Spring 2012 Auction, Part I - Militaria
by Alexander Historical Auctions | Alexander Autographs
449 lots with images
May 8, 2012
Live Auction860 Canal St.
2nd Floor
Stamford, CT, 06902 USA
Phone: 203.276.1570
Fax: 203 504 6290
Email: sales@alexautographs.com
Viewing NotesViewing by appointment at our Stamford, Connecticut offices. Ring us a 203.276.1570 for more information.
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Lot 1: ADOLF HITLER BUYS A TOURING CAR, WITH FOUR SIGNED SIGHT DRAFTS
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Description: ADOLF HITLER BUYS A TOURING CAR, WITH FOUR SIGNED SIGHT DRAFTS Superlative set of five documents in which Adolf Hitler purchases for himself a Mercedes Benz touring car and pays for it with four signed "Wechsels", or sight drafts, over the next few months. The first document in the group is a partly-printed D.S., a Daimler-Benz corporation order form for a Mercedes Benz automobile, 4pp. legal folio, Stuttgart, Jan. 29, 1929, an original signed carbon purchase order for a six cylinder convertible touring car, signed by Hitler at conclusion. Hitler requests that the car be dark blue and fitted with black leather seats, rubberized cloth convertible top ("rubberduck"), left-hand steering, turn signals, wood spokes, folding armrests, no emergency seats, spares in front, and Zeiss headlights. In a holograph initialed addition (not in Hitler's hand) it is further instructed that the car not be fitted with bumpers. Delivery is promised in three to four weeks in Munich, and the price is agreed at 13,000 reichsmarks. Payment terms are set forth at bottom, to be made over a period of 17 months. Signed in full by Hitler at bottom of third page. The contract is accompanied by four partly printed sight drafts, each of which has also been boldly signed by Hitler in full, though in these examples more carefully spelling out his name. Each sight draft is 1p. 11 1/2" x 4 3/4", issued in Stuttgart, dated Mar. 23, 1929, June 20, 1929, Aug. 29, 1929 and Nov. 28, 1929, and payable in the amounts of RM 4,000, and RM 3,000 each respectively. The total of these notes is RM 13,000, the cost of the vehicle. Each is signed vertically by Hitler as guarantor, making the draft payable. All documents have file holes which do not detract, otherwise fine condition. Hitler always had a penchant for fine automobiles, and even developed high-performance race cars for propaganda purposes. This vehicle may even be the same in one in which Hitler received a speeding ticket in the tiny hamlet of Baar-Ebenhausen on Sep. 19, 1931 for travelling twice the limit - a little over 30 mph. His defense was that he was not the driver, but rather Julius Schreck, his "lookalike"! His reason for speeding? Possibly his distress over the suicide of his lover, Geli Raubal, who had killed herself the day before.
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Lot 2: ADOLF HITLER WATERCOLOR PAINTING
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Description: ADOLF HITLER WATERCOLOR PAINTING An original watercolor painting by future dictator Adolf Hitler, 13 3/4" x 9 1/4" on heavy rag paper, a street scene depicting what appears to be a government building with an armed soldier standing in the foreground, likely in Munich ca. 1920, executed in a black ink wash with muted shades of orange, ochre, brown, burgundy and ivory. The image is signed in graphite pencil "A. Hitler" at lower-right, uncharacteristically in gothic block letters, as Hitler's works were typically signed in cursive of block letters - although we were able to locate another example signed in a similar manner. The colors, style, poor perspective, and choice of subject are entirely consistent and typical of Hitler's work. Paper soiling and toning is consistent with age, and this item emanates from a collection untouched for forty years. In custom gilt-engraved folder and matching slipcase. Having handled many Hitler paintings in the past, we feel that the provenance, style, and aberrant signature, along with the lack of trumped-up paperwork, points to this piece as being completely genuine and certainly not one of the dozens of frauds and oils (!) to have reached the market over the past dozen years.
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Lot 3: ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY BUY A LIMOUSINE
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Description: ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY BUY A LIMOUSINE Excessively rare, fine content signed document in which Adolf Hitler, head of the NSDAP Party, purchases a limousine on behalf of the Nazi Party. This partly-printed D.S. is a Daimler-Benz corporation order form for a Mercedes Benz automobile executed between Mercedes and Hitler, 2pp. legal folio, Munich, June 3, 1930, an original signed carbon purchase order for a six cylinder convertible touring car, signed by Hitler at conclusion. The vehicle is typical of the limousines Hitler used in the years during his rise to power: navy blue, four doors, six wheels, 6-7 seats, six cylinder 15/70/100 PS 4 liter engine, left-hand steering, with delivery to be made immediately in Berlin. The selling price is set at RM 10,000 payable basis RM 6,000 on delivery with the balance due in six monthly installments. The price and lack of lead time suggests that this may have been a second-hand vehicle. File holes at left, light folds, else near fine. One of the iconic Hitler images is that of the dictator riding in the rear of a limousine offering his salute to the adoring crowds as he passes before him. In fact, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl made good use of such images in her film "Triumph of the Will".
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Lot 4: ADOLF HITLER
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Description: ADOLF HITLER (1889 - 1945) Fuhrer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. Exceptional S.P., 9 1/2" x 7" b/w, a fine image of Hitler grasping the hand of one of his most successful generals, Hasso von Manteuffel, upon the occasion of Manteuffel being awarded the Swords to the Knights Cross. At bottom Hitler shakily inscribed the image: "Fur Lt. v. Manteuffel Adolf Hitler Hq. / Mai 1944". Fine condition, set into a (not matching) period sterling silver frame hallmarked " 835 WTB" (Wilhelm Binder), scuffed. Manteuffel played a major part in a German counterattack that enveloped the Soviet 16th Army, recaptured Zhitomir and perhaps more importantly captured large Soviet supply dumps. On Nov. 23, 1943 he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross as a reward for this achievement. At the time Manteuffel was officially given his Swords award (February 22, 1944), he was in command of the Grossdeutschland Division, fighting around Kiev. The division was then forced back into Romania, before being moved to East Prussia in an attempt to restore the German position there. It would be May, when this photo was signed, before Manteuffel had an opportunity to personally receive his Swords from Hitler.
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Lot 6: ADOLF HITLER
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Description: ADOLF HITLER (1889 - 1945) Fuhrer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. Superb, very early S.P., 7 1/4" x 9 1/2" b/w, a ca. 1925 brooding chest, up portrait with his party pin evident on his lapel, boldly signed across his chest. The verso bears a Hoffmann Munich stamp, as well as the circular stamp of the 1st Battalion of the S.A. Regiment Munchen. This regiment, headed by Wilhelm Bruckner (who would later become Hitler's chief adjutant), participated in the abortive 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch". Finally, the photo bears the penciled name "Meyer": we believe signed photos by Hitler were given to many of the S.A. putsch participants, and this one was intended for S.A. member Willy Meyer, adjutant of the S.A. Munich Regiment. Light soiling at margins, with a tack hole thereat, else very good to fine.
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