Was Adolf Hitler's real name Shiklgrubbr? Did he spent part of his life as a house painter?

By Ranjana S.

As a young man Hitler was profoundly embittered by his failure to impress the art world with his talent. But, could his critics have been wrong?

A renowned artist a decade back, was asked to assess his work without divulging the information, that the Houses of Parliament and City Hall, Vienna, was painted by Adolf Hitler. The artist commented:" This seems to be a work by a young man who is not sure about his style, but the artist has shown promise in the areas of perspective, composition, handling of light and the technique of drawing. This budding artist must be encouraged to hone up his skills. I would want to employ him." Unfortunately, if the judges at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, had reached the same conclusion, and Hitler had become an art student, his talent would not have been nipped in the bud, and the history of the 20th century might have been different.

It has been debated time and again that the 'Fuhrer of the Third Reich' once made his living by painting houses, and his real name was the less dignified Shicklgrubber.

However, the fact is that Hitler was born at Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889. Alois Hitler, a custom official and mother Klara were his parents. Hitler's father began his life as Alois Shicklgruber. He was born out of wedlock, to Johann Hiedler and Anna Shicklgrubber,in 1824. They later married, but Alois was not legitimised by his father until 1876. By that time, Johann had already altered the spelling of his name to Hitler, so Alois Shicklgruber became Alois Hitler long before his son , Adolf, was born.

The Nazi leader never called himself Shicklgruber, but his opponents in Germany and Austria revived this name in the 1930's.

The house painter theory has also been refuted. The young Hitler wanted to be a renowned artist, the only deterrence was that he failed to impress the establishment of the Academy of Fine Arts at Vienna. They had rejected his drawings owing to bad quality.

He had left high school without a diploma, and headed to Vienna without impressive prospects. It was during this obscure period of his life that Hitler painted houses- but not as a decorater. He painted them on postcards, which he sold to sustain a meagre living.