[ Home Page ] [ Third Reich ] [ Old Reich ] [ Kaiser Reich ] [ Imperial Russia ] [ Axis Powers ] [ Italian Fascist ] [ WW I ] [ Landsknecht ] [ Kaiser Wilhelm ] [ Frederick the Great ]

DESCRIPTION: Some time ago we offered a handbag that we were under the impression was the former possession of Fraulein Geli Raubel, Hitler’s niece.  (We stand embarrassed!!) Many of the great items that we handle are found and bought for us by our German pickers and sometimes the picker will not buy the article but will negotiate a consignment arrangement with the owner. The original owner in this case was Frau Anni Winter, Hitler’s one time housekeeper. And because the picker knew that Anni worked as head housekeeper at Hitler’s apartment house at No. 16 Prinzregentenplatz.in Munich, he made the logical but unfortunately wrongful assumption that the handbag must have belonged to Angela “Geli” Raubel who committed suicide at that location due to her deep depression concerning an unrequited love affair that she had hoped would turn about and her Uncle Adolf would eventually marry her. You can read much about this in our narrative on Adolf Hitler’s revolver. But Hitler often said he would never marry because like Christ was married to the church Hitler felt he was married to the German people. After Frau Anni Winter died it was revealed that she had many Hitler items than she never revealed to the post-war German Government.  There was a three year legal squabble over some of the last effects of Adolf Hitler and finally the Court awarded her a once used suitcase, five copies of Mein Kampf, a silver framed photograph dedicated and signed to her by the Fuhrer. This photograph is in our possession today - - see it at AH 18-1 -- and she also received three water color paintings by Hitler, but it is well known that Anni Winter squirreled away many other Hitler articles that she felt the De-Nazification Government Bureaucrats needn’t know about. She knew that someday these treasures would be very valuable and one must give her credit for her very wise concealment from the tax collectors and persons she considered “the enemy at the gate’ in the 1960’s. She opened a small antique shop in Munich and sold normal run of the mill antiques. But when she felt that a customer was a serious historian with a genuine interest in N.S. history and especially had a fascination with her former employer, she would go to her ‘Gutezimmer’ and produce a genuine Hitler memento to the amazement of the onlooker but seldom did she ever sell any of the articles because she valued them much higher than even the richest customer would ever pay.  However, after her death most of the items were auctioned off in a famous Munich auction house at fairly reasonable if not cheap prices. This handbag however, was held back by the unidentified owner who obviously was bequeathed the items by Frau Winter in her will. Later this owner contacted our picker and a deal was struck but the picker only took pictures and forwarded them to us. Now comes the surprise.  I have said that the picker assumed that since it was from Anni Winter it had to be from Geli Raubl and we also believed this! (Assumption is the off-times parent of a grievous mistake!) We featured what we assumed to be a frontal view of the handbag, but it turns out that this was a back view. Remember a back view! Finally the picker managed after a very long time to actually wrest it from the person who was the present owner and finally sent it to us. Now, we looked it over and quickly observed that the picture we had offered on our site was in fact a back view and now upon actually holding it in our hands we realized it was not the former property of Geli Raubel, at all but of Eva Braun! There in the center of the little swastikas (86 of them) is an "EB" in Celtic configuration. Eva invariably had her initials placed in such a way as to give the impression of a butterfly. This can be seen in many of her personal items, clothing, silverware, compact cases, jewelry boxes etc. See the booklet that we handle called “Collectors Guide to Liberated Adolf Hitler Memorabilia.” In this book the author, Mark D. Griffith M.D,. shows about 4 or 5 handbags that were formally in Eva’s possession. The Celtic design is also evident in the snap section of the top of the bag. This was a favored art form of the National Socialist mythos during the Kampfzeit period. It is typical Celtic or a better description might be Teutonic (almost Viking like in its motif with intertwined dragons and other ancient symbolism). Note the design on the base of the fabulous SA trophy found on our pages at SA 6-5 you will see design that is almost identical in the artistic depiction.

The bag itself was produced in a soft moleskin leather and the decorative accoutrements are in silver. Oon the inside of the silver top opening is a stamp “RBH” and an artist’s logo of some kind and the characters "900" for 900 grade silver (almost, pure). It measures 9 x 7 ½ inches and a fine beaded chain in silver ever serves as a carry handle. The bag is very sound and when the top is closed it makes a resounding ‘snap.’  We are now quite certain that this is a completely unique piece and was most certainly a special order probably made on the order from Adolf Hitler to present to Eva. This would be the obvious conclusion to any speculation as to who was the presenter.  “It is Hitler all the way.” His preoccupation with Germanic myth and saga would certainly influence the custom order of this Wagnerian motif masterpiece. The dragons are very much like the serpent in Wagner’s “Ring Der Niebelungen” opera. So, fellow Germanopiles here is possibly the most beautiful and historically important piece that we or any other site has ever offered.  No Hitler connection item could be more important than this memento of that girl who he loved and finally was given to changing his mind about marriage and made Eva his bride just before both of them stepped into history and Walhalla!  So much did she love him that she was actually happy to die with him as his wife. Romantic? Yes, Romantic-Tragic, of course! Wonderful ? You be the judge!  

PRICE: $18,000   Actual Worth???  Almost Inestimable.