An incredible picture archive that charts the rise of Hitler believed to have been meticulously documented by a fan of the Fuhrer has emerged for sale.

The collection of propaganda photographs show Adolf Hitler on a charm offensive in the 1920s and 30s - before the despot started the Second World War and exterminated six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Some of the images try to show a rose-tinted version of the Nazi leader, with him feeding a small deer and accepting a bouquet from a young girl.

Others show the hype that surrounded him - rows of people performing the Nazi salute, a young boy beaming as Hitler signs an autograph for him and a group of girls giggling as they chat to the party leader.

The 400 pictures are accompanied by a handwritten notebook documenting what each picture shows. One page says: 'This tells you what the leader has done for his folk, from 1920 to 1936'. The owner of the unusually large collection is a mystery, but it is believed to have been compiled by a fan of the dictator.

One page has 'Adolf Hitler' written in a fancy scrawl at the top with a drawing of the eagle atop the swastika and the initials for the Nazi Party, NSDAP, written underneath.

Hitler became involved with the fledgling Nazi Party after the First World War and set the violent tone of the movement early by forming the Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary. This collection shows pictures of SA parades and marches.

He became chief of propaganda for the party in early 1920, engineered the name change to the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) and designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background - visible on flags and armbands in many of these photos.

After Hitler took control of the party in 1921, he named Heinrich Hoffman as his official photographer and his photos were a significant part of Hitler's propaganda campaign.