Hitler's Childhood Adolf Hitler was born on December 20, 1889, in a small Austrian village called Braunau-am-Inn. Adlof was born a sickly child, his mother, Klara, watched over him night and day. Klara Hitler protected young Adolf from her short-tempered husband, Alois. Adolf grew into a thin, dark-haired, blue-eyed boy with an angular face. At the age of 6, Hitler started school and showed excellent achievement in his classes. Outside of school young Hitler was energetic and had many friends. Adolf's home life was far less happy. His father ran the household like a military boot camp. When his father was in the same room as him, Adolf was not allowed to speak without permission. The first signs of Adolf's aggression showed up at the age of 7. Adolf would challenge his tyrannical father and was beaten severely for it. In 1900, at the age of 11, Hitler entered a secondary school that turned out to be disastrous. After entering the school, Adolf's grades dropped in every subject except drawing. Hitler explains this change in academic performance in his book Mein Kampf. Hitler states that he purposely failed his classes to rebel against his father and sabotage all ambition towards him. During his high school career, Hitler became seriously ill with a lung infection and was forced to drop out of school. After his illness was cured, he then applied to the Vienna Academy of Arts hoping to start a career in painting. Hitler took the admission test and passed it, but when it came down to submitting a piece of art, Hitler's watercolor was rejected. Adolf was rejected from the academy and felt no disappointment, although, Hitler was more concerned with a dying woman whom he loved greatly, his mother. Klara was suffering from breast cancer and would die in December of 1907. The death of his mother brought great sorrow to Hitler. The family physician said, "I have never seen anyone so prostrate with grief as Adolf Hitler.
