Monday, April 20, 2026

What happened to Hitler’s personal wealth....

At the time of his death, Adolf Hitler was actually very rich. The majority of the people are not aware that he had made a fortune out of his book sales, and he even received a share each time the German post office printed a stamp with his face on it.

Since he had his official residence in Munich, in 1946 all his money, land and rights were seized by the local Bavarian government. What they did next to his book is quite clever. They simply did not want to allow anyone to print new copies since they had the copyright. They did not want to earn money, they only did not want his ideas to spread. This gimmick held the book out of print for 70 years until the copyright expired in 2015.

His family did try to get the cash. His younger sister, Paula, led a secret life under a false name but later went to the court against the government. She struggled to get the fortune but fortunately she passed away in 1960 before she could even see a penny.

The physical cash became totally worthless when Germany changed its money system in 1948. His big mountain house was blown up by the government so that his supporters could not pay him visits. However, his previous flat in Munich still exists today. It is not the home of a dictator, but is now a local police station. It is a very appropriate way to end the story.


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