Who was Geli Raubal? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Angela Maria Raubal

Died At Age: 23

Family:

father: Leo Raubal

mother: Angela Hitler

siblings: Elfriede Maria Hochegger, Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr.

Born Country: Austria

Family Members Austrian Women

Died on: September 18, 1931

place of death: Munich, Germany

City: Linz, Austria

Cause of Death: Suicide

More Facts

education: Ludwig Maximilian University Of Munich

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Childhood & Early Life

Geli Raubal was born on 4 June 1908 in Linz, Austria to Leo Raubal and Angela Raubal. Angela was the half-sister of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. After losing her father at the age of two, Raubal and her siblings; Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr and Elfriede, were solely raised by their mother in Austria before they moved to Germany to live with their uncle.

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Later Life

The ambitious and intelligent Geli Raubal was 17 years of age when she moved to her half-uncle Adolf Hitler’s home with her mother and sister. After the untimely death of her father, Uncle Alf (as Raubal addressed him) appointed Raubal’s mother as a live-in housekeeper in 1925, which led to the uncle-niece duo coming in close contact in the following years. Four years later in 1929, Geli’s mother Angela Raubal was sent to be the caretaker of Hitler’s mountain retreat Berghof villa near Berchtesgaden while Raubal moved into Hitler’s Munich apartment to complete her studies. Due to the constant nitpicking of her uncle, her efforts to complete her medical studies at the Ludwig Maximilan University went in vain.

In her later years, Raubal was always seen hand in hand with her uncle - as a companion to theatres, operas and also conferences and meetings. In spite of the 17-year age difference, Hitler and Raubal’s once innocent relationship turned into an infatuation and possession on Hitler’s part. He began curbing the enchanting girl’s freedom at a gullible and vulnerable age. Hitler’s overbearing dominance continued to scar Raubal throughout her life as she was treated as an in-house prisoner answerable for every decision she made. Around 1929, when Hitler discovered about Raubal’s intimate relationship with her chauffeur, the man was immediately fired and it only made her situation worse with more cut-offs and restrictions.

With Hitler’s growing fascination, Raubal’s life became an endless state of claustrophobia as she was forced to break associations with friends and family; and only rely on her relationship with the dictator. It was these extreme restrictions that resulted in her suicide on 18 September 1931 at the mere age of 23. Raubal was in love in a man named Linz and she wanted to marry him. Unable to convince Hitler about her relationship and the plan to move to Vienna to pursue singing, Raubal shot herself with Hitler’s pistol and met a sad end at his apartment in Munich.

Controversy

Despite early reports suggesting suicide, Geli Raubal’s death caused a huge scandal during the Nazi era due to Hitler’s close relationship with the young woman. From theories about of a toxic and kinky sexual relationship between the two to evidences proposing that Raubal was murdered; her death continues to remain a big mystery.

Geli Raubal Biography