In 1821, Maria's mother died when Maria was 26 years old. She received an inheritance of 74.25 gulden, which she left invested in the Orphans' Fund until 1838. By that time it had more than doubled to 165 gulden. At that time, a breeding pig cost 4 gulden, a cow 10–12 gulden and an entire inn perhaps 500 gulden. Werner MaserWerner Maser, Hitler: Legend, Myth and Reality, Penguin, 1973, . wrote she was a "thrifty, reserved, and exceptionally shrewd peasant woman."
