An exhibition of Elvis memorabilia has opened in Bad Nauheim, near Frankfurt am Main, central Germany, the town where the King of Rock ’n’ Roll spent 17 months of his military service over 50 years ago. The exhibition includes personal instruments, clothes, records and scripts of the legendary singer.

Over the past 25 years, three Elvis fans from the German town of Gelsenkirchen – Oskar Hentschel, Adreas Schöeder and Michael Knorr – have collected what must be the largest privately owned Elvis memorablia collection outside the United States.

The entire collection of the Gelsenkirchen trio includes some 1,500 exhibits from all three decades of the artiste’s career – the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – as well as 2,000 original images and documents.

“Normally, the goods are located in bank vaults or in secret locations,” said Mr Hentschel, adding that, for those who want to take a little time, there is a lot to read and understand.

The exhibition also features the early life of the Presley family with two family Bibles dating back to 1872 and the diary Elvis Aaron’s mother kept when he was born in 1935.

The exhibition will run until August 16, allowing visitors of this year’s 10th European Elvis Festival – which takes place from August 12 to 14 in Bad Nauheim – to admire this extraordinary collection.