Car used by Hitler’s ambassador to Ireland to go up for auction in Cork

A car once registered to the German ambassador to Ireland during the Second World War, Dr Eduard Hempel, will go under the hammer later this month. 

The 1937 Mercedes 170V Cabriolet B saloon will be for sale at Marshs’ auction in Cork on August 29.

Vintage cars like this one are always highly sought after, and its significant history should add considerable value.

The Mercedes — refurbished in 1988/89 and in storage since — will form part of a sale of vintage motors including tractors, lorries, farm machinery and railwayana by Marshs at the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig, Co Cork, on behalf of Alan and Mary Barry, who are retiring.

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Appointed to Dublin by Adolf Hitler in 1937, the career diplomat was pressured to join the Nazi Party in 1938 and remained ambassador until 1945.

Formal diplomatic accreditation was maintained during the Second World War because of Irish neutrality. The German legation at 58 Northumberland Road in Dublin was a hub for intelligence gathering and communication, though its effectiveness was limited by strict surveillance by Irish counterintelligence.

It was to Dr Hempel’s home at Sloperton Road in Dún Laoghaire that Éamon de Valera famously called to express the condolences of the Irish Free State on the death of Hitler in 1945.

After the war, Dr Hempel and his family were granted asylum and remained here until 1950. They then returned to Germany, where the former ambassador to Ireland helped set up the diplomatic service for the new Federal Republic.

The Mercedes-Benz seen from the front.

Of particular interest to collectors are two early pieces by Joseph Walsh, the innovative, world-renowned Riverstick, Co Cork-based furniture maker whose work features in major international collections like the National Gallery of Ireland and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

The first is a 16-foot-long part Canadian cherrywood wall cabinet, comprising centre cabinet and two side cabinets dating to 1999.

The second is a Canadian cherrywood TV cabinet. It is complete with centre cabinet and two side cabinets.

An early three-part cabinet by Joseph Walsh.

Among other lots in this sale of 333 lots are a James Crichton threshing mill, a Terex 8-Ton excavator and an antique yard crane.

There is a large selection of original enamel wall signs and a lifelong collection of memorabilia like a Victorian brass cash register, a collection of skillet pots and famine pots and a framed coloured print of the Chetwynd Viaduct.

The auction will be on view in Ballinhassig on August 26, 27 and 28, and the live and online sale is at 11am on Saturday, August 29.

A Canadian cherrywood TV cabinet by Joseph Walsh.