Hitler's personal telephone - used to dictate many of his deadly Second World War commands - has been sold at auction for £195,000.

The phone was described by the auction house as "Hitler's mobile device of destruction" and "the primary tool used by the most evil man in history".

Image: The Bakelite phone was originally black, before being painted bright red. Pic: Alexander Historical Auctions

The Siemens rotary Bakelite phone - originally black before being painted pillar-box red - features a swastika, an eagle and Adolf Hitler's name engraved onto the back.

The phone had been given to British officer Brigadier Ralph Rayner by occupying Russian officers when he visited Hitler's bunker in Berlin in 1945 following the regime's defeat.

Now more than 70 years old, the device - which must be rotated almost 60 degrees in order to release it from its cradle - was used by Hitler in vehicles and trains, as well as at his field headquarters.


Image: Hitler had a German Shepherd named Blondi who appeared with him in Nazi propaganda

The unnamed bidder placed his winning bid by phone.

At the same auction a porcelain figure of an Alsatian dog, also owned by Hitler, was sold to a different bidder for £19,500.

Hitler - who liked to portray himself as an animal lover - had a German Shepherd named Blondi who appeared alongside him in various forms of Nazi propaganda.