Albert Einstein’s first violin, hidden from the Nazis as he fled Germany, is expected to fetch up to £300,000 ($616,000 AUD) at auction in the UK on 8 October.

The 1894 Anton Zunterer violin is etched with the word ‘Lina’ – the name Einstein gave all of his violins and a supposed play on the German ‘violine’ – and will be auctioned off by Dominic Winter Auctioneers.

Einstein playing the violin. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Einstein started to play the violin at the age of five, and played throughout his teenage and adult life; this instrument is believed to be the first one he purchased. He bought it in 1894 in Munich, before he set off to study in Switzerland.

In 1932, as he prepared to flee Germany for the United States to escape Nazi persecution, Einstein entrusted the violin to his friend and colleague Max von Laue. He also gifted von Laue his bicycle saddle and a copy of an 1843 philosophy book on Descartes and Spinoza, which had been passed down to him by his father. All three items will be offered at the October auction.

Von Laue...