Hitler's champagne

A bottle of champagne believed to have been taken from Hitler's personal wine cellar by an allied soldier has been sold at auction in Dorset for £1,400. The bottle of 1937 Moet and Chandon went under the hammer at Charterhouse auctioneers in Sherborne and was bought by a Swedish television company.

Apparently the bottle was taken by an allied soldier from the ruins of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin after the Nazis were defeated in May 1945. The bottle was kept as a souvenir by the British soldier until it was given to solicitor Nigel Wilson as a thank you gift for some legal work 15 years ago.

The bottle was only expected to fetch around £500, however, due to the interest from telephone bidders across Europe the cost was pushed up and sold for £1,400.

Nevertheless, champagne does not age well, therefore it is highly unlikely the new owner will be celebrating his new purchase by cracking open the bottle.