Adolf Hitler & 3 chimney sweepers, 1935 Photo Hoffmann
Original photo titled "Eine originelle Begegnung" ["a notable encounter"], Adolf Hitler and three chimney sweepers. The photo was made by Hitler's friend and personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. Hoffmann's catalog number '314' and the mark "Photo-Hoffmann, Muenchen, Theresienstr. 74" are imprinted on the back of the photograph, authentic mid-1930s photo with original 1930s marking on the reverse.
The photo is 3.1/2" x c.2.1/2" [90mm x 650mm]; slightly reduced vertical blank margin, magenta stamp and pencil written address on the back, a little soiling, very good condition.
The notion that chimney sweepers are the agents of good fortune is an old European tradition. The superstition holds that it is good luck to touch them, wiping a fingertip across their sooty sleeves, or, when seeing them from a distance, to touch a button and make a wish.
From this negative, Heinrich Hoffmann also produced photo postcards. The postcards have the title imprinted into the photo, while on the reverse side they have an imprinted number '314' and Hoffmann's copyright notice in German. Only a couple of postcards, used and unused, are present on the internet, while our original photo appears to be unique. In the late 1930s, promoting Hitler as the super-human leader, Nazis suppressed images showing Hitler as a 'normal person'.
Until now, the location and story behind the "Notable Encounter" remained unknown. The 1930s' magenta stamp, "Ammer-Hochbruecke bei Echelsbach..." on the reverse of our photo provides the explanation. The Echelsbacher bridge, completed in 1929, spans the Ammer Gorge at a height of 80 meters and connects the Upper Bavarian districts of Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. At the time of its construction, it was considered the largest structure of that kind- 'a miracle of German engineering.' There are numerous original 1930s photo postcards of this bridge with an identical magenta stamp, "Ammer-Hochbruecke..."
This bridge is located slightly south from the usual route Hitler drove from his Munich apartment to his residence in the Alp mountains, Eagle's Nest, Berchtesgaden. According to several memoirs, Hitler and Hoffmann conducted several sightseeing country trips between these two residences. Apparently, during one of such trips they visited 'a miracle of German engineering,' the Echelsbacher bridge. Hitler holds a sketchbook under his left arm. He liked to make pencil sketches of landscapes and buildings. Accidentally, three chimney sweepers crossed the bridge, which means a good luck for Hitler... The photo adds a small detail to the biography of the most examined dictator of the twentieth century.
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was Adolf Hitler's official photographer, and a Nazi politician and publisher, who was a member of Hitler's intimate circle. Hoffmann's photographs were a significant part of Hitler's propaganda campaign to present himself and the Nazi Party as a significant mass phenomenon. He received royalties from all uses of Hitler's image, even on postage stamps, which made him a millionaire over the course of Hitler's rule. After the Second World War he was tried and sentenced to four years in prison for war profiteering.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) --------- $20.50
Canada: Express (c.5-9 days) ----- $57.50
World: Express (c.5-14 days) ----- $80.50
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Original photo titled "Eine originelle Begegnung" ["a notable encounter"], Adolf Hitler and three chimney sweepers. The photo was made by Hitler's friend and personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. Hoffmann's catalog number '314' and the mark "Photo-Hoffmann, Muenchen, Theresienstr. 74" are imprinted on the back of the photograph, authentic mid-1930s photo with original 1930s marking on the reverse.
The photo is 3.1/2" x c.2.1/2" [90mm x 650mm]; slightly reduced vertical blank margin, magenta stamp and pencil written address on the back, a little soiling, very good condition.
The notion that chimney sweepers are the agents of good fortune is an old European tradition. The superstition holds that it is good luck to touch them, wiping a fingertip across their sooty sleeves, or, when seeing them from a distance, to touch a button and make a wish.
From this negative, Heinrich Hoffmann also produced photo postcards. The postcards have the title imprinted into the photo, while on the reverse side they have an imprinted number '314' and Hoffmann's copyright notice in German. Only a couple of postcards, used and unused, are present on the internet, while our original photo appears to be unique. In the late 1930s, promoting Hitler as the super-human leader, Nazis suppressed images showing Hitler as a 'normal person'.
Until now, the location and story behind the "Notable Encounter" remained unknown. The 1930s' magenta stamp, "Ammer-Hochbruecke bei Echelsbach..." on the reverse of our photo provides the explanation. The Echelsbacher bridge, completed in 1929, spans the Ammer Gorge at a height of 80 meters and connects the Upper Bavarian districts of Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. At the time of its construction, it was considered the largest structure of that kind- 'a miracle of German engineering.' There are numerous original 1930s photo postcards of this bridge with an identical magenta stamp, "Ammer-Hochbruecke..."
This bridge is located slightly south from the usual route Hitler drove from his Munich apartment to his residence in the Alp mountains, Eagle's Nest, Berchtesgaden. According to several memoirs, Hitler and Hoffmann conducted several sightseeing country trips between these two residences. Apparently, during one of such trips they visited 'a miracle of German engineering,' the Echelsbacher bridge. Hitler holds a sketchbook under his left arm. He liked to make pencil sketches of landscapes and buildings. Accidentally, three chimney sweepers crossed the bridge, which means a good luck for Hitler... The photo adds a small detail to the biography of the most examined dictator of the twentieth century.
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was Adolf Hitler's official photographer, and a Nazi politician and publisher, who was a member of Hitler's intimate circle. Hoffmann's photographs were a significant part of Hitler's propaganda campaign to present himself and the Nazi Party as a significant mass phenomenon. He received royalties from all uses of Hitler's image, even on postage stamps, which made him a millionaire over the course of Hitler's rule. After the Second World War he was tried and sentenced to four years in prison for war profiteering.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) --------- $20.50
Canada: Express (c.5-9 days) ----- $57.50
World: Express (c.5-14 days) ----- $80.50
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
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