# Hitlers Hobbies...if any **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2007, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671 "2007-09-27T11:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/1 "2007-09-27T11:59:15Z")
Well we know he painted and he liked dogs but what if anything else did he enjoy doing when he wasn’t invading some country or other. Collect stamps, have a fave football team, take mucky pics of Eva, collect beer mats?..oh wait he was a veggie so he may have collected milk bottle caps instead Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/2 "2007-09-27T12:05:58Z")
He painted? Not as an adult. Hitler had a lot of … intensity … For example he had a half-sister, Paula. No doubt about perfectly true. But she is never mentioned in histories of that time. Why? Because his family, his friends, his hobbies, all of these were very secondary to Hitler. Not important at all. (BTW, Hitler liked to sleep in a perfectly dark, very cold room.) Of course we can say the same thing about Stalin, very focused on his political life. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/3 "2007-09-27T12:06:12Z")
I just have to know…why do you want to know? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/4 "2007-09-27T13:41:40Z")
Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/5 "2007-09-27T13:45:50Z")
Well, I think he had a couple of penpals…one in Italy and one in Japan if memory serves me right. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/6 "2007-09-27T13:50:31Z")
He had one of the world’s largest and most valuable collections of scrimshaw thimbles. True story. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/7 "2007-09-27T14:03:28Z")
Does collecting sacred artifacts (he supposedly sent expeditions to look for the Ark, the Grail, and the Lance, among other things) count as a hobby? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/8 "2007-09-27T14:12:24Z")
Hitler was an avid cook and was quite fond of Central American cuisine. He is rumored to have been among the top tortilla makers in Europe. Also, he detested mice. He had spent years breeding tarantulas which would preferentially hunt the mice infesting his Kehlsteinhaus, but with little success. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/9 "2007-09-27T14:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan] Does collecting sacred artifacts (he supposedly sent expeditions to look for the Ark, the Grail, and the Lance, among other things) count as a hobby? [/QUOTE] What about world domination and mass murder? Lots of good times there… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/10 "2007-09-27T14:51:23Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] He had one of the world’s largest and most valuable collections of scrimshaw thimbles. True story. [/QUOTE] Cite? This could become an interesting thread, but I am certain my leg is being pulled. The trouble is I cannot tell by who. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/11 "2007-09-27T15:06:48Z")
My late wife used to collect thimbles. I allus figured she had something in common with uncle Adolf 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/12 "2007-09-27T15:14:04Z")
Just a thought, wouldn’t he have loved American football if he could have used Stalins head to kick a field goal ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/13 "2007-09-27T15:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Why not? [/QUOTE] Just askin’? Thought maybe you were writing a paper or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/14 "2007-09-27T15:29:22Z")
Anyone seriously interested in Hitler trivia could do worse than read _A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler_ by Thomas Fuchs (Berkley Publishing, 2000). Some of the information given in this work is not universally accepted by reviewers as veracious. Nevertheless the author does list his sources, comprising about 100 titles of a more sober nature. Allegedly Hitler enjoyed chocolate, both in solid and liquid form, eating pounds of the stuff every day . He was also quite partial to giving himself enemas. While many would not describe this as a hobby I’ve certainly met people with stranger interests. None of these, however, were undisputed leaders of totalitarian states. This is a class of person I tend to avoid socially wherever possible. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/15 "2007-09-27T15:44:39Z")
Little known fact – if not for one unfortunate incident Hitler would have been a band leader instead of one of histories most despised figures. In his early 20’s he was quite an accomplished trombone player. He had an odd fear of germs though. He would constantly clean his trombone by pouring alcohol through it. One day after cleaning his instrument he raised it to his mouth to play just as a nearby accordion player lit up a cigarette. The fumes from the alcohol in the trombone ignited and shot the mouthpiece back splitting Hitler’s lip and cracking his two front teeth. From that day forward he began to grow his mustache and found it too painful to play, resulting in him investigating other interests, so to speak. BTW – this post is complete B.S. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/16 "2007-09-27T16:03:12Z")
He liked to collect political cartoons critical of him. That was, of course, before these were banned. He had a big sweet tooth, liked to whistle and could do so with good pitch, and enjoyed Wagnerian opera and the movies, both German and foreign films. The weird thing is how ordinary Hitler was in so many ways. This has been remarked upon a lot. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/17 "2007-09-27T16:09:19Z")
[QUOTE=zoid] BTW – this post is complete B.S. 😃 [/QUOTE] And here I was just about to submit that to Mythbusters! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/18 "2007-09-27T16:36:30Z")
I hear there wasn’t a mouth behind Hitler’s moustache. There was only another fist. Yes, I’m going to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/19 "2007-09-27T16:40:23Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Well we know he painted and he liked dogs but what if anything else did he enjoy doing when he wasn’t invading some country or other. [/QUOTE] Painted pictures of dogs? Dogs playing…poker?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671/20 "2007-09-27T16:55:47Z")
He had an avid interest in architecture and used to draw up tons of blueprints and build scale models of all the nazi bulidings he wanted to put up. His passion for architecture was the reason Albert Speer was was able to get so inside of Hitler’s iner circle, and speer said that Hitler would gab obsessively about the subject for hours. Hitler even drew pictures of how he wanted his buildings to look as ruins after a thousand years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-hobbies-if-any/420671.md?page=2)