The officials who opened the safe will hardly forget the surprise they got. The bank had notified the Valencian Generalitat that the woman of German origin Gertrudis Sommer, who died in 2005 in the Alicante town of Dénia, also had a safe deposit box in her name, in addition to several current accounts and three homes that were already known. . The old woman’s assets had passed into the hands of the Administration when she died without intesting, nor leaving legal heirs, once the terms had elapsed and the legal requirements had been met. The box was missing.
Opening it, he discovered a medal with Nazi symbology, among other badges awarded during the Franco regime, and striking gold coins, minted in the throes of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Now, all this peculiar set precedent of an intestate inheritance, whose value has been appraised at 50,000 euros, will go up for auction in four lots next summer, as planned by the Generalitat. The proceeds will go to social and cultural patronage purposes.
The badges, which will be offered in a single lot, have been valued at 3,000 euros. The set is made up of the Commendation of the Order of the Eagle, which was an award from the Government of the German Reich, awarded predominantly to foreign diplomats. The order was instituted on May 1, 1937 by Adolf Hitler. Currently, the use of the Order of the German Eagle is prohibited in the Federal Republic of Germany, point out sources from the Ministry of Finance, competent in the matter.
The second of the badges is the Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to refined loyalty made of gold and enamel. It is a distinction instituted by King Ferdinand VII in 1815 and which currently depends on the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also included is the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, which continues to be awarded to Spanish citizens or foreigners who have achieved merit of a civil nature, and a Falange Youth lapel pin.
The coins correspond to the so-called 100 Austrian crowns, which were used between 1892 and 1918 in the territories of the Austro-Hungarian crown, according to the numismatic study. Made of 22-carat gold, they have the effigy of Emperor Franz Joseph I engraved on the obverse and the arms of Austria on the reverse.
On rare occasions, pieces belonging to the issues minted for circulation in the period 1909-1914 appear in the numismatic markets, according to information from the Treasury. Based on all these considerations, each of the coins has been valued at 1,531 euros. The auction will be held in four lots of 4, 8, 9 and 10 coins each.
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Hardly anything is known about the old woman, of German origin, who died alone in Dénia. There is a lot of information about the small Nazi colony that was established after the Second World War in the tourist town of Alicante, bathed by the Mediterranean, especially in the area of Les Rotes, in the foothills of the imposing Montgó massif.
There lived, protected under the umbrella of the Franco dictatorship, the Nazi leader Gerhard Bremer (died in 1989), commander of the SS and promoter of some bungalows (later converted into apartments) where birthday parties were held in which they were adorned with Nazi uniforms. Interpreters of the town music band entertained those soirees, which were held until the beginning of the eighties.
From the inheritance of the German woman, the Generalitat has kept the 300,000 euros from the current accounts and a package of shares sold for about 480,000 euros. Some of the old woman’s flats have been given a social use. “The processing of intestate inheritance files is one of the most important tasks among those entrusted to the General Directorate of Heritage; not only because of the volume and complexity of the files, but also because they represent an important source of income that is immediately allocated to social purposes (two thirds) and to the Cultural Patronage Plan of the Generalitat (one third)”, says the director General of the Public Sector and Heritage, Isa Castelló.
Before the auction, a date will be set when interested persons can examine the coins and medals. The date of the sale and the deadline for submitting offers will be published in the website of the Ministry of Finance and the Economic Model, expected in the next few weeks. The auction will take place because these pieces have been declared by the Generalitat as unnecessary for public service and have not been considered of significant cultural interest either, as there are similar pieces.
This upward auction will be carried out by submitting bids in a sealed envelope, with award to the highest bidder. Four successive auctions are expected to be held. If the first one is deserted, up to three more will be held consecutively.
This is the first time that the Generalitat has auctioned movable property from an intestate inheritance, given that until now only real estate (homes, lots, garages) had been sold.
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