Does anyone know, at what age did Adolf Hitler grow his famous moustache?

Question

Did he ever deviate from that particular style of facial hair? Handlebars perhaps? Or a goatee? What stage of his political career was he at when he first grew it and how important was it in his rise to power? Is it obligatory for evil dictators to grow a moustache or is it the 'tache that turns them to the dark side? Many questions...

Answer 1

Did he deviate? Yup. The toothbrush version wasn't the original:

"His moustache is the most instantly recognisable - and sinister - in history.

Yet, according to new research into Adolf Hitler's early life, the distinctive, toothbrush shape that adorned his scowling face was not his first preference.



Untrimmed: Adolf Hitler’s original moustache style
in 1914 and his later distinctive toothbrush shape
A previously unpublished essay by a writer who served alongside Hitler in the First World War trenches reveals that the future Führer was only obeying orders when he shaped his moustache into its tightly-clipped style. He was instructed to do so in order that it would fit under the respirator masks, introduced in response to British mustard gas attacks.

Had that order never been issued, the tyrant who brought most of Europe to its knees would be remembered as a man with a large Prussian moustache.

The prosaic explanation comes in a new biography of the writer Alexander Moritz Frey, who came to know him when both were lowly privates in a Bavarian infantry division.
In a hitherto unpublished essay, Frey, who died in 1957, wrote of his first meeting with Hitler in 1915: "A pale, tall man tumbled down into the cellar after the first shells of the daily evening attacks had begun to fall, fear and rage glowing in his eyes.

At that time he looked tall because he was so thin. A full moustache, which had to be trimmed later because of the new gas masks, covered the ugly slit of his mouth."

Stefan Ernsting, who has written the biography, unearthed Frey's essay, The Unknown Private - Personal Memories of Hitler, in archives in the provincial German town of Marbach.

Frey's account provides the first substantial challenge to historians' perceived wisdom on the subject, which has generally been that the Nazi leader was simply following the fashion of the period.

However, whatever adjustments Hitler was forced to make to fit German army gas masks did not save him from being badly gassed and temporarily blinded during a British attack in 1918."

Try the link for a picture of him in 1914 with a much larger mustache.

There have been plenty of "evil dictators" without any facial hair.

Answer 2

Hello,

From about.com I got this answer that makes good sense:

"An unpublished essay, written by another WWI soldier who knew Hitler during this period, wrote that Hitler trimmed his Prussian-style moustache because he was ordered to do so. The wide, somewhat bushy Prussian-style moustache that Hitler had been wearing simply didn't fit under a gas mask. The Telegraph has more about this new moustache discovery."

I work in the oil and gas industry and sometimes I must use air tanks and face masks in sour gas areas so facial hair must be removed and moustaches greatly trimmed as well.
That said, a moustache seems to be a symbol of arrogance and authority in some circles. I cannot help but notice that many new police or security guards seem to like having them when starting out. If you look at the photos of the 19th century you'll see many soldiers of the European empires loved those huge facial whiskers and mutton choppers (huge side burns) probably to give their inferior colonial subjects a look of authority and arrogance.

Oh yes, in the first war Hitler would have been in his mid twenties.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 3

I think Ross M is correct. He had a bushy mustache in WWI but trimmed it by the time of the Putsch, 5 years later (November 8, 1923).

And no, it's not mandatory for dictators to grow mustaches. The only ones I can name who did are Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, and Genghis Khan. Mao, Pol Pot, Qaddafi, Amin, and George Bush didn't have them.

Answer 4

Don't know the exact date, but I can tell you this. Hitler had his characteristic moustache way back in 1922, according to a published profile of a young Hitler as he was making his way up the ranks in German politics.

You can read the full profile -- which refers to Hitler's "cropped, toothbrush moustache" -- at the research site, Firstmention.com:


http://firstmention.com/hitler.aspx

Answer 5

I have studied the 'tash - evil' axis, and based on the fact that the more evil someone is, the shorter and stubbier their tash becomes, I have been able to grade the following people in ascending order of evil:-

4) Saddam Hussein
3) Joseph Stalin
2) Adolf Hitler
1) Oliver Hardy


Yes, I was as surprised as you..... Saddam Hussein only number 4!

Answer 6

I believe I saw a photo of A.H. on the back of a truck during a small up-rising/riot in late 1918 and he had the short moustache then. Not quite as short as later, but def. not the bushy one he had earlier during his convalescing period.

Answer 7

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it's a perfectly working link, no scam!
The game is awesome! The addition to the expansions of this game makes it much improved. The graphics is fixed, even when the cannons shoot, realistic smoke comes out. The game play is very polished. It doesn't use Internet connection to run this game.

Answer 8

he had a long moustache during WW1 and shortened it not long before the Beer Hall Putsch.

Answer 9

From the age of puberty till he died

Answer 10

literally its the dictator's trademark...