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Monday 23 August 2010

The Nazi Dog

The tombstone, bearing the inscription Giro: ein treuer Begleiter! (Giro: a true companion!) is reported to be the pet dog of Dr Leopold Hoesch, the German ambassador from 1932 until his untimely death in 1936.

The grave stands outside the former German embassy not far from Downing St.

13 comments:

PeterParis said...

Reading the biography of Leopold Hoesch, maybe Giro was not really a nazi?

Babzy.B said...

surprising ...

B SQUARED said...

Too bad he couldn't choose his owner.

Anna said...

An odd but interesting bit of history. Always my favorites of your posts.

Anonymous said...

And when the moon is full (now) he is up and howling.

The Londoneer said...

It shouldn't surprise you to know that a German Shepherd dog in Germany is just called a Shepherd dog, but do you know what breed a 'Deutsche Dogg' is? :)

Coco said...

I think he was a Rotweiller. My brother is a scotty but he wishes he was a rotweiller.

Kris McCracken said...

Given von Hoesch’s distaste for Hitler, where did the dog stand in relation to the annexation of the Sudetenland?

Konstantin said...

Von Hoesch was indeed the last ambassador of the Weimar Republic in London, He was opposed to Hitler and a well respected man. To call his dog a 'Nazi Dog' is, sorry, just completely wrong.

Anonymous said...

peccato che i cani non possono scegliere i padroni. ciao elisabetta

D.H. said...

Just follow the link to Wikipedia and you will find out that Hoesch was really not a Nazi. He got through the diplomatic ranks courtesy of Gustav Stresemann, who won the Nobel Peace Price for his work on German-French reconciliation after WW I. That's the opposite of what the Nazis had in mind!
Nice picture, though, a great discovery!

Anonymous said...

I love this picture. It's very old school. It's really pretty!

The Lone Beader® said...

Yikes. Poor dog. :(

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