Geli Raubal
In 1929 Adolf Hitler’s publisher paid for him to live in a nine room apartment in Munich. After Hitler’s book Mein Kampf began generating royalties Hitler took over the payments on the apartment. Four years earlier Hitler had hired his half-sister Angela Raubal to serve as his housekeeper. Angela was a widow who brought her two daughters (Hitler’s half-nieces) to Munich, Geli and Friedl. When Hitler stayed at his villa, the Berghof, Angela went with him to perform her duties there. When Hitler moved into the Munich apartment he furnished it luxuriously, acquiring several paintings by German masters to cover its walls.
He also moved in then 20 year old Geli Raubal. She was said to be in Munich to attend Ludwig Maximilian University to study medicine. Hitler was nineteen years her senior and as he rose in power he kept his niece on a short leash. He had for several years prior to installing her in his Munich apartment controlled her affairs, going so far as to fire his personal chauffeur over his suspicions of a romantic affair between him and Geli. According to her mother Geli hoped to return to Austria to pursue a singing career, but Hitler forbade her. Geli also had known a man in Austria whom she hoped to marry, but Hitler forbade that too.
By 1930 Hitler refused to allow Geli to leave the apartment alone, requiring her to be accompanied with one of his friends or servants whenever she went shopping or to the movies. He escorted her to the theater and the opera himself on several occasions, on others he insisted that one of his associates be present whenever she went out in public. On September 18 1931, Hitler was preparing to depart for business in Nuremberg when Geli suggested that she be allowed to go to Vienna while he was away, leading to an argument after Hitler insisted that she remain in Munich.
The following day Hitler was informed that his niece had killed herself in the Munich apartment using his pistol, shot once in the chest, the bullet penetrating a lung. The sensational nature of her death led to immediate speculation as to their relationship, and Hitler’s political opponents seized the opportunity to exploit it. Rumors were spread which included physical abuse on the part of Hitler, sexual abuse, and even whispers that the 23 year old Geli had been murdered by the Nazis. Hitler himself refused to comment on the matter and to avoid publicity refused to attend the funeral. Instead he visited Geli’s grave privately two days later.
Whether or not Geli and Hitler were involved in a sexual relationship has never been determined definitively, and the nature of their relationship has been analyzed by historians as well as psychologists, psychiatrists, and forensic scientists. Hitler fell into a deep depression following the suicide of his niece and went into semi-seclusion for a few days, after which he returned to his work. Hitler kept portraits and photographs of his late niece in his retreat, the Berghof, and later in his Chancellery, and her room in the former was kept as it had been when she last stayed there. Hitler continued to live in the apartment in Munich until 1934, and retained it after for use as a meeting space.