Hitler in Landsberg paper collection

[der-hase-fee]

More than 500 objects, from letters received by Hitler while in Landsberg, visitors list, visitor registration cards, other correspondence. Would love to be able to afford it !

http://www.auktionshaus-behringer.de...29&kat_nr=1700

[Mil-Archive]

Nice - thanks for posting.

[wapaule]

nice bundle...

[Mil-Archive]

This story has been picked up by the bbc now too - 25k starting price for a Nuremberg flea market find !!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10395697.stm


Documents from Hitler's time in prison are to be sold

A German auction house is to sell what it says are 500 documents from the prison where Hitler was held in 1924.

The documents, including one with Hitler's signature, are being auctioned on 2 July with a starting price of 25,000 euros.

The papers were discovered by a Nuremberg man among the possessions of his late father.

Hitler spent nine months in prison after an abortive coup attempt known as the Munich beer hall putsch.
Many visitors

Among the documents is a letter from Hitler to a Mercedes dealer asking for a discount on a 40-horsepower 11/40 model.

The future Nazi leader, who brought Germany to defeat and ruin in World War II, explains that his book, Mein Kampf, is not yet finished and he is unsure how much money it will make.

"I am forced to obtain an advance or loan from somewhere. So a few thousand marks makes a big difference," he writes.

The auction house, Werner Behringer, says the bulk of the documents are official prison cards listing visitors, including more than 30 people who celebrated his birthday on 20 April.

A prominent visitor was the Prussian general and World War I hero, Erich Ludendorff, who went to the Landsberg jail in Bavaria several times.

The documents were originally bought along with other items at a Nuremberg flea market in the 1970s, but the purchaser appears not have known what they were.

[JG 51]

Very very nice Gotta be the centerpiece in any collection

[panzer1432]

AH in Landsberg

Amazing ! One never knows what might be found at a flea mkt.

[John Pen.]

Fellow members following this.
Has this auction ended? Either way, please post result here, just incase I don't get around to track it down.

We should post the result here anyway to complete the thread, IMHO.
Regards,
Jp

[Mil-Archive]

It doesn't look like the auction is until the 2nd of July. Maybe we can take pot-shot guesses at the closing price ?

Mine is €200,000 +

* revised figure

[John Pen.]

I'll guess 100.000eur - 175,000eur.

[Mil-Archive]

Ummm looks like we were both slightly out in the estimates. . . .just by a smidge . . . .

http://www.greeleytribune.com/articl...API/1007020651

Historical records from the prison that held Adolf Hitler in 1924 documenting the future dictator's time behind bars sold to an anonymous bidder for euro27,000 ($33,400) Friday at an auction in Germany.

The approximately 500 documents from the Landsberg prison were recently found by a Nuremberg man among the possessions of his late father, who had purchased them at a flea market in the 1970s, according to Werner Behringer, whose auction house put them up for sale.

The Bavarian State Archives in Munich examined photographs of the documents and said they appeared genuine, though the experts said the authenticity could not be guaranteed without the originals in hand.

Though only one document is signed by Hitler himself, and much of the information about his time in prison is otherwise available, they do provide an intriguing window into his early days as Nazi leader.

Among other things, they show he enjoyed a comfortable time at the prison, being allowed hundreds of visitors - sometimes unsupervised - including some 30 to 40 people to celebrate his 35th birthday.

Hitler was imprisoned in Landsberg after the Nazi's abortive bid to seize power in 1923 in the notorious "beer hall putsch" coup attempt in Munich. It wasn't until a decade later, in 1933, that the Nazis would eventually come to power through parliamentary elections.

Despite being sentenced to five years in prison, Hitler was granted early release and ended up only serving about nine months of his sentence.

His right-wing politics and German nationalism won him some high-placed friends among the German establishment, including World War I hero Gen. Erich Ludendorff. Ludendorff came to visit Hitler several times during his imprisonment, and the Prussian general was allowed to see the former Austrian corporal unsupervised for as long as he wanted, the documents show.

Prison director Otto Leybold gushed about Hitler in a memo about the inmates on Sept. 18, 1924, saying he was always "sensible, modest, humble and polite to everyone - especially to the officers of the facility."

[der-hase-fee]

So there are still good deals available out there every now and then ... at least if you can afford it !