Freshly uncovered archival records have reopened questions surrounding the death of Angela “Geli” Raubal, Adolf Hitler’s half-niece, who was found dead in his Munich apartment nearly 95 years ago.
Raubal, 23, died from a gunshot wound to the chest in September 1931. Her death was officially treated as suicide, with the weapon identified as a pistol belonging to Hitler.
For decades, the accepted account has placed the discovery of her body on September 19, 1931.
According to Munich police records, Hitler’s personal servant, Georg Winter, forced open the door to Raubal’s room after finding it locked from the inside. He then discovered her body on the floor.
The timing has played an important role in accounts of the case because Hitler was believed to have already left Munich for Nuremberg the previous afternoon.
That version of events has now been challenged by German historian Harold Sandner.
Sandner says he discovered an entry in Munich’s official death register that records Raubal’s body as having been discovered at 10:15 a.m. on September 18, a day earlier than the date traditionally associated with her death.
Two additional death notices found in archival collections also reportedly carry September 18 as the date.
If the documents are authentic, the discrepancy would place Hitler in Munich when Raubal’s body was discovered.
Official records show that Hitler did not leave for Nuremberg until the afternoon of September 18.
Sandner has suggested that the conflicting records could indicate that police officials sympathetic to the Nazi Party helped conceal what actually happened. His findings were first reported by German magazine Der Spiegel and are due to receive fuller treatment in his forthcoming book on Raubal’s death.
Historian Thomas Weber of the University of Aberdeen has examined copies of the newly identified documents.
Weber said he initially approached the claims with skepticism but found Sandner’s evidence convincing enough to question the established chronology.
He nevertheless cautioned that placing Hitler in Munich at the time does not prove that he killed Raubal.
The Nazi Party had strong political reasons at the time to avoid a scandal involving Hitler, according to Weber. Hitler was building his political reputation and seeking wider support, making any controversy surrounding his private life potentially damaging.
Raubal had lived close to Hitler for several years. She was the daughter of his half-sister, Angela, who had worked as Hitler’s housekeeper.
In 1929, Raubal moved into Hitler’s Munich residence, bringing her into an increasingly close relationship with him.
Historical accounts have described Hitler as deeply attached to the young woman and increasingly controlling of her life. Some writers have alleged that their relationship became sexual or incestuous, although those claims remain disputed.
The pair are believed to have argued shortly before Raubal’s death over her plans to leave Munich for Vienna, where she wanted to pursue musical studies.
Her death subsequently became the subject of numerous theories, including suggestions that she took her own life, that she was killed during an argument or that her death was concealed for political reasons.
The newly uncovered documents do not resolve those questions.
They do, however, challenge one of the most important details in the traditional account: when Raubal died and when her body was discovered.
Nearly a century later, that change in the timeline has once again placed one of the most mysterious episodes surrounding Hitler’s private life under historical scrutiny.
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