Biography

Alois Hitler was born on January 13, 1882 in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary. He was married to Hedwig Heidemann and Bridget Dowling. He died on May 20, 1956 in Hamburg, West Germany.

As his father was married to another woman when Alois was born, his mother gave Alois her surname, Matzelsberger. Alois's parents married on May 22, 1883, 46 days after Alois's father's wife died.

Married his second wife while still married to his first wife. Returned to Germany in May 1914 to start a business. World War I broke out that August, leaving him stranded, and his family in England unable to join him. After Alois married Hedwig Heidemann in 1916, Bridget Hitler was informed that her husband was dead. Alois was prosecuted for bigamy in 1924, but acquitted due to Bridget's intervention. His son by Hedwig died in a Soviet prison in 1942 after being captured on the Eastern Front. Alois was arrested by the British after World War II, but released when it was clear he had nothing to do with the Nazi regime.

He worked as a kitchen porter in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Ireland in the 1900s. In 1909, he met his future wife Bridget Dowling at the Dublin Horse Show and claimed to be a wealthy hotelier.