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Adolf Hitler's birthday gift tray goes up for auction in Bristol in March

By staff 22/02/2012 09:07:00

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By Eddie Wrenn

Last updated at 2:19 PM on 22nd February 2012

A silver tray presented to Hitler on his 50th birthday is expected to fetch over £1,000 at auction when it goes under the hammer next month.

The gift - given by Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer - capped off a day of celebration for the war-time leader, who earlier had paraded through central Berlin in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering Germans.

The tray was a crowning piece in an array of 3,000 pieces of cutlery ordered by Speer, and is embossed with the Nazi leader's personal German eagle crest and his 'AH' initials.

Hitler's 50th birthday present: The silver presentation tray bearing Hitler's personal German eagle crest and his AH initials

Lavish: The tray includes the personal crest of Hitler, who is pictured at the Berghof, Berchtesgaden (where one of the sets was kept)

The silver tray is due to go under the hammer at leading auctioneer Dreweatt's militaria sale in Bristol on March 6.

April 20,1939 was a high-point in Hitler's rise to power, and was just six months before the devastating war that would keep the world in crisis for the next five years.

The German leader has been driven at the head of a motorcade of 50 white limousines, as 50,000 troops paraded Nazi Germany's military might in Berlin.

The tray was then presented by Speer, who later became the Fuhrer's Minister of Armaments, with the 3,000 separate items sent to Hitler's various bases for use when entertaining.

Many personal items of Hitler's have been auctioned in recent months.

A ceremonial brass desk belonging to Hitler, also inscribed with 'AH' and the Nazi crest of an eagle and swastika, was sold in December for $423,000 (around £270,000).

The Nazi leader used the desk at the signing of the Munich Pact.

Relic: Adolf Hitler's desk, on which he signed the Munich Pact, sold for $423,000

The brass desk set, with an inscribed 'AH', was said to have been designed by Hitler himself, according to auctioneers

On sale: Hitler's painting 'The Nocturnal Sea' has also been auctioned, as has Hitler's personal linen

Chief architect: Albert Speer with Hitler in 1938

Hitler's early artwork has also been cropping up at auction.

The brooding seascape 'The Nocturnal Sea' is listed for sale by online auctioneers Darke in Slovakia for more than £10,000.

Painted in 1913 while a young Hitler was struggling to make a career as an artist, the 24inch by 19inch canvas shows a dark sea lit up only by a moon about to be shrouded by black clouds.

A second painting by Hitler - dating back to 1915 - was sold by the same auction house last month for £10,200.

Meanwhile the Fuhrer’s linen, embroidered with his own stylised Third Reich eagle, perched astride a swastika inside a circle and flanked by the letters A and H, was also sold last November.

Dreweatt's sold the two pieces for £2,000.

It was part of 3,000 items, which were divided into six sets, and distributed at Hitler's various bases including the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, the Nazi Party HQ in Munich, Hitler's Berghof and Eagle's Nest mountain homes in Bavaria, the Gasthaus at Obersalzberg and his Prinzregentenplatz apartment in Munich.

Auctioneer Malcolm Claridge said: 'The tray is part of the six 50th birthday silver presentation dinner services which were commissioned for Hitler and was made by Bruckmann, Germany's finest manufacturer of silver tableware.

'After the fall of Nazi Germany the Reich Chancellery and Hitler's homes were ransacked and many of the 3,000 silver pieces were looted and have subsequently found their way on to the market.

'The tray bears Hitler's personal German eagle device astride a wreath encircling a swastika and his initials AH.

'We have put a conservative estimate of £600 to £800 on the tray, but it could easily sell for more than £1,000.'