Johann Nepomuk Hiedler

Johann Nepomuk Hiedler
Born(1807-03-19)19 March 1807
Weitra, Austrian Empire
Died17 September 1888(1888-09-17) (aged 81)
Weitra, Austria Hungary
NationalityAustrian
Other namesJohann Nepomuk Hüttler
OccupationFarmer
SpouseEva Maria Hiedler
ChildrenJohanna Hiedler, Walburga Hüttler, Josefa Hüttler
RelativesAdolf Hitler (great-grandson)

Johann Nepomuk Hiedler (19 March 1807 – 17 September 1888) was the maternal great-grandfather[1] and possibly also the paternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler.[2][3]

His first two names are the same as the name of the Bohemian Saint Johann von Nepomuk. Some people consider this name as evidence that Nepomuk (and therefore his great-grandson Adolf Hitler) had Czech ancestry. However, Johann von Pomuk / Johann Nepomuk, was an important saint for Bohemians of both Czech and German ethnicity, and thus Nepomuk may only indicate an association with Bohemia in general, or to someone else named Johann Nepomuk, because there is no evidence that Hitler's ancestors were of Czech ancestry.[4]

Nepomuk became a relatively prosperous farmer and married Eva Maria Decker (16 December 1792 – 28 December 1873). The couple had three children together: Johanna Hiedler (19 January 1830 – 8 February 1906), Walburga Hüttler (11 April 1832 – 30 November 1900[5]), Josefa Hüttler (15 February 1834 – 13 May 1859).

On 15 September 1848, Johanna married Johann Baptist Pölzl, a peasant farmer. The couple would eventually have five sons and six daughters, and only three of these children would survive to adulthood. Walburga married Josef Romeder (born in 1835) on 25 January 1853, but had no children.[6] Josefa married Leopold Seiler (born 14 November 1832) on 1 March 1859, but had no children and died soon after on 13 May 1859.

Johann Nepomuk's wife, Eva Maria, died 28 December 1873, at the age 81 in Spital, Weitra. Johanna's daughter, Nepomuk's granddaughter, Klara Pölzl, would eventually become the third wife of Alois Hitler.[7] Alois was the illegitimate son of Maria Schicklgruber, who had married Johann's older brother, Johann Georg Hiedler on 10 May 1842, who may in fact have been Alois' natural father. Alois would claim in his later life that Johann Georg Hiedler was not his stepfather, but in fact his biological father, since Johann Nepomuk informally adopted Alois during Alois' childhood. In June 1876, Johann and Alois both returned to Weitra and Johann testified before a Catholic notary that Johann Georg was Alois' biological father, who had abandoned the child and handed over his fatherhood responsibilities to Johann Nepomuk.[8] On 6 January 1877, Alois was legitimized as 'Alois Hitler' and the priest then changed the details on the baptismal certificate from "Catholic, Male, Illegitimate" to "Johann Georg Hitler" under his father's name.[9] However, it is also possible that Johann Nepomuk himself was, in fact, Alois' natural father but could not acknowledge this publicly due to his marriage.[6]

Nepomuk willed Alois a considerable portion of his life savings. Nepomuk's granddaughter, Klara, had a protracted affair with Alois before marrying him on 7 January 1885 in Braunau Am Inn after Alois' second wife, Franziska Matzelsberger had died on 10 August 1884 from tuberculosis.[10][11] Klara had six children with Alois, and gave birth to Adolf Hitler on 20 April 1889.

  1. ^ Adolf Hitler's mother was Klara, and Klara's mother was Johanna. Johanna and her sister Walburga were the children of Johann Nepomuk and his wife, Eva Maria Decker Hiedler.
  2. ^ Marc Vermeeren. De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889-1907 en zijn familie en voorouders. Soesterberg, 2007, 420 blz. Uitgeverij Aspekt. ISBN 90-5911-606-2.
  3. ^ See the Hitler family trees (online and others) shown and cited in article on Johann Georg Hiedler.
  4. ^ Hamann, Brigitte (2010). Hitler's Vienna: A Portrait of the Tyrant as a Young Man. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-1848852778.
  5. ^ "Sterbebuch Spital 03/04". data.matricula-online.eu (in German). p. 8. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b Payne, Robert (1990). The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. New York: Dorset Press. p. 15. ISBN 0880294027.
  7. ^ Kershaw, Ian (2013). Hitler. London: Penguin Books. p. 43.
  8. ^ Payne, Robert (1990). The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. New York: Brick Tower Press. p. 15. ISBN 0880294027.
  9. ^ Toland, John (1992). Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography. New York: Anchor Books. p. 21. ISBN 1101872772.
  10. ^ Kershaw, Ian (2013). Hitler. London: Penguin Books. p. 43. ISBN 978-0141909592.
  11. ^ Payne, Robert (1990). The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. New York: Dorset Press. p. 17. ISBN 0880294027.