Hitler, Adolf, Mother of

Klara Pölzl, the mother of Adolf Hitler, was born on August 12, 1860, in the town of Spital, near the border of Bohemia in the Waldviertel region of Austria. The daughter of Catholic peasant farmer Johann Baptist Polzland and his wife Johanna Hiedler, Klara grew up next door to her future husband, officially her second cousin and the man who would become Adolf Hitler's father.

Tall and slender with delicate features, thick brown hair, and large blue eyes, Klara Pölzl was known for her quiet demeanor and gentle disposition. At 16, the young girl joined the household of Alois Hitler and his much-older first wife, Anna Glassl-Horer. A superb housekeeper with traits of fastidiousness, Klara's employment lasted until the Hitlers legally separated in 1880. The separation ...