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Eva Braun

Historical Figure

Eva Braun

1912–1945

Wife of Adolf Hitler (1912–1945)

Early 20th Century

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Biography

Eva Anna Paula Hitler was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 when she was an assistant and model for his personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. She began seeing Hitler often about two years later.

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Timeline

The story of Eva Braun, told in moments.

1929 Event

Meets Adolf Hitler at the photography studio of Heinrich Hoffmann, where she works as an assistant. She is 17. He is 40. He introduces himself as "Herr Wolf." She begins seeing him about two years later.

1935 Life

Attempts suicide twice in the early years of their relationship, once with her father's pistol and once with sleeping pills. She feels ignored. Hitler keeps her hidden from the public. By 1936, she's living at the Berghof, his Alpine retreat, but most Germans don't know she exists.

1945 Event

Travels to Berlin as the Red Army closes in. Hitler orders her to stay at the Berghof. She refuses. She walks into the bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery knowing she won't leave it alive.

1945 Event

Marries Hitler in a brief civil ceremony in the bunker. She is 33. He is 56. She changes her name to Eva Hitler. The wedding reception is a small, grim affair with champagne and canned food.

1945 Death

Bites a cyanide capsule in the bunker sitting room while Hitler shoots himself beside her. Less than 40 hours married. Their bodies are carried up to the garden and burned. She is 33.

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