Hitler's Vienna is the authoritative biography of Adolf Hitler's early life until his departure from Austria as a 24-year-old. It is also the cultural history of Vienna as Hitler encountered it during his formative years: the Vienna of immigrants, the unemployed, and the homeless, and also of German Nationalism and anti-Semitism. Brigitte Hamann examines for the first time the few accounts of eyewitnesses and the many legends of Hitler's early years, bringing to light newly discovered letters and facts about his close contact with Jewish friends and benefactors. She also analyses the influence of the politicians who determined Hitler's political path: Georg von Schönerer, the 'Führer of the German people', the folk tribune and mayor Dr Karl Lueger, the German radical Karl Hermann Wolf, and the All-German Workersleader Franz Stein -- all four full of hatred, and adversaries of the Jews and of international social democracy. No one has produced such an extensive and well-founded picture of the climate and milieu in which Hitler's character and ideas matured. Hitler's Vienna demonstrates, using a wealth of individual examples, that central elements in Hitler's world-view were acquired during this formative period in Vienna.
Review quote:
fascinating and impressive
Hitler's Vienna is the authoritative biography of Adolf Hitler's boyhood and adolescence until his departure from Austria as a 24-year-old. It is also a cultural history of Vienna as Hitler encountered it during his critical formative years: the Vienna of immigrants, the unemployed, and the homeless, and also of German Nationalism and anti-Semitism. Brigitte Hamann examines critically for the first time the few accounts of eyewitnesses and the many legends of Hitler's early years, bringing to light newly discovered letters and facts about his close contact with Jewish friends and benefactors.
Review quote:
fascinating and impressive
Hitler's Vienna is the authoritative biography of Adolf Hitler's boyhood and adolescence until his departure from Austria as a 24-year-old. It is also a cultural history of Vienna as Hitler encountered it during his critical formative years: the Vienna of immigrants, the unemployed, and the homeless, and also of German Nationalism and anti-Semitism. Brigitte Hamann examines critically for the first time the few accounts of eyewitnesses and the many legends of Hitler's early years, bringing to light newly discovered letters and facts about his close contact with Jewish friends and benefactors.