Adam Rainer: The Man Who Was Both a Dwarf and a Giant

You might feel a little on the short side while in the company of people who are taller than you, and vice-versa, but that’s nothing compared to some of the extraordinary people who have made the history books for their truly unique stature.

The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized countless “world’s tallest” and “world’s smallest” individuals over the years, but only one man has ever found himself eligible for both categories in a single lifetime: Mr. Adam Rainer.

Early Life

Very little is known about the details of Adam Rainer’s personal life outside of his extraordinary medical condition. All we do know is that he was born in the city of Graz in Austria in 1899 to parents who were both of average height.

His father was 5 foot 6 inches tall, while his mother was 5 foot 4 inches tall. As he grew up, it soon became apparent that Adam wasn’t developing at the same rate as most kids, and, as far as height was concerned, he was certainly on the smaller side.

Nevertheless, his parents disregarded his small stature and continued to love and support Adam as any mother and father should. Although he would be treated as equal by his peers growing up, life definitely wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for poor Adam.

At age 16, Adam stood a mere 4 foot 6 inches tall, far below the average for a boy of his age. When he turned 18, he had only grown an additional 0.3 inches. Adam didn’t see his height as a disadvantage, and he was determined not to let being “little” get in the way of his big dreams.

In fact, when the First World War broke out in 1914, Adam had tried to enlist himself in the army, but he was told he was too short and too weak to be accepted. Still, he didn’t give up. A year later, Adam decided to apply again, but it was another resounding ‘no’ based on height and strength alone.

From Dwarf To Giant

When he turned 19, Adam stood at a remarkably short 4 foot 8.3 inches. His new height meant he could officially be classed as a “dwarf,” which is, by definition, any adult who is less than 4 foot 10 inches tall. But little did Adam know; he would not only grow the extra two inches needed to be classed as average height.

Instead, he would eventually skyrocket beyond the confines of so-called normality and into another realm entirely: gianthood. Although he was definitely far shorter than expected for a boy his age, those who had refused his application to enroll in the army had also noted one other thing: Adam’s hands and feet were abnormally large.

When he tried to enlist the first time, Adam was already wearing shoes sized U.S. 10, which seemed totally disproportionate to the rest of his body. Just three years later, his feet had already doubled to a U.S. size 20. For some perspective regarding how large that really is, American basketball player Shaquille O’Neal wears shoes sized U.S. 22, and he’s over 7 foot tall!

When you consider the fact that Adam’s height remained relatively static during this time, it probably looked like he was wearing ridiculous clown shoes that were far too big for him. To add to his already strange proportions, medical records also showed that the young man was unusually thin and had trouble putting on weight easily.

When he hit 21, which is generally considered to be the age where the average person stops growing, it was assumed that Adam Rainer’s cartoonish small stature would be fixed for life. But that’s exactly when everything changed.

As he made his way through his twenties, Adam suddenly started growing at an alarming rate. His growth spurt over the next decade or so was unlike anything anyone could’ve anticipated. He literally shot up like a beanstalk, and by the time he reached 33 he had grown from just under 4 foot 10 inches to a shocking 7 foot 1 inches!

In many ways, this was what Adam had been waiting for all his life, but it was both a blessing and a curse. Around the same time, he started to develop a severe curvature of the spine, an ailment that had become visible around 1925-1926 and would burden him for the rest of his life, ultimately becoming his downfall.

Although he was now considered a very tall man indeed, Adam’s growth spurt showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Every doctor who examined him became dumbfounded at the unprecedented change in height and couldn’t quite explain why it was happening in the first place.

Eventually, two doctors named A. Mandl and F. Windholz decided to try and unravel this medical mystery. Between 25th August 1930 and 23rd May 1931, the pair examined Adam and found him to be 7 feet 1 inches tall with an official “standing height” of 6 feet 9.1 inches, due to the growing curve in his spine. But what had caused this otherwise ordinary man to transform from a so-called “dwarf” into a towering giant in the space of just a decade?

Acromegaly

Mandl and Windholz began to suspect that Adam may have developed a specific kind of tumor that caused an extreme case of acromegaly. This rare hormonal disorder occurs in approximately 50-70 people per million, and researchers currently estimate that just three out of every million people develop it per year.

Acromegaly is generally caused when the pituitary gland, a small, bean-shaped gland situated at the base of your brain, starts to produce too much human growth hormone of ‘HGH’. Besides having an immense effect on growth height-wise, acromegaly also impacts hand and feet size, which explains Adam’s bizarre proportions before the rest of his body had a chance to catch up.

In addition to his towering height, Adam’s face had also become elongated due to a protruding forehead and jaw. Meanwhile, his lips had become thicker and his teeth more widely spaced, all of which are common symptoms of acromegaly. This image below shows the shocking affects acromegaly can have on an ordinary person’s face over time.

When they wrapped up their studies in 1931, Mandl and Windholz concluded that their hypothesis was indeed correct, Rainer’s extraordinary growth was caused by a tumor that was forcing the body to secrete an excess of HGH. Nowadays Acromegaly is much easier to manage than when Adam Rainer was alive, but the symptoms may develop slowly, meaning the disorder can go unrecognized for some time.

For the same reason, doctors believe that Acromegaly may be underdiagnosed in the general population. There is no precise definition for what qualifies a person as a “giant”, but it is typically applied to people with heights that are several standard deviations above average. Considering Adam Rainer almost hit the 8ft mark before his death, it’s safe to say he fits the bill.

But he’s not the only giant in history. The first person of whom there is strong evidence to have reached a height of 8 feet tall is Anton de Franckenpoint, whose skeleton was first displayed in a museum back in 1596. The poor dude was even nicknamed Long Anton because of his height!

Perhaps the most well-remembered ‘giant’ is Mr. Robert Pershing Wadlow, who became the tallest man ever in medical history. When he was last measured on 27th June 1940, Wadlow was found to be just shy of the 9 foot mark at 8 foot 11 inches. Like Adam Rainer, Wadlow’s enormous growth spurt was caused by an overactive pituitary gland.

In 1975, The Guinness World Records finally recognized the world’s tallest living woman, American woman Sandy Allen stood a remarkable 7 feet 7 inches tall and was already 7 foot 1 inches when she turned 16.

Her record was broken in 2010 by Chinese woman Yao Defen, who stood a staggering 7 feet 8 inches tall before her death in 2012.

The World's Tallest Woman & Me| Mixed Blessing | Channel 4 by Channel 4 Entertainment

Health Problems

Nowadays, so-called giants like these men and women can have successful surgeries to try and halt the production of the growth hormone, but it hasn't always been that easy. The operation to remove the offending tumor was very risky and had a small chance of success because it had already been growing inside Adam for more than ten years. Regardless of the potential repercussions, the doctors decided to go ahead with the operation anyway. On 2nd December 1930, Adam Rainer was operated on my Professor O. Hirsch.

The tumor was removed, but Adam’s problems were far from over yet. Several months after the surgery, he went back for a check-up with the doctors. They were pleased to see that his height had remained the same as when he was measured before the operation, with a standing height of 6 feet 9.1 inches, but his spinal curvature was now even worse than before.

Adam’s spine had increasingly curved sideways during his growth spurt and was now causing some major problems. This indicated that, although it was occurring at a much slower rate, Adam was, in fact, still growing!

As the years dew on, Adam’s health problems only worsened. Towards the end of the 1920s, as he approached his 30s, Adam’s eyesight had started to deteriorate. Although he was still able to read, he had become nearly blind in his right eye. A tumor on the pituitary gland, which is the cause of 98% of all acromegaly cases, can compress the eye’s optic nerves, which is likely the cause of Rainer’s loss of vision.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, at the same time Adam’s hearing became worse and he became deaf in his right ear. Not only was he know considered a giant wherever he went, but he couldn’t see on his right side or hear on his left. It’s safe to say things weren’t looking too peachy. Having a normal appetite up until that point, Adam also began to experience difficulty with eating and keeping his food down.

During the later years of Adam’s life, the curve in his spine took such a hold of his body that he could no longer walk for extended periods. In the end, he would wind up totally bedridden and unable to care for himself properly. Eventually, Adam was admitted to a “home of the aged” where he could receive the support he needed to carry out daily tasks.

Although he now had the benefits of assisted living, he died on the 4th March 1950 in Vienna, Austria at just 51-years-old. When he was last measured before his death, Adam Rainer measured a staggering 7 foot 8 inches tall, although some newspaper reports claimed he was actually 7 foot 10 inches, likely due to the curve in his spine.

This incredible feat makes him the only person in history to be considered both a ‘dwarf’ and a giant in the space of just one lifetime. Adam Rainer may have been the world’s littlest giant, but his incredible story just goes to show what a testament he is to the marvels of the human body.

If you were amazed at the story of Adam Rainer, the man who was both a dwarf and a giant, you might want to read about the tragic life of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever. Thanks for reading!