Description
This is an original and quite large “Ehrenburgerrecht Urkunde” (Honorary Citizenship citation), for the granting of Honorary citizenship to Adolf Hitler on 1 April 1933 by the small village of Schneppenbach i. Ufr.
With large image of “Germania” as central image and eyecatcher.
More on Schneppenbach here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneppenbach_(Sch%C3%B6llkrippen)
Allready before the outbreak of war, on 1 Januar 1939, Schneppenbach was incorporated in Landkreis Alzenau in Unterfranken in Bavaria.
The citation is professionaly framed and rests in a luxuary dark red frame beneath a passepartout. The size of the frame is an impressive 64,5 x 48 x 2 cm. The size of the citation is approximately 46 x 30 cm.
On the lower end of the citation is a stamp by “Bayern, Gemeinde Schneppenbach” and several autographs in name of the community of Schneppenbach and the Mayor and second Mayor.
The whole frame is of museumquality and overall in very very good condition, with only a few minor scratches here and there.
This citation is an historical document, and as such evidence of the appointment of Hitler as honorary citizin. It is estimated that about 3000 towns and cities must have made Hitler honory citizen, but these citations are surprisingly hard to find nowadays. For sure the most have been destroyed after the war and the ones that remain are in the hands of privat collections or museums.
A little background on these citations:
After the rising to power of the NSDAP in the early thirties and the appointment of Hitler to “Reichskanzler”, many cities and towns in Germany decided to honor him and granted a honorary citizenship. The here offered citation is one of such citations. It is an unique item of which only one exists with the name of Adolf Hitler on it. All towns that granted the honorary citizenship to Hitler had their own citations and as such they are all unique!
On todays collecting market the number of fake Hitler memorabilia – like e.g. attributed paintings or supposed to be original personal items – seems like an endless supply of fake items. These honorary citizinship citations are perhaps the closest original Hitler related items you can buy for a somewhat affordable price. This could be a centrepiece in a museum or specialised collection.