We are all aware….well, those of us that are studying or have studied Hitler; that he was born in Braunau am Inn, which is a town about 1.5 hrs away (drive) from Linz and both are located in the same province of Upper Austria.
When young Adolf moved to Linz, this is one of the apartments he lived in for a very short time, but its significance lies in the fact that this is where his old life ended and he was forced to grow up without parents. His next chapter marked the step before he became the man we all know in our history books and pretty much changed culture and life on a global scale.
This house (in the photo), is where, Klara, Adolf’s mother, died (on December 21, 1907). Today, after sitting dormant for years, as it was always prone to break-ins (people trying to grab copper laying about) or squatting homeless, the apartment is now rented to unknown persons and if you didn’t know any better, you could easily have walked passed a dozen times without any clue as to what was there a century ago.
Hitler’s mother did not live long at this address and was the place where she took her last breath. She rented a 3 room apartment on the first floor. FYI, in Europe, 3 rooms means THREE rooms, not 3 bedrooms (North Americans handle property in this manner). Hitler was a little older by this time and was in Vienna studying. Because she was sick, Adolf came back for frequent visits and practically lived there day and night through October and November of 1907.
According to the historian, Brigitte Hamann, the apartment was very nice and since it was close to the city center (just over the bridge), it was not cheap to live. At 50 crowns a month, this was nearly half of Klara’s monthly pension, but was probably aided a bit by Hitler pitching in as he had wanted to make sure his mother was as well taken care of as possible.
Fast forward to today…
It seems that every April 20, Kerzerls are standing on the windowsills and police confirm that people have abused the house where Hitler himself lived for a few years, on his birthday to the “memorial”. This is the main reason that the rumour went around that the building should be demolished.
“Had no idea”
Reporters have enquired to the owner as to the future of the establishment – Christian Radlgruber, Trafikant from Schärding, bought the building around 2009. As an investment, as he says, because: “I had no idea of the historical context”.
One day a neighbor knocked on my door and said, ‘Do you know who lived on the first floor?’ “
Radlgruber does not want to demolish the house, on the contrary, but on the contrary, refurbish and have one floor topped up. At the moment, the authorities are still withdrawing. A building permit is already available, what is still missing is the positive decision of a structural engineer.
“I know that my possession has no positive story, and my move to buy and develop it has no symbolism for me, and I see it solely as an investment,” says Christian Radlgruber.
So this is what is happening today to the property:
Klara Hitler had died of breast cancer, her family doctor Eduard Bloch – a Jew – treated her. After the death of his mother, Hitler had left Linz and gone to Vienna.
Please read the partial article in the Tagespost, published on March 26, 1938:
