Khazar-khum Wrote:
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> Ummm---no, Doug, Nefertiti was discovered in 1912
> by Ludwig Borchardt. At that time Hitler was a
> starving artist.

Not only that, but Hitler was originally inclined to give the bust back to Egypt when they asked for it after he became Chancellor. The legend goes that he had agreed to send it back, until he saw it...then he was so smitten with it, he reneged upon the agreement.*

* Source:Taipei Times

In 1933 the Egyptian government demanded Nefertiti's return -- the first of many such demands over the decades to come. One of the many titles Hermann Goering held was premier of Prussia (which included Berlin) and, acting in that capacity, Goering suggested to King Fouad I of Egypt that Nefertiti would soon be back in Cairo.

But Hitler had other plans. Through the ambassador to Egypt, Eberhard von Stohrer, Hitler informed the Egyptian government that he was an ardent fan of Nefertiti: "I know this famous bust," the fuehrer wrote. "I have viewed it and marvelled at it many times. Nefertiti continually delights me. The bust is a unique masterpiece, an ornament, a true treasure!"

Hitler said Nefertiti had a place in his dreams of rebuilding Berlin and renaming it Germania.

"Do you know what I'm going to do one day? I'm going to build a new Egyptian museum in Berlin," Hitler went on. "I dream of it. Inside I will build a chamber, crowned by a large dome. In the middle, this wonder, Nefertiti, will be enthroned. I will never relinquish the head of the Queen."

However, at no time did he consider the bust an example of "Ayran" beauty, as the bust does not exhibit the proper "Ayran" features prized by the Nazis, to wit:



Translation: ""German bearing, German prowess, manifest Nordic racial heritage!"
HTH.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom