street. The period view is from Rudolf
Lenk, Oberdonau, die Heimat des Führers ("Upper Danube, the Homeland of the
Führer"), Munich, Bruckmann Verlag, 1940. (author's
collection)
|
|
|
|
| Hitler visits his
parents' house in Leonding, 13 March 1938. (period photos from Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler
in seiner Heimat, Munich, 1938 (author's collection) |
|
|
| While in Leonding,
Hitler visited the cemetery across the street from his former house, to decorate his
parents' grave. The grave is still well maintained and decorated today. (period
photo from Hoffmann, Hitler in seiner Heimat) |
|
|
| These photos show the
grave location in relation to the church -- the grave is under a large fir tree against
the dividing wall at the left of the photos. ("Unser Führer," special
edition of the "Illustrierter Beobachter" for Hitler's 50th birthday, 20 April
1939, Munich, Franz Eher Verlag (author's collection) |
Click
here for a MapQuest map link to Leonding.
-
|
|
| In an emotional speech
from the balcony of the Linz town hall, on the evening of 12 March
1938, Hitler declared Germany and Austria (Ostmark) united as one entity, the beginning of
the Großdeutsches Reich (Greater German Empire). The period photo shows a parade in the
Linz Hauptplatz in honor of Hitler's birthday on 20 April 1938 (from Lenk, Oberdonau,
die Heimat des Führers (author's collection). |
|
|
| Jubilant crowds in the
Linz Hauptplatz greet Hitler's speech. The famous Dreifaltigkeitssäule
statue of 1723 commemorates Linz's delivery from three dangers in the early 18th century
-- war in 1704, fire in 1712, and plague in 1713. (period photo from Hoffmann, Hitler
in seiner Heimat (author's collection) |
|
|
| On his way to
Vienna on 14 March 1938, Hitler passed by the famous Benedictine
Abbey at Melk, overlooking the Danube. In the modern photo, trees block the view of the
river to the left. (Heinrich Hoffmann, "Wie die Ostmark ihre Befreiung
erlebte - Adolf Hitler und sein Weg zu Großdeutschland," 1938 (author's collection) |
|
|
| The Führer's motorcade
passed directly through the center of Melk, beneath the Abbey on the hill to the left. The
view remains practically unchanged today. (Heinrich Hoffmann, "Hitler in
seiner Heimat," Munich, 1938 (author's collection) MapQuest
Map Link |
 Continue to Vienna
|
