| Geli Raubal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Angela Maria Raubal 4 June 1908[1] Linz, Austria-Hungary[1] |
| Died | 18 September 1931 (aged 23)[2] Munich, Weimar Republic[2] |
| Cause of death | Suicide[1] |
| Resting place | Zentralfriedhof, Vienna, Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Known for | Adolf Hitler's half-niece |
| Parents | Leo Raubal and Angela Raubal (née Hitler) |
Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal (4 June 1908 – 18 September 1931) was Adolf Hitler's half-niece. Born in Linz, Austria-Hungary, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Leo Raubal Sr. and Hitler's half-sister, Angela Raubal. Raubal was close to her uncle from 1925 until her suicide in 1931.
|
Contents
|
Biography
Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal was born in Linz,[1] where she grew up with her brother, Leo, and a sister, Elfriede. Her father died at the age of 31, when Geli was two. She and Elfriede accompanied their mother when she became Hitler's housekeeper in 1925; Raubal was 17 at the time and would spend the next six years in close contact with her half-uncle.[3] Her mother was given a position as housekeeper at the Berghof villa near Berchtesgaden in 1928.[4] Geli moved into Hitler's Munich apartment in 1929 when she enrolled in medicine at Ludwig Maximilian University. She did not complete her medical studies.[1]
As he rose to power as leader of the Nazi Party, Hitler kept a tight rein over Raubal, and behaved in a domineering and possessive manner.[5] When he discovered she was having a relationship with his chauffeur, Emil Maurice, he forced an end to the affair and dismissed Maurice from his service.[1][6] After that he did not allow her to freely associate with friends, and attempted to have himself or someone he trusted near her at all times, accompanying her on shopping trips, to the movies, and to the opera.[5]
Hitler met Eva Braun, 23 years his junior, at Heinrich Hoffmann's photography studio in Munich in October 1929.[7] He occasionally dated other women as well, including Hoffmann's daughter, Henrietta, and Maria Reiter.[2]
Death
Raubal was in effect a prisoner, but planned to escape to Vienna to continue her singing lessons.[3] Her mother told interrogators after the war that her daughter was hoping to marry a man from Linz, but that Hitler had forbidden the relationship. He and Raubal argued on 18 September 1931—he refused to allow her to go to Vienna. He departed for a meeting in Nuremberg, but was recalled to Munich the next day: Raubal was dead from a gunshot wound to the lung;[1] she had shot herself in the Munich apartment with Hitler's pistol.[6] She was 23.
Rumours immediately began in the media about physical abuse, a possible sexual relationship, and even murder.[1][8] Historian Ian Kershaw contends that stories circulated at the time as to alleged "sexual deviant practices ought to be viewed as ... anti-Hitler propaganda".[5] The police ruled out foul play; the death was ruled a suicide.[9] Hitler was devastated and went into an intense depression. He took refuge at a house on the shores of Tegernsee lake, and did not attend the funeral in Vienna on 24 September. He visited her grave, at Vienna's Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), two days later. Thereafter, he overcame his depression and refocused on politics.[8]
Hitler afterward declared that Raubal was the only woman he had ever loved. Her room at the Berghoff was kept as she had left it, and he hung portraits of her at his own room there and at the Chancellery in Berlin.[10] On 30 April 1945, facing imminent defeat at the close of World War II in Europe, Hitler committed suicide using the same Walther pistol used in Raubal's death.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Görtemaker 2011, p. 43.
- ^ a b c Kershaw 2008, p. 218.
- ^ a b Bullock 1999, p. 393.
- ^ Kershaw 2008, p. 177.
- ^ a b c Kershaw 2008, p. 219.
- ^ a b Kershaw 2008, p. 220.
- ^ Görtemaker 2011, p. 13.
- ^ a b Kershaw 2008, p. 221.
- ^ Shirer 1960, p. 132.
- ^ Shirer 1960, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Nelken 1997, p. 276.
Sources
- Bullock, Alan (1999) [1952]. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. New York: Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1-56852-036-0.
- Görtemaker, Heike B. (2011). Eva Braun: Life with Hitler. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-59582-9.
- Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-06757-2.
- Nelken, Michael (1997). Hitler Unmasked: The Romance of Racism and Suicide. Glastonbury, Conn: Darkside Press. p. 276. ISBN 9780964997905.
- Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
Further reading
- Alexander, Alex (2005) (in Dutch). In de ban van Hitler: Maria Reiter, Geli Raubal, Unity Mitford, Eva Braun. Rijswijk: Elmar. ISBN 978-90-389-1547-0.
- Hayman, Ronald (1998) [1997]. Hitler & Geli. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-58234-008-1.
- Rosenbaum, Ron (1998). Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of his Evil. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-43151-0.
- Vermeeren, Marc (2007) (in Dutch). De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889–1907 en zijn familie en voorouders. Soesterberg: Aspekt. ISBN 90-5911-606-2.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
