Udo Jürgens: Bathrobe brings more than 26,000 euros at auction

At one of his legendary concerts, Udo Jürgens certainly did not carry this bathrobe, and yet the laundry piece released a hype at the auction of memorabilia of the legendary singer: 54 bids online at Sotheby’s before the bathrobe was auctioned for a whopping 26,400 euros. The auction initiated by Jürgens’ children John and Jenny brought a total of 1.7 million euros.

When the Sotheby’s auction house presented the bathrobe in Munich, which was now so successfully sold three weeks ago, there was a lot of subjunctive to hear: Udo Jürgens might have worn him that there could be signatures of the 2014 national football team. Franz Beckenbauer could have handed over the bathrobe to the singer who died surprisingly a few months later. In the end, the only vague information does not seem to have disturbed anyone-because the proceeds for the bathrobe from the legacy of Udo Jürgens were 176 times the lowest estimated price of 150 euros.

Is the auction of the total of 99 lots – this is how the offers of an auction are referred to, which can also consist of several objects – a great success? Or did Sotheby’s simply deliberately deeply stack deeply with the expected revenue? At 370,000 to 500,000 euros, the auction house had estimated the expected proceeds in advance, so the 1.7 million achieved are more than triple. For comparison: in 2022, a Sotheby’s auction of previous owners of Karl Lagerfeld brought the sevenfold of the expected with 4.2 million euros.

But at most John and Jenny Jürgens can now be disappointed with the yield. The singer’s successful fans at the auction of German hit classics such as “Greek wine” will be happy to have got memories of their idol. Especially an apparently solvent fan and collector from Austria: the man offered the glass wing of mold on which Udo Jürgens often played. After 35, he was awarded the contract for 240,000 euros.

A total of all 99 lots were sold in the online auction, regardless of whether silk pocket wipes or works collected by Udo Jürgens by Jean (Hans) Arp or Gustav Klimt. 3150 bids counted Sotheby’s in total on all pieces, on average more than eight bidders competed for each lot.

The auction statistics are representative of the most musically important place in the Austrian – half of all offers came from Germany, where he was also most successful. The bidders came from 23 different countries, in addition to the German-speaking neighbors Austria and Switzerland also from Great Britain, but also North and Central America or Australia.

Perhaps a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in the ESC-crazy Australia remembered the legendary appearances of Udo Jürgens in the music competition? With “Merci, Chérie” he was able to win for Austria in 1966.

Sotheby’s did not provide any information where the successful bidder for a helmet of Udo Jürgens comes from – although the object was extremely popular. The Luftwaffe took Jürgens in 1970 for his 36th birthday in a Bundeswehr Starfighter, as in his music career, Udo Jürgens was also on the road here at overs sound speed.

For the unique piece, the providers calculated with a revenue of 1000 to 2000 euros. After a betting bid at 59, it was offered at the end of 31,200 euros.

The auction’s money now goes to John and Jenny Jürgens. They want to send part of it to a foundation named after their father, according to Sotheby’s.