Sotheby's auctioned personal items from Udo Jürgens online from January 23 to 30, 2025. The famous pop singer died in Switzerland in 2014 at the age of 80.
His Plexiglas grand piano, bathrobes, suits and ties, pens, various music prizes and two cars were auctioned off.
The glass grand piano had accompanied Jürgens to many of his performances since the mid-1980s.
Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
The estimated prices of the memorabilia were already set relatively high, but after the last bid it became clear that Udo's artifacts fetched much more money than anyone had hoped for. The proceeds from all the auctioned items were more than three times as high as expected. A total of 1.7 million euros was raised.
240,000 euros for a grand piano made of Plexiglas
The grand piano, which made a grand entrance in 1983 in the song "Traumtänzer" in the icy cold on the Jungfraujoch, was estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 euros. However, after the final hammer blow, the bid for the instrument stood at 240,000 euros.
After the grand piano, the most successfully auctioned objects belonged to the singer's art collection. A sculpture by Jean (Hans) Arp fetched 192,000 euros, a watercolor by Gustav Klimt 168,000 euros.
There were also particularly high bids for two luxury cars. 42 bidders fought for the dark blue 2012 Mercedes-Benz R500. The 2007 Bentley Continental GTC Cabriolet fetched even more: 40 people drove up the price and the bid of 132,000 euros was ultimately accepted.
Great interest in the bathrobe
The greatest interest in the online auction was generated by a bathrobe with the signatures of German national football players. Sotheby's had estimated 150 to 200 euros for it - after 54 bids, the bathrobe actually fetched 26,400 euros, 176 times the lower estimate.
A pen and an ashtray are shown during the preview of the auction of personal items belonging to singer Udo Jürgens, who died in 2014.
Lukas Barth/dpa
The total proceeds of the auction amount to 1,718,330 euros, the money will be used for a good cause and will go to the Udo Jürgens Foundation, which the musician founded in 1999. Among other things, the foundation supports up-and-coming musicians and looks after children and orphans in need.
Since the end of the 1960s, Udo Jürgensen has played the encore of his concerts in his bathrobe. Jürgens, who was one of the most successful German-speaking musicians of all time, died on December 21, 2014. He made Switzerland his adopted home at the end of the 1970s and had held Swiss citizenship since 2007.