page_title: Adolf Hitler and vegetarianism
hierarchical_section_title: Adolf Hitler and vegetarianism
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Adolf Hitler mit Blondi auf dem Berghof English: Adolf Hitler with Blondi at the Berghof
context_page_description: Towards the end of his life, Adolf Hitler followed a vegetarian diet. It is not clear when or why he adopted it, since some accounts of his dietary habits prior to the Second World War indicate that he consumed meat as late as 1937. By 1938, Hitler's public image as a vegetarian was already being fostered, and from 1942, he self-identified as a vegetarian. Personal accounts from people who knew Hitler and were familiar with his diet indicate that he did not consume meat as part of his diet during this period, with several contemporaneous witnesses—such as Albert Speer —noting that Hitler used vivid and gruesome descriptions of animal suffering and slaughter at the dinner table to try to dissuade his colleagues from eating meat. An examination of Hitler's remains carried out by French scientists in 2017 found no traces of meat fibre in the tartar on Hitler's teeth.
  Some modern-day analyses have speculated that Hitler's vegetarianism may have been for health reasons due to Richard Wagner's historical theories, or even a psychological reaction to his niece's death rather than a commitment to animal welfare.
context_section_description: Towards the end of his life, Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) followed a vegetarian diet. It is not clear when or why he adopted it, since some accounts of his dietary habits prior to the Second World War indicate that he consumed meat as late as 1937. By 1938, Hitler's public image as a vegetarian was already being fostered, and from 1942, he self-identified as a vegetarian. Personal accounts from people who knew Hitler and were familiar with his diet indicate that he did not consume meat as part of his diet during this period, with several contemporaneous witnesses—such as Albert Speer (in his memoirs, Inside the Third Reich)—noting that Hitler used vivid and gruesome descriptions of animal suffering and slaughter at the dinner table to try to dissuade his colleagues from eating meat. An examination of Hitler's remains carried out by French scientists in 2017 found no traces of meat fibre in the tartar on Hitler's teeth.
  Some modern-day analyses have speculated that Hitler's vegetarianism may have been for health reasons due to Richard Wagner's historical theories, or even a psychological reaction to his niece's death rather than a commitment to animal welfare. In contrast, several eyewitness sources  maintain Hitler was a vegetarian because of his concern for animal suffering, noting that he was often distressed by images of animal cruelty and suffering, and was an antivivisectionist.
caption: Adolf Hitler with his German Shepherd, Blondi
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:13 22:46:16", "Image ExifOffset": "78", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "314", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7570", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "543", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "594", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "800", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "594", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "178", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "447c0ef06b57844dcf10e4873cc90da1"}