The WWII artwork, discovered in Herefordshire, was brought to War & Son military antique specialists.
Adolf Bock, a notable German maritime artist appointed professor by Hitler in 1944, created the oil painting.
It features a laurel wreath with a swastika floating in the North Sea.
The seascape resembles ‘Wreath in the North Sea in Memory of the Battle of Jutland’ by Claus Bergen, looted by British troops in 1945.
War & Son owner, Steve Nuwar, who researched the painting, said: “The story of this fascinating piece of art may never be fully uncovered.
“The ornate frame and elevated artist tells us it may have been hanging in some top German naval institution or office during the war.”
The painting was acquired by a Herefordshire-based collector in the Portsmouth area and is believed to have arrived in Britain via a Royal Navy ship at the war’s end.
Mr Nuwar added: “It has travelled via Southsea, Portsmouth to our shop here in Leominster, Herefordshire, and we are delighted to be able to ‘put it up in lights’ in our WWII-themed bunker for public viewing.”
He speculates that the piece “It is likely that it was a depiction of universal naval sacrifice, but by 1941, could have marked a significant German naval loss such as the sinking of the famous ‘Bismarck’.”
Where the painting was displayed in Nazi Germany remains unknown.
