Circa 1935. From the Old Reich Chancellery. The handle features a relief national eagle with decorative border. Reverse stamped “Bruckmann” and “90” for the fine silver overlay, length 27.9 cm. Minor signs of use, condition 2.
This tableware was in use in the Old Reich Chancellery as well as in German embassies abroad.

We were able to acquire a small remaining stock from U.S. war spoils.

The canteen of the Reich Chancellery was under the direction of Arthur Kannenberg (born February 23, 1896 in Charlottenburg; died January 26, 1963 in Düsseldorf). Kannenberg was Adolf Hitler's house intendant. Kannenberg completed the Werdersche Oberrealschule in Berlin with a secondary school certificate and began an apprenticeship in 1912 in his father Oskar Kannenberg's gastronomic establishment. From 1915 he served in Telegraph Battalion I and was discharged in 1918 as a Gefreiter (lance corporal). From 1924 he managed his father's establishments, the Restaurant Kannenberg, Hotel Stadt Berlin, and the excursion restaurant Onkel Toms Hütte located in Grunewald, which went bankrupt in 1930.

As manager of Pfuhl's wine and beer taverns, where prominent Nazi figures such as Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring also frequented, he met Hitler, who offered him the management of the casino of the party headquarters Braunes Haus in Munich. He took up this position in 1931. Subsequently, he was also assigned management of the canteen of the NSDAP Reich Leadership School on Schwanthaler Strasse.

After Hitler became Reich Chancellor in 1933, Kannenberg became house intendant in the Reich Chancellery. He organized the operations of the Führer's household. This included particularly the hiring of personnel, procurement of food and beverages, and preparation of menus, but also the organization of catering at state receptions both in the Reich Chancellery and occasionally at the Berghof; during the war he then served at the Führer Headquarters in the Wolfsschanze and finally in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

In May 1945 he was interned by the Americans and released on July 25, 1946.
Many pieces from the Reich Chancellery were popular souvenirs of the occupation troops after the war, but many Berliners also restocked their often bombed-out households with the remains of the Reich Chancellery.

471450

€ 1.200,00

Third Reich Adolf Hitler: Fish Serving Knife from the Silverware of the Old Reich Chancellery

This fish serving knife from silverplated flatware represents a fascinating testimony to the material culture of the Third Reich, originating from the Old Reich Chancellery in Berlin. Manufactured around 1935 by the renowned firm Bruckmann, this object embodies the connection between traditional craftsmanship and National Socialist representational culture.

The Old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmplatz in Berlin had served as the official residence of German chancellors since 1875. After the seizure of power in 1933, the building became the central government seat of Adolf Hitler until 1939, when the New Reich Chancellery designed by Albert Speer was completed. The furnishings of the Old Reich Chancellery included extensive silverware collections used both for daily purposes and representative state receptions.

Bruckmann & Söhne from Heilbronn was one of Germany's leading silver manufacturers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in 1805, the company supplied the high nobility and later also state institutions. The stamp “90” on the flatware indicates the thickness of the fine silver plating and corresponds to the standards of that time for high-quality silverware. The relief Imperial Eagle on the handle is the characteristic feature of official Reich equipment and became an omnipresent symbol of state authority after 1933.

Arthur Kannenberg (1896-1963) played a central role as house intendant in organizing the Reich Chancellery household. The trained restaurateur assumed leadership of all catering and provisioning in 1933. His responsibilities included procurement of foodstuffs, creation of menus, hiring and supervision of staff, and organization of state receptions. Kannenberg was responsible for managing extensive silver collections used not only in the Reich Chancellery but also in German embassies abroad.

Table culture in the Third Reich largely followed the traditional bourgeois and aristocratic conventions of the German Empire. Despite propagated connection to the common people, the regime placed great emphasis on representative display at official occasions. The extensive silverware served to stage state power and was meant to impress foreign diplomats and state guests. Specialized flatware such as fish serving knives were integral parts of refined table culture and followed the established rules of French service tradition.

After the war's end in May 1945, the Reich Chancellery was captured by Soviet troops, while Berlin was later divided into four sectors. The material legacy of the regime became coveted war trophies. American, British, French, and Soviet soldiers took countless objects as souvenirs. At the same time, Berlin citizens whose households had been destroyed by bombing also helped themselves to the remains of government buildings.

Trade in such objects began immediately after the war and continues to this day. While practical considerations predominated in the immediate postwar period, a collector's market for NS relics developed later. The historical classification of such objects remains complex: they are testimonies of a criminal regime but simultaneously possess documentary value for researching the material culture and everyday history of the Third Reich.

The provenance of such pieces from U.S. war booty is typical for many preserved objects from government buildings. American soldiers had access to the western sectors of Berlin after the capitulation and could export objects legally or illegally. Many of these objects remained in private ownership in the USA for decades before returning to the European collector's market.

From a conservation perspective, the piece shows typical signs of use from silverware utilized over several years. The silver plating exhibits wear, documenting authentic use. The craftsmanship quality of Bruckmann manufacturing is still recognizable after decades and testifies to the high technical competence of German silversmiths of that era.

Academic engagement with such objects requires nuanced consideration. They must neither be glorified nor their historical significance denied. As material sources, they enable insights into representational culture, economic structures, and the everyday practices of a dictatorship. Their existence also raises questions about dealing with tainted cultural property, provenance research, and the responsibility of collectors and museums.