Hitler's Linz Walking Tour (Self Guided), Linz

The town of Linz went down in history as the place where Adolf Hitler spent his early years, from 1898 to 1907. The Hitler family moved here when he was just a little boy, and for the rest of his life Adolf Hitler considered Linz to be his hometown. He loved this place, declaring Linz “Führerstadt” (the Führer city) in 1937, and even envisioned extensive architectural plans of turning it into a main cultural center of the Third Reich, eclipsing Vienna – the city he hated.

Having completed elementary education in the nearby town of Leonding, young Adolf was enrolled in Linz's Realschule (secondary school) where he had studied, with little success though, until 1904. Finally, he had to leave due to underachievement.

At the age of 15, Hitler underwent the ceremony of Confirmation and was anointed as a Catholic in the local Alter Dom (Old Cathedral); later he made a drawing of this church, which still exists.

The local medical doctor Eduard Bloch played significant role in the life of the Hitlers, treating them, sometimes free of charge, in view of the family's poor economic situation. For this reason, Hitler, then 18, granted Dr Bloch his "everlasting gratitude" and later, as the Führer of the Third Reich – even protection, despite Bloch's Jewish ethnicity.

As a passionate admirer of theater, Hitler enjoyed performances at Landestheter (State Theatre), particularly the oeuvre of Richard Wagner.

Shortly after the Anschluss of Austria by Germany, in March 1938, Adolf Hitler returned to Linz to proclaim the Grossdeutsches Reich (Greater German Reich) from the balcony of the local Rathaus (City Hall).

If you love history, you may want to take this self-guided walk and visit the locations associated with Hitler in Linz, predating his becoming the bloodiest dictator the humanity has ever seen.