Hitler's ambassador once rode in this car, now it's heading to auction in Cork

A 1937 Mercedes-Benz 170V Cabriolet B saloon that was once registered to Dr Eduard Hempel, Nazi Germany's ambassador to Ireland during World War II, is set to be sold at auction in County Cork later this month. The car, fully refurbished in 1988 and 1989 and kept in storage ever since, will be offered by Marshs Auctioneers at the Ramble Inn in Ballinhassig on August 29, as part of a wider sale of vintage motors on behalf of Alan and Mary Barry, who are retiring.

Hempel was appointed to Dublin by Adolf Hitler in 1937 and remained in the post until the war's end in 1945, even after he was pressured to join the Nazi Party in 1938. This was because Ireland remained neutral throughout the war; Germany's diplomatic mission in Dublin retained its formal accreditation, allowing Hempel to keep his post while the rest of Europe burned.

The German legation on Northumberland Road in Dublin became a hub for intelligence gathering and communication during the war years, though Irish counterintelligence kept close tabs on its activities, limiting its ultimately effectiveness.

The ambassador's tenure in Dublin is remembered above all for one extraordinary moment. In 1945, on hearing of Hitler's death, Taoiseach Éamon de Valera made the controversial decision to travel to Hempel's home on Sloperton Road, in Dún Laoghaire, to offer the condolences of the Irish state, a gesture that drew sharp criticism abroad and remains a subject of historical debate to this day.

Once the war ended, Hempel and his family were not sent home immediately. Instead, they were granted asylum in Ireland and lived here until 1950, when they returned to Germany, where Hempel went on to help establish the diplomatic service of the newly formed Federal Republic.

The Mercedes itself, a 170V model with the elegant cabriolet body style, was among the most popular cars Mercedes-Benz produced in the years before the war. It represents a design era prized by collectors.

The car is just one highlight in a packed sale of 333 lots at Marshs, which also includes a threshing mill, an 8-ton excavator, an antique yard crane, vintage enamel wall signs, and pieces of everyday Irish history like famine pots and a Victorian brass cash register. Two early works by the celebrated Riverstick, County Cork furniture maker Joseph Walsh, whose pieces hang in the National Gallery of Ireland and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, are also expected to draw strong interest.

Viewing for the sale takes place at the Ballinhassig venue on August 26, 27 and 28, ahead of the live and online auction, which begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 29.