THE MUNICH PACT DESKSET PART #1

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On 7.12.2011, a brass writing set described as the one seen on the desk in photographs of the signing of the Munich Pact was reported to have been sold for $423,000 by the Connecticut auction house Alexander Historical Auctions. The catalog blurb stated, without any paragraph breaks:


ADOLF HITLER'S CEREMONIAL DESK SET - USED IN THE SIGNING OF THE MUNICH PACT

An offering of great historic importance, the solid cast brass desk set owned and used by Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler in the signing of the Munich Pact in which the Sudetenland was ceded by France and England to Germany. The Munich Pact would have consequences far beyond just the annexation, effects felt to this day. This massive ceremonial presentation measures 24" wide, 14 3/4" deep and 1 3/4" tall, with two columned ink wells rising 2" above the base of the desk set. The ink wells are filled with solid glass, each bearing an opening which at one time either held a smaller ink cup, or was itself filled with ink. Between the two wells appears in high relief Hitler's initials "A H" beneath and flanking a large eagle facing to its left (symbolizing the Nazi Party vs. the military) which in turn clutches in its talons a wreath encircling a swastika. A raised rectangle beneath all supports a large, impressive brass blotter with a knurled knob, similar in design to the colonnaded ink wells. The underside of the set is lined in fine finished mahogany. In all, the desk set gives one the impression of an architectural model, thus in our opinion the set was designed by Hitler, who prided himself on his architectural acumen. Photographic research shows that this desk set was undoubtedly used at the signing of the Munich Pact on September 30, 1938. Multiple images from that historic event show Hitler, Mussolini, British Prime Minister Nevilel Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier with this relic during the signing, and in one image Hitler's initials on the piece are discernable. The desk set is also visible in 1940 Life Magazine images of Hitler's office (http://thirdreichcolorpictures.blogspot.com/2010/02/fuhrerbau.html). This historic desk set was discovered at Hitler's private office in Munich (the "Fuhrer-Bau") by Lt. John L. McConn, Jr. in the Spring of 1945. McConn was in command of a detachment of soldiers ordered to occupy and guard the building, and McConn himself slept only a few doors from Hitler's office, where the Munich Pact had been signed seven years earlier. In exploring the building, McConn's men found a trove of Hitler's personal effects in the basement of the building, stored there to prevent damage from the incessant bombing by Allied forces. Among the items uncovered were mother of pearl and gold inlaid presentation lugers, an enormous gold and ruby ring, and most importantly, a huge collection of Hitler's purchased and stolen art intended for display in the never-construced Fuhrermuseum. The Allied Military Government was notified of the discovery just as water had begun to flood the basement, threatening the priceless works, and Amy brass ordered the art packed and removed. As did every other G.I., McConn wanted to return home with a good war souvenir, and asked a corporal what items of any interest might remain in the basement. The corporal mention a"desk set with interesting ink wells" in the corner of the basement. McConn claimed it, crated it himself, and sent it home to his father in Texas with as much postage as he could fit on the box. In 1946 McConn returned home a hero, having been awarded the Silver Star for single-handedly taking a German machine gun nest and several prisoners in the process. Surprised that the desk set had actually arrived in the States, he kept it in his possession for 66 years. In the interim, he married, obtained his law degree, raised five children and served his community well. At times, the desk set was given to his children to bring to school for "show and tell", as its significance was not yet known. Thirty years ago, while watching newsreel footage, McConn saw his "war souvenir" being used at the signing of the Munich Pact and realised what it was he had found in the damp, dark basement of Hitler's offices. In addition to the clear photographic evidence placing this relic in Hitler's office at the signing of the pact (and it undoubtedly was used in signing other important agreements as well), included in the lot are the following items of provenance: an older photo (copy) of the blotter with original paper (now lost) which appears to hold reverse impressions of Hitler's signature; McConn's letter to his parents written on Hitler's official Munich correspondence card, May 6, 1945, with envelope postmarked May 9, self-censored, stating that he and his company had returned to Munich and expressing his joy that the war had ended; a 3pp. 4to. letter [undated] on the letterhead of the "Reichsschatzmeister" ("Head Treasurer") of the NSDAP Franz Schwarz in Munich describing an event in which Russian prisoners recognized their SS captors and beat them to death with iron pipes; an Adolf Hitler monogrammed table napkin recovered from the Fuhrer-Bau; a 2007 letter of authenticity from internationally respected militaria dealer Stephen D. Wolfe of Wolfe-Hardin describing the desk set: "...It is 100% original, and, unquestionably, the pieces [sic] used in the 1938 Munich Pact signing. They are certainly among the most important artifacts...and the provenance is wonderful! Although I can vouch for the authenticity of the pieces shown me, I cannot accurately price your items, as they are unique..."; and McConn's own 2007 notarized letter of provenance. This important relic has been displayed in locations around the world, and has never before been offered at auction. It has not been recently cleaned, and the brass has developed a fine patina, with only a few very trivial scattered spots. A museum-grade relic of great historic importance. 

In photographs by Heinrich Hoffmann of the signing of the Munich Pact on 30.9.1938 by Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini and Daladier, we see a bronze writing set on the desk in the Führer’s office. There is a large Nazi eagle surmounting the initials A H above the shallow pen well. The twin inkwells evoke the Honor Temples erected on the city’s Königsplatz in 1935 as mausoleums for the remains of the sixteen martyrs of the 1923 Munich Putsch.

Bidding for the writing set failed to reach the reserve of half a million dollars and the firm announced that a deal had been reached with the highest bidder, described as a “private US west coast collector”. The auction house also stated that the writing set may have been designed by Hitler himself, although there is no evidence to support such an opinion. Looking at the above photographs, the inkwell housing seems closer to the outer edge of the base in the 1938 photograph and not in line with the outer edge of the pen well, unlike the writing set sold by Alexander Historical Auctions. 

This 1940 color photograph of Hitler's office showing the writing set on the Führer's desk seems to confirm that this is not an optical illusion. The proportions of the writing set photographed before the Second World War and the writing set sold by Alexander Historical Auctions do seem to be different. Another photograph from a slightly different angle seems to confirm this to be the case.

In the prewar photographs, the inkwell housings seem closer to the edge of the base, which seems a bit thicker than that of the writing set sold by Alexander Historical Auctions. The outer edges of the bases of the inkwell housings do not seem to align with the outer edges of the pen well, as on the piece recently sold. The upper edges of the eagle's wings so not seem to be in line with the upper edges of the inkwell housings. There seems to be less of a gap between the bottom of the wreath and the upper edge of the pen well. These differences may explain the surprising lack of interest from serious collectors of Hitler memorabilia when the desk set was first offered by decorated former US Army officer John L. McConn and, indeed, the continuing lack of interest that resulted in the desk set being sold off for less than its reserve price after it failed to reach the reserve.

The US flag hanging from Hitler's former office in the Führerbau in June 1945

Mr McConn has stated that he recovered the writing set when quartered in the Führerbau in Munich in the summer of 1945 and sent it home to his father in Houston, Texas: "In the summer of 1945 after the war in Europe had ended, I was quartered, with other American soldiers in Hitler’s headquarters in Munich for a short time. We called the building the “Feuerbau”.  It was located on the Konigsplatz in Munich. After another soldier in my outfit had shown some of us some personal effects of Hitler’s which he had found in one of the cellars in this building, I asked him if he had seen anything else there. He replied that he had seen a large bronze desk set. I should add that Hitler’s office was on what I recall as the second floor of the building. When we arrived at the building, Hitler’s office had been stripped of furnishings. The building was burned in an upper floor, evidently the result of bombing , and I believe that Hitler’s effects had been removed from his office and taken to one of the cellars of the building. After my discussion with the soldier mentioned above, I went down in the cellar to the place therein which he had said he found the other effects of Hitler’s. At that place I located a large bronze desk set with raised initials on it of “A” and “H”. It also had on it in raised form an eagle and a swastika. It was obviously Hitler’s desk set from his office upstairs. I boxed up the desk set and mailed it to my father in the States." The auction catalog blurb stated, amongst other assertions, that "Amy [sic] brass ordered the art packed and removed. As did every other G.I., McConn wanted to return home with a good war souvenir, and asked a corporal what items of any interest might remain in the basement. The corporal mention [sic] a"desk set with interesting ink wells" in the corner of the basement." 

The facts are rather different. The Führerbau was taken over in the summer of 1945 by the Allies' Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Programme and turned into the Munich Collecting Point or MCP under the command of US Navy Lieutenant Craig Hugh Smyth. Smyth, seen second from the left in the above photo on the steps of the former Führerbau with British and French colleagues, was a noted art historian and was tasked with assembling a team of European art experts and conservationists to process recovered artworks stolen by the Nazis, beginning with Hitler's own collection. The MCP contained conservation and storage facilities, as well as photographic studios for cataloguing purposes and remained in operation until 1951. The building was taken over by the Amerika Haus cultural organisation for a time during the 1950s but is now used by the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, which traces its roots back to Smyth's operation. 

The Munich Collecting Point in the late 1940s

John McConn has also stated that he and his detachment were sent to the Führerbau to protect artwork and other treasures stored there and that he was allowed to have the writing set as a keepsake when his assignment ended in August 1945. He crated it up and mailed it to his father in Houston, Texas and only realised how important it might be when he reportedly saw a History Channel program over thirty years ago about the Munich Pact: “I could see it pretty clearly, and I thought, ‘Good Lord, that’s the one I have.’ So I put it in a bank vault, and I thought, well somewhere down the line I’ll sell it.” The History Channel was launched in 1995. 

Craig Gottlieb presents the "Munich Desk Set" to the Press

Mr McConn first offered the writing set for sale by auction on the Internet in 2008 but there were no takers. The website promoting the desk set was registered jointly by Mr McConn's Houston legal firm and the West Coast-based Magnet Media Group. In January 2011, Mr McConn appointed the California-based militaria dealer Craig Gottlieb to sell the writing set on his behalf. In the following shots of Mussolini signing the pact, the upper edges of the eagle's wings do not seem to be quite in line with the bases of the miniature Honor Temples housing the inkwells, as they are in the shot of Craig Gottlieb holding the McConn desk set up for the Associated Press photographer.

Speaking to reporters in February 2011, Mr McConn recalled more details of his time in Munich in 1945. He and his unit were quartered for three weeks in Eva Braun's house, which was connected through an underground tunnel to the Führerbau. One day, he and and others were looking for souvenirs in the Führerbau when a corporal came up from the basement. Asked by Lt McConn if there was anything in the basement, the corporal described the writing set. Lt McConn "grabbed it, made a wooden box for it and shipped it off" to his father in Houston. Eva Braun lived on the Wasserburgerstrasse, since renamed Delpstrasse, in a house purchased for her by Hitler. Eva Braun's house still exists and is some four kilometers as the crow flies from the Führerbau, on the other side of the river Isar. Hitler's relationship with Eva Braun was an open secret and there was no need for either Herr Hitler nor Fraulein Braun to travel down a long tunnel for their romantic trysts. Nor were American GIs with Jeeps at their disposal likely to bother picking their way along such a tunnel, not that it ever existed. In any case, Hitler's flat on the Prinzregentenstrasse was just a few hundred meters from the Wasserburgerstrasse on the same side of the river, a couple of minutes' drive by car. 

Julius Schaub

On 23.4.1945, Hitler had ordered his personal assistant Julius Schaub, the SS General seen assisting the signatories in the photographs of the signing of the Munich Pact, to destroy all of his personal papers and effects in Berlin, Munich and Berchtesgaden. Schaub did as ordered, as confirmed by Hitler's Munich housekeeper, Frau Winter, and even supervised the blowing up of Hitler's personal railway train. Would Schaub have overlooked the bronze deskset in the Führerbau? Would Schaub have overlooked the great coat McConn claims to have seen bearing Hitler's name inside, or the effects belonging to Hitler in the possession of the US Army corporal whom McConn describes as coming up from the basement of the Führerbau? 


More to the point, would Lt Craig Hugh Smyth or any of his staff have allowed such an artefact to be appropriated by Lt McConn? For one thing, bronze was a restricted material in 1945. Craig Hugh Smyth died in 2006 so can no longer tell us if he authorized a young army lieutenant to take as a memento a sixty-pound bronze artefact bearing Hitler's initials from the basement of the Munich Collecting Point at any time during the summer of 1945. And despite the evident care with which John McConn conserved paperwork relating to his wartime service, as the eBook on the website jointly registered to Burke McConn & Associates and Magnet Media Group, shows, he does not seem to have the written authorization he must have obtained in order legally to appropriate and send home the desk set. Nor does he appear to have any other paperwork from the period mentioning the desk set. 

To be continued...