The desk that once stood in the office of Adolf Hitler’s home in Munich is selling at Milestone Auctions on January 27.
The lot (which includes a matching chair) is offered with a broad estimate of between $100,000 and $1m.
Hitler was gifted the desk by wealthy supporters
Hitler received the desk as a gift from his close friend Princess Cantacuzene of Romania (aka Elsa Bruckmann), wife of German publisher Hugo Bruckmann, in 1929.
The couple were early supporters of the Nazi cause.
It was thanks in part to their connections with German aristocracy that Hitler was able to build support among the nation’s wealthy elite.
The date is important too.
A year later, in 1930, the impact of the Great Depression increased support for the Nazis.
Hitler would be elected chancellor in 1933. While he split most of his time between Berlin and the Bavarian Alps, he maintained his apartment in Munich.
It would be the site of some important meetings, including a key talk with Benito Mussolini in 1937 focused on gaining support for the Anschluss of Austria.
He also hosted British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain there after signing the Munich Treaty in 1938.
American photographers Lee Miller and David Scherman were the first to enter the apartment after the war. They shot a famous image of Miller in Hitler’s bathtub.
The building, Prinzregentenplatz 16/II, survived the war. It’s now used by local government. Hitler’s second floor apartment is used as the head office of the Munich police department.
In 2011, the desk Hitler used to sign the Munich Treaty in 1938 sold for $423,000.
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