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Eva Braun
Eva Braun was born in Simbach, Germany, in 1912. She worked as an assistant in the studio of Heinrich Hoffmann. In 1932 she met Adolf Hitler and became his mistress.
After the death of Geli Raubal in 1931, Hitler began to see more of Eva Braun. However he still had relationships with other women Hitler was especially fond of film-stars and one girlfriend the actress Renate Mueller, committed suicide by throwing herself out of a hotel window in Berlin.
Hitler had no desire to have children. He told several people that if he had children they were certain to disappoint him as they would never match his own genius. Eva was extremely jealous of Hitler's other girlfriends and in 1932 she also attempted suicide by shooting herself in the neck. Doctors managed to save her life, and after this incident Hitler seemed to become more attached to Eva and saw less of other women.
Baldur von Schirach later commented: "Eva was a worldly type of girl - bobbed chestnut-brown hair, a make-up that was unconventional for the time, fashionable pullover and short, narrow skirts, silk stockings and high-heeled shoes. I took her for a French girl. Usually she was walking a boxer dog. For me she was the most beautiful girl in Munich."
Adolf Hitler greeting Eva Braun at Obersalzberg
.The Nazi Party always attempted to keep Hitler's love life secret. In his speeches Hitler claimed that he had never married because he was "married to the German people." The severe casualties suffered during the First World War meant that there was a large number of widows and spinsters in Germany. Women in Germany found Hitler's bachelor image attractive and this helped win him votes during elections. It was for this reason that Eva Braun was never seen in public with Hitler.
William L. Shirer, the author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960) points out: "Hitler, although he was undoubtedly extremely fond of her and found relaxation in her unobtrusive company, had always kept her out of sight, refusing to allow her to come to his various headquarters where he spent almost all of his time during the war years, and rarely permitting her even to come to Berlin. She remained immured at the Berghof on the Obersalzberg, passing her time in swimming and skiing, in reading cheap novels and seeing trashy films, in dancing (which Hitler disapproved of) and endlessly grooming herself, pining away for her absent loved one."
Eva Braun
Hitler gave Eva a flat in Munich but she later moved into the Berghof in Berchetesgaden. She remained there until 1945 when she joined Hitler in his Berlin Bunker. On 28th April, 1945, Hitler married Braun. That night Hitler tested out a cyanide pill on his pet Alsatian dog, Blondi. Braun agreed to commit suicide with him. She could have become rich by writing her memoirs but she preferred not to live without Hitler.
The Soviet troops were now only 300 yards away from Hitler's underground bunker. On 30th April Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun went into a private room and took cyanide tablets. Hitler also shot himself in the head. The bodies were then cremated and his ashes were hidden in the Chancellery grounds.
Primary Sources
(1) Baldur von Schirach wrote about Eva Braun in a book published after the Second World War.
Eva was a worldly type of girl - bobbed chestnut-brown hair, a make-up that was unconventional for the time, fashionable pullover and short, narrow skirts, silk stockings and high-heeled shoes. I took her for a French girl. Usually she was walking a boxer dog. For me she was the most beautiful girl in Munich.
(2) William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960)
Hitler, although he was undoubtedly extremely fond of her and found relaxation in her unobtrusive company, had always kept her out of sight, refusing to allow her to come to his various headquarters where he spent almost all of his time during the war years, and rarely permitting her even to come to Berlin. She remained immured at the Berghof on the Obersalzberg, passing her time in swimming and skiing, in reading cheap novels and seeing trashy films, in dancing (which Hitler disapproved of) and endlessly grooming herself, pining away for her absent loved one.
