Hitler loved art (he tried to become an artist and an architect, but he was not admitted) and was very impressed by Franz Von Stuck paintings (Das Boese Gewissen (The evil conscience), Die Sinnlichkeit (sensuality), Verfolgung (pursuit), Das Laster (depravity), Die Wilde Jagd (wild chase) , Medusa's Head etc) Hitler thought his Die Wilde Jagd , showing a man that left behind death and destruction was a sign of the future he had before him. Medusa's Head impressed him a lot too, because the painting looked at him through the eyes of his mother in the face of the Medusa. One of Hitlers paintings showed an ice cream cone (1900) though the ice cream cone is believed to have appeared for the first time in the St Louis World's fair of 1904.
Hitler lived in Vienna for a few years. When he arrived in 1907, Vienna's mayor wasKarl Lueger, who saw the Jews as the oppresors of the German people.
Georg Lanz von Liebenfelds and Guido von List distributed anti-semitic pamphlets in Vienna, which shoed details of what later would be some of Hitler's policies. They called for a leader who would free the Aryan race from its enemies and who would give it the place it deserved as the master race. They had used the swastikas in these pamphlets, and both left and right swastikas were later combined to form a new symbol. They had also used the symbol later used b the SS. This leaves doubt about Hitler's claims that he invented the swastika and other nazi symbols himself. We believe though that Hitler decided the colors that would be included in the flags, as he explains in 'Mein Kampf'.
Theodor Fritsch was the most important German anti-Semite before Hitler. His most important book was Handbuch der Judenfrage (handbook of the Jewish question), which Hitler read and which attributes most of the crimes comitted against Germany to the Jews. A plan to control the world is also attributed to the Jews.
Everybody knows Hitler was a great admirer of Wagner(Hitler wrote a few operas of his own, or so he said). They both considered themselves authorities on every topic, and none of them accepted criticism. They both had a love for animals that didn't extend to human beings. They both thought that Jews were dangerous to Germany and that there should be a fight to rid Germany of them. See Judaism in Music by Wagner.
Martin Luther was a person greatly admired by Hitler who was probably influenced by his opinion on the Jews. Martin Luther had said that the Jews were taking advantage of the good German people and that Germany should get rid of them. He also had some references to setting synagogues on fire, which Hitler ordered done in Kristallnacht, on November 9th, 1938. Incidentally, November 9th was Martin Luther's b-day. Martin Luther would contribute to the idea of a German Nation by uniting the German language from a compound of different dialects that were not understood by all.
Frederik the Great(1712-1786) became even more popular that Frederik I among the German people. The role of the army was made even bigger and he was very successfull in battle, which made him a hero and for which Hitler admired him greatly. Throughout his life, Hitler made many references to how Frederik the Great was victorious against an army 12 times bigger than his own.
Friedich Nietzsche wrote that one day his name would be associated with something monstrous. It seems he was right, since the nazis took his name as part of their philosophy. Though he wrote about his opposition to democracy on many occasions, he also expressed many times his disagreement with anti-semitism. However, some of his writtings talked about a superior people that should control Europe, and about a leader that would carry Germany to be the controler of it.
Hitler was an admirer of Mussolini and was inspired by some of his methods for the Third Reich (uniforms, salute, secret police). Hitler thought Mussolini was a great man that didn't have a people worthy of him to follow him. He thought the Italian people were a beautiful race, but lacking a strong will, order and intelligence