SS-General & Foreign Minister, Joachim Von Ribbentrop

A stunning photograph by the eminent photographer, Friedrich Franz Bauer

SS General Joachim Von Ribbentrop photograph. Typical head and shoulders portrait. Classic Bauer photograph of excellent quality. Incredible facial detail. Collar insignia slightly to soft focus (again typical Bauer). Reverse bears full Bauer name and address, along with standard copyright of the period.

Size: 29.5cm x 23.5cm. 

Condition report: Overall very good to excellent condition. Free from tears or other damage

Background to Von Ribbentrop: Joachim von Ribbentrop born 30 April 1893 – died 16 October 1946. Von Ribbentrop, was an SS General, and Foreign Minister.

Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's notice as a well-travelled businessman with more knowledge of the outside world than most senior Nazis. He offered his house for the secret meetings in January 1933 that resulted in Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany. Von Ribbentrop became a close confidant of Hitler, to the disgust of some party members, who thought him superficial and lacking in talent. He was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St James (for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in 1936 and then Foreign Minister of Germany in February 1938.

Before World War II, Von Ribbentrop played a key role in brokering the Pact of Steel (an alliance with Fascist Italy) and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact). He favoured retaining good relations with the Soviets, and opposed the invasion of the Soviet Union. After 1941, Ribbentrop's influence declined.

Arrested in June 1945, Ribbentrop was tried at the Nuremberg trials and convicted for his role in starting World War II in Europe and enabling the Holocaust. On 16 October 1946, Von Ribbentrop became the first of those sentenced to death by hanging.