Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich
See also: Paintings by Adolf Hitler
The house in Leonding, Austria, where
Hitler spent his early adolescence The
Alter Hof in Munich, a watercolour painting by Hitler in 1914
In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna, financed by orphan's
benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of
Fine Arts Vienna but was rejected twice.[43][44] The director suggested Hitler should
apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic
credentials because he had not finished secondary school.[45]
On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was
18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live
a bohemian life in homeless shelters and the Meldemannstraße dormitory.[46][47] He
earned money as a casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of
Vienna's sights.[43] During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for
architecture and music, attending ten performances of Lohengrin, his favourite
of Richard Wagner's operas.[48]
In Vienna, Hitler was first exposed to racist rhetoric.[49] Populists such as mayor Karl
Lueger exploited the city's prevalent antisemitic sentiment, occasionally also
espousing German nationalist notions for political benefit. German nationalism was
even more widespread in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler then lived.[50] Georg Ritter
von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler,[51] and he developed an
admiration for Martin Luther.[52] Hitler read local newspapers that promoted prejudice
and used Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European
Jews[53] as well as pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and
theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Charles Darwin, Friedrich
Nietzsche, Gustave Le Bon, and Arthur Schopenhauer.[54] During his life in Vienna,
Hitler also developed fervent anti-Slavic sentiments.[55][56]
The origin and development of Hitler's antisemitism remain a matter of debate. [57] His
friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed antisemite" before he left
Linz.[58] However, the historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as
"problematical".[59] While Hitler states in Mein Kampf that he first became an
antisemite in Vienna,[60] Reinhold Hanisch, who helped him to sell his paintings,
disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna.[61][62][63] The
historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his
notorious, murderous antisemitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World
War I], as a product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the
catastrophe".[64]
Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich,
Germany.[65] When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army,[66] he
journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was
deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich.[67] Hitler later claimed that he did not
wish to serve the Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and
his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent.[68]
