Other sources claim that Adolf Hitler may have settled on the toothbrush mustache style years before World War I, and possibly as early as 1912. This information comes from Hitler’s sister-in-law, Bridget (pictured, left), who lived in Liverpool, England, with her husband Alois Hitler Jr., and their son Patrick (right).
Bridget became infamous among Hitler researchers for her extraordinary claim that she and her family were visited by Adolf Hitler around this time, offering an account of his time in Liverpool in which he spent the winter at their home and irritated the family with his behavior. Bridget later claimed that she was bothered by her brother-in-law’s long mustache, and convinced him to trim the sides.
Indeed, little is known about Hitler’s activities before his relocation from Vienna, where he failed to make it as an artist, to Munich in 1913, and there are those who are inclined to believe Bridget’s tale that Hitler spent the winter in Liverpool before doing so. However, many historians have taken issue with the claims, and say there is no evidence that he made the trip to England. Some say that the detail, which appears in a manuscript of Bridget’s memoirs that remained unpublished during her lifetime, was intended to garner interest from publishing houses. In any case, photographs from his army days show Hitler sporting a full “Kaiser” mustache, showing that even if Bridget’s claim is true, he didn’t stick with the look she suggested for long.
