Klara Hitler

Klara Hitler born Klara Pölzl (August 12 1860 – December 21 1907), was the mother of Adolf Hitler.

She was the daughter of Johann Pölzl and Johanna Hiedler and was born in the village of Spital, Austria, at house #37, right next door to the house where her future husband Alois Hitler grew up under the care of her grandfather. Klara's grandfather, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, was her future husband's step-uncle, and possibly his real father.

She never got out of the habit of thinking of Alois as her uncle, not a husband (after they were married she still called him Uncle). Author Bradley F. Smith describes Klara as "a fairly large girl, almost as tall as her husband [Alois], with dark brown hair and even features."

Her adult life was devoted to keeping house and raising children (for which Alois seems to have had limited interest). She had six children, two of whom, Paula and Adolf, survived childhood.

She was a devout Catholic and went to church regularly.

When her husband died in 1903 he left her a pension and property and she was adequately provided for financially, as were her children, but she did not live very long as a widow. Four years after the death of her husband, Klara died painfully from breast cancer at the age of 47 in Linz, Austria.

References

• Bullock, Alan Hitler: A Study in Tyranny 1953 ISBN 0060920203
• Fest, Joachim C. Hitler Verlag Ullstein, 1973 ISBN 0–15–141650–8
• Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris W W Norton, 1999 ISBN 0–393–04671–0
• Maser, Werner Hitler: Legend, Myth and Reality Penguin Books Ltd 1973 ISBN 0–06–012831–3
• Smith, Bradley F. Adolf Hitler: His Family, Childhood and Youth Hoover Institute, 1967 ISBN 66–25727