Bedtime with Hitler: Nazi leader's linen for sale

Two pieces of Adolf Hitler's personalised bed linen going up for auction by auctioneers Dreweatts are seen in a handout photo.

LONDON (Reuters) - Two pieces of Adolf Hitler's personalised bed linen, complete with swastikas and the Nazi leader's initials, are together expected to fetch up to 3,000 pounds at a sale in Bristol next week.

A single white bedsheet and pillowcase embroidered with the image of an eagle perched on a swastika inside a circle, flanked by the initials, will be sold by auctioneers Dreweatts in Bristol on Tuesday.

"It is extremely rare to find pieces of Hitler's bed linen embroidered with his personal motif and monogram coming to the market," said Dreweatts militaria specialist Malcolm Claridge.

The items were bought in Germany by a private collector several years ago.

"After Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in 1945, his housekeeper Anni Winter removed a lot of personal items from his Prinzregentenstrasse apartment to save them from looters," Claridge said.

"In recent years, a lot of Hitler's personal possessions have begun to surface on the auction market -- particularly in Germany," he added.

"We have put an estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 pounds on Hitler's bed linen and we've already received a lot of interest."

(Created by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)