Hitler in Liverpool

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It's part of Liverpool's folklore that Hitler once stayed in the city. Sounds far fetched? A tale dreamt up by some alehouse wonder maybe. But there is a link.

What we do know is that Hitler's half-brother, Alois, moved to Liverpool in 1911 with his wife Bridget. In 1909 they had met in Dublin where Alois was working as a hotel waiter. Leading her to believe he was a wealthy hotelier on a European tour, they eloped to London in 1910 before moving to 102 Upper Stanhope St, Toxteth.

During the time he was here he ran a small restaurant on Dale Street, a boarding house on Upper Parliament Street and a hotel in Mount Pleasant which went bust. Bankrupt, he deserted his wife and child and left for Germany in 1914.

According to Bridget's memoirs published in the 1970s, Hitler is alleged to have stayed with the couple in their flat from November 1912 - April 1913. She goes on to say that at the time he was on the run for dodging the draft in Austria and describes meeting the future Nazi leader as he got off the train at Lime Street station. He would, she recalled, spend his days wandering the city's docks and learning very little English.

In the early 1970s the Liverpool Daily Post ran a series of articles about the memoirs. Beryl Bainbridge's 'Young Adolf', a fictionalised account of Hitler's visit, appeared a few years later.

Most historians including Professor Ian Kershaw, acclaimed biographer of Hitler, have little time for the memoirs believing them to be a work of fiction.Conflicting accounts within the text and a lack of solid references seem to confirm this.

In addition to this, there is no evidence of a close relationship between Hitler and his half-brother. Variously described as a 'wastrel' and 'ne'er do well' Alois seems to have been something of an embarrassment to the Nazi leader. His autobiography Mein Kampf fails to mention his half-brother. In fact such was Hitler's desire to sever links with his family he would go so far as erasing the name from family gravestones thus further casting doubt on the story.

The period in question is know to historians as 'the lost years' when the future Fuhrers exact whereabouts are difficult to identify. However, according to Professor Kershaw there are eye witness accounts to show Hitler living in a men's hostel in Vienna during the time he was supposed to be in Liverpool.

Alois and Bridget had a son William Patrick born in 1911. He grew up in England and later moved to New York. He fought against the Nazis and had three sons who live, understandably, under a different surname now. One of them, Alec, has said of his great uncles stay in Liverpool: 'it's all true'.

Today if you visit Upper Stanhope Street there is little evidence of the building where the Hitlers once lived. It fell prey to the bombs of the German Luftwaffe.

The controversy continues but it is likely that Hitler in Liverpool will remain part of the city's mythology for a few years yet to come.