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Attractive Pair of Gold and Marble Nazi Candelabra, Bearing Adolf Hitler's Monogram and Attributed t

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:30,000.00 USD Estimated At:60,000.00 - 90,000.00 USD
Attractive Pair of Gold and Marble Nazi Candelabra, Bearing Adolf Hitler's Monogram and Attributed t
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Attractive Pair of Gold and Marble Nazi Candelabra, Bearing Adolf Hitler's Monogram and Attributed to the Reichs Chancellery in Berlin

Constructed in 1938 at an inflation adjusted price of over one billion dollars, the New Reich's Chancellery was built immediately next to the previous chancellery, which had served German chancellors since the 1800s and Hitler since his appointment in the 1930s. Dismissing the old building as insufficient, Hitler tasked Albert Speer, the architect responsible for numerous Party buildings in Nuremberg, to start construction in January and finish before a planned New Year's function in 1939; no expense was to be spared, and the building was to be designed from the ground up to make an impression on both foreign and domestic visitors. While some of the internal appointments were still being performed into the 1940's, Speer was able to deliver the Reichs Chancellery 2 days early in condition fit to host the event; some attribute the logistical and organizational feats accomplished during this construction as one of the main reasons for his selection as Fritz Todt's successor as Minister of Armaments and War Production. While the production was expedited in every conceivable fashion, including running work in multiple shifts and shutting down an entire Berlin street for a year, no corners were cut in making the building as aesthetically pleasing and both physically and psychologically imposing as possible; a diplomatic visitor would enter through a gated courtyard, pass through a set of 17 foot tall double doors, walk through 725 feet of richly decorated rooms and hallways, before finally arriving in the 480 foot long reception gallery (twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles) to meet the Chancellor. One of the men brought in to help create the desired effect was Professor Richard Klein, a favored sculptor of Hitler, who was assigned responsibility for much of the internal fittings, which would include the candelabras. When not being used to intimidate and fatigue potential enemies and allies before important meetings, the Chancellery also housed Hitler's personal apartments and served as a nerve center of government and military operations. Additionally, the large garden shared by both the old and new Chancellery buildings also housed a pair of bunkers; the Vorbunker (intended for staff and bodyguards, later occupied by the Goebbels family), and the Fuhrerbunker, Hitler's private bunker, which served as his headquarters and residence from January of 1945 to the end of the war. Information from the consignor posits that these candlesticks were taken from the functionally-abandoned Chancellery by members of the Liebstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, Hitler's personal guard; given the fact that the final days of the Reich saw the Chancellery fall under direct artillery assault by the Soviets, who then stripped the rubble for construction materials, one of the Germans walking off with them before making a break for the Western Allies battle lines (a common move for any combatant, officer or politician looking to avoid a trip to a Gulag) is the most likely explanation for how they both survived the war and are now available on the market. Measuring 22 inches tall, 7 inches wide (square) at the base, and 8 1/8 inches wide across the candle holders, both candelabras are constructed from dark green marble with gold appointments, starting with a 3/4 inch thick marble plinth resting on a set of four engraved feet, leading to a 4 inch tall, 4 inch wide and 3 3/4 inch deep rectangular golden platform, which is engraved with an oak leaf cross on each side and serves as the base for the oak leaf accented frame that supports the four candle-holders and for a 12 1/4 inch marble obelisk. The obelisk is fitted with a rectangular golden band around the base, and installed on the face is a 1 1/4 inch wide, 1 7/8 inch tall keystone plaque bearing an "AH" monogram with oak leaf accents at the top and bottom; this particular variant has been associated with the appointments of Hitler's personal apartments in the Chancellery. On top of the obelisk is a 4 1/2 inch tall, 4 inch wide sculpting of a golden eagle perched on a sphere with an engraved and darkened swastika on the front, which shows similarities to other eagles that were made for Party use by Klein.

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Both are extremely fine, showing evidence of minor repairs and stress lines in marble and upkeep appropriate for age. A few minor chips are visible on the edges of the marble, with one of the obelisks showing a black mark next to the keystone plaque. Some glue is visible on the feet of one of the statues. A pair of attractive art pieces, connected with the diplomatic heart and political nerve center of the Third Reich.