Columbus Globe for State and Industry Leaders The Columbus Globe for State and Industry Leaders ( also known as Hitler ' s Globe or the Führer Globe ) was a globe designed specifically for various Nazi leaders , including Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler . Two editions of the globe exist , the latter with Ethiopia replaced with Italian East Africa . Origin . Two editions of the globe were commissioned by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s , though the actual number of globes produced will never be verified as the factory that manufactured the globe , the Columbus factory , was destroyed in 1943 along with its archives . The globe was described as very large and very costly , with a wood base supporting it ; however , it does not appear in any official photographs of Hitler . Whereabouts . Numerous globes claiming to have been owned by Hitler exist throughout the world , although the authenticity of many of them is doubtful . There are three in Berlin : one at a geographical institute , another at the Märkisches Museum , and the third at the Deutsches Historisches Museum . Another two reside in public collections at Munich . Many of the globes show Germany with a bullet hole or simply wiped out , an act committed out of contempt by either Soviet or American soldiers . Based on photographic evidence , none of these globes , however , are from Hitler ' s office in the New Reich Chancellery , the one most iconic and the one that inspired Charlie Chaplin in " The Great Dictator " ( 1940 ) . It is known that Lavrentiy Beria did inspect the Chancellery after the fall of Berlin and it has been suggested that he may have taken a globe to his office in the KGB Headquarters at Lubyanka where it remains to this day . However , neither the KGB nor its successor the FSB have ever commented on this . In May 1945 , one globe allegedly owned by Hitler , and possibly the Columbus globe , albeit smaller , was found by an American soldier among the ruins of Hitler ' s " Eagle ' s Nest " , a command complex near the Bavarian Alps . The complex had been nearly completely looted by the time the soldier arrived ; save for one globe sitting on what he assumed was the dictator ' s desk . The soldier , John Barsamia , took the globe home and kept it for sixty years before selling it at an auction in San Francisco . Bob Pritikin , an entrepreneur from San Francisco , bought the globe at $ 100 , 000 , five times the original estimated price of $ 20 , 000 . Legacy . The globe is iconic as a representation of Adolf Hitler ' s megalomania . In both Charlie Chaplin ' s satirical film " The Great Dictator " ( 1940 ) , and in The Three Stooges " I ' ll Never Heil Again " sequel to their earlier short subject " You Nazty Spy ! " that satirized the Nazi leadership , " Hitler ' s Globe " is a focus for parody . In Chaplin ' s feature film , the globe ' s focus for parody occurred in an iconic scene where the globe is portrayed as a beachball that bursts in front of the dictator Adenoid Hynkel ' s face . Similarly , in " I ' ll Never Heil Again " , the " Axel " partners of Moronikan dictator " Moe Hailstone " play a game of " keep - away " with the globe , eventually with Hailstone ' s military commander " Field Marshal Herring " smashing the globe over Hailstone ' s head .