HANOVER, GERMANY.-From October 5-15, 2005, Sotheby's will hold an unprecedented sale of heirlooms belonging to the Royal House of Hanover. This spectacular event will be an important date in the calendar for art lovers and collectors throughout the world. No comparable auction has been held in continental Europe since Sotheby's held the Thurn und Taxis and Baden Baden sales in the 1990s. The sale will include more than 20,000 items divided into some 4,000 lots, each with an incomparable royal provenance, and is estimated to bring Є 12 million.

Dr. Philipp Herzog von Württemberg, Managing Director of Sotheby's Germany and Président Directeur General of Sotheby's France, said: "The works of art from the Hanover collection provide an insight into the historically relevant past generations' ways of living and offer wonderful documents of the family history. We are very pleased that Prince Ernst-August of Hanover and Dr. Christoph Graf Douglas have commissioned us to this unprecedented auction and are glad to support a young generation in saving and preserving their cultural and family heritage."

The art advisor Dr. Christoph Graf Douglas (Frankfurt/Main), who had been asked by the prince last year to disperse the large quantity of objects, underlines that he has informed in due time the ministry of culture in Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) and an intensive dialogue has occurred: "As a matter of course the important neo gothic inventory of Schloss Marienburg and all objects from the property of the House of Hanover which are on the list of valuable national treasure will not be offered for sale."

The autumn sale at the fairytale Schloss Marienburg will include glass and porcelain, silver, arms and armour, paintings and furnishings, all have belonged to Kings and Princes of England and Hanover and date from the 16th to the 19th centuries, including property which belonged to all five Kings of England, from King George I to King William IV. All works of art have been stored at Marienburg for a number of decades. The fairytale castle with its dramatic turrets and battlements, is as romantic as Ludwig II of Bavaria's Neuschwanstein and its history is as poignant.

In 1857, the blind King George V of Hanover gave the land and building plans as a birthday gift to his wife, Queen Marie. Before it could be finished, Queen Marie moved from Schloss Herrenhausen into her private castle (Schloss Marienburg) due to the Prussian Occupation in 1866. In the following time, Schloss Marienburg turned into a center of political agitation, and Queen Marie followed her husband King George V into exile in Austria. They never returned to Schloss Marienburg. As private property, the castle was inherited by her descendants. Since Schloss Marienburg has not been availed as a residence, the contents of many properties were stored there.

From vault to attic, the castle was crammed with cupboards lined with glassware and dinner services in orderly ranks, trunks overflowing with uniforms and liveries, baize-lined cases filled with fabulous table silver, a complete armoury, a thicket of walking sticks, stacks of prints and drawings and all the impedimenta of an abandoned kingdom. Not only were these objects fit for a king, they had indeed belonged to electors, princes and kings.

Now Sotheby's, together with Dr. Christoph Graf Douglas Kunstberatung, Frankfurt, is to help with the dispersal of these royal possessions. This will be an unprecedented occasion in an unbelievably beautiful setting. Proceeds of the sale will flow in the existing family foundation with the mission of preserving the cultural asset of the family in Germany. Schloss Marienburg and the Royal House in Hanover-Herrenhausen will both remain open to the public.

Old Master Paintings - The collection of Old Master Paintings in the sale, about 700 in total, was formed over a period of 300 years and clearly reflects the changes of taste and fashion over this period. As with many great princely collections, it predominantly consists of portraits although other genres of paintings are well represented and range from altarpieces to still lifes, and from religious and historical scenes to landscapes and genre scenes.

The portraits chart the fortunes of the House of Hanover from their very beginnings in the Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg with a late 15th century portrait of a gentleman by Michael Ostendorfer (1490-1559) (estimated Є 60,000-80,000) and an early 17th century portrait of Philip Sigismund, Bishop of Osnabruck (1591-1623) (estimated € 4,000-6,000) through to the Napoleonic wars.

The collection of portraits clearly illustrated the powerful alliances the Hanoverian family forged with the other leading families of Europe including the Russian, Danish, and Prussian royal families, and which were immortalised on the walls of Marienburg. But when the daughter of King James I of England, Elizabeth Stuart known as the 'Winterqueen' (1596-1662), married Frederick V of Bohemia she was to provide the circumstances for the most important alliance the House of Hanover ever made, which would lead to the crown of the British Isles being assumed by her grandson. In the meantime during her exile at the Dutch court in The Hague she and her family formed strong links with the painter Gerrit van Honthorst, and sat for him and his studio on several occasions. Included in this sale will be a portrait by Gerrit van Honthorst and Studio of Elizabeth (pictured right, estimated: Є 20.000-30.000), and a portrait of Frederick V in full armour (estimated: Є 4,000-6,000), as well as portraits of all their children, estimates ranging from Є 10.000 and 15.000. It was this relationship with Honthorst which may have provoked their sixth child 'Louise Hollandine' (1622-1709) to enter the studio of Honthorst and eventually to become a notable painter in her own right. Indeed autograph works by her hand will be sold in this sale including a self-portrait as a nun, shortly after she became the Abbess of Maubisson.

When Ernest August, Elector of Hanover (1629-1737), married Sophia (1630-1714), daughter of Elisabeth Stuart, he ensured the House of Hanover's position on the throne through the terms of the Act of Settlement (1701) and led to his son George Louis becoming the King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714, initiating the House of Hanover as the ruling family of both states. The sale will include portraits of George I of England as well as several full length portraits and other portraits of their children, Princes Georg, Karl Phillip and Maximillian, some painted by Jaques Vaillant, known as 'Leeuwerick' (1625- 1691) (estimates range from € 6.000 to 8.000). There will also be a fine selection of portraits of the English and Hanoverian royal family, including one exceptional painting of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York, by Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) (estimated € 80,000-120,000).

Other paintings in the collection include by Nicol™ Bambini (1652-1736) (estimated € 15,000-20,000), Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746) (estimated Є 20,000-30,000), Constantin Netscher (1669-1723) (estimated € 3,000-5,000), Jan Wouwerman (1629-1666) (estimated € 3,000-5,000), as well as a fine collection of decorative pictures including works by a follower of Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) (estimated € 15,000-20,000), two large mythical scenes after Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) (estimated € 15,000-18,000), a late fourteenth century altarpiece from the Upper-Rhine (estimate: € 8.000-12.000) and a very interesting altarpiece from the School of Cranach (estimated; € 30,000-40,000).

Nearly all of the paintings have been stored at Marienburg for more than 100 years and few have been relined, restored and retouched. Therefore, the auction will be a true delight for both collectors and dealers, as there are many treasures to be found.