was born on 20 April 1889 in Brannau am Inn, a formerly Bavarian town.
His father had worked himself up from the orphaned son of a poor farmer to a customs official. His motheralso came from a German farming family. Adolf Hitler attended elementary and secondary school in Linz on the Danube. His father wanted him to become a civil servant, but he wanted to become an artist. His mother’s death forced him to immediately support himself.
At 17, he moved to Vienna, hoping to become an architect, and had to support himself. He worked as a construction laborer and cement mixer, later as a drawer and painter for architects. At 18, he was already taking part in political life, becoming an anti-Marxist, without being prominent in any way. Since his youth, Hitler was a fanatic nationalist, and attempted to unite the social experiences of his working years with his nationalist convictions. He suffered hard and bitter poverty for years in Vienna.
He moved to Munich in 1912, learning and studying. He did not have an easy youth, knowing only work and hardship from the day he left home with 50 crowns in his pocket.
In February 1914, he was finally exempted from Austrian military service. The World War began six months later.
He immediately applied to enlist in the German army, and received permission from King Ludwig of Bavaria to join a Bavarian regiment as a volunteer. The new regiment marched off on 10 October 1918.
On 2 December 1914, the 25-year-old volunteer received the Iron Cross, Second Class.
Because of his bravery during the attack on the “Bavarian Forest” and in the other battles in the vicinity of Wytschaete, he was ordered to become a courier, which required particular courage and reliability since messages often had to be carried across open country under the heaviest fire. soon, his name was known in the regiment beyond the small circle of his comrades.
On 7 October 1916, he was wounded by a shell fragment. He returned to his regiment in March 1917. He received a variety of other decorations, including the Regimental Citation for outstanding bravery during the battles near Fontaines, and finally the Iron Cross, First Class.
On 14 October 1918, he and numerous comrades in his regiment were seriously wounded by England’s first use of chlorine gas, and was temporarily blinded. The Revolution broke out while he was hospitalized.