Famous Eaters - Adolf Hitler

Famous people - past and present - who are well known for their eating habits

NAME: Adolf Hitler

BORN: 20 April 1889, Braunau Am Inn, Austria

DIED: Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, aged 56. He is presumed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

FAVOURITE FOODS: Opinions on the diet of the 20th century's most notorious mass murderer are divided. Some believe Hitler was an adamant herbivore, but others believe that whilst for the most part he followed a largely vegetarian diet, some of his favourite treats were liver dumplings, Bavarian sausages, ham and caviar.

He also had a very sweet tooth with a weakness for cream cakes. According to biographer John Lukacs "he had pastry cooks make him sweets until the end of his life, even in the bunker".

HIS LIFE AND HIS FOOD: Shortly before the end of World War I, in 1918, Hitler was injured by an English mustard gas attack causing him to temporarily lose his eyesight and, more permanently, his sense of taste. A former waiter of the Führer remembered how his food had to be highly spiced to compensate for this.

It is hard to believe Hitler had strong vegetarian principles; as he banned vegetarian organisations and failed to urge a meat-free diet on the German population to deal with war-induced food shortages. A more likely explanation is that his diet had to be changed due to failing health. Suffering with a host of ailments, including an acute stomach disorder, Hitler refused medical examinations, preferring instead to treat himself. An eccentric, near-vegetarian, diet followed. He did, however, have occasional lapses and would again try the richer foods that he had previously enjoyed.

Many believe the notion of Hitler's "vegetarianism" was furthered by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, to convey Hitler as a man of total control and dedication; qualities that distanced him from other men and justified his supremacy. What is clear is that Hitler had many enemies; a former waiter recalls that secret agents would arrive before each meal to taste everything that went to the table.