Hitler The Young Artist

Applying To Become An Artist
". . . One day it became clear to me that I would become a painter, an artist. . . My father would was struck speechless. . . 'Artist! No! Never as long as I live!'. . . My father would never depart from his 'Never!' and I intensified my 'Nevertheless!'

How many among us know that Hitler saw himself as a talented artist who, as an eighteen years old, applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His examination results at Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts in 1907 were deemed inadequate by the jurors, several of whom were Jewish. Encouraged by the Academy's Director to pursue architecture, Hitler was denied admittance to retake the exam upon applying the following year. His rejection was a bitter blow marking the low point of his young life. Despite this disappointment, Hitler created several thousand drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings. He mostly drew detailed sketches of urban planning and building designs.

DID YOU KNOW?

During the course of World War II, Hitler and the Nazis planned and executed thefts of an unprecendented magnitude. While Hitler's focus remained on stealing the greatest artwork of Western European civilization, the Nazi machinery organized and implemented theft of almost every item imaginable: from paintings sculpture, porcelain, furniture, rugs and tapestries, to gold, diamonds, currency, and jewelry, plus stained glass, church bells entire libraries and wine. Early success was intoxicating and, in time, everything seemed obtainable. For the Fuhrer, no desired object was too large or important to steal, especially when it provided an opportunity to correct the wrongs of history and humiliate those responsible.