Adolf HitlerHitler was born in a small German town, Braunau, in an inn. Hitler's parents had always lived there and were of Bavarian and technically Austrian origin. His father Alois Hitler was a civil servant and had been married three times. Alois was born illegitimate and for the first 39 years of his life he used his mother's surname Schicklgruber until she changed it. His surname Hitler means "he who lives in a hut". Later in Adolf's life the allies tried to exploit his father's illegitimacy, saying that Adolf's real surname was Schicklgruber. Adolf was born to his father's third wife, Klara Polzl. He had six siblings and he and his younger sister Paula were the only ones to survive to adulthood. Hitler had ambitions as a child to become a civil servant of some kind. His great oratory skills were formed as a child, arguing out loud in class. Adolf was somewhat of a gang leader in his class and he also acknowledges that he was difficult to handle as a child. His father failed to realize or encourage his son's abilities. Adolf received singing lessons in his village cloister, and once, when he was young, he thought that he should become a priest in adulthood. He was later sent to high school where he would be taught liberal arts, so he could become a public servant. However, Adolf no longer wanted to grow up like his father. He was already becoming interested in the war at the age of 11, because he found books about the war. Adolf had great skill in drawing and painting at school, although he once thought that being an artist would be a suitable profession for him. His father hated this idea which created tension between the two. His father beat him regularly, Adolf admitted to his secretary years later. Alois, his father, died when Adolf was only 13 years old. He wrote that by the age of 15 he had become a fanatical German nationalist. Adolf himself was said to be one-quarter Jewish. His mother is said to have become pregnant while working in a Jewish family. In the years that followed, he made great strides to hide his identity. He had a law passed against women working in Jewish families. He also had his father's hometown turned into an artillery practice range, completely destroying the city.