Eva Braun Facts & Worksheets

Let’s know more about Eva Braun!

• Eva Anna Paula Braun (later Eva Anna Paula Hitler) was the mistress and later wife of Adolf Hitler. The two had a secret, toxic and unstable relationship and because of this, Eva attempted suicide multiple times.
• As a student, Eva achieved average grades and excelled at athletics. She also showed an interest in clothes and makeup. After school, she was employed as a salesperson for Heinrich Hoffman, the official photographer of the Nazi Party. This was how Hitler and Eva met.
• At the end of WWII, Eva travelled by Hitler’s side, against his orders and as an act of loyalty. The pair committed suicide together - Eva taking a cyanide pill and Hitler shooting himself in the temple.

Early life of Eva Braun

• Eva Braun (full name Eva Anna Paula Braun), was born in Munich on 6 February, 1912.
• She was born into a middle-class family.
• She was the second of three daughters of Fritz Braun, a school teacher, and Franziska Braun, a seamstress.
• Her parents got divorced in 1921 due to financial reasons since hyperinflation was spreading in Germany at that time. After a year, however, they got back together.
• Her sisters were Ilse and Gretl Braun.
• Eva studied at a Catholic lyceum in Munich.
• She also attended a business school for one year at the Catholic Young Women’s Institute in Simbach-am-Inn.
• She got average grades and was good at sports.
• She was also interested in clothes, makeup and films.
• When she was 17 years old (1929), she took a job as a saleswoman for Heinrich Hoffmann who was the official photographer of the Nazis.
• Her older sister Gretl also worked for Hoffmann later on.
• Though she initially started out as a saleswoman, Eva eventually learned how to develop photographs and use a camera.

Eva Braun’s relationship with Adolf Hitler

• During Eva’s time at Hoffman’s shop, she developed her skills in photography.
• Many of the personal photographs of Hitler were actually taken by Eva.
• In October 1929, the 17-year-old Eva met Hitler, who was twenty three years older than her, when he visited Hoffman’s studio in Munich.
• She fell deeply in love with him, although historians suggest Hitler’s feelings for her were not the same.
• In 1932, Eva attempted suicide by shooting herself in the chest.
• After her recovery, the two became lovers.

• Because Eva had learned how to take photographs, she began working as a photographer for Hoffman, which allowed her to travel with Hitler’s entourage, taking pictures for the Nazi Party.
• In 1935, Eva attempted suicide again by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
• Based on accounts and fragments of her diary, she felt great despair at Hitler making insufficient time for her and their relationship.
• In public, Hitler would often treat Eva like a mistress, passing her envelopes of money in plain view of everyone.
• In 1936, Eva moved to Hitler’s house in the Bavarian Alps where she spent her time enjoying activities such as sunbathing, skiing, swimming and gymnastics (Biography Editors 2017).
• Hitler presented himself to the public as a chaste hero, and Eva was never allowed to accompany him as his partner in public or at rallies.
• She was expected to conform to the Nazi ideology of women as homemakers. Hitler was also a very charismatic man.
• He believed he was sexually attractive to many women and sought to leverage this for political gain.
• These issues combined with Eva’s troubled mind led her to live in a state of constant anxiety that Hitler would leave her for another woman or be killed in the war.
• Eva continued to work for Hoffman while she was in a relationship with Hitler.
• She took many photographs and made films of the inner circle, some of which she sold to Hoffman for very high prices.
• She also held the position of private secretary to Hitler.
• When Eva’s sister Gretl married Hermann Fegelein - a man on Hitler’s staff - he used the opportunity to allow Eva to attend events, where she could be introduced as S-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein’s sister-in-law without causing controversy.

Eva and Hitler’s marriage

• Eva lived a sheltered life throughout the war. However, during the final days of the war - on 7 March, 1945 - Eva travelled to Berlin to be with Hitler despite his instructions for her to remain in the Bavarian Alps.
• After 16 years of being together in secret, Hitler and Eva married each other in a civil ceremony on 29 April, 1945.
• Their wedding was held in an underground bunker with their visitors consisting of their inner circle - a handful of Nazi loyalists.
• Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann, both Nazi officials whom Hitler was fond of, were witnesses to the civil wedding.

Eva and Hitler’s suicide

• After their civil marriage, Hitler prepared a modest wedding breakfast for his now wife, Eva Hitler. Afterwards, he left the wedding breakfast to write his will and testament.
• During this time, Hitler was losing the war.
• Considering his personality, he resolved to commit suicide to avoid the embarrassment of being captured. Eva agreed to die with him.
• At 1pm on 30 April, 1945, the newlyweds bid their goodbyes to the members of the inner circle.
• On the afternoon of the same day, it was at approximately 3pm when several people heard a gunshot at Hitler’s Führerbunker in Berlin.
• The lifeless bodies of Eva and Hitler were found side by side on a small sofa. The two had committed suicide.
• It was later revealed that Eva had bitten into a cyanide pill, whilst Hitler had shot himself in the right temple with his pistol.
• Their bodies were then taken and burnt in the gardens of the Reich Chancellery, as instructed by Hitler in his will and testament.
• Eva, who was married to Hitler for just less than 40 hours, died at the age of 33.

Image sources:

[1.] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F051673-0059%2C_Adolf_Hitler_und_Eva_Braun_auf_dem_Berghof.jpg