Adolph Hitler was born in 1889 in Braunau, Austria near the German border. He did well in elementary school but poorly in high school, and moved to Vienna in 1907 where he was rejected from the Academy of Fine Arts. In Vienna, he was influenced by anti-Semitic politics and rejected ideas of equality, democracy, and socialism. During World War I, Hitler served as a messenger in a German infantry regiment on the western front, where he was decorated twice for bravery.