Rudolf Hess painting fails to sell at Shropshire auction

Five paintings by the Nazi leader himself, valued between £6,000 and £8,000 each, also failed to sell.

Richard Westwood-Brookes, from Church Stretton based-auctioneer Mullocks, said: "The Hess painting didn't sell, that was just the way it was.

"These sort of things either sell very well or don't sell at all, there is no middle ground. It's just down to whether there is anyone interested.

"We will put it up again. The Hitler paintings didn't sell either. We've had this before. Sometimes, things don't sell and we put them up three weeks later and everybody wants them."

Mr Westwood-Brookes said the lack of interest might have been due to the time of year and people contemplating their tax bills, but he said overall the sale had gone well.

He said: "It was very good. We sold an enormous amount of stuff, but at this particular time nobody was interested in Hitler paintings."

This was the first time the auction house had dealt with a painting by Hess.

Shropshire soldier Roland Charles Davis, from Highley, near Bridgnorth, got to know the Nazi while working as a prison officer at Spandau Prison in Allied-occupied Germany in the 1950s. When he left, Hess gave him the painting.

Mr Westwood-Brookes said: "Mr Davis was co-opted to run prisons in Allied-occupied Germany. This was the early 1950s and he spent two years at Spandau getting to know Hess very well.

"Hess gave Roland the painting and now it's being sold on by a private collector."

Mr Westwood-Brookes said although it had no artistic merit, it was very unusual and very collectable as an historical artefact.

The next Mullocks sale of historical documents and memorabilia will be on February 17 at Ludlow Racecourse.

By Hannah Costigan