Maria Josepha Reiter (23 December 1911 – 28 July 1992), known as "Mimi" or "Mitzi", was associated romantically with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

in the late 1920s. She told her story to the German periodical ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

'' in 1959.

Early life

Reiter was the daughter of an official of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

Relationship with Adolf Hitler

Hitler met Reiter when she was working in a shop in

Obersalzberg Obersalzberg is a mountainside retreat situated above the market town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, Germany. Located about south-east of Munich, close to the border with Austria, it is best known as the site of Adolf Hitler's former mountain resi ...

, one of Hitler's favourite retreats. According to Reiter's own account, the 37-year-old Hitler became friendly with the 16-year-old girl, grooming her before he asked her out. At the end of the evening, he made a "coarse" sexual advance toward her, which she rejected, but he did coerce her into kissing. They had a number of other dates during which Hitler was increasingly emotionally manipulative. According to the ''Stern'' article, Hitler "told her that he wanted her to be his wife, to found a family with her, to have blonde children, but at the moment he had not the time to think of such things. Repeatedly Hitler spoke of his duty, his mission."Rosenbaum, Ron, ''Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of his Evil'', Macmillan, 1998, pp. 114–16. He told her to wait for him and that they would live together. After this declaration, Hitler ignored her and broke up the liaison. This plunged her into depression. In 1928 while in despair, she attempted to hang herself, but her

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

found her and saved her before she died. After this episode, Reiter gave up on Hitler and married a local hotelkeeper Ferdinand Woldrich. The marriage was not a success and in 1931 Reiter left her husband. After a visit from

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

convinced her of Hitler's continuing interest in her, she travelled to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

to see Hitler once more.Uneven Romance, ''Time Magazine'', Monday, Jun. 29, 1959
/ref> Reiter stated that she spent the night with Hitler and that "I let everything happen. I had never been so happy as I was that night". Hitler suggested that she remain in Munich as his lover, but Reiter wanted marriage. Hitler was concerned that a relationship with a woman who had left her husband would be politically damaging to him, so the couple parted. Nevertheless, Hitler directed his personal lawyer

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...

to handle her divorce. In 1934, after Hitler's rise to power, Reiter met him once more and he again asked her to become his lover. Again she refused. This led to an argument in which Hitler reiterated that he could not marry or have children because he had a "big mission" to fulfill. Eventually, she married SS-''

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

'' Georg Kubisch in 1936.Hamilton, Charles, p. 213. Hitler congratulated Kubisch on his marriage at an assembly of the SS in Munich. Their last meeting was in 1938, when, according to Reiter, Hitler expressed dissatisfaction with his relationship with

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 (aged 17) when she was an assistant and model ...

. Kubisch was killed in 1940 during the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk () was fought around the French Third Republic, French port of Dunkirk, Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies of World War II, Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle ...

, after which Hitler sent Reiter 100 red roses. The details of Reiter's story about their physical relationship cannot be confirmed, though the fact that Hitler was in love with her was asserted by his sister Paula, who stated that she was the only woman who might have curbed his destructive impulses. Further, two letters dating from April 1945 by Reiter to Hitler were found after the war. They were "written in affectionate terms" and suggest intimacy by the words used.Hamilton, Charles, pp. 210–213.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiter, Maria Adolf Hitler People from Berchtesgadener Land 1911 births 1992 deaths