Tombstone of Hitler’s parents removed in Austria

An Austrian cemetery has removed the headstone that marked the grave of Hitler’s parents.

Alois Hitler. Alois was 51 when Adolf Hitler was born and died in 1903, when Hitler was 13. (photo credit: public domain)

Hitler's mother, Klara. (photo credit: public domain)

The tombstone, which stood for more than a century above the final resting place of Alois and Klara Hitler, was unceremoniously dismantled by a local stonemason in Leonding, Austria, last week. The town’s mayor said that an anonymous member of the family had decided to have the gravestone removed, and also relinquished her rights to the burial plot. Anti-fascist groups had called for the removal of the marker, which had attracted gatherings of right-wing extremists in the past. Leonding’s mayor “welcomed” the gravestone’s removal, the Associated Press reported, and the Upper Austrian Network Against Fascism praised the move as a “welcome success.”

In addition to the gravestone, the bodies of Hitler’s parents have also been removed, though their whereabouts are unknown. The burial plot can now be used to house another body, a local pastor told the BBC.

It’s unclear which Hitler family member removed the tombstone, but experts have speculated that she is related to the Nazi dictator through his father.