Dundee’s Lost Tales – The Nazi Bust

A leftover from the Nazi dictatorship in Germany has found its way to Dundee.

And no, the owner of this unique bust of Adolf Hitler is certainly no Nazi sympathizer but someone with a passion for military history and political science. Recent newcomer to Dundee, Johann Hamman (and wife Michelle) have an interesting tale to tell.

His mother, Petra Hamman, was a teacher at a private German school in Windhoek, in the then South-West Africa. The school belonged to the German Government and during the Nazi period, like all other German Government institutions, was sent a bust and portrait of the Führer, Adolf Hitler from Berlin.

“The bust and portrait had to be displayed in a prominent place which is typical of a totalitarian state,” said Johann.
So the bust of Hitler was put on display at the school.
After World War II there was a flurry of activity to destroy any signs of Nazism. However, one of the teachers at the school decided to keep the bust. The teacher, who was later appointed principal, passed on the bust to Petra Hamman. “That was in the early 1970’s. The bust was kept in our house and I remember using it for pellet gun practice at one stage,” Johann said.

Petra later became Mayor of Windhoek and even met Queen Elizabeth II who visited Namibia in 1992. “My mum is still very interested in military history and certainly had no Nazi leanings.
When my parents retired to Swakopmund they asked me if I would like the bust and of course I said ‘yes’.”
When the Hammans arrived in Dundee, the bust came with them.
“It was probably mass produced in the 1930s by the Nazi state and could be one of only a few surviving such pieces.
It’s just an historical artifact…if I was given a bust of Marx or Engels I would put that up in my house too, he laughed.