Considering she was legally married to Adolf Hitler, history still seems to remember Eva Braun by her maiden name.
Is there a reason for this, or is it just one of those things?
Before anyone starts to wonder, I was watching a documentary on TV about the whole “Did Hitler Escape in 1945?” thing, and they kept referring to “Eva Braun”… seemed kinda odd, considering she was technically Eva Hitler after April 29th, 1945…
IIRC, didn’t they get married on the same day that they committed suicide? Therefore, for pretty much all of her life she was Eva Braun - and everyone who knew her (and Hitler) knew her as Eva Braun. It seems natural that their friends and staff (Hitler’s secretaries etc) would refer to her as Eva Braun in post-war interviews. The rest of us then use the same terminology to prevent confusion.
Just a WAG, of course.
Then again, not every woman takes her husband’s name, even in cultures where that is customary (much less many other cultures where women don’t change their names ever)
But I think the explanation already given is probably correct.
Watch this film and you will see why.
It is the closest you will see to historical fact, and let’s just say, there weren’t a whole lot of people at the wedding reception…
Unlike someone like, for instance, Eva Peron, Miss Braun was not around long enough as Mrs. Hitler to be considered as such.
I just wanted to second this recommandation. This movie is worth watching.
I’ve seen Downfall… it is indeed excellent, and Bruno Ganz nailed the role of Hitler perfectly, IMHO.
IIRC when she signed the marriage license or register she signed it “Eva Braun” and had to cross it out and write “Hitler” instead. So not even she thought of herself as “Eva Hitler” yet.
She didn’t *have * to write “Hitler” instead of “Braun”, she changed her mind and *chose * to do so, having started to write “Braun”.
There was, AFAIK, no requirement for German brides to sign the register in their married names. I know that in the UK, brides are expected to sign their marriage certificates in their maiden names, even if they intend to adopt their husband’s surname thereafter.
She was only Eva Hitler for a few hours. Bunker staff were instructed to address her as Frau Hitler instead of Fraulein Braun. Also she was largely unkown outside of Hitler’s inner circle.
By the time they got married, she probably suspected that the name “Hitler” wouldn’t evoke positive feelings by posterity.
The book Soldat is the autobiography of a German artillery officer. The author happened to be the chief of staff of the corps that was defending Berlin at the end of the war. He needed to go to the bunker regularly to give updates on the battle. He mentioned seeing the women in the typing pool in the bunker. After the war he realizes one of them must have been Eva Braun. He had never heard of her until long after her death.
Not even remotely my point. The question is why do we think of her as “Eva Braun” and not “Eva Hitler” so I offered information that she herself didn’t really think of herself as “Eva Hitler” so there’s no reason why the rest of us would.