Update on the Hitler-Passau Mystery

I am still looking into the story about old reports that Adolf Hitler almost drowned as a  4-year-old child while living in Passau. The story is essentially that Hitler fell through a hole in the ice of the Inn River in January 1894 and was saved by his 4-year-old playmate, Johann Kuehberger, whose father was the owner of the apartment building where the Hitler family lived at 31 Kapuzinerstrasse in Passau, now 5 Kapuzinerstrasse. According to a recently-discovered old news article in the Donau Zeitung, the incident (no names provided) reportedly happened "below the military hospital" (on the bank of the Inn River). Kuehberger, who went on to become a prominent priest, later told his successor that he was the one who had saved Hitler.

The story has long been part of Passau lore and was repeated in a book by former Passau resident Anna Rosmus, who as a schoolgirl, became notorious in the city when she attempted to research the town's Nazi past for a writing contest. She became the subject of a movie ("The Nasty Girl") and mentioned the story in a subsequent book, "Growing up where Hitler lived". Rosmus  now lives in the US and his written extensively on Passau's history during the Third Reich..

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2013/09/passau-cont.html

The story is recounted below in German in the Wochenblatt, where it is mentioned that the incident happened "below the military hospital" (on the bank of the Inn River).

http://www.wochenblatt.de/nach

"Tatsächlich befand sich das Garnisonslazarett auf der von Hitlers Elternhaus in der Kapuzinerstraße direkt gegenüber liegenden Innseite, wo heute die Altstadtschule ist."

("In reality, the military (garrison) hospital was located directly opposite Hitler's parents house on Kapuzinerstrasse on the Inn where today, the Old Town School is located").

The Swiss organ Blick includes a copy of the original article from the Donau Zeitung.

http://www.blick.ch/news/ausland/rettete-ein-pfarrer-den-vierjaehrigen-hitler-aus-dem-inn-id1720734.html

Below is the website for the present-day Grundschule, also known as St Nikola School and  formerly known as the Altstadtschule (Old Town School). It is located at 11 Nikolastrasse close to the Inn River bank opposite, but not directly across from the Hitler residence.

http://www.passau.de/Stadt,Buerger-Politik/Bildung/Schulen/Volksschulen.aspx?view=~/kxp/orgdata/default&ORGID=%7B273E4180-C572-4E09-837C-9C172AC741FF%7D
richten/passau/regionales/Hitler-Passau;art1173,86512



If the Donau Zeitung report was accurate, then the life-saving incident would have happened above.

Top map: Nikolastrasse 11, bottom map Kapuzinerstrasse 5. Note Marienbruecke (bridge) as point of reference in both maps. Both sites would be a few hundred yards from the bridge but in opposite directions.

Below: A history of the school, in which the site is listed as a lazarett (military hospital)  in the early 19th century.

http://www.vs-st-nikola.de/html/chronik.html

If this was actually the site of the incident then my original premise that it must have happened directly behind the Hitler apartment building on the bank of the Inn would be in error. It should also be noted that other accounts have cast doubt on the entire story since the Inn River was much more fast flowing then than now due largely to later construction of two hydroelectric plants on the river, which have lessened its flow. Others have questioned whether Kuehberger, himself only 4-years-old at the time, could have performed the rescue act. Others have claimed that the incident could have happened in one of the numerous nearby streams or even in a city fountain In addition, the bank at that time was described as steep, thus lessening the possibility of such a rescue (see below):

http://regiowiki.pnp.de/index.php/Johann_Nepomuk_K%C3%BChberger

It seems plausible that if there are varying accounts to the exact location of the incident, then the site could also have been directly behind the Hitler/Kuehberger residence, which would make more sense given their ages at the time. That would mean, however, that the Donau Zeitung was in error as to the exact location. (Such things have been known to happen in the media, you know.)

While in Erlangen this past week, I recounted my story to a friend in the Erlangen Archive office who checked with a colleague in the office of the Passau Catholic Archives. According to the latter, the story has not been 100% confirmed to this day. I will be writing to the Passau office this week to try and obtain further details.