Chapter 9: PERSONALITY CUTLERY - The Collector’S Guide to 3Rd Reich Tableware (Monograms, Logos, Maker Marks Plus History): The Metal Tableware Edition (2024)

PERSONALITY CUTLERY

PS-1 Hitler, Adolf “Formal” Pattern

(1889-1945)

Tea spoon: Teeloffel: Obverse carries Hitler’s personal eagle with static swastika straddled with A & H.. Reverse carries Reichsmark / RM, 800 and Bruckmann’s Prussian eagle.

This is the most recognizable and available, likewise the most sought after of the Hitler memorabilia. As per Billy Price’s, Hitler, the Unknown Artist “it is well known that the Fuhrer had personally designed these formal pieces featuring the “Fuhrer Adler” (the Leaders Eagle) with “A” and “H” to either side of the wreathed, static swastika in its talons.” Much of Hitler’s silver flatware was manufactured by the firm of P. Bruckmann & Sohne of Heilbronn an ancient town on the Neckar River in Wurttemberg. Bruckmann, (1805-1973), was one of the leading silver manufacturers in Germany. As a gift for Hitler’s 50th birthday on 20 April 1939, Bruckmann presented some 3,000 pieces made up of six complete sets of 500 pieces, one set each for his ‘Berghof’ (Mountain Home), the Obersalzberg guest house and the ‘Adlerhorst’ (the Eagles Nest) nearby; the Nazi Party’s ‘Braune Haus’ (Brown House) in Munich; his Prinzregertenplatz apartment in Munich and the ‘Reichschancellery’ Chancellery in Berlin. The tableware, needing to be harder and more durable, were made of .800 silver while the matching service pieces were made of .925 silver. The state formal pattern has a Greek Key “Meander” pattern, (representing the Greek river Meander as Hitler was an admirer of ancient Greece). Design assistance is sometimes attributed to Frau Professor and Architect Gerdy Troost (wife of Hitler’s foremost architect-Paul Ludwig Troost) in any case, Hitler oversaw the effort.

Measures: 1 3/4” H X 1 5/ 8” Diameter.

PS-2 Hitler’s Napkin Ring (Serviettenring)

In Hitler’s State ‘Formal’ (Bruckmann) pattern. The upper and lower edges have a border in a Greek Key geometric “Meander” pattern attributed to Frau Professor Gerdy Troost. Hall marked with the Reichsmark composed of a crescent moon and a crown mark indicating silver made in Germany, followed by the silver content of 925 (sterling) and then a spread eagle (Maker Mark of Bruckmann of Heilbronn). This napkin ring reportedly from the Obersalzberg residence near Bertesgaden in the Alps via a 101st Airborne veteran.

Hitler Trivia: His uniforms are divided into 3 periods / styles:

1. Kampfzeit: The brown shirt with Sam Brown

cross belt 1920’s-1933

2. Statesman: Fine brown tunic with white

shirt 1933-1939

3. Victory or Death: Field Gray tunic and white

shirt 1939-1945 (with SS sleeve eagle in Gold)

(Kampfzeit = Period of struggle) or

(Der Kampfseit = The Struggle for Power)

PS-3

L = 185 mm / 7 5/16”

Note: There is a very shallow scratch across the otherwise smooth breast.

PS-3 Hitler’s “Informal”

Dinner spoon: Obverse with Fuhrer Adler (the Leader’s Eagle). Reverse with RM, 800 and Bruckmann’s MM.

Fellow collector (Br.) James tee*ts BSG, Canon was the provocateur that pushed me into adding this last piece to my collection, even though it remains a mystery as to why it was created, where it was used and the quantity fielded. Various guesses include a projected quantity of 1,000, It is thought to have been possibly used as a “luncheon” pattern, The origin of the terms “formal” and “informal’ is also unknown. From James tee*ts again, “German sources indicate that there was no such thing as formal or informal and that the difference in patterns was to distinguish services belonging to one dining room or another.” The terms ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ have been retained, despite their inaccuracy, due to widespread collector acceptance.

My analysis, based on my research, is that this treatment of the Fuehrer Eagle came as a complete surprise to Hitler although the two presentations (formal and informal) were fielded in the same time frame of his 50th birthday. The ‘informal’ was purchased for his 50th birthday and fielded to the Eagles Nest under the coordination of Bormann who would have been well aware of the Bruckmann “formal” present and who took the opportunity to have a complimentary, simplified tableware present at the Eagles Nest for Hitler’s arrival. Original quantity 854. More details in the appendix.

Note: Although the eagle is identical to the ‘formal’ eagle, it has no detail and gives the appearance of being worn until the swastika and AH are noted.

PS-4

L = 148 mm / 5 13/16”

PS-4 Hitler’s Curved

Teaspoon: Obverse with curved AH monogram. Reverse with ‘Reichsmark’ RM, 800 and the maker’s mark of Lutz & Weiss of Pforzheim, founded 1882. (a stylized L over W inside a shield)

The curved monogram was also used on his crystal ware in the Obersalzberg area. Distinctive and unique to the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat in the Alps per Mark D. Griffith’s Liberated-Adolf Hitler Memorabilia, published 1985, page 14. “The ‘AH’ is side by side with outer edges curved convex (outward). The top centers of the letters form a peak in the middle and the bottoms of the letters are proportionally indented. This spoon has the “flattop A” and is executed in 4 strokes, one for the convex outer side, one for the interior vertical, one for the top of the A and one for the middle. The H is virtually a mirror image of the “A” without the top stroke and is executed in three strokes.”

PS-5 L = 139 mm / 5 1/2”

PS-5 Hitler’s Runic

Teaspoon: Obverse monogram; A over H, struck on the center-wave of five from 1/ 2 of length, terminated with 41 dots pattern. Reverse. Maker mark of a W over MF (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Geislingen 1853 to the present) and 90.

Note: Hitler’s complimentary silver service pieces and heavier items such as coffee & tea services, trays, coasters, gravy boats, etc. typically came from August Wellner & Sohne, of Aue (1854-1992) Germany’s other leading silver manufacturer. Hitler’s silverware patterns have the following observed characteristics, in general: they are relatively plain and utilitarian, symmetrical, well balanced, and display very little-if any-ornamentation.

Fact: Hitler became a millionaire in 1931. On his 1933 tax return he declared an income of 1,232,335 Reichmark, subsequently he arranged to have himself exempted from taxes for life. By 1944, some 12.5 million copies of Mein Kampf had been printed with royalties to Hitler. He also collected royalties on the use of his likeness on postage stamps making him very wealthy. In 2000, his assets, still held by the Bavarian State were estimated to be worth $ 22 million.

Hitler trivia: His favorite part of the meal was desert. He relished cakes, pies and ice cream with strawberries drowned in mounds of whipped cream. He drowned his coffee and tea with sugar and cream. He favored Fachingen Heilwasser mineral water which is still available in Germany and is not to my taste!

PS-6

L = 134 mm / 5 1/4”

PS-6 Hitler’s Block / Alpacca*

Teaspoon: Obverse: Block A over H with triple raised ribs on front, 3 pair of matched ribbons. Reverse: Wellner with their trade mark elephant over ‘alpacca’.

Although he was originally party member number 55, to make the party appear larger than it actually was, his membership number was registered as 555. Later after he had assumed control, he gave himself party number 7 to appear as a founder and mentioned same at the 1934 Nurnberg party meeting.

Alpacca Silver-Also known in English as German Silver or Nickel Silver and in French as Maillechort is an alloy composed of nickel, copper and zinc-contains NO silver. The Alpacca alloy was created in 1823 by the German chemist Dr. Ernst August Geitner (1783-1852). It is very similar in its appearance to silver, but significantly cheaper. This new alloy was first called “Argentan”, French for nickel silver. It consisted of 20% nickel, 55% copper and 25% zinc. The new silver-imitating alloy soon became very popular. The Gebrueder Henninger (Henninger Bros.) proposed a similar alloy (5-30% nickel, 45-70% copper and 8-45% zinc with trace amounts of lead, tin and iron) which they called “Neusilber”. Later both Argentan and Neusilber were used under the trade name of Alpacca (or Alpakka). The great advantage of the use of Alpacca alloy as the base metal for silver plating is that the appearance of the objects does not change significantly with the wearing away of the silver layer. Wellner’s Alpaca formulation: Copper 65%, Zinc 23% and Nickel 12%.

Note: the French term Argenta indicates silver plated. Trivia: The SS used Alpacca at many of its facilities and this service may have been a gift from the SS or to be used at SS functions.

PS-7

L = 210 mm / 8 5/16”

PS-7 Hitler’s Curved Linked Pointed A

Master Butter Knife. Obverse with outlined curved linked ‘AH” with pointed ‘A’ above and linked to the “H”. Obverse with “Die” icon with ‘4’ showing, Wellner, 90 and the per piece gram weight of silver of 30 (see pp 475 for complete explanation). Compare this monogram’s style with Speer’s PS-16.

This monogram also appears on cutlery supplied by BSF, Gebrueder Reiner and M. H. Wilkens although all manufacturers have their own patterns, the monograms are identical. This is the first time I have seen multiple sources using the same monogram (See V-196 to V-200). Even more interesting is the fact that Wellner has three patterns. Note: Some sources have attributed this style to Adolf Hitler’s trains.

Obviously, Adolf Hitler had a number of specially engraved monogram patterns. The Curved separated flat top (PS-4) monogram is also seen on some of his glassware and several of AH’s cufflinks as is the ‘pointed’ top version. The “Runic” ‘A over H’ pattern (PS-5) was reportedly prevalent in the Obersalzberg at the Berghof. The Outline ‘AH’ Pattern (PS-6) was machine impressed by Wellner and seen in silver from the Reichskanzlei in Berlin, and other government locations. The same monogram was also hand engraved and noted on sets made by Berndorf Krupp recovered from the Obersalzberg in 1945.

See ‘Hitler’s Favorite?’ at the end of the book pp 480.

PS-8

L = 142 mm / 5 10/16”

PS-8 Braun, Eva

(1912-1945)

Teaspoon: Obverse in high relief, asymmetrical Baroque pattern, with the engraved ‘EB’ butterfly pattern monogram. Reverse carries the maker mark: 46 Jurst 50. Jurst was a high end, luxury jewelry shop in Berlin and in this case, a designer/retailer. Actual manufacturer remains unknown The EB Butterfly monogram was designed by Albert Speer, perhaps her best friend and closest confidant while at the Obersalzberg.

In the 16 years of the Braun-Hitler relationship, Eva, spent the last ten years of her life virtually sequestered in the Berghof where Hitler provided everything for her. He even assigned her the monetary rights to some of his photos, taken by Hoffmann, which made her financially independent.

Two of her surviving quotes from 1945-”I want to be a beautiful corpse” and after the wedding, “You may safely call me Frau Hitler.”

She practiced Yoga.

PS-9

L = 212 mm / 8 3/8”

PS-9 Braun, Eva

Iced Tea Spoon (Limonadeloffel): Obverse carries the “EB” butterfly monogram, a very plain symmetrical design with single line engraving. Reverse carries the maker mark: ‘EKA’ of Otto Kaltenbach, Nagold and silver plate of ‘90-1 1/4’.

Per Albert Speer, “Eva Braun especially delighted in showing off her new patterns at any opportunity, frequently using a different pattern at each place of the table and asking her guests which patterns they preferred.”

Braun Trivia: She was 23 years Hitler’s junior and first met him when she was 17 in 1929. For my movie buffs, Loren Bacall was 17 when she met Humphrey Bogart.

PS-10 L = 137 mm / 5 7/8”

PS-10 Goering, Hermann

(1893-1946)

Teaspoon: Obverse with the Goering Coat-of-Arms, a right arm raised, facing right, grasping a ring. Pattern: Triple raised ribs, both sides, front and rear wheat pattern. Reverse: 800, RM and the torch of Bremer Silberwarenfabrik 1905-1981 and KOPPEN. This Goring coat of arms logo is called the ‘un-ribbed’ variant.

From Charles Hamilton’s “Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich”-Reich Marshal and Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, Prime Minister of Prussia, Goering began his career as a fighter pilot in WWI and scored 22 kills, received the Pour le Merite, and was the last commander of Richthofen’s squadron. In 1922 he joined the Nazi party and in 1923 was wounded in the unsuccessful Beer-Hall Putsch. After three years of exile in Sweden (Goering was later to talk Hitler out of invading this nation which gave him sanctuary), he returned to Germany and was one of the first Nazis elected to the Reichstag. On August 30 1932 he became president of the Reichstag.

He now focused on building up the Nazi police state, established the first concentration camps, and made Himmler chief of the Gestapo. By 1933, Goering was the second man in Germany and in 1935 was appointed by Hitler to command the Luftwaffe.

Luftwaffe failures in the Battle of Britain and the supply of Stalingrad cost Goering his standing with Hitler. He was semi retired for the last 2 years of the war. Tried at Nuremberg, found guilty-swallowed poison the morning of the execution 15Oct1946.

PS-11 L = 214 mm / 8 3/8”

PS-11 Goering Ribbed

Master Butter Knife: Obverse carries the Goering ‘ribbed’ Coat-of-Arms. Reverse 800, RM, HULSE. Hulse was a high end, luxury jewelry shop in Berlin.

With four stately homes: Carin Hall, two castles, Mauterndorf and Veldenstein and his palace in the Leipziger Platz plus the hunting lodge at Rominten Goering had literally dozens of sets of silver and thousands of individual pieces of Besteck (cutlery). He was given sets from France, England and numerous German districts. The Reichsmarschal did not favor Hitler’s Wellner or Bruckmann but was partial to others such as Hulse. In the early years of Nazi power, Goering was the chief procurement officer of the military, the leader of the four-year plan, director of the 700,000 workers in the Goering Works (see M-167) and for all intents and purposes-a Head of State.

It was Goering who fined the German Jewish community a billion marks and ordered the elimination of Jews from the German economy, the ‘Aryanization’ of their property and businesses.

On Goering’s 45th birthday-12 Jan 1938, He accepted an exquisite Serves centerpiece from all the workers in his Four-Year Plan, who, at Goering’s behest and most cheerfully he was sure, had received their last month’s salaries deducted of 5% for the purchase of the gift.

Note: Master Butter knives are scarce as they are meant to sit in the middle of the table or near the butter dish for cutting the butter and is passed around the table with the butter dish. Thus, only one to a table!

PS-12 L = 145 mm / 5 11/16”

PS-12 Goering Reichsmarshall

Teaspoon: The obverse carries his Reichsmarshall Coat of Arms: recessed rib, both sides, full length of handle. Reverse: RM, 800 unidentified hallmark. This Monogram is the Type 3 Reichsmarschall Eagle (5 wing feathers).

Goring Trivia: As Reich Minister of the Hunt, he outlawed: Horse-and-hound hunting, shooting from cars, claw and wire traps, artificial lights to attract quarry and the issuance of hunting licenses to poor marksman. On the other hand, he Introduced American raccoons into Europe’s forests.

As Reich Forestry Minister, lighting cigarettes in a forest area was punishable by jail. Pushed scientific research to come up with a spray to do away with parasitic grubs. Passed special laws to protect endangered ferns, bushes and trees. Put irrigation schemes into effect. Had planted green recreational belts around industrial cities. Had 1,000 square miles of new trees planted from the Baltic to Austria. Created jobs for hundreds of thousands of unemployed building hutments and barracks, making roads, digging dikes, learning woodcraft and lumbering.

He favored a blue pencil for signing orders and documents,

Goering Trivia: He famously stated that, “I intend to plunder, and to do it thoroughly.”

His IQ was 138!

PS-13 L = 141 mm / 5 1/2”

PS-13 Himmler, Heinrich

(1900-1945)

Teaspoon: Obverse with the runic HH Monogram in block letters. Smooth art deco with raised rib, full length of handle. Reverse: Maker Mark: B (Bruckmann), a locomotive engine and 90 indicating silver plate.

Reichsfuhrer-SS / RfSS, Head of the Gestapo and the Waffen-SS and later Minister of Interior from 1943 to 1945. After Hitler, the most powerful man in Nazi Germany during 1944 & 1945.

As a leading Nazis vegetarian, Himmler launched programs to stop the SS from eating artificial honey, was against food companies using refined flour and white sugar and banned cigarettes in the Allgemeine-SS based on Nazi medical research in the early 1930’s linking both cigarettes and asbestos to lung cancer. Interestingly, the Schwarzes Corps sold tobacco during the Kampfzeit period to raise money.

Trivia: Himmler’s private trains: His Feldkommandostab RfSS (Field HQ of the Rf-SS) was organized like a military Hq and accompanied Himmler on his numerous tours. His first, named “Sonderzug Heinrich” had fourteen carriages to accommodate his staff, attached SS units including signals section, escort battalion and flak detachment, reportedly, at times up to 3,000 men accompanied the chief on his tours.. Later names were Steiermark and in 1944, temporarily named Transport 44.

PS-14 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

PS-14 Himmler

Teaspoon: Obverse with HH, a hand engraved script monogram of partially intertwined, vertical HH. Triple raised ribs on front only, Reverse with raised plain rib, Ostrich (emu?) in diamond cartouche with maker mark of ‘WMF 18’ (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Geislingen founded in 1853 as the result of the merger of Schweizer and A. Ritter & Co. and still in operation ).

Trivia-This failed chicken farmer actually received a diploma in agricultural chemistry from Munich Technical in 1922. His Nazi party number: 14,303. He joined the SS in 1925 with a membership number of 168. He held Blood Order #3.

During the 1930’s, he is quoted. “I’m Party member number 2.” ie after Hitler!

In 1934, Kurt Daluege, leader of SS-Gruppe Ost, refused to deal with “that Bavarian chicken breeder Himmler.”

Himmler required medicinal herb gardens at all concentration camps for inmate herbal remedies, his wife being a qualified hom*oeopath.

Himmler favored a green pencil for signing orders and documents, green ink being a prerogative of government ministers.

PS-15 L = 140 mm / 5 1/2”

PS-15 Speer, Albert

(1905-1981)

Teaspoon: Obverse with intertwined ‘AS’: Reverse: Wellner trade mark ‘die’ ‘WELLNER’ ‘60’ in a circle and unreadable gram weight of silver number in a square. He personally designed the monogram of the Intertwined, block AS.

As Hitler’s architect he designed and supervised the construction of both the new Reich Chancellery in Berlin (arguably the most profound statement of ‘NAZI” architecture and referred to as the most beautiful building ever built) and the Party palace in Nuremberg. Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production from February 1942 to 1945. On 1 November 1944, Speer instituted the Notprogramm (emergency program) virtually halting all aircraft manufacture except that of jets and single engine fighters. He reorganized war production and in spite of massive allied bombing attacks raised 1941 production.

Germany manufactured 1941 1944

Tanks 3,790 19,002

Aircraft 11,776 39,807

Heavy Guns 11,200 70,700

Also In 1944, produced more aluminum, synthetic rubber and coal. Slightly less synthetic oil as well as raising overall fighter aircraft production to 3,000 a month. FW-190’s reaching 1,000 per month with some 20,000+ having been produced. Speer’s efforts probably prolonging the war by at least 2 years.

His NAZI party number was 474,481 and his IQ was 128. He favored a red pencil for signing orders and documents,

PS-16 L = 181 mm / 7 1/8”

PS-16 Speer, Albert

Tablespoon: Obverse carries stylishly engraved ‘A’ over ‘S’. Reverse with RM, 800 and maker mark of ‘HTB” for Hanseatishe Silberwarenfabrik, Bremen.

Speer supported the German invasion of Poland and the subsequent war though he recognized that it would lead to the postponement, at the least, of his architectural dreams. In his later years, Speer, talking with his biographer-to-be Gitta Sereny, explained how he felt in 1939: “Of course I was perfectly aware that [Hitler] sought world domination … At that time I asked for nothing better. That was the whole point of my buildings. They would have looked grotesque if Hitler had sat still in Germany. All I wanted was for this great man to dominate the globe.”

Speer placed his department at the disposal of the Wehrmacht. When Hitler remonstrated, and said it was not for Speer to decide how his workers should be used, Speer simply ignored him. Among Speer’s innovations were quick-reaction squads to construct roads or clear away debris; before long, these units would be used to clear bomb sites developing a considerable organization to deal with this work.

In 1940, Joseph Stalin proposed that Speer pay a visit to Moscow. Stalin wished to meet the “Architect of the Reich”. Hitler, alternating between amusem*nt and anger, did not allow Speer to go, fearing that Stalin would put Speer in a “rat hole” until a new Moscow arose. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Speer came to doubt, despite Hitler’s reassurances, that his projects for Berlin would ever be completed.

PS-17 L = 143 mm / 5 5/8”

PS-17 Weiding, Helmut

(1891-1955)

(General of the Artillery-2nd highest regular Army rank)

Teaspoon: The obverse carries his personal pattern of ‘HW’. The HW monogram has the letters intertwined and outlined in block style. Reverse maker marked: ‘die-4 & 2 showing, ‘”Wellner” and plating mark of ‘90’ and the gram silver weight number of ‘21’

In 1944 he was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. In 1945, he was appointed defense commandant of Berlin and the General in Command of the LXI Panzer Group. The Soviet forces under Marshall Zukhov had 2,500,000 troops, 6,000 tanks and 40,000 artillery pieces facing 300,000 men, many of them Hitler Youth down to the age of 12! The Soviets lost 400,000+ vs 300,000 German civilian and military casualties. He surrendered Berlin on 2 May 1945, was captured by the Soviets, condemned to 25 years in prison and died in Russian captivity in 1955.

During the Battle of Berlin, The Reich Youth Leader (Reichsjugenfuhrer), Artur Axmann formed the HJ into a major part of the defense commencing at the Seelow Heights. General Weidling ordered Axmann to disband the HJ combat formations but in all the confusion his order was never carried out. During the April 1945 defense of Berlin, General Weiding is quoted regarding the use of Hitler Youth, “You cannot sacrifice these children for a cause that is already lost.”

PS-18T L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

PS-18 Rust, Bernard

(1883-1945)

Tablespoon & Demitasse spoon: ‘Dh’ for Deutsche-Hochschule, short-form for German Higher Education. This is his Ministry’s official state pattern. Table spoon has an unmarked obverse while the “DH” below the national eagle appears on the reverse of the spoon. Maker Marked: BR. HENNEBERG BM, a scale in a circle followed by ‘90’ in a square.

Prior to WWI, he was a senior master at a secondary school. A WWI Lieutenant, he suffered a serious head wound, receiving the Iron Cross 1st class. During April 1934 he was appointed Reich Minister of Science, Education and Popular Culture till 1945. Purged all Jews from the universities. Dismissed over 1,000 professors including a number of Nobel Prize winners thus hindering German science studies. Rust reported that he had “liquidated the school as an institution of intellectual acrobatics.” Committed suicide on 8 May 1945 by gunshot.

PS-19D L = 109 mm / 4 5/16”

PS-19 cont. Rust, Bernard

Small silver demitasse spoon (Moccaloffel) marked “Dh” below the national eagle on the obverse. Dh for “Deutsche-Hochschule” or German Higher Education, his official state pattern. Maker marked on the reverse: ‘Br Henneberg BM’ a scale in a circle, and ‘90’ in a square.

Among the Nobel prize winners he had dismissed were Albert Einstein, James Franck-Physics, Fritz Haber-Chemistry, Otto Warburg-Medicine and Otto Meyerhof-Medicine. His comment, “We must have a new Aryan generation at the universities, or else we will lose the future.”

Special note regarding Fritz Haber: The world was facing an agricultural catastrophe with the impending exhaustion of natural nitrate fertilizer (required for the production of wheat) primarily the 2.5M tons of bird droppings annually exported from Chile at a price of $45 per ton employing 60,000 workers. Haber’s process for synthesizing ammonia created an endless supply of nitrates with the result that by 1934, Chile was exporting only 800,000 tons from 14,133 workers at $ 19 per ton! and the World’s production of wheat was assured.

Note: One dealer ascribed the ‘Dh’ monogram to the Deutscher Hof Hotel although most hotels mark their full name on their cutlery as on the Hotel Deutscher Hof master butter knife M-169 and the Der Deutsche Hof salad fork M-170.

PS-20 L = 216 mm / 8 1/2”

PS-20 Ley, Dr. Robert

(1890-1945)

Tablespoon: ‘DAF’ for Deutsche Arbeitsfront-German Labour Front, owned by DAF leader Dr. Robert Ley and carries his Ministry’s official state pattern on the obverse. Other patterns: Beaded ribs. both sides, front and back, the length of the handle. Maker marked: a Die in a circle, “WELLNER”, “90” in a circle, “45” in a square. By far, much more rare than Hitler’s flatware pieces.

With the 10 May 1933 founding of DAF, through the ‘coordination’ (gleichschaltung) of all trade unions, DAF with 25 Million members was composed of all trade unions, corporate and professional associations and might better be translated as “Work Force” since the organization included both employers and employees. This accomplished Hitler’s direction for “all who create with head and hand” to be under a single Nazi controller. He also headed the Kraft Durch Freude-’Strength through Joy’ & the Volkswagen factory (no VW’s were ever delivered). The DAF emblem was a cogged wheel (Zahnrad) with 14 teeth encompassing a mobile swastika. Dr. Ley commented on the trade unions, “Ideologically speaking, the class war was anchored in the trade unions. and the trade unions lived off this.” Dr. Ley committed suicide on 24 October 1945.

Note: A sub organization of DAF, the SdA-Schonheit der Arbeit (Beauty of Labor) which was established in 1934 and headed by Albert Speer, supplied canteens with flatware and cutlery. Initial production was of minimal quality reflecting the general poor economic conditions. The Farben spoon OG-50 exhibits the early period. Later cutlery exhibit better material and much better appearance.

Nicknamed: “Reich Drunk Master.”

PS-21 L = 224 mm / 8 13/16”

PS-21 Kaltenbrunner, Dr. Ernst

(1903-1946)

Ice tea / parfait spoon: The obverse carries his personal ‘EK’ monogram, double lined with highlights between. Front and back symmetrical with 3 flowers straddling the initials. Maker marked: ‘AWS’ in a square box (August Wellner & Sohne), Wellner, an elephant, ‘100’ silver plate in a circle and ‘24’ silver gram weight in a square box. The AWS maker mark was used by Wellner from 1928 to 1938.

A lawyer and fanatical Austrian Nazi with an IQ of 113, he along with Seyes-Inquart (IQ 141) were the leaders of the Austrian SS from 1934, prior to Anschluss in 1938. In January 1943 he became the 2nd and last Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, (RSHA) succeeding Heydrich with a rank of SS-Obergruppenfuhrer, equivalent to a U.S. Army rank of Lt. General (3 stars). Under his tireless direction, the RSHA was responsible for hunting down and exterminating several million civilians, primarily Jews in the East. Hanged in Nuremberg on 16 October 1946.

Nicknamed “The Callous Ox”. NAZI party number 300,179.

PS-22 L = 213 mm / 8 7/16”

PS-22 Sauckel, Fritz

(1894-1946)

Tablespoon: obverse carries his State pattern of the ‘Thuringian Eagle’, with its broken wing. Maker marked: “Bruckmann 90” on the reverse.

As the General Plenipotentiary for the Distribution of Labour (Generalbevollmachtigter fur den Arbeitseinsatz), 1942-1945 he was responsible for directing the deportation of some 5 million slave laborers from the occupied territories, primarily Poland, Ukraine and other eastern countries, to work in German war related industries. With an IQ of 118, he rose from Thuringia’s district manager in 1925 to Governor in 1933. He was also both an honorary SA and SS General. At Nuremberg he was “shocked in his innermost soul” to find out about the Nazi atrocities. His most remembered defense, “just following orders”.

Trivia: Sauckel’s worker quotas were set by Albert Speer. Speer’s labor shortage was primarily due to the prohibition on using German women in industrial jobs. During the Nuremberg trial in 1946 Sauckel pointed at Albert Speer and said, “There is a man you should hang.” Speer was sentenced to 20 years. Sauckel was hanged on 16 Oct 1946.

PS-23 L = 214 mm / 8 7/16”

PS-23 Frank, Dr. Hans

(1900-1946)

Serving spoon: Obverse carries the personal engraved pattern of the Governor-General of Poland, Hans Frank. The pattern is by T. H. STRUBE & SOHN, (the firm Strube & Son, was active in Leipzig, Germany from 1819 until WWII. Although the firm did manufacture silver in the 19th century, by the time this piece was made they were primarily luxury retailers) with the maker mark of Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen, founded 1929, 800, RM. The monogram is an elaborate engraved “F”. The back is also embellished.

With an IQ of 130, he was the Nazi Party’s leading jurist and Governor General of Poland. Prior to 1933, as Hitler’s lawyer, he successfully defended Hitler in several hundred actions and afterwards become Reich Minister of Justice. Out of favor with Hitler, he was sent to Poland in 1939 as punishment, where he earned the unofficial title of ‘Slayer of Poles’. Hitler’s direction to Frank, “The task which I give you is a devilish one, other people to who territories are entrusted would ask, ‘What will you construct?’ I shall ask the opposite.” In October 1939 Frank said, “The Poles shall be the slaves of the German Reich.” and in 1944, “I have not hesitated to declare that when a German is shot, up to 100 Poles shall be shot too.” In 1939, there were some 3 million Jews in Poland. Hanged as a war criminal in Nuremberg 16 Oct 1946.

At Nuremberg in 1946, Speer commented that, “As for Frank, he is a little wacky.”

Nickname: Stanislaus the Little. (At 5’10” little to do with his height.)

PS-24 L = 217 mm / 8 9/16”

PS-24 Frank, Dr. Hans

Tablespoon: The obverse carries his machine incised, official state pattern of the Governor General of Poland. Maker marked on the reverse with: ‘45’ in a square, ‘90’ in a circle, “ART. KRUPP”, their trademark ‘Bear with ‘ART KRUPP’ over and “BERNDORF” under” followed by ‘BERNDORF’.

In 1939, as a result of the combined invasions by Germany and the Soviet Union, Poland was partitioned with the Soviet Union acquiring 52.1% of the territory with 13.7M population (only 38% Polish) and Germany the remaining territory with 10M (predominantly Polish) population. The German’s divided their territory into three administrative units. The two on Germany’s Eastern border including reclaimed parts of Prussia lost under the Treaty of Versailles were incorporated into Germany. Some 1M poles were dispossessed and 1M Reich and East European Germans brought in to replace them. The Eastern territory or ‘General Government’ (per Hitler-’Occupied Poland’ and ‘Vandal Gau’) was headed by Hans Frank and the destination of the 1M displaced Poles. Frank managed out of an old royal palace in Cracow. In 1942, after a close friend was executed, he called for the return to constitutional rule. As a result, he was stripped of all Party honors and returned to his post as Governor-General of Poland, regarded by Hitler as the most unpleasant position he could award him.

Note: Identical tableware has been represented (by the same dealer as had commented on the Rust’s spoon) as from the ‘Castle Klessheim’ located near Salzburg, Austria, a luxurious government guest residence maintained to house dignitaries waiting to see Hitler at the Burghof. This was vigorously denied by my source.

PS-25 L = 218 mm / 8 9/16”

PS-25 Mueller, Bishop Ludwig

(1883-1945)

Tablespoon: The obverse carries the Deutsche Christen symbol of a Christian cross with a mobile swastika in the middle encompassed by a shield. Reverse maker marked Koch & Bergfeld of Bremen, (founded 1829), 800, and RM. From Bishop Ludwig Mueller’s service.

In 1932 the Protestant church came under the influence of a Nazi movement called “German Christians”, (also called “Stormtroopers of Jesus”). The Deutsche Christen (DC) became the voice of Nazi ideology within the Evangelical Church and approved by Hitler, they proposed a church “Aryan paragraph” to prevent “non-Aryans” from becoming ministers or religious teachers. Only a very few Christians opposed Nazism such as the “Confessing Christians”. The German Christian Movement was strongly nationalistic and adopted Luther’s anti Semitism (ref his 1543 book, “On Jews and Their Lies”) as well as his respect for authority (see Romans 13). Composed of the radical wing of German Lutheranism, the main Protestant branch supported the Nazi ideology, reconciling Christian doctrine with German nationalism and anti semitism. This movement represented Hitler’s “Positive Christianity” views as lawfully encoded into the Nazi “constitution.”

In the 1933 church elections, Hitler made a radio appeal in support of the German Christian movement and later appointed Ludwig Mueller, Reich Bishop of the Protestant Church. Bishop Mueller committed suicide in 1945!

Fact: In 1925, of the German population of 65 million, some 40 million were Evangelical Lutherans and 21 million Roman Catholics.

PS-26 L = 112 mm / 4 7/16”

PS-26 Bormann, Martin

(1900-1945)

Egg spoon: Carries the Bormann Eagle (the NSDAP 1929 pattern) on the obverse. Reverse carries ‘Aluminium Germany’. Dealer states: “the Martin Bormann egg spoon came directly from Bormann’s house wreckage at the Obersalzberg! (He had bought the Berghof for Hitler and ran the Obersalzberg complex of properties.) a very rare and extremely difficult to locate pattern.”

Born in 1900 he joined the party in 1927 and became chief of staff for Rudolf Hess. Described as brutal, coarse and lacking culture. Made head of the Party chancellery in 1941 and Hitler’s personal secretary in April 1943. Party # 60,508 acquired after his rise to power and qualified him for a Golden Party Badge. He was a major advocate of Gleichschaltung (coordination). This was the umbrella term under which virtually all major civilian organizations in the political, economic and social life of the German nation were placed under Nazi control By the end of WWII he had become second only to Hitler in terms of real political power and an SS General to boot. At Nuremberg in 1946, he was tried as a war criminal and sentenced to death in absentia as his death on 2 May 1945 while attempting to escape Berlin after Hitler’s suicide was unknown at the time.

Nickname: The Brown Eminence”

A second opinion identified the spoon as a typical souvenir (Andenkens) offered at the prewar, annual NSDAP Nuremberg rally (Reichsparteitag) held in early September and focused on strengthening Hitler’s position as Germany’s savior. This spoon has no characteristics of German andenkens as exhibited by real andenkens M-187 & M-188.

PS-27 L = 250 mm / 9 3/16”

PS-27 Bormann, Martin?

Table Knife: Obverse carries the initials MB, upside down. Having seen Luftwaffe and Eva Braun items so marked-it is possible this knife is legitimate-but I have my doubts. Reverse Art Krupp, Bear and Berndorf. Blade with stick figures of Henkels, Solingen

In October 1933, Bormann became a Reich Leader of the NSDAP, and in November, a member of the Reichstag. From July 1933 until 1941, Bormann served as the personal secretary for Rudolf Hess. During this period, Bormann also managed Hitler’s finances through various schemes such as royalties collected on Hitler’s book, his image on postage stamps, as well as setting up an “Adolf Hitler Endowment Fund of German Industry”, which was really a thinly veiled extortion attempt on the behalf of Hitler to collect more money from German industrialists. In May 1941, the flight of Hess to Britain cleared the way for Bormann to become Head of the Party Chancellery. Bormann took charge of all Hitler’s paperwork, appointments and personal finances. Hitler came to have complete trust in Bormann and the view of reality he presented. During a meeting, Hitler was said to have screamed, “To win this war, I need Bormann!”. (He acted as a witness to AH’s marriage with Eva Braun) An arch fanatic of racial policy, anti-semitism and Kirchenkampf (war against the churches). On 9Oct42 he signed a decree for the “permanent elimination of the jews from Greater German territory by the use of ruthless force in the camps of the East”’. Faced with the imminent demise of the Third Reich, he systematically went about the organizing of German corporate flight capital, and set up off-shore holding companies and business interests in close coordination with the same Ruhr industrialists and German bankers who, although often not Nazis, had helped to facilitate Hitler’s explosive rise to power 10 years before.

PS-28 L = 208 mm / 8 2/16”

PS-28 von Ribbentrop, Joachim

(1893-1946)

Tablespoon, official service: The obverse features a raised Reich eagle and swastika, the same type as used on the formal pattern AH flatware but with subtle differences in the Eagle and without the AH monogram. The reverse marked RM, 925 and the dot inside circle of Gebrueder Sauerland, Berlin. The 925 (sterling silver) is unusual for cutlery.

As Hitler’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (1938-1945), IQ of 129 this pristine flatware piece may have been used by Hitler and by von Ribbentrop as a special setting for the highest Foreign Ministry / Diplomatic dinners or functions.

A truly controversial personality. Wounded and winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class in WWI. Joined the Party on 1 May 1932, member 1,119,927 and Winner? of the Nazi Golden Party Badge. Ambassador to England 1936-1938. Negotiated the treaty with Russia. On 11 August 1939 Ribbentrop stated, “We want war.” He was blamed for convincing Hitler that Britain would not react to an attack on Poland and thus starting WWII. In August 1939, Goring said, “Now you’ve got your @%#* war. It’s all your doing!” In 1943 Hitler said, “He is greater than Bismarck”. The other prominent members of Hitler’s inner circle saw him as arrogant, vain, touchy, humorless and contemptible for his haughty incompetence. One German diplomat, Herbert Richter, in an interview later recalled “Ribbentrop didn’t understand anything about foreign policy. His sole wish was to please Hitler.” He testified at Nuremberg: “Do any of us look like murderers” and “There are lots of things I did not know” he was tried, convicted and hung at Nuremberg,

Nicknames: “Ribbensnob”, “Iago”

PS-29 L = 130 mm / 5 1/8”

PS-29 von Ribbentrop, Joachim

Coat-of-Arms

Relish Spoon: Obverse with Coat-of Arms, reverse with 900 and Maker Mark of J. Grimminger, Schwaebisch Gmuend.

One of his teachers at Metz later recalled that Ribbentrop “was the most stupid in his class, full of vanity and very pushy”. In 1919 Ribbentrop met Anna Elisabeth Henkell, daughter of a wealthy champagne producer from Wiesbaden. They married on 5 July 1920, Ribbentrop travelled across Europe as a wine salesman. He and his wife had five children. He persuaded his aunt Gertrud von Ribbentrop to adopt him on 15 May 1925, which allowed him to add the aristocratic von to his name. Goebbels remarked: “He bought his name, he married his money and he swindled his way into office.”

In 1928, Ribbentrop was introduced to Hitler as a man who “gets the same price for German champagne as others get for French champagne” as well as a businessman with foreign connections. Goering referred to him publicly as that “dirty little champagne pedlar.” He joined the NSDAP on 1 May 1932 at the urging of his wife, who herself joined at the same time. In the summer of 1932, Ribbentrop began his political career when he offered to be a secret emissary between the Chancellor, Ribbentrop’s old war buddy Franz von Papen and Hitler. Ribbentrop’s offer was refused at the time, but six months later, in January 1933, Ribbentrop’s offer was taken up by Hitler and von Papen.

The Allies’ International Military Tribunal found him guilty of all charges brought against him. Even in prison, Ribbentrop remained loyal to Hitler, stating “Even with all I know, if in this cell Hitler should come to me and say ‘Do this!’, I would still do it.”

PS-30 L = 112 mm / 4 6/16”

PS-30 Hess, Rudolf

(1894-1987)

Demitasse spoon: Obverse bears the Rudolf Hess “R.H.” monogram in art nouveau pattern. The reverse bears 800 RM, and the most likely maker’s mark of Vereinigte Silberwarenfabriken of Dusseldorf.

Hess joined the party in 1920, wrote Mein Kampf as dictated by Hitler where he was able to introduce his own ideas regarding lebensraum. As Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party, in 1939 he became the No. 3 man in Nazi Germany when he was made successor designate to Hitler and Goering. He embarked on a self-appointed secret peace mission to Britain on 10 May 1941 and was imprisoned and treated as a prisoner of war. Sentenced to life imprisonment at Nuremberg. He died, the only inmate in Spandau prison, on 17 Aug 1987. His son quotes his father’s statement uttered at the Nuremberg trial: “I regret nothing!” IQ 120 est

Hess, the man, had a strong interest in astrology, the occult. and a deep interest in herbal and homeopathic medicine, as well as organic gardening and biodynamic agriculture. Hess was a vegetarian who strongly advocated animal welfare. He oversaw recycling programs and was an ardent conservationist. Hess ordered a mapping of all the ley lines in the Third Reich which defined the Externsteine rock formation in Lower Saxony as the center of Germany.

Dealer states that the piece came from Sergeant Richard Cowling, the GI looter who stole the silverware from the Hess estate at Reicholdsgrun in lower Bavaria. This is supported by a sworn statement from Phyllis Orsi dating from July 2, 2005, where she certifies before a Michigan notary public as to the authenticity of the item.

Nicknamed: “The Brown Mouse”

PS-31 L = 215 mm / 8 1/2”

PS-31 Heydrich, Reinhard

(1904-1942)

Serving spoon: Obverse engraved with bold, modern ‘RH’. Reverse WELLNER PATENT silver plate 90 and silver weight 45.

Tall, slim, blond with blue eyes, a first class fencer, excellent horseman, pilot and violin player (he joined Mrs. Himmler in duets) he was the epitome of the Nordic-Aryan type. Became Commander of the Security Police, the Security Service (SD) and Gestapo. Joined the SS in 1931, became a Major in December, a Colonel in July 1932, Brig General March 1933. As Heinrich Himmler’s number two he secured control of the Munich and Bavarian police in 1933. For his role in “The Night of the Long Knives” he became a Lt. General in July 1934. In 1936 he directed the forging of documents that convinced Stalin that his 35,000 man officer corp was plotting against him resulting in Stalin obliterating half of the corps. In 1939 he provided Hitler with the justification for the invasion of Poland. Focused on the Jewish question, in 1941 he stated, “The Fuhrer has ordered the physical extermination of the Jews.” The code word for the extermination of Polish Jewry was ‘Operation Reinhard’. In September 1941 he moved to Prague as Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Personally convened the Wannsee Conference on 20 Jan 1942 to effect the “Final Solution”. On 27 May 1942 he was wounded by Free Czech agents and died on 4 June 1942. In reprisal, the German’s killed some 15,000 Czechs.

Nicknames: “The Blond Beast”, “The Butcher”

PS-32 L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

PS-32 Heydrich, Reinhard

co*cktail Fork: The obverse carries his personal, hand engraved, monogram of a staggered ‘RH’. Reverse: Wellner die, WELLNER 100 in a circle and 18 in a square.

He became an S.S. General and Protector of Czechoslovakia and attempted to use tact and diplomacy to gain the confidence of the Czechs and to encourage more production. The British feared he would be successful and sent in the assassination team. The German reprisals cemented Czech resistance.

Himmler commented, “It will interest you to know that Heydrich was a very good violinist. He played a serenade in my honor, it was really excellent-a pity he did not do more in this field.” and in June 1942 shortly after Heydrich’s funeral, “Yes, as the Fuehrer said at the funeral, he was indeed a man with an iron heart.”

After the war, Walter Schellenberg, SS-Brigadefuehrer, Heydrich’s personal aide described him as. “He was a tall, impressive figure with a broad, unusually high forehead, small restless eyes as crafty as an animal’s and an uncanny power, a long predatory nose and a wide full lipped mouth. His hands were slender and rather too long-they made one think of the legs of a spider. His unusual intellect was matched by the ever-watchful instincts of a predatory animal, always alert to danger and ready to act swiftly and ruthlessly.”

Other nickname: The Hangman.

Note: Regarding the forks provenance: Dealer states, “It came back from WWII with a 506th PIR 101st A/B officer”

PS-33 L = 215 mm / 8 7/16”

PS-33 Scheel, General Gustav Adolf MD

(1907-1979)

Tablespoon/serving spoon: Obverse intertwined G and S. Reverse Maker Mark of WELLNER, “100” plating and silver gram weight number “50”.

Initially a physician, later a “multi-functionary” (see below) during the 3rd Reich. Initial involvement with the Nazi student movement in the early 1930’s, became Leader of the Heidelberg Student Body then Honorary Senator of the University of Heidelberg. In 1936 he became both the Reich Student Leader and the Leader of the National Socialist Students’ Bund (University Students) see OG-62 & 63.

Organizer of the SD in the Southwest, Superior SS and Police Leader in Salzburg and Gauleiter in Salzburg from November 1941. When commander of the security police and SD he organized the deportation of Karlsruhe’s Jews to the death camps in the East. Police Major General; (SA and SS member), Leader of the Berlin SD School; Inspector of the Security Police and the SD in Stuttgart; Leader of the Nazi Old Gentlemen’s Federation; Chairman of the Reich Student Works; President of the German Study Works for Foreigners; Member of the Reich Labour Chamber; Commander of the Security Police and the SD under Chief of the civil administration in Alsace; Member of the Reichstag; Leader of the SD Upper Division South (Munich); Inspector of the Security Police and the SD under the higher SS and Police leaders South and Main; Higher SS and Police leader; Leader of the SS Upper Division Alpenland (Salzburg); Volksturm Leader.

Appointed Minister of Culture in Hitler’s will. Released early from a five year sentence by a de-Nazification court.

PS-34 L = 191 mm / 7 1/2”

PS-34 Breith, Hermann Albert-Panzertruppe General

(1892-1964)

Meat serving Fork: Obverse carries engraved B over H. Reverse: P. Exner (retailer pattern ‘1929’), Maker Mark of Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen founded 1829, 800, RM.

Hermann Breith enlisted in the German army as a cadet (infantry) in 1910. He ended WWI as a lieutenant having won the Knight’s Cross of the Hohenzollern. Promoted to the rank of Generalmajor on 1Aug1941 and Generalleutnant (3 star) on 1Nov1942 and finally General of Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe) on 1Mar1943 .

He was recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He was the 48th to receive the award of the Swords on 21 February 1944 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the III. Panzer-Korps. Only 58 were awarded to Army personnel with 49 award winners surviving the war.

Major WWII Commands:

1938-1940 Commanding Officer 36th Panzer Regiment

1940 -1941 Commanding Officer 5th Panzer Brigade

1941 -General of Motorized Troops General Staff 1941-1942 General Commanding 3rd Panzer Division

1 -1945 General Officer Commanding III Panzer Corps

Note: The 3rd Pz Div (Bear Div) Fought in the Battle of Moscow, acted as a ‘fire Brigade’ during the Russian winter offensive of 41-42 captured Kharkov and Rostov, and later held Kharkov against massive attacks in March 1942. In

2 to Rumania, the Ukraine and in 1945 defended Hungary, to the West, surrendered to US troops in Steyr.

OG-35 L = 133 mm / 5 1/4”

OTHER GOVERNMENT

OG-35 NSDAP’. Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

Teaspoon. Spoon carries NSDAP in Fraktur print on the obverse. Maker marked on reverse: RM, ‘800’ and ‘HTB’ for Hanseatishe Silberwarenfabrik, Bremen.

National Socialist German Workers Party: Founded in 1919 as the German Workers Party (DAP), the name was changed to NSDAP in 1920 to broaden its appeal.

Fraktur Trivia: The first FRAKTUR typeface was designed when Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian (1493-1519) had the new type (German Script) created. It remained popular in Germany into the early 20th Century. On 3 January 1941, Martin Bormann issued a circular letter to all public offices which declared FRAKTUR (and its corollary, the Sutterlin based hand writing) to be Judenlettern (Jewish letters) and prohibited its further use and replacing it with ‘antiqua’. ie the spoon predates 3Jan41.

A second explanation from Maik Kopleck’s BERLIN 1933-1945, “its use was forbidden by a decree issued by Bormann on Hitler’s order because in the annexed territories it had led to confusion.”

Surprisingly, the letterhead of Bormann’s decree was in Fraktur type!

The waste of manpower, material and paper in replacing all school books, street signs, typewriter keys etc. in war time was monumental.

OG-36 L = 141 mm / 5 9/16”

OG-36 NSDAP’

Teaspoon: High Leader’s spoon, the obverse carries a Swastika surrounded by oak leaves-(Eichenlaub or EL), a symbol of strength. End is squared. Maker marked on the reverse: RM, 800 GR for Gebruder Reiner, Krumbach Bayern. Founded 1914,

Under the NSDAP, the National Colors (Reichsfarben) were Black, White and Red. The early NSDAP slogan: Deutschland Erwache-Germany Awake.

NSDAP Promise of Loyalty-I promise loyalty to my Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. I promise to always meet him and the leaders he will determine for me with respect and obedience.

Symbolism of: Oak Leaves = Spirited Struggle Palm Leaves = Victory

OG-37 L = 211 mm / 8 1/4”

OG-37 NSDAP/SA

Tablespoon: This aluminum tablespoon’s eagle is looking to its left shoulder which symbolizes the Nazi party and was called the Parteiadler. In the absence of any specific organizational emblem, it is appropriate to assign it to either the NSDAP or the SA. Maker mark “C&C.W. 40” for Colsman & Co., Westfalen, 1940.

In 1929, Hitler described the SA man as, “The SA attracts the militant natures among the Germanic breed, the men who think democratically, unified by a common allegiance.”

OG-38

L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

OG-38 NSDAP/SA

Dinner Fork: The Obverse carries a very early eagle with down swept wings. A representation typical of an early service used by a political leader. The reverse is maker marked ‘GEBR.HEPP’ and ‘90’. This fork has the eagle looking to his left shoulder symbolizing the Nazi party. Again, in the absence of any specific organizational logo, it is appropriate to assign it to either the NSDAP or the SA.

Gebruder Hepp located in Pforzheim, Germany since 1863 was acquired by WMF (Wuerttemberg Metalware Factory) in 1988 and is noted for making many of the silver service items for the larger German hotels.

OG-39

L = 145 mm / 5/3/4”

OG-39 SA’

Teaspoon: The spoon carries the stylized pseudo-runic “SA” monogram on the obverse. Maker mark: reversed ‘R’ facing ‘R’ of Rossdeutscher & Reisig of Breslau, with RM, 800.

The Sturmabteilung abbreviated SA, (German for “Assault Detachment” or “Assault Section”, usually translated as “stormtroop(er)s”), It played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s.

SA men were often called “brown shirts”, for the color of their uniforms, and to distinguish them from the Schutzstaffel (SS), who wore black and brown uniforms (compare the Italian black shirts). Brown colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large batch of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered for German troops serving in Africa.

In 1930, to ensure the loyalty of the SA to himself, Adolf Hitler assumed command of the entire organization and remained Oberster SA-Fuhrer for the remainder of the group’s existence to 1945. The day to day running of the SA was conducted by the Stabschef SA (SA Chief of Staff). After 1931, it was the Stabschef who was generally accepted as the Commander of the SA, acting in Hitler’s name.

Favorite sayings: “Terror must be broken by terror”, and “All opposition must be stamped into the ground.”

OG-40

L = 143 mm / 5 5/8”

OG-40 SA’

Teaspoon: The spoon carries the stylized “SA” monogram on the obverse. Reverse marked with RM, ‘800’. maker mark ‘JBN’ for J. Bruschke, Niederschlesien.

Sturmabteilung (German for “Storm Department”, usually translated as “stormtroop(er)s)” The SA was the first paramilitary organization of the NSDAP-the German Nazi party. These were the “brown shirts”. From its inception in 1921 till its demise in 1945, there were less than 200 men that occupied the top three positions in the SA. At its height in August 1934 there were some 2.9 million members. The SA was also the first Nazi paramilitary group to develop pseudo-military titles for bestowal upon its members. The SA ranks would be adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief among them the SS. The SA was very important to Hitler’s rise to power until they were superseded by the SS after the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ of 30 June 1934 when the leadership of the SA were purged.

The SA motto: Alles Fur Deutschland-Everything for Germany, was also the motto of the NSKK.

Trivia: UPS in Germany is not allowed to dress in their brown color. In Germany, UPS is dressed in green.

OG-41 L = 135 mm / 5 5/16”

OG-41 DJV Deutsche Jungvolk (German Youth)

Teaspoon: The obverse carries the sigrune in the center straddled by the ‘D’ and the ‘J’ over a stylized swastika. On the reverse: ‘D.R.G.M’ for Deutsches Reich Gebrauchs-muster (German Reich Registered Design) RM 800 ‘F’ in a circle for Friedrich Feuerstein, Hanau.

In July 1926, the Hitler-Jugend, Bund Deutscher Arbeiterjugend (Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth) became an integral part of the Sturmabteilung. By 1929, the Hitler-Jugend had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upwards. It also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJV) for boys aged 10 to 14.

The sigrune emblem first became associated with the DJV on 9 November 1929 on the 6th anniversary of the failed Beer Hall Putsch when their first official flag consisting of a black field with a central silver sigrune was presented. The sigrune was adopted as the official emblem of the DJV and was used on assorted insignia but the design was unusual as even the early youth memorabilia usually only featured the more conventional Nazi swastika.

Jungvolk Oath (taken by ten-year-old boys on first entering the DJV)

“In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Fuhrer, I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the savior of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.”

OG-42 L = 132 mm / 5 3/16”

OG-42 ‘HJ’, Hitler-Jugend

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the HJ Logo. Reverse marked RM 800.

The HJ existed from 1922 to 1945, the 2nd oldest paramilitary NAZI group founded one year after the Sturmabteilung (SA) and attached to the SA. In July 1926 The Hitler-Jugend Bund der Deutschen Arbeiterjugend (Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth) received its final name. The HJ was banned in April 1932 by Chancellor Bruning but Chancellor von Papen lifted that ban in June 1932. The HJ diamond was adopted as the organizations emblem in 1933 along with its colors of Red and Black.. Membership became compulsory in December 1936. By 1945, the Volksturm commonly drafted 12 year old HJ members into its ranks for the defense of the fatherland. HJ motto: “Blut Und Ehre-Blood and Honor. Notable slogans: “Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely, and Die Laughing!” and “We were born to die for Germany!”

Hitler Youth Oath-In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Fuhrer, I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the savior of our country, Adolf Hitler, I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.

OG-43 L =148 mm / 5 13/16”

OG-43 Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth)

Teaspoon: Obverse with the HJ symbol. Reverse marked RM, 800, unidentified maker’s mark.

As early as 1922, the NAZI youth organization, Jungeturm Adolf Hitler was formed. At the 4 July 1926 Reichsparteitag (National Party day) meeting in Nurnberg, the name Hitler Jungend (Hitler Youth) was announced. In 1933 at age 26, Balder von Schrach became Reich Youth Leader (1933-1940) head of the HJ. In 1936 at age 29 he achieved the SA rank of Gruppenfuhrer (2 star General) and also became a State Secretary and later Governor of Vienna (1940-1945). Interestingly, two of Schrach’s ancestors were signatories of our Declaration of Independence and his father in law, Heinrich Hoffmann, supplied the photos for his books which focused on NAZI ideas of character, discipline, obedience and leadership as described in his best selling Die Hitler-Jugend (1934).

At age 10, boys joined the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Young People), at age 13 they transferred into the Hitler Jugend until age 18. The HJ became compulsory in 1936 which drove membership to 8.8 million. This was the venue for the para-military training of a generation of soldiers. Girls from ten to eighteen were given their own parallel organization, the Bund Deutscher Madel (BDM), League of German Girls. Hitler’s goal for the HJ, “The weak must be chiseled away. I want young men and women who suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather and as hard as Krupp’s steel.”

Per Schrach, ‘Loyalty is everything and everything is the love of Adolf Hitler.”

OG-44 L = 213 mm / 8 6/16

OG-44 HJ/RFS

Hitler Youth “Reichsfuhrerschule der HJ (National-Leaders-School of the HJ)

Tablespoon: The obverse is stamped with the Hitler Youth diamond and swastika, beneath which is similarly impressed “RFS” for ‘Reichsfuhrerschule” (National-Leaders-School). The reverse is jeweler engraved “Mehlem” and maker marked with “Hanseat” the manufacturer’s name, followed by the silver plate of “90”.

Under the direct control of Reichsjugendfuhrer Balder von Schirach, the RFS were to train HJ leaders. Mehlem being the location of one of the three HJ National Leaders Schools-this one near Bonn, the others in Potsdam and for women, in Godesberg. Upon successful completion of the training, graduates were authorized to wear a special insigne over the right breast tunic pocket. This insigne consisted of a silver embroidered bar of oak leaves with the initials, “RFS” outlined in black surmounting the oak leaves.

In addition to the traditional German school system, and the HJ special training, the Nazis established elite schools for the training of the young Nazis: the exclusive Ordensburgen (Order Castles) took the top graduates from earlier schooling and at a nominal age of 18 they were trained for another three years to be ready to assume high level positions in the Nazi Party. An example would be the Ordenberg Vogelsang where the original buildings have been preserved at this new national park and although designed to appear as a medieval castle, its NS architecture is easily recognizable. Most of the original grandiose statuary remains but with the obvious NS markings removed. Construction on this hugh complex was started in 1936!

OG-45 L = 212 mm / 8 6/16”

OG-45 HJ Sportschule Braunau

Soupspoon: Obverse with enhanced HJ emblem over ‘SPORTSCHULE BRAUNAU’. Reverse has maker mark ‘EMD’ for Erich Marx, Duesseldorf and 90 plate.

The HJ put more emphasis on physical and military training than on academic study.

In 1935, about 60 percent of Germany’s young people belonged to the HJ. With the annexation of both Austria and Czechoslovakia in March of 1938, the various German created youth organizations (HJ, DJV, BDM & DJM) added over 1 million to their numbers and by 1939, about 82 percent (7.3 million) of eligible youths within the Greater Reich belonged making it the largest youth organization in the world. 1939 was declared “The Year of Physical Training” and introduced the Sports Competition. Medals were awarded to youths who performed rigorous athletic drills and met strict physical fitness standards. Every summer, a day would now be set aside as the “Day of the State Youth” for these events. School schedules were adjusted to allow for at least one hour of physical training in the morning and one hour each evening. Prior to this, only two hours per week had been set aside. Hitler also encouraged young boys to take up boxing to heighten their aggressiveness.

Note: this training center (Sportschule / Physical Training Academy) for selected HJ athletes was located in the town of Hitler’s birth, Braunau, Austria. After the 13 March 1938 annexation, Hitler made his first entry into Austria at Braunau

OG-46 L = 183 mm / 7 1/4”

OG-46 DAF (Deutsche Arbeitsfront)

Spoon: Obverse carries DAF emblem over ‘1941’. Reverse with Reichsmark, 800 and maker marked of Gebruder Koberlin, Dobeln founded 1828.

The Deutsche Arbeitsfront (abbr. DAF, often translated to German Labor Front) was founded on 10 May 1933 under the patronage of Hitler and directed by Robert Ley, Reichsorganisationsleiter der NSDAP as the Nazi’s substitute organization for trade unions that were made illegal after their rise to power in 1933. It soon grew to be a giant bureaucratic machine with 25 million members and 40,000 staff with a considerable influence within the Nazi regime. Conceived as an alternative to trade unions, it was supposed to be representative of employers and employees alike. However, in reality it was a means by which workers were controlled, ensuring wage demands were not made and that the position of the employer was the ‘leader’ with the worker cast as ‘follower’. Wages were set by the 12 DAF trustees, who followed the will of the employers. It became part of the NSDAP organization in October 1934, having its base in Berlin.

Within the DAF, several sub-organizations were set up:

Kraft durch Freude (KdF; Strength through Joy)

Schonheit der Arbeit (SdA; Beauty of Work)

Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD; Reich Labour Service)

In 1937 Robert Ley, stated DAF’s aim as “to create a true social and productive community” and on Hitler in 1938 “I believe on this earth in Adolf Hitler alone. I believe in one Lord God who made me and guides me, and I believe that this Lord God has sent Adolf Hitler to us.”

OG-47 DAF (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) (7 Piece Set)

Obverse carries the DAF logo. Reverse maker marked GEBR.HEPP and ‘90’ plating.

This group (dinner knife, dinner spoon, dinner fork, salad fork, teaspoon, butter curler and lobster fork) is reportedly from the former headquarters building of DAF located at Berlin’s Potsdamer Strasse 182. The original building is still in use today.

There were 2 main components of the DAF:

* Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation

(NSBO; National Socialist Factory Organization)

* Nationalsozialistische Handels und

Gewerbeorganization (NSHABO; National Socialist Trade and Industry Organization)

Several other sub-organisations were set up:

*Kraft durch Freude (KdF; Strength through Joy)-Organization giving the workers cheap/free holidays in addition to subsidized sporting and leisure facilities.

*Schonheit der Arbeit (SdA; Beauty of Work)-Aimed to make workplaces more enticing to workers (e.g. renovations of outdated factories, new canteens for workers, smoking free rooms, cleaner working spaces.

*Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD; Reich Labor Service) A Solution to the unemployment crisis the Nazis inherited. Provided cheap labor for big state projects. such as the Autobahns. Made compulsory for unemployed men 16-25 in 1935. Provided work security to many unemployed.

Note: This dinner knife blade style is termed ‘New French’.

OG-48

OG-48 DAF Mystery Cup

This massive Gebr. HEPP cup weighs 341 grams / 12 Oz. Its base metal is alpacca with a silver plate of 90. It has a 95 mm / 3 3/4” diameter and is 60 mm / 2.3” high. Mystery-what was its use? With hot coffee, it can not be held.

DAF miscellaneous: Membership dues were in the range of 15 Pfenning to 3 RM, depending on the category a member fell into of the 20 membership groups. A substantial amount of money was raised through dues, in 1934, the total intake was 300,000,000 RM / $ 71.5 million.

Organizationally, the smallest form of the DAF was the Block (block) which consisted of 15 members, headed by a Blockwalter (block warden). Two to six blocks formed a Zellen (cell) which was led by a Zellenwalter (cell warden). Each commerce or industrial organization that had at least 10 cells was considered a Betriebsgemeinschaft (plant community) under the leadership of a Betriebsfuhrer (plant leader) and under the control of a Betriebswalter (plant warden). Several small industrial or commerce businesses that each had less than 10 workers were grouped together in street communities after the street they were located on. Plant communities and the individual members of the plant communities within the jurisdiction of a local party group of the NSDAP formed an Ortsgruppe (local group) of the DAF under a Ortsgruppenwalter (local group warden). Ortsgruppe (local groups) within a NSDAP Kries (circle) comprised a DAF Kries (circle) under the leadership of Kreiswalter (circle warden). The DAF Kries (circles) were then organized into Gau (regions) under the command of a Gauwart (region warden). The largest organizations of the DAF were the DAF Bezirke (districts) which were headed by Besirkwalter (district wardens). There were 13 DAF Bezirke in 1935.

OG-49 L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

OG-49 DAF / SdA

(Schonheit der Arbeit / Beauty of Work)

Tablespoon: The obverse has a raised central spine and is unmarked. Reverse carries the logo of the ‘Modell Des Amtes/Schonheit der Arbeit’ (Model of the Office / Beauty of Work) with the DAF cogwheel, the maker mark HMZ for Hessische Metallwerke, Ziegenhain and “Rustfrei.

Within the DAF, was the Kraft durch Freude-KdF (Strength through Joy) and within the KdF was Amt fur Schonheit der Arbeit. The SdA, Schonheit dr Arbeit” (Beauty of Labor) organization was established as a subsection of the KdF under the control of Albert Speer (from 1933 to at least 1936) who was responsible for improving working conditions in factories, including setting up canteens and supplying the cutlery.

The SdA goal was described in Shelley Barunowski’s “Strength Through Joy” as “Aestheticizing the shop floor meant eliminating class conflict and creating the plant community, as well as reconstructing the identities of workers so that they would become full-fledged members of the racial community.”

The Governments focus was to create practical workplace benefits while simultaneously instilling a sense of community between the totalitarian dictatorship and the German population, an attempt to improve the status of workers and their conditions to compensate for wage freezes, longer working hours (up to 60 hour work weeks) and restrictions on private consumption.

OG-50 L = 210 mm / 8 1/4’

OG-50 DAF SdA-I.G. Farben N.W.7

Tablespoon: The obverse is marked with Farben’s emblem of “I” over “G” with “Berlin N.W.7.” below. Reverse carries the maker mark of Tc, ROSTFREI plus ‘MDA SchdA.

I.G. Farben was a conglomerate that before WW I had a near monopoly on world dyestuffs. Per chapter two of ‘The Empire of I.G. Farben’: “The Berlin N.W. 7 office (Unter den Linden 82) of I.G. Farben was the key Nazi overseas intelligence, espionage and propaganda center prior to WWII. One of the more prominent of these Farben intelligence workers (verbindungsmanner / liaison men) in N.W. 7 was Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who joined Farben in the early 1930s after completion of an 18-month period of service in the S.S.” N. W. 7 operated under Farben director Max Ilgner, nephew of I.G. Farben president Hermann Schmitz. Max Ilgner and Hermann Schmitz were on the board of American I.G., with other directors Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, Paul Warburg of Bank of Manhattan, and Charles E. Mitchell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In 1939, of 43 major I. G. products 28 were of “primary concern” to the German armed forces. Prior to the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland, IG identified specific chemical plants to be delivered to Farben. At the Nuremberg trials of IG in 1947/48, “Berlin N.W.7” was identified as, “the Nazi prewar intelligence office” which resulted in sentences of Schmitz 4 years, Llgner 3 years. Note: By 1944, the Farben Auschwitz factory complex had employed some 83,000 forced laborers of which 40,000 perished. The Buna facility produced 100% of Germany’s synthetic rubber and 45% of its aviation gasoline from coal.

ps. Hitler, Goering and The Reich Ministry of Economics were in Berlin postal code W.8. while Himmler & Heydrich were at Berlin S.W. 11.

OG-51 L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

OG-51 DAF SdA-Bra AG

Tablespoon: Obverse plain with a raised central spine and carries the logo Bra AG. Reverse has the DAF wheel with a mobile swastika and below the initials MDA ( Modell Des Amtes / Model of the Office) and below that SchdA (Schonheit der Arbeit / Beauty of Labor. Maker marked Tc and RUSTFREI.

The Bra AG logo is unknown but the spoon recently came from Poland and may have been a company in the East of war time Germany.

The SdA (Speer) decided what constituted good industrial design, ie simplicity of line etc. The majority of the cutlery carried organizational logos on either the obverse or reverse such as BMW for the cutlery at their Munich factory or like the early Berlin N.W 7-I. G. Farben, even Luftwaffe eagles. Others carried no logo.

Nazi’s rejected:

Marxist “Class Conflict” as a violation of their vision of a

unified racial community and “Fordism” (consumerism) which placed little value on German “Quality” work, worshiped commodities and instant gratification of individual wants.

SdA embraced the totality of the workers “creative lives” with emphasis on the workplace as the key to regulating leisure time and disciplining consumption. SdA was less able to build popular support for the regime due to the inherent coercion of SdA’s plant communities by emphasis on “pride of work” vs material rewards.

OG-52 L = 142 mm / 5 9/16”

OG-52 DAF / SdA-Borgward Auto

Teaspoon: The obverse has a raised central spine and is marked with the logo of the Carl F.W. Borgward Automobile Company (Carl F.W. Borgward GmbH Automobil und Motorenwerke) of Bremen, Germany.. Reverse carries the logo of the ‘Modell Des Amtes/Schonheit der Arbeit’ (Model of the Office/Beauty of Work) with the DAF cogwheel, the maker mark Tc and “Rustfrei.

Borgward founded in 1924 became the 4th largest German automobile manufacturer. During WWII, Borgward manufactured the “Goliath’, a wire guided demolition vehicle as well as the Borgward IV, a large radio controlled demolition vehicle with a weight of 4 tons. Its B2000 was a staff car seating 11 with the switchable drive of either 2, 4 or 6 of its wheels.

The company was put out of business by a combination of the government and competitors in 1961 with Mercedes Benz taking over the Bremen factory complex.

OG-53 L = 207 mm / 8 1/8”

OG-53 Dh-Dienststelle Heismeyer?

Tablespoon: Obverse with flower detail on tip. Reverse with right looking eagle over ‘Dh’ and maker marked Br Henneberg BM and ‘40’ in a circle.

Reference PS-18, the ‘Dh’ logo is associated with Bernard Rust and education generally. Another association could be with Hauptamt Dienststelle SS-Obergruppenfuhrer HeiRmeyer. The National Political Institutes of Education (Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten); officially abbreviated NPEA, were secondary boarding schools in Nazi Germany founded as “community education sites” after the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933. The goal of the schools was to raise a new generation for the political, military, and administrative leadership of the Nazi state. Only boys and girls considered to be “racially flawless” were admitted to the boarding schools. No children with poor hearing or vision were accepted. “Above-average intelligence” was also required, so those seeking admission had to complete 8-day entrance exams. The first three NPEA’s were founded in 1933 by the Minister of Education Bernhard Rust in Plon, Potsdam, and Koslin. The schools reported directly to the Reich Ministry for Education, rather than to any states like regular schools. From 1936, the NPEA’s were subordinated to the Inspector of the National Political Institutes of Education, SS Obergruppenfuhrer August Heissmeyer. With the outbreak of WWII, Heissmeyer set up the “Dienststelle SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Heissmeyer”-his own bureau-and was thereby responsible for NPEA students’ military training. The schools were now under the direct influence of the SS. Boys eventually entered the SS in much higher rates (13%) than in the general German population of 1.8%. In 1941, there were a total of 30 NPEA’s with 6,000 students enrolled in all of Nazi Germany. See M-201, pp 487.

OG-54 DLV-Deutscher Luftfahrt Verband

(German Aviation League)

Dessert spoon (10 ml): Obverse is unmarked with a raised spine. Reverse carries the early emblem (1922-33) of the DLV and has a style mark of “30” in a square, the silver plating indicator of ‘90’ in a circle, “Berndorf”, a standing bear in a circle and the letter ‘L’ for their Swiss plant in Luzern.

The Deutscher Luftfahrt Verband (DLV) was founded in 1922. It was a civilian aviation club promoting both sport and commercial aviation. In 1933, under the Nazi’s, it became the Deutscher Luftsport Verband or German Air-Sport League and added a mobile swastika on the propeller hub . The DLV was very closely associated with the Hitler Youth. Events involved model building with flying competitions of the completed projects, aeronautical educational classes followed by building and flying actual glider aircraft. The DLV was divided into three sections-powered flight, gliders and ballooning. The DLV owned sixteen gliding aviation schools and three larger State Soaring Schools. Under the Nazi’s this was a covert organization for the training of both pilots and support personnel for the, then secret, Luftwaffe. In April 1933 Hitler’s pilot Captain Hans Bauer, usually described as ‘bibulous’, sported the DLV uniform which had been personally approved by Hermann Goering and was later adopted with slight modification by the Luftwaffe. By the time Hitler officially called for volunteers for the Luftwaffe in March 1935, there were actually some 1,888 aircraft of all types and some 20,000 officers and men who quickly changed from the DLV uniform to the Luftwaffe uniform, On 17 April 1937, the DLV was disbanded and was superseded by the NSFK Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps (National Socialist Flying Corps).

OG-55 L = 141 mm / 5 9/16”

OG-55 DR-Deutsche Reichsbahn

(German National Railways)

Teaspoon: On the obverse is the modified DR emblem where the original flanged wheel has been replaced by a mobile swastika which became mandatory in 1933, Reverse carries RM, 800 and maker’s mark GR (Gebruder Reiner, Krumbach Bayern 1910-present).

Hitler became Reich Chancellor 30Jan33, Reichstag fire 27Feb33, the Enabling Laws 23Mar33, The Law for the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service 7Apr 33. By 15Jul33 the DR had ordered the Nazi swastika to rolling stock and for employees to use the ‘Heil Hitler’ greeting. In addition, the elimination of women, elderly men, Jews and communists from the DR is underway as well as their replacement by young, male members of the Nazi party.

Operationally, the DR abandons the U.S. cost accounting standards used during the Weimar era (that had significantly increased efficiency) on the grounds that they were capitalistic, profit seeking, and focused on commercial values. They restored the Voelkish ideal of ‘serving the community’. No more paying employees on a capitalist incentive basis but according to social standards.

During World War II, the Reichsbahn was an essential component of German military logistics, providing transportation services for the Reich throughout the occupied lands of Europe and employed 1,600,000.

The DR was not included in Armament planning until 1941. In 1942 it was assigned “Highest Priority” along with 69,500 tons of steel monthly to produce 500 locomotives monthly. In 1943 its priority was superseded by the “Adolf Hitler Tank Program”, a commitment Hitler made to the Heer.

OG-56 & 57

Tablespoon = 211 mm / 8 5/16”, Tea 140 mm / 5 1/2”

OG-56 DR-Deutsche Reichsbahn

(Hitler’s Private Dining Car)

Tablespoon and matching teaspoon from Hitler’s executive dining car. The spoons obverse carries the “DR” logo, on the reverse the spoon is maker marked: RM, 800, eagle of Bruckmann & Sohne followed by a large ‘205’ indicating it is from Sonderzug / Fuhrerwagon car #10205 / #205.

Prior to 1939, Hitler’s private train was labeled Fuhrerzug-Leader’s Train. In 1939, Hitler’s 1st Wartime Headquarters was placed on the 17 car Fuhrersonderzug or Leader’s Special Train. All the coaches were specially constructed of welded steel and therefore weighing in at over 60 tons each. Hitler’s ‘saloon coach’ #10206 was fitted out to Hitler’s own specifications. The Fuhrerwagen was mahogany-paneled with a large rectangular table, 12 red leather chairs and indirect lighting and both a gramophone (his favorites were the symphonies by Bruckner and Beethoven, the songs of Richard Strauss and the last act from Aida) and a radio. It also had a bed compartment, bathroom and small compartments for the manservant and adjutants. He may have had personalized cutlery for use in his saloon coach.

Car #10205 (the executive dining car with rose wood paneling and indirect lighting) was abbreviated as 205 on the car’s china, flatware, silver serving pieces, and linens. The porcelain was maker marked: Nymphenburg. The train was code named “Fuhrersonderzug F’ until 1940, then “Amerika” from a French town near Hitler’s WWI location and finally “Brandenburg”. Hitler used the train as his FHQ during the campaigns in Poland and the Balkans, and traveled across France several times including to the Spanish boarder for talks with Franco in 1940. During the Russian campaign it was stationed at Gorlitz within FHQ Wolfsschanze”.

OG-57 DR-Deutsche Reichsbahn (Details)

Details of Hitler’s private dining car’s silverware.

In 1924, the Deutsche Reichbahn was created as a state enterprise under the Reich Ministry of Transportation. On 10 Feb 1937, the Nazi government took total control of the rail network. To emphasize this, swastikas were added to the Hoheitsadler (sovereignty eagle)-the traditional symbol of Germany on all railcars, and the initials “DR” were held to stand for “Deutsches Reich” but were construed to be for “Deutsches Reichbahn. Maker marks identical to OG-56.

Trivia: There were two full time silver polishers assigned to the Fuhrersonderzug! His 206 coach was blown up by German Army engineers in April 1945 on Hitler’s orders. One of the Fuhrersonderzug sleeping carriages, #10222 survived the war and was used by the President’s of the Federal Republic of Germany into the 1980’s.

Special DR Note: The DR’s participation was crucial to the implementation of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question”. The Reichsbahn was paid to transport victims of the Holocaust from towns and cities throughout Europe to the Nazi concentration camp system and were paid by the track kilometer, so many pfennigs per Km. The rate was the same throughout the war. With children under ten going at half-fare and children under four going free. Payment had to be made for only one way. The guards of course had to have return fare paid for them because they were going back to their place of origin. Slovakia paid the SS 500 RM / $ 200 for the transportation of each of the 60,000 deported Slovakian Jews that were sent to the concentration camps.

OG-58 L = 122 mm / 4 13/16”

OG-58 Deutsche Reichsbahn

(Staff Dining Car #213)

Demitasse sugar spoon: Obverse carries the “DR” eagle with the swastika straddled by the ‘D’ and ‘R’. The reverse carries the Fuhrersonderzug’s number 213 identifying it as from the Staff dining car 10213 with RM, 800 and a Bruckmann & Sohne eagle maker’s mark.

Additional details on the Fuhrersonderzug: The sequence of cars (subject to minor modifications) was: Cars 1 & 2 were two BR86 tank locomotives in tandem. Car 3 a flakwagon (armored railroad car), each end open with a 4 barreled M-1938 20 mm cannon manned by 26 Luftwaffe personnel. Car 4 was a combination baggage and auxiliary power car. Car 5 was the Fuhrer’s Pullman No 10206. Car 6 the Befehlswagen (command car) which included a conference room with map tables and a separate communications compartment. Car 7 the Begleitkommandowagen (escort) car for Hitler’s 22 man FuhrerBegleit-Kommando and the RSD personnel. Car 8 the Executive dining car No 10205. Cars 9 & 10 sleeping cars for staff, guests and entourage. Car 11 Badewagon (bathing car). Car 12 staff dining car No. 10213. Cars 13 & 14 sleeping cars for enlisted men. Car 15 Presswagen (Press chief Otto Dietrich’s car No 10251). Car 16 another baggage and power generator car. Last Car 17 a second flakwagon. Note: From 1928-43, 775 Baureihe BR86 2-8-2T locomotives were built.

First used for the Polish campaign with the thought that it could be rapidly deployed West in case France were to attack. On board were Hitler’s military adjutants, liaison officers, party officials, Generals Keital (IQ 129) and Jodl. (IQ 127). (The Generals would have their own trains shortly.) Hitler’s last train ride was from FHQ Adlerhorst to Berlin on 15 January 1945.

OG-59 L = 165 mm / 6 1/2”

Trouble: the blade not fitting the handle!. Looks like someone had a handle and to make a sale able knife, added a blade that unfortunately-does not mate properly. You do not have this problem with spoons!

OG-59 DR-Deutsche Reichsbahn

(Otto Dietrick’s ‘Press Wagon’ #251)

Relish Knife: Obverse carries the DR logo. On the neck of the knife is the Railcar ID number 251 (short-form for car # 10251) which was Otto Dietrich’s “Press Wagon’ attached to Hitler’s Fuhrersonderzug and on the opposite side ‘90’. Replaced blade carries Gustav Wirth of Solingen-Graefrath’s maker mark over Nicht Rostend.

Otto Dietrich, Phd (1897-1952) was a Reichsleiter, the Reich Press Chief of the NSDAP from 1933 to 1945, a State Secretary in the Propaganda Ministry, the President of the Reich Press Chamber and an SS Lt. General. He was a key propaganda creator for Hitler. In this role he was at Hitler’s side at all times. Creating ‘news’ for the government controlled press to fulfilled Hitler’s desires To this end, he directed the news, daily. By 1934 Dietrich and his German Press Division controlled 3,097 newspapers and 4,000 periodicals having a total circulation of more than 30 million in a country of 17.7 million households. His skills at lying and creating news were very much appreciated by Hitler. The murder of the SA leadership during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, personally directed by Hitler, was reported in the press via Dietrich’s creativity as coming as a “shock” to Hitler and focused on the ‘moral degeneracy’ of the victims. On 22 February 1942, Hitler expressed his admiration for Dietrich’s resourcefulness “he is exceptionally gifted at his job… I am proud of the fact that with his handful of men I can at once throw the rudder of the press through 180 degrees as happened on 22 June 1941 [the day Germany invaded Russia]. There is no other country which can copy us in that.” In 1949 he was sentenced to seven years in Landsberg prison, released early and died in 1952 at age fifty-five.

OG-60 L = 216 mm / 8 1/2”

OG-60 DR-Deutsche Reichsbahn

(Table spoon from Goering’s private dining car)

As with Hitler but on a grander scale, Herman Goering’s two personal trains were in Obersalzburg in April 1945. His primary private dining car was number 10243 ‘243’. Other cars were ‘233’, ‘234’ and ‘244’. This tablespoon carries the Goring dining car number ‘243’ and is maker marked: Capital ‘B’ (Bruckmann) with a locomotive symbol followed by a ‘90’. There have recently surfaced a number of the raised edge 243 spoons which are now the most prevalently available. The demonstrably different shape of this Goering spoon is evident when set side by side with the A. H. DR spoon and is generally described as with ‘raised edge’.

Trivia: Goering’s Sonderzuge were first named Asien I and Asien II and later renamed Pommern I and Pommern II.

Note: I have recently seen DR cutlery marked 244 and identical in form to the Hitler 205 above.

In the East: By 1 Sep 1939-The DR had moved 86 non motorized divisions to the Polish border. During the Polish campaign, both sides participated in the destruction of the Polish rail system. The program to double the existing capacity for the invasion of Russia started In Oct 1940. By June 1941, east traffic was raised from 84 to 220 trains a day and 141 German divisions moved to the Soviet border.

From the Invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941 to 1 Jan 1943, the DR converted 22,000 miles of Soviet wide gauge rail to German standard gauge. East bound trains from Germany, daily: Dec41 = 122, 1Jan42 = 140 and 1Mar42 = 180 or a train to the East front every 8 minutes!

OG-61 L = 136 mm / 5 6/16”

OG-61 DRK-Deutsches Rotes Kreuz

(German Red Cross)

Teaspoon: The spoon carries the DRK logo on the obverse and maker marked on the reverse: CB for C. Backhausen, Tangermuede, 800 and RM.

Originally a voluntary civil assistance organization started in 1864. The NSDAP recognized the DRK in December 1937 and took control in 1938. During the Third Reich, the DRK emblem had a black eagle with elongated down swept wings and a white, mobile swastika superimposed on its breast, clutching a red Balkan cross (known in English as a Greek cross-a cross with straight lines) in its talons while the standard international red cross flag was also still utilized to denote first aid and medical locations.

DRK Trivia-typical of Nazi protocol, daggers were a standard item of dress. Due to its noncombatant status, the DRK had to conform to the international Geneva convention which directed that members not carry any weapons, including edged weapons. As a result, the DRK ‘Subordinates Hewer’, introduced in 1938, was designed with a squared blunt tip and blunt scabbard to preclude its classification as a weapon and allowed its wear in the field. The DRK Leaders dagger, with a pointed tip and pointed scabbard, was classified as a weapon and could only be worn as a dress dagger, when not in the field.

Note: The DRK was headed by SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Prof. Dr. Ernst-Robert Grawitz.

OG-62 L = 149 mm / 5 14/16”

OG-62 National-Socialistische Deutsche Studenten Bund-NSDStB (National Socialist Student Federation)

Teaspoon: This teaspoon carries the Studentenbund Ehrenzeichen (Student Federation Decoration) on the obverse The reverse carries distributor ‘GARTEN’, unknown maker mark, 800, RM. This decoration has no eagle . The NSDStB emblem has the eagle clasping their elongated swastika as per the Sport Shirt Patch photo below. There is also a stylized initial H on the reverse as per below.

All German students at the universities were required to belong to the Studentenschaft (Student Corps). The Student Corps was responsible for making the students conscious of their duties to the Nazis State and was obliged to promote enrollment in the SA and labor service. Physical training of students was the responsibility of the SA. Political education was the responsibility of the National-Socialistische Deutsche Studentenbund (NSDStB), (National Socialist German Student Bund) and was the Nazi “elite” of the student body and responsible for the leadership of the university students, and all leaders of the Student Corps were appointed from its membership. The Nazi Student Bund was solely responsible for the entire ideological and political education of the students.

OG-63 L = 142 mm / 5 5/8”

OG-63 National Socialist Student Federation

(National-Socialistische Deutsche Studenten Bund)-NSDStB

Teaspoon: This teaspoon’s obverse carries a hand engraved simplest / minimalist Studentenbund logo (Student Federation logo). Reverse Maker marked: Vereinigte Silberwarenfabriken, Dusseldorf, founded 1899, ‘800’, RM.

The NSDStB was originally formed as a semiautonomous National Socialist organization in 1926 at Munich University, infiltrating the majority of institutions including Universities, Technical Colleges, Trade Schools and Business Colleges by 1930 and was under full control of the Nazi party by 1934.

In 1933 there were only 6,300 male and 750 female members. With the Nazi power take over, membership was restricted to 5 percent of the student body, accepting only the cream of the crop of pupils. All had to be members of the NSDAP, SA, SS, NSKK or HJ. This select group was viewed as ‘the intellectual SS’.

After 1939, most male members joined either the Wehmacht or the SS. By 1943 women accounted for 35% of the student population.

OG-64 L = 178 mm / 7”

OG-64 NSKK-Nationasozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps

(National Socialist Motor Corps)

Table fork: Obverse carries the NSKK logo. Reverse with maker mark of a stylized ‘A’ over ‘H’, followed by HANS for Albert Hans, Zurich, Switzerland and 90-30’. The National Socialist Motor Corps, (NSKK), began on 1 Apr 1930 when the Nationalsozialistisches Automobil Korps (NSAK) was founded on the order of Martin Bormann as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It was to organize all NSDAP members who owned a car or motorcycle into a single nation-wide unit. SA-Gruppenfuhrer Adolf Huhnlein was made commander of the NSAK and suggested renaming it NSKK and this was accepted by SA-leader Ernst Rohm who was in the process of reorganizing the SA. When Adolf Hitler became chancellor in 1933 the NSKK expanded rapidly to 30,000 members. After Rohm and the SA-leadership were murdered during the Night of Long Knives (30 June 1934) the Motor-SA became a part of the NSKK and it was made an independent organization. The NSKK took over all German motor clubs Sep 1933 and expanded to 350,000 members. After Austria was made a part of Germany (Mar 1938) the NSKK expanded to over 500,000 members. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the National Socialist Motor Corps became a target of the Wehrmacht for recruitment, since NSKK members possessed knowledge of motorized transport, whereas the bulk of the Wehrmacht relied on horses. Most NSKK members thereafter joined the regular military, serving in the transport corps of the various service branches. In 1945, the NSKK was disbanded and declared a “condemned organization” (although not a criminal one) at the Nuremberg Trials . This was due in part to the NSKK’s origins in the SA and its doctrine of racial superiority required from its members.

OG-65 L = 217 mm / 8 9/16”

OG-65 NS-Kriegsopferversorgung

NSKOV

(National Socialist War Victim’s Welfare Service)

Soupspoon: The obverse carries the NSKOV shield decoration composed of a black mobile swastika within a circle and the circle set against a black iron cross all within a shield. The reverse carries the maker mark of Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen, founded 1829, 800, RM.

The NSKOV (National Socialist War Victim’s Welfare Service or War Disabled Support Organization) was established in 1930 and institutionalized in 1934 as a social welfare organization to assist NSDAP party members who had become disabled as a result of First World War injuries.

Although an NSDAP affiliated charity, it maintained a degree of independence in assets and organizational issues. Together with the National Peoples Welfare (NSV) it was a charitable organization and supported health programs from its establishment till 1945.

By Law No. 5 (The Denazification Decree) of the American Military Government dated 31 May 1945, the NAZI Party with all its institutions and organizations were disbanded.

OG-66 L = 139 mm / 5 1/2”

OG-66 NS-Kriegsopferversorgung

NSKOV

(National Socialist War Victim’s Welfare Service)

Teaspoon: The obverse carries the basic NSKOV decoration composed of a black mobile swastika within a circle and the circle set against a black iron cross. Reverse carries the maker’s mark of capital ‘E” in a lozenge for Julius Eispert, Breslau, 800 and RM.

The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (NSKOV), meaning “National Socialist War Victim’s Care” was a social welfare organization for seriously wounded veterans as well as frontline fighters of World War I. The NSKOV was established in 1934 and was affiliated to the NSDAP.

After Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as “Law number five”, this Denazification decree disbanded the NSKOV, like all organizations linked to the Nazi Party. The organizations taking care of the welfare for World War I veterans had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West Germany and the DDR.

OG-67 L = 192 mm / 7 9/16”

OG-67 NSRL-NS Reichsbund fur Leibesubungen

(National-Socialist State-league for Physical-fitness)

Spoon: Obverse carries the NSRL logo, Reverse with Wellner, Patent, 90 plate, silver gram weight 4.

Known as Deutscher Reichsbund fur Leibesubungen (DRL) until 1938, the NSRL was the umbrella organization for sports during the 3rd Reich. In March 1933, after the Enabling Act, which legally gave Hitler dictatorial control of Germany, all sports organizations connected to the Social Democratic Party, the Communist Party, as well as all churches, were banned. In April 1933, the NSRL was led by Reichssportfuhrer, Hans von Tschammer und Osten (19331943) who after 1934 also presided over the German National Olympic Committee. The German Eagle with the swastika on the chest, worn as a badge by the athletes of the 3rd Reich Olympic Team became the official symbol of the Nazi Sports Body; “the swastika on the eagle’s chest displays … the ideology of the DRL” On March 17, 1937, all German athletes were called by Hans von Tschammer und Osten to join the Hitler Youth, his goal to use sports “to improve the morale and productivity of German workers.” Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities. The aims of the promotion of sports in the Third Reich included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of a wider national purpose. This was in line with the ideals of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn the “Father of Physical Exercises”, who connected the steeling of one’s own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified, strong Germany. A more controversial aim was the demonstration of Aryan Physical Superiority. Later leaders were, Arno Breitmeyer(1943-1944) and Karl Ritter von Halt (1944-1945).

OG-68

L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

OG-68 National Sozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV)

(National Socialist People’s Welfare)

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the NSV Logo. Reverse with distributor C.A. Krall, makers mark M.H.Wilkens, Bremen-Hemelingen, founded 1810, still active, 800 RM.

The NSV was established on 3 May 1933, shortly after the NSDAP took power and was the umbrella organization for a range of social and welfare programs, at first helping poor families with food and fuel, gradually shifting to performing services such as organizing and managing day care centers, caring for children, assistance to youth and pregnant women, and various family health and nutrition programs. The NSV was financed through voluntary contributions such as the Nazi Winter Support Program (Winterhilfswerk). With the advent of the War, the program was massively expanded, so that the regime deemed it worthy to be called the “greatest social institution in the world.” One method of expansion was to absorb, or in NSDAP parlance ‘coordinate’ already existing but non-Nazi charity organizations such as church run day care centers. The NSV became the principal national effort devoted to children and youth welfare efforts which increased membership from 1 million in 1938 to 11 million making it the second largest Nazi group organization by 1939, second only to the German Labor Front.

Notes: 1. A major slogan at NSV day care centers was “Hande falten, Kopfchen senken-immer an Adolf Hitler denken “—Hands folded, head lowered-always of Adolf Hitler thinking” 2. Winter Support Program slogan: “None shall starve nor freeze”.

Trivia: The head of NSV was SS-Gruppenfuhrer Erich Hildgenfeldt who was also in-charge of the Winterhilswerk.

OG-69 L = 217 mm / 8 9/16”

OG-69 RAD-Reichs Arbeitsdienst

(National Labor-Service)

Tablespoon: This Mess Hall tablespoon (Essloeffel). Marked on the reverse side with “REICHSARBEITSDIENST” “1936”. Manufactured by Duralit and of stainless steel (Rostfrei).

RAD basis dates back to 1929’s formation of AAD “Anhalt Arbeitsdienst” (Anhalt Labor-Service) and the FAD-B, “Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern” (Volunteer Labor-Service [of] Bavaria). In 1933, the NSDAP consolidated labor organizations into the NSAD, “Nationalsozialist Arbietsdienst” (National-Socialist Labor-Service); a national labor service. In June 1935, NSAD was re-designated RAD, in July RAD service became compulsory for both young men (prior to military service) and women, with all German citizens between 19 and 25 required to enlist for a 6 month term and military conscripts to serve 9 months. Typical work projects were road construction and farm labor.

The RAD motto: ArbeitAdelt-Work Ennobles.

OG-70 L = 215 mm / 8 1/2”

OG-70 RAD-Reichs Arbeitsdienst

(National Labor-Service)

Fork, Mess Hall (Kantine Gabel): Obverse is clear with a raised central spine. Reverse carries the RAD symbol of a shovel and ‘Art Krupp”NICAD’ ‘Berndorf’ ‘1941’. Note: “Art” was supposedly dropped in 1938 do to his death.

Reichsarbeitsdienst ‘RAD’ (National Labor Service) was under the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ‘DAF’ (German Labor Service). In 1931, to combat German unemployment, a voluntary work service was formed. When Hitler was made Chancellor 1933 he soon appointed Konstantin Hierl as Secretary of State for the Labor Service, the control of which at this time was transferred from the states to the central government. The RAD was formally founded on 26 June 1935 making service in the RAD compulsory. RAD’s mission was to provide labor for public projects for both civil and military projects mainly for reclaiming land for farming, helping with the harvests and construction of roads, but also for various emergency relief projects. In 1939, the RAD lost over half of its men to the armed forces. During the war, RAD was classified as a reserve troop, an auxiliary to the Wehrmacht, not actually in the armed forces but close enough to be protected by the Geneva convention. Major activities were focused on the supply to the front lines of food and ammunitions, repairing roads, construction and repair of Luftwaffe airfields. Eventually, RAD personnel were drawn into active military service, especially on the East front where by the wars end, there were eight major RAD front line units in service.

Motto: Working men are healthy, happy, self-conscious work soldiers.

OG-71 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

OG-71 RAD Reichsarbeitsdienst (German Labor Service)

Teaspoon: Thanks to Treasures of the Third Reich’s Dan Kelley for the following analysis of the obverse: “Note on your spoon handle the shape of a shovel and the wheat stalks wrapping around the edge of the spoon, this has all of the imagery of the RAD or Reichs Arbeitsdienst; the German Workers Service.” The reverse marked 800, Reichsmark and maker mark of Gebruder Koberlin, Dobeln, founded 1828.

With the war, the RAD was classed as Wehrmachtgefolge (lit. Armed Forces Auxiliaries). Auxiliary forces with this status, while not a part of the Armed Forces themselves, provided such vital support that they were given protection by the Geneva Convention. Some, including the RAD, were militarized.

During the early war’s Norwegian and Western campaigns, hundreds of RAD units were engaged in supplying frontline troops with food and ammunition, repairing damaged roads and constructing and repairing airstrips. Throughout the course of the war, the RAD was involved in many projects. The RAD units constructed coastal fortifications (many RAD men worked on the Atlantic Wall), laid minefields, staffed fortifications, and even helped guard vital locations and prisoners.

The role of the RAD was not limited to combat support functions. Hundreds of RAD units received training as antiaircraft units and were deployed as RAD Flak Batteries. Several RAD units also performed combat on the eastern front as infantry. As the German defenses were devastated, more and more RAD men were committed to combat. During the final months of the war RAD men formed 6 major frontline units, which were involved with serious fighting.

OG-72 L = 238 mm / 9 5/16”

OG-72 RAD Reichsarbeitsdienst

(German Labor Service)

Knife: Obverse clear. Reverse marked ‘RAD’. maker marked H.M.Z. for Hessische Mettallwerke, Ziegenhain 37 and blade marked HMZ Rustfrei.

The Nazi’s viewed manual labor as a way to break down social and class barriers and to mold the character of young people, “the dignity of manual labor”. A 1935 law required all Aryan Germans (ages 17-25) to serve in the RAD for 6 months. Thus, prior to the war it was a program to create jobs for unemployed youth.

The RAD was divided into two major sections:

Reichsarbeitsdienst Manner (RAD/M) for men Reichsarbeitdienst der weiblichen Jugend (RAD/wJ) for women.

The RAD was composed of 40 districts each called an Arbeitsgau (lit. Work District). Each of these districts was headed by an officer with headquarters staff and a Wachkompanie (Guard Company). Under each district were between six and eight Arbeitsgruppen (Workers Groups), battalion-sized formations of 1200-1800 men. These groups were divided into six company-sized RAD-Abteilung units. Each rank and file RAD man was supplied with a spade and a bicycle. The RAD symbol, an arm badge in the shape of an upward pointing shovel blade, was displayed on the upper left shoulder of all uniforms and great-coats worn by all personnel. The pre war RAD undertook the construction of the Autobahn as well as other roads, land reclamation as well as the construction of military installations.

OG-73 L = 208 mm / 8 3/16”

OG-73 RDB Civil Servants Federation

Soupspoon: Obverse with RDB logo, reverse with maker mark of W over MF (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Geislingen 1853 to the present), Patent, 90 (in a square), 30.

The Reichsbund Deutscher Beamter (RDB), meaning “Reich Federation of German Civil Servants”, also known as NS-Beamterbund (National Socialist Civil Servants Federation), was the trade union for German State Officials during the Third Reich. The RDB was established as an organization affiliated to the Nazi Party in October 1933. Their eagle looks left (a Parteiadler) to symbolize its affiliation with the Nazi party. Its leader was Hermann Neef. Neef had been previously leading the RDB’s predecessor organization, Deutscher Beamterbund, the German Civil Service Federation which had been founded in December 1918.

Although it was not compulsory for RDB members to be Nazi party members, most of them chose to be. In addition to the training and development of its members, the RDB ensured that German Civil Servants toed the line of the Nazi Party. Information on either this organization or its leader is virtually nonexistent.

Following Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as “Law number five”, this denatzification decree disbanded the National Socialist Civil Servants Federation. Like all other organizations linked to the Nazi Party. In the postwar years, it was reestablished as the German Civil Service Federation in the Federal Republic of Germany.

OG-74 L = 210 mm / 8 5/16”

OG-74 R.K’-Reichs-Kanzlei

(The New Reich Chancellery)

Tablespoon: The obverse has the eagle facing to his right, legs apart on a static swastika in the double wreath with an ‘R’ on the left and on the right a ‘K’. There is no Greek key design. The reverse carries the RM, 800 and Bruckmann eagle. This is official, silver Besteck, from the ‘New’ Reich Chancellery / Neureichskanzlei. Interestingly, the Bruckmann’s “RK” had both this “Straight Wing” and a “Swept Wing” (spread) eagle on serving pieces.

This was Hitler’s Berlin chancellery and one of his official residences where all the most important state affairs were conducted. When present, Hitler used his formal ‘AH’ pattern, (see PS-1) otherwise, only the likes of Mussolini, Ciano, Chamberlain, Goring, Goebbels and Himmler used this flatware when the Fuhrer himself was not seated. Probably 100 times more rare than the ‘AH’ formal pattern. Considered a museum piece as the Chancellery was destroyed by fire in 1945 and afterwards occupied by the Russians so that very little survived. Shown here with a companion fork.

RK trivia: The cost of construction was estimated to be $ 100 million equivalent to $ 1 billion today. Hitler was very impressed when Speer managed both the design and had it constructed in a few days shy of one year by coordinating multiple construction teams working in parallel. The classic of “Nazi Architecture”.

OG-75 RKB-Reichskolonialbund

(German Colonial League)

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 1st style emblem of the RKB-Reichskolonialbund. On the reverse, 800, RM, and the maker mark of Gebruder Koberlin, Dobeln, Founded 1828.

The RKB was established on 13 June 1936 to “keep the population informed about the loss of the German Imperial colonies, to maintain contact with former colonial territories and to create conditions in opinion favorable to a new German African Empire.” The aim was to claim back the overseas colonies that Germany had lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

Since Germany had no colonies, the Reichskolonialbund was mainly engaged in mostly virulent political agitation, primarily in Germany. This in an effort to keep open the “Koloniale Frage” (Colonial Question).

The League had its own youth organization, the Kolonialjugend which was incorporated as a wing of the Hitler Youth. With WWII, the League began to decline as the Nazi State was focused on other higher priorities. In the early 1940’s, the 2nd style emblem was adopted with an eagle (looking left) perched in the top of the shield.

In 1943, Reichsleiter Martin Bormann pressed for the dissolution of the League on the grounds of “kriegsunwichtiger Tatigkeit” (activity irrelevant to the war). The Reichskolonialbund was swiftly disbanded by virtue of a decree of the Fuhrer in 1943.

OG-76 L = 142 mm / 5 10/16

OG-76 Reichs Luftschutzbund

(National Air Protection League)

Teaspoon: The obverse carries the decoration of a mobile swastika in an ornate 48 point white star burst background as illustrated in Brian Davis’s ‘Badges & Insignia of the Third Reich’, plate 34, item #16 and is identified as the second pattern used by the RLB from 1938. Maker marked: Vereinigte Silberwarenfabriken, Dusseldorf, founded 1899, ‘800’, RM.

Reichs Luftschutzbund (National Air Protection League / State Air protection Federation) was originally formed in late 1932, The Deutscher Luftschutzverband (German Air Protection League) was a voluntary organization designed to provide civil air raid protection in large civilian centers. In 1933 it was placed under the supervision of Hermann Goering’s Reichsluftfahrt Ministerium (National Air Ministry). On 29 April 1933 the DLB was re-designated the Reichs Luftschutz Bund (National Air Raid Protection League) or RLB, now responsible for all aspects of civil air raid defense. Voluntary up to June 1935-when obligatory service was established. By 1939, more than 15 million men had joined.

Note: The 1st pattern RLB emblem (circa 1933-38) was a 48 point white star burst pattern with stylized “RLB” initials to the center positioned above a small mobile swastika. In October 1938 the RLB emblem was redesigned and replaced the RLB letters with a large swastika and was used till the end of the war.

OG-77 L = 238 mm / 9 6/16”

OG-77 RMJ-Reichministerium der Justiz

(German Ministry of Justice)

Serving Spoon: Obverse carries the “Ministry of Justice” logo while the reverse is maker marked Wellner Patent 90 3.

The four Nazis who bore much of the responsibility for allowing the legal system of Germany to be taken over by Nazi ideology were Franz Schlegelburger (RMJ 1941-42), Roland Freisler. Otto Thierack (RMJ 1943-45) and Curt Rothenberger.

At the 1946 Nuremberg ‘Judges’ Trial, Schlegelberger was one of the main accused, He helped create the “Enabling Act” of 21Mar1933 to strengthen the executive. Helped pass the 13July1934 retroactive law justifying the “Night of the Long Knives” murders of 30 June which effectively established Hitler above the law. In August 1934, all judges and public prosecutors were bound to Hitler by an oath of loyalty. During his time in office he authored bills such as the (Polenstrafrechtsverordnung) so called Poland Penal Law Provision under which Poles were executed for tearing down German posters. He sharply increased German death sentences and by 1943 there were 46 Capital Offense Crimes with the death penalty including: listening to foreign broadcasts, engaging in rumors, having or aiding an abortion and scavenging rubble. He was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hitler’s earliest direction to the judiciary was to protect the interests of the Volk (nation) above those of the individual.

Note: Serving spoons are always the rarest of any assemblage since there is usually only one or two to a set.

OG-78 L = 147 mm / 5 13/16”

OG-78 RNS-Reichs Nahrstand

(German Food Corporation)

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the Reichs Nahrstand logo while the reverse “Proll’ 800 & unknown maker mark.

The German Food Corporation was created on 13Sep1933 when all previous agricultural associations and organizations were disbanded. Walter Darre, (SS-Obergruppenfuhrer) the leading ideologist of Blut und Boden (Blood / Descent and Soil / Homeland) was the Reichminister of Food from 1933 to 1942. He had come to Hitler’s attention via his 1929 book: The Peasantry as a Life Source of the Nordic Race. Focused on the peasantry as the life source of the Nordic race, the goal was to preserve a healthy peasant stock via the compulsory organization of agriculture which took total control of the markets and prices as well as stabilized ownership of land. The farmers were organized into this grandiose sounding, nationally directed agrarian estate-the Nahrstand.

It eventually was perceived by the farmers as a bureaucratic encroachment on their autonomy and due to restrictions on land sales, forced the farmers to remain farmers. As unemployment decreased: Oct 1933-6.0 Million, Oct 1934-4.1 Million and Feb 1935-2.8 Million, available farm labor became a problem leading to higher labor costs and reduced production which made autarky or independence of food imports from other nations unattainable. In spite of all efforts, prior to the outbreak of WWII, agricultural self sufficiency never exceeded 80%.

Note: In 1937, although farmers were 22% of the German population they made up only 9% of the SS which was noted by the responsible authorities.

Wehrmacht Introduction (Armed Services)

Per Wikipedia: Wehrmacht (“Defense Forces” or more literally “Defense Power”) was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (Army), the Kriegsmarine (Navy) and the Luftwaffe (Air Force).

The Waffen-SS, an initially-small paramilitary section of Heinrich Himmler’s Allgemeine SS that grew to nearly a million strong during World War II, was not part of the Wehrmacht, but under operational command of the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht / German Armed Forces Supreme Command ie Hitler (as of 4Feb1938) and OKH (Heer).

Albert Kesselring, (Smiling Albert) Luftwaffe Field Marshal summed up the philosophical differences between the 3rd Reich’s Defense services as: “the ‘republican’ Army, the ‘imperialist’ Navy and the ‘national socialist’ Luftwaffe.” These adjectives reveal the patent disunity of the Service’s political attitudes.

These ‘disparate attitudes’ can be seen in their tableware via the presentation of the Nazi swastika to the traditional national eagle via the Army’s middle of the road, the Navy’s minimal and the Luftwaffe’s excessive presentation of the swastika.

Note: The obverse of Army and Navy cutlery is typically clear whereas the Luftwaffe typically decorated the obverse.

German Military Philosophy

German military success was to be based on superior leadership, organization, supply and morale. This was believed to overcome material / manpower limitations. In War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy observed that the effectiveness of an army is “the product of a mass multiplied by something else; by an unknown X…the spirit of the army.” A more realistic assessment made when Germany invaded Russia: “the German’s came to play tennis, the game was actually rugby”.

German WWII Military Service and Casualties

The numbers below were reliably acquired up till November 1944. From that date on, the reporting systems tended to break down. In general terms, it is known that 80 percent of German military deaths took place in the last 2 years of the war. That three quarters occurred on the East front where, as an example, 180,310 died in January 1943 at Stalingrad in that one month alone. In an effort to soften the blow of deaths reported from the East front, emphasis was placed on reporting ‘MIA’ (missing in action) when possible.

Note: Nearly 2 million foreigners served in the German fighting forces.

W-79 L = 141 mm / 5 9/16”

W-79 Wehrmacht Adler (Eagle)

Teaspoon: The eagle (Reichsadler) on this teaspoon’s reverse faces to its right (a State organization) over ‘1942’. The Manufacturer’s figure is for Wilhelm Pfeiffer & Co., Solingen. ‘Mangasil’, a proprietary stainless steel material?

The National Emblem-(Hoheitsabzeichen) was the eagle and swastika of the NSDAP and later Nazi Germany.

Regarding the German Eagle: Per Wikipedia, “The Nazi party used the traditional German eagle, standing atop a swastika inside a wreath of oak leaves, When the eagle is looking to its left shoulder, it symbolizes the Nazi party and was called the Parteiadler. In contrast, when the eagle is looking to its right shoulder, it symbolizes the country / state / military (Reich) and was called the Reichsadler.” After the Nazi party came to power in Germany, they forced the replacement of the traditional version of the German eagle with their modified party symbol highlighting the swastika throughout the country and all its institutions.

W-80

W-80 OFFICER S FIELD BESTECK

This matched set of a foldable knife, fork and spoon is from J. A. Henckels and is typical of those used by German Army officers when in the field. The knife is maker marked with the Henckels trademarked ‘two stick figures’ for the Zwillingswerk facility and impressed with “J.A.Henckels” over “SOLINGEN”. When folded, the three pieces fit into a companion buckskin lined leather pouch that snaps shut.

Spoon folded: 112 mm / 4 3/8”

Spoon open: 198 mm / 7 3/4”

Note: Officers Field Besteck: German officers in the field have traditionally shared the enlisted men’s food and eaten with the troops. There are many photos of Hitler in the field with the troops and eating with them whereas the British and US have traditionally separated officers from the enlisted men with officers eating their own subsidized, superior rations in private.

W-81

W-81 Army Field Issue Folding Spoon / Fork Combination Cutlery Set (Essbesteck)

This is the standard issue, aluminum construction, slip-joint, folding tablespoon and four tine fork combination (spork) and in German a (goffel) gabel und loeffel. On the reverse of the spoon handle maker unknown, initials (WSuCL) in a rectangular border. Owners initials, “LB” scratched on the front of the fork between the arrow and the pivotal rivet.

Folded length is 6 inches while opened length is 9 1/2 inches.

Major Early Campaigns

Poland: Invaded 1 Sep 39, ends 6 Oct 39 German losses: 13,111 KIA / MIA and 27,278 WIA vs 800,000 Poles KIA or captured.

Western Campaign begins 10 May 1940, ends 22 June 40 German losses: 27,074 KIA, MIA 18,383 and WIA 111,034. Allies lost 90,000 KIA, 200,000 WIA, 1.9 M captured or MIA.

W-82 Field Issue Cutlery Set (essbesteck)

The set is composed of a knife (195 mm / 7 3/4”), a four tined fork (193 mm / 7 5/8”)and a tablespoon( 195 mm / 7 3/4”), each of which slide into the slotted handle of a can opener (155 mm / 6 1/8”). The opener is stamped on its solid side with a spread-winged eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika in its talons, below which is stamped “FBCM43” all other components are similarly marked with the exception of the unmarked knife. An indentation is along the side of the knife handle which mates with a right angled hook to the top of the can opener. Made in 1943, the basic material is steel with a coating, possibly zinc. The coating has broken down in places and corrosion has occurred. The 1942 models were still made of stainless steel.

W-83

L = 208 mm / 8 3/16 “

W-83 Heer ‘FBCM’ MYSTERY Solved

Table Fork: Obverse carries the German eagle looking to his right symbolizing the country / state / military and as such was called the Reichsadler. FBCM is the most often found maker’s mark on Army cutlery. The pieces can be marked on either the obverse and the reverse with ‘FBCM’ and typically the year ‘41’.

In my earlier book, A Guide to 3rd Reich Cutlery, the maker identification was one of the 3 mystery items.

I recently saw the following add:

“ARMY FIELD FOUR PIECES SET CUTLERY Four pieces stainless steel set.

Fork, spoon and can opener have same handle marked manufacturer’s initials and date, FBCM 43 and stamped national eagle.

Knife blade marked: F R BURBERG & CO.A-G. METTMANN-SOLINGEN ROSTFREI”

Solingen is located within the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Solingen area still produces some 70% of German knives.

Reference W-82’s FBCM 43 knife that does not carry the full manufacturers information and I missed buying the one that does.

FBCM = F. Burberg & Co. Mettmann

W-84 L = 212 mm / 8 6/16”

W-84 HEER (Army)

Mess Hall Tablespoon: (Kantine Essloeffel) Roughly 8 3/8” long, natural aluminum alloy. Handle obverse is flat. The reverse of the handle is well marked with an impressed national eagle with outstretched wings and the manufacturers initials “W.S.M.” and dated “42”.

Fact: Of the 13,600,000+ that served in the German army from 1939 to 1945, some 4,200,000+ were killed or missing in action. Total German losses in the Eastern Campaign from 1941 to 1944 alone were 1,400,000+ killed in action with an additional 1 million missing in action.

W-85 L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

W-85 HEER

Mess Hall Tablespoon: Aluminum with raised central rib on obverse. Reverse handle maker marked “E100” and “WH” indicating Wehrmacht (Armed Forces), Heer, (Army). Plus an owner’s? initial “W” scratched on reverse.

Trivia: To appreciate the pre 1943 logistics of a German Infantry Division, per “The German Infantry Handbook’ by Alex Bucher-the 12th Infantry Division in the Eastern campaign from 22 June to 31 Dec 1941, a strengthened division of 20,000 men and 5,500 horses consumed 8,110 tons of food and fodder plus 15,100,000 cigarettes, 98,000 liters of alcohol, 6,516 kilo of chocolate etc. The eastern campaign started with 99 Infantry Divisions and quickly built up to 119!

W-86 L = 209 mm / 8 1/4”

W-86 HEER

Tablespoon: Mil Issue, aluminum 8 1/4” long. The obverse of the handle has a raised central rib while the reverse carries a manufacturers mark “LGK&F” over 39 and the eagle.

Trivia: Due to manpower shortages and a scarcity of reserves, by the Spring of 1942, German forces in the East had ‘absorbed’ some 800,000 former Red Army soldiers, including an estimated 6,000 officers and former commissars. Ultimately, more than one million former Red Army soldiers would serve with the Germans. These Soviet citizens that volunteered to be unofficially employed as manual laborers and/or as German Army combat reinforcements were called HiWis for Hilfswillige “volunteer auxiliary” and within the operational military totaled some 250,000 in 1943 and were officially permitted to the level of 15% of divisional strength. In the East: as of Oct 1943 the German Infantry Division of 16,860 was reduced to 11,317 Germans and 1,455 HiWi’s, a reduction of 28%. In Dec 1944 a further reduction was made to 11,211 Germans and 698 HiWi’s. The HIWI’s suffered some 215,000 killed for a death rate of over 25%.

W-87 L = 139 mm / 5 1/2”

W-87 HEER

Demitasse spoon: Alloy with a central raised spine on the obverse. Reverse maker marked “B.A.F. N. for Bayerische Alpaccawarenfabrik AG, Neu-Ulm a. Donau, 39” with eagle facing right on a mobile swastika..

Fact: WWII Campaigns length: Poland 27 Days, Denmark 1 Day, Norway 23 Days, Holland 5 Days, Belgium 18 Day, France 39 Days, Yugoslavia 12 Days, Greece 21 Days.

Blitzkrieg? German Infantry Divisions typically relied on their 5,000+ horses to supply 80% of their motive power. Each horse required 30,000 calories a day and consumed 22 pounds of fodder, or 55 tons of fodder daily per division. For the Polish campaign, the 197,000 horses required 135 railway trucks of fodder daily. On the East front, some 1,000 horses were lost daily during the last 2 years of the war. Of the 3 million horses and mules enlisted by the German Army between 1939 and 1945, more than 1.75 million perished. These numbers do not include the smaller Panje horses of the East which were used in large numbers but were not officially recognized by the military command system.

In Leon Degrelle’s book, ‘Campaign in Russia’ he describes an incident in 1942 in the Poltava area where two Cossack cavalry divisions surrendered but only after killing their 12,000 horses so as not to let them fall into German hands.

W-88

L = 142 mm / 5 10/16”

W-88 HEER?

Teaspoon: ‘1944’ over ‘Eagle’ looking to his left over D.H. (Deutsches Heer-German Army). Marked with RM, 800, ‘N’ for Bayer, Silberbestedkfabrik, Krumbach i, Bayern.

Although marked with the D.H., the eagle is a Partei eagle (looking left), that, with the 1944 date would indicate some type of award or commemorative, possibly to an Army veteran working in the Partei organization. Dated cutlery tends to disappear by 1943 when “Advancing on All Fronts” was a bitter memory as Germany had suffered some 1,686,000 casualties the year before.

Also in 1943, with the fall of Italy, the Germans appropriated large stockpiles of Italian clothing materials including field grey Italian material. As a result, the 1943 winter German army overcoats were mostly made from that Italian field grey material.

W-89 L = 202 mm / 8”

W-89 Heer

Tablespoon: Obverse unmarked with raised spine, reverse carries A.W.JRS 41.

War in the East!

Germany invaded Poland 1 Sep 1939 with 53 divisions (6 armored and 4 motorized). The Western Front had 33 divisions behind the Siegfried Line (West Wall) short of manpower, heavy equipment, artillery and not fully trained. Only 11 divisions were considered fully efficient. France had some 70 divisions facing the Germans. Hitler was surprised when England and France declared war but was confident they would do nothing. In the event, France killed some 200 german soldiers and retired to the Maginot Line. England’s philosophy was they could starve Germany into submission by sea control as they had done in WWI.

Germany’s surprise attack on The Soviet Union started on 22 June 1941 (Napoleon invaded on 24 June) with 3.2 M soldiers, 2,000 aircraft, 3,350 tanks, 7,184 pieces of artillery 750,000 horses and 20,000 vehicles of some 2,000 types scoured from all over the occupied countries as well as Germany. Advanced 350 miles in 10 days, Started the Leningrad siege on 8 Sept 41, took Minsk in August and Kiev in Sept, Reached Moscow suburbs in December. By the end of 1941, almost 1M Soviet jews had been murdered, all before the Wannsee Conference of Jan 42. The East front exceeded 1000 miles in depth with a length of 2,500 miles! It was here that the major strategic weaknesses of the German military became obvious as contributing factors in its failure. The three failed areas were intelligence, personnel and logistics.

W-90 L = 207 mm / 8 2/16”

W-90 Heer

Table fork: Obverse clear with a raised center spine. Reverse still carries the Weimar Republic Eagle (as this fork was undoubtedly contracted for in 1933) over ‘H.U.’ and over ‘1934’. The H.U. is short form for Heeres Unterkunft (Army Quarters / Billets). Maker marked with a shield with an ‘A’ above, a ‘B’ to the left and an ‘F’ to the right (the N below is not struck) for Bayerische Alpaccawarenfabrik AG., Neu-Ulm a. Donau followed by ‘ALPACCA’.

n 1933 Germany had a 100,000 man Military as prescribed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920. The Wehrmacht (Armed Forces) was founded on 15Mar35 and the German military was expanded to 3,180,000 in 5 years under Hitler.

The Wehrmacht on 1Sep39 had 3,180,000, (with 2.7 Million heer/army). Maximum strength achieved was 9.5 Million under arms with 5.5 Million in the Heer and at 9 May 1945 some 7.8 Million were still under arms with 5.3 Million Heer. Heer typically accounted for 75% of the Wehrmacht and within the Heer, 82% were Infantry Divisions.

In 1934, Government regulations forbade the export of nickel-silver (alpacca) products to preserve strategic nickel stocks.

W-91

L = 240 mm / 9 7/16”

W-91 Heer

Mess Hall Knife: Marked with “H. U. 38 “ on the reverse. H.U. is the short form for Heeres Unterkunft (Army Quarters / Billets) 1938, UNIAL.

By 1937, preparations for the German economy for the forthcoming war had been worked out in amazing detail. Recognizing that wartime controls, to be effective, must be based on adequate information, comprehensive surveys of 180,000 industrial plants in Germany had compiled statistics concerning the composition of the labor force as to sex, age, and training, the consumption of raw and auxiliary material, fuels, power, the productive capacity, the domestic and foreign trade as well as the supply of material and products in the beginning and at the end of the year.

In parallel, 80 million ration cards had already been printed and deposited with the Landrats, Chief Mayors, and corresponding authorities. The further distribution of the ration cards to the individual households was to be prepared by these authorities to take place within 24 hours after mobilization has been ordered.

The needs of the Armed Forces and the civilian minimum needs in wartime were compared with the covering thereof by supplies and production.

Note: This knife blade style is termed ‘New French’.and is identified by the indentation that appears on the lower side where the blade connects to the handle.

W-92 L = 153 mm / 6”

W-89 Heer

Mess Hall Spoon: Marked with “H. U.” on the obverse. H.U. is the short form for Heeres Unterkunft (Army Quarters / Billets). This spoon appears to be a ‘dug’ item with heavy corrosion but carries the Heer eagle looking right with no makers mark. The material is undetermined but indicates a late war product as does the workmanship.

Now we have H.U. utensils from 1934, 1938 and most probably 1944/45.

It is interesting to see how fast Germany was able to prepare the military for the anticipated aggressive war aims of Hitler. “Defense” spending in the 3rd Reich in billions of Reichsmarks (1934 rate: 2.5 RM = $1) leading up the the War and increasing the National debt by 300% was:

Compare this spoon with the tableware of the elite Fuhrer Begleit Brigade W-94.

W-93

L = 212 mm / 8 5/16”

W-93 89th Infantry Regiment’s, 5th Company

(Prize for extraordinary shooting skill)

Tablespoon: This award to “Feldwebel Ostrowsky 5./89” dated 22/10/38 is on a spoon from the original officer’s club of the 89th Mecklenburg Infantry Regiment which fought in both the Franco-Prussian War and WWI and was disbanded in 1919. Reverse Maker Marked with Wellner’s “GOWE”, 800, RM.

A new 12th division was secretly formed in 1934 and recognized with the creation of Wehrmacht in 1935. Initially, the division included Infantry Regiments 27 & 48. In 1937, Infantry Regiment 89, raised in Schwerin (Mecklenburg’s capital) was added. An Infantry Regiment was composed of 3 Battalions, each with 4 companies, (3 rifle and 1 machine gun). In 1939 it fought in Poland and in 1940 it participated in the invasion of France. It was on occupation duties until May 1941, in the Netherlands. In June 1941 the division joined Operation Barbarossa under Army Group North, and remained under that command until the end of 1943. In 1942 it was one of the divisions encircled in the Demyansk Pocket. In December 1942, it was renamed Grenadier Regiment 89. At the beginning of 1944 the division was transferred to Fourth Army, under Army Group Center; in June, it was one of those facing the Soviet offensive in the Belorussian SSR, It was ordered to hold Mogilevat at all costs, and was destroyed there. Very few troops escaped back to German lines from the encirclement. Thus disappeared the 89th Regiment and its 5th Company.

W-94 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

W-94 Fuhrer Begleit Brigade, Heer

Teaspoon: Fuhrer Begleit Brigade (FBB: Fuhrer Escort Brigade) Obverse bears the mark of the “Fuhrerstandarte” the Reichskanzlers personal flag with the four corner eagles and a wreathed swastika in its center. The reverse marked: BSF (Bremer Silberwarenfabrick, Bremen) 90. The spoon is from the mess hall dining sets most likely from their garrison H.Q. in Fallsingbostel next to Hitler’s (Wolf’s lair) at Rastenberg, East Prussia where they were responsible for guarding the outer perimeter of the headquarters, The SS being responsible for protection inside the perimeter.

After the 1 September 1939 attack on Poland, Hitler put Rommel in charge of a new Army battalion being organized to function as his personal escort to the front in the absence of the Leibstandarte. This led to the Fuhrer Begleit Battalion (FBB). The FBB started accompanying Hitler on his train (OG-58) and on his battlefield tours following the Battle of France, and later was upgraded to Division.

Note: Otto Remer commanding this elite unit was the man who almost single handed as an “Oberst” (Major) with his loyal troops were ultimately responsible of completely foiling the July 20th 1944 assassination plot against Hitler. If you see the film Valkyrie (Walkurie) he was the officer who upon orders from the Wehrmacht High Command was sent to arrest Doctor Goebbels, but after the Doctor handed him the phone, he heard on the other end, “Hello Oberst Remer-Do you know who I am? Do you recognize my voice?” It was then that Remer knew that Hitler was alive and he now knew who needed to be apprehended. In the movie, it is he who walks up to all the assembled big wigs including General Beck and announces, “You are all under arrest for high treason!”. Remer ultimately rose to the rank of Major General.

W-95 “107th” Infantry Regiment Cutlery Set.

A three piece set of cutlery consisting of a butter knife, tea spoon and fork. Each piece is engraved with “IR 107” (Infantry Regiment 107). Likely from the 107th Regiment officers mess. Reverse carries GEBR.HEPP for Brothers Hepp founded in 1863 by brothers Carl and Otto and ‘90’.

The regiment was one of three comprising the newly formed 34th Infantry division in Heidelburg during 1936. It is interesting to see its operational areas to better understand German deployments: 1939-Saarpfalz, Jan 40 to the Eifel on Germany’s western border, May 40 Luxembourg then France, July 40 Belgium, Jun 41 Minsk, Smolensk, Gomel Sep 41 to Feb 42 Wiasma, Moscow, Mar 42 Juchnow, Feb 43 Orel, Sep 43 Poltawa, Nov 43 Tscherkassy, Mar 44 Uman and was burned out after three straight years of combat in Russia. From Apr 44 to Jun 44 carried as ‘Remnants Not Operational” Those remnants ended the war in Northern Italy intact and unchanged but as a secondary fighting unit moving into Genoa in Jul 44 and spending the period Aug 44 to Apr 45 in Liguria (Nice).

The German Heer, or army, was formed in May of 1935 with the passing of the “Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defense Forces”. This law brought back into existence a free standing German army, navy and air force, something that had been essentially banned after the end of World War I. The Heer was defeated with the German capitulation on May 8th 1945, The Allied Control Council passed a law formally dissolving the Wehrmach on the 20th of August 1946, the official “death” date of the German Heer.

Note: Coincidentally, on 2 Nov 1812 during Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, his army lost a battle at Wiasma.

W-96

L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

W-96 First Mountain Division, Heer

Teaspoon: Obverse with edelweiss and reverse RM, 800, HTB for Hanseatishe Silberwarenfabrik, Bremen

The 1.Gebirgsjager-Division was formed on April 9th, 1938 in Garmisch Partenkirchen from the original Gebirgs-Brigade, the sole mountain unit of the German military since 1935 when the Wehrmacht was formed. After WWI ended, because of their record in battle, the Weimar Republic kept a small cadre of mountain troops to use as the nucleus for a future mountain force. In 1935 this cadre of men helped form the basis of the Gebirgs-Brigade, and by April of 1938, it was raised to a Divisional unit, the 1.Gebrigs-Division.

Campaigns: Poland 1939. Western 1940: After the Campaign in France, the Division was posted to take part in the planned invasion of Great Britain, and then for the planned invasion of Gibraltar, but in both cases, the planned operations were canceled. Balkans 1941: After training for the above two invasions, the Division was transferred to Austria to take part in operations in Yugoslavia. On April 9th, 1941, two years after the Division was formed, it crossed the Yugoslav frontier and fought through central Yugoslavia with the bulk of the German forces. Eastern Front: 1941-1943 After the Campaigns in Yugoslavia, the Division took part in the Invasion of the Soviet Union and fought in the highest positions held by any unit in all of German military history when the 4300 meter (14,100 ft) heights of Mt. Elbrus in the deep Caucasus region was held by the Gebirgsjager against repeated Soviet attacks and the harsh high alpine elements. Balkan/Italian Fronts: 1943-1945 In December, 1944 the Division was again moved to Hungary where it took part in offensives against the Red Army, and was then moved to the Austrian Region in 1945 where it surrendered to the Americans in May of 1945.

W-97 L = 128 mm / 8 3/16”

W-97 Fork: GTPp-MYSTERY Solved

Table Fork: Obverse clear. Reverse carries a detailed eagle looking left-symbolizing the Nazi party and thus called the Parteiadler. Below is a detailed tower with an overlay of GTPp. The maker mark is WMF (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik of Geislingen, 1853 to the present), ‘Patent’, ‘90’ in a square for plating and ‘45’ in a lozenge for silver gram weight. An ‘S’ is also impressed on the throat.

You may know that the identification of this fork was one of the MYSTERY items in my Guide to 3rd Reich Cutlery. With great thanks to Shawn Bernhardt, this case is closed. Shawn, who actually visited the site, was able to place the building in Grafenwoehr, Bavaria, near Nuremberg and was kind enough to send the photo left. Grafenwoehr is the site of the Bavarian Army’s Training center opened in 1907 and in 1936 expanded to 90 sq. miles and now the largest US training area in Europe. The building shown is the post’s water tower, circa 1910. The impression has been deciphered as: Grafenwoehr Truppenuebungsplatz (Grafenwoehr Training Area) The little p remains a little mystery but could be partei?

W-98 L = 415 mm / 16 1/4”

W-98 Army Field Kitchen Can Opener. (Dosenoffner)

Can Opener: Well marked “Reichsheer-1943-PeDe”.

This is a vintage military can opener from the Pe De Dienes Company and is of cast steel construction weighing 1250 grams / 2 3/4#. Peter Dienes founded the Pe De Dienes Company in Reimscheid, Germany in 1869. The area was a center for mechanical engineering. PeDe’s fame is based on their various grinders and mills as Peter Dienes had 11 patents on grinders and mills and invented what most now consider the best German coffee grinder mechanism which was also used by Robert Zassenhaus. The coffee mills remain highly collectible. The German Pe De Dienes Company lasted until 1960.

Source states “All complete, functions well. Scarce.”

W-99

L =145 mm / 5 11/16”

W-99 D.AK, das Deutsches Afrikakorps

(The German Africa Corps)

Teaspoon: Marked with DAK logo with maker mark ‘AWS’ in a squared box (August Wellner & Sohne), The AWS maker mark was used by Wellner from 1928 to 1941, 800, RM.

The D.AK was formed on 12 Feb 1941 as the original German expeditionary force in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt during the North African Campaign of World War II. Its original mission was to act as a blocking force in Libya and Tunisia to support the routed Italian army group which was under great pressure by the British forces.

The force was kept as a distinct formation and became the main German contribution to Panzer Army Africa which evolved into the German-Italian Panzer Army (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee) and Army Group Africa.

W-100 L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

W-100 D.AK,

Teaspoon: das Deutsches Afrikakorps Obverse marked with D.AK logo. Small dots surround the top handle of the spoon. Reverse carries retailer C.A. Krall, and maker mark of M.H.Wilkens, Bremen-Hemelingen, founded 1810, 800, RM.

Rommel’s AfrikaKorps required 70,000 tons of material monthly to operate but typically received much less as the Allies had broken the German codes and thus were able to intercept many of the resupply ships. On 13 May 1943 the remnants of the Afrikakorps surrendered in Tunisia having suffered some 12,808 killed in action. By this time, due to the absence of German supplies, the D.AK transport vehicles were predominately made up of captured British trucks.

W-101

L = 118 mm / 4 5/8”

W-101 German Africa Corps

After Dinner Teaspoon: Obverse DAK logo, Reverse: 800, no RM, the Danish “Three Tower Mark” with year ‘53’ (1853) and Assay Master mark of Peter R. Hinnerup served from 1840 to 1863. The Danish cutlery was undoubtedly confiscated after occupation and both DAK and the German ‘800’ over stamped later.

The Afrika Korps was derived and formed upon Adolf Hitler’s personal choice of Erwin Rommel to its command on February 12, 1941 (Rommel himself landed on African soil in Libya on February 14, 1941 to begin leading his forces that would be brought into action). The German Armed Forces High Command or Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) and Army High Command or Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) had decided to send a “blocking force” or Sperrverband to Libya to support the Italian army. On August 15, 1941, the German 5th Light Division5./ leichte “AFRIKA” Division was re designated 21st Panzer Division (commonly written as 21./PD), On February 23, 1943 Panzer Army Africa, (now called the German-Italian Panzer Army,) was re designated as the Italian 1st Army and put under the command of Italian general Giovanni Messe, while Rommel was placed in command of a new Army Group Africa (Heeresgruppe Afrika), created to control both the Italian 1st Army and the 5th Panzer Army. The remnants of the Afrikakorps and other surviving units of the 1st Italian Army retreated into Tunisia. Command of the Army Group was turned over to von Arnim in March. On May 13, remnants of the Afrikakorps surrendered, along with all other remaining Axis forces in North Africa.

W-102 L = 215 mm / 8 7/16”

W-102 Weimar Republic’s Navy Mess Fork.

(Kantine/Schiffskuche Gabel)

As described by the consignee:

“PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The single piece, german silver plated construction mess hall/galley four tine fork is roughly, 21cm long. The reverse is well marked with an impressed Imperial Eagle over “M”, indicating Kaiserliche Marine issue, and the impressed manufacturer’s initials, “V.S.F. 90” (1890). Typical silver tarnish, would clean up perfect.”

Referring to W-114, this Luftwaffe piece carries the identical V.S.F.90 where V.S.F. is Vereinigte Silberwaren-Fabrilen AG.. Duesseldorf and the 90 indicates the weight of silver plate and not 1890. Regarding the “Kaiser” reference, this is a pre-Hitler, post Imperial era piece from the early 1920s. There are no signs of imperial or NSDAP national insignia incorporated in the design of the logo. The eagle is a Weimar Republic eagle as the Kaiser military eagles typically had a crown as per W-93.

This Weimar Republic eagle can be compared to W-90’s.

W-103 L = 212 mm / 8 3/8”

W-103 KRIEGSMARINE

Tablespoon: Mil Issue, stainless steel with raised spine on a clear obverse. On the reverse the manufacturers initials, ‘HHL’ for (Heinrich Haupt Luedenscheid, Westfalen) in an octagonal border, “ROSTFREI’ with KM logo of a minimal / rudimentary eagle over a mobile swastika in a circle over the ‘M’.

Fact: From the Versailles Treaty strength limitation of 15,000 personnel, over 1,500,000 served in the KM, with some 65,000 killed in action.

Note: The Navy appears to be the least interested in the incorporation of the Nazi symbols and their renderings show it.

W-104 L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

W-104 KRIEGSMARINE

Teaspoon: Mil Issue with raised spine on obverse. On the reverse the makers mark is a circle divided diagonally by crossed swords with a letter ‘V’ at the top, letter ‘D’ on the left and a letter ‘N’ on the right with a letter ‘S’ at the bottom, the maker mark for (Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke AG Schwerte) followed by ‘BLANCADUR’* and at the bottom of the spoon the Kriegsmarine symbol with the ‘M’ in bold double outline.

*Blancadur identifies the Blancadur Process of the electrolytic deposition of pure rhodium to achieve a brilliant extremely bright and glossy surface layer.

W-105 L = 211 mm / 8 5/16”

W-105 Kriegsmarine

Tablespoon: Obverse of the handle is unmarked with a low, central ridge. Reverse maker marked F.W.W. 41. Impressed Kriegsmarine eagle with 3 feathers but no ‘M’, Rustfrei.

The U-Boat Commander’s Handbook, New Edition 1943 was translated by the US Navy and published by Thomas Publications in 1989. This handbook was the bible for the 1,244 German naval officers that served as U-Boat commanders.

The U-Boat pens at Lorient, France used 250,000 tons of cement and 17,000 tons of steel and are still in use by the French navy.

On 4 May 1945-Messages were sent to all U-Boats to cease action. On 5 May, the U-835 sank a collier four miles off Point Judith, Rhode Island and in turn was the last German U-boat sunk with the loss of all hands.

W-106 L = 202 mm / 7 15/16”

W-106 TORPEDOVERSUCHSANSTALT

(Torpedo Testing Facility, Kiel)

Tablespoon: Obverse clear. Reverse marked TORPEDOVERSUCHSANSTALT and ROSTFREI.

Source stated that this tablespoon was from the torpedo training/testing facility in Kiel. The spoon is of tooled stainless steel construction mess hall/galley tablespoon roughly, 21cm long with a roughly, 4.5cm wide “bowl”. Well marked “TORPEDOVERSSUCHSANSTALT”.

The submarine programs commenced with a regular course for future commanders which started on 3 January 1933 at the Navel Academy at Kiel.

The submarine school was established on 1 October 1933 in Kiel-Wik. The first crew at this school comprised eight officers and 75 NCO’s and seamen, all of whom assembled in Kiel in the summer of 1933. The torpedo activity was spread around between the Torpedo Trial Institution (TVA) Eckernfourde, The Torpedo Trial Station (Marine-Torpedo-Versuchsstation), the torpedo school at Muerwik, Torpedo courses at the Torpedo and Radio School in Flensburg-Muerwik, the Eckernfoerde Torpedo Testing Station as well as the Torpedo Testing Facility in Kiel. See the U-47 write up M-177 regarding early torpedo performance.

W-107 L = 208 mm / 8 3/16”

W-107 Companion fork with W-89

Fork accompanied the torpedo testing facility spoon above. The obverse has a Kreigsmarine eagle & swastika over what appears to be MSTVep.. The reverse carries an unidentified makers mark and ROSTFREI.

Source stated that both W-106 and W-107 were from the same location, reportedly Kiel.

W-108 KM/Partei Retirement Gift?

Tablespoon: Very ornate with obverse carrying a Parteiadler looking left (symbolizing the Nazi Party) over “Kriegsmarine”. The reverse carries retailer: ‘Gebr. Friedlander’, unidentified maker mark: ‘800’, ‘RM’ with engraved initials: JJS.

This spoons conflicted markings on the obverse make it difficult to place or understand. We can hypothesize that it is not official KM ware due to the Partiadler but as it is expensive, it could be a Partei award?

Navy officer careers consisted of four varying grades: High, Elevated, Medium and Low. Upon promotion or the retirement of High ranking Kriegsmarine officers, it was traditional to be presented with a commemorative set of table ware. This spoon is not typical of that naval tradition as it is Nazi Party generated and is an obvious departure from the official minimal approach to marking tableware by the Kriegsmarine.

Note: The Kriegsmarine can be said to have had three main components between 1935 and 1945, individual naval vessels, naval formations consisting of specific types of ships and a wide variety of ground based units. From these three main components the Kriegsmarine fielded thousands of ships and hundreds of naval formations and ground units. Between 1939 and 1945 over 1.5 million served in the Kriegsmarine. Over 65,000 were killed, over 105,000 went missing and over 210,000 were wounded. Of the 7,361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honor of WWII, the Knights Cross, 318 were from the Kriegsmarine making up 4% of the total awarded

W-109 L = 206 mm / 8 1/16”

W-109 Luftwaffe

Tablespoon (Essloeffel): Air Force mess hall, one piece stainless steel. The obverse of the handle is marked with a faint, impressed early style “droop tailed” Luftwaffe eagle. This 2nd Pattern eagle (1937-45) “Droop Tailed” has a pronounced downward pitch to the tail feathers and the eagles free leg lifts upward in a pronounced curve. The reverse of the handle is well marked with impressed manufacturers initials “CH” for (Chromolit) and date “41”, followed by “Rostfrei” (Rust Free). At the end of the handle, stamped crosswise are the initials, “Fl.U.V.” indicating, Flieger Unterkunft Verwaltung (Flight Barracks Administration).

The Luftwaffe is considered to be a child of the Nazi party. Under the Versailles Treaty of 1919, Part V, Germany was forbidden from having any military air organizations. It is not a coincidence that the Luftwaffe Eagles look left as does the Parteiadler whereas the Army and Navy Eagles look right, Reichsadler.

The Luftwaffe was officially recognized by Hitler on 9 March 1935 when he called for volunteers to serve in the German Air Force.

Fact: Of the 3,400,000 that served in the Luftwaffe during the period 1935 to 1945, some 165,014 were killed in action including 70,000 aircrew.

W-110 L = 210 mm / 8 1/4”

W-110 Luftwaffe

Tablespoon: mess hall stainless steel. Obverse of the handle is well marked with impressed initials “Fl. U.V.” indicating, Flieger Unterkunft Verwaltung, (Flight Barracks Administration). Manufacturer’s name “Oxydex”, logo of a 4 leaf clover in a square and “rustfrei” is impressed on the reverse. The FlUV is impressed upside down.

Luftwaffe Trivia: In 1942, an army study showed that army strength had peaked and from then on, it would be unable to make up manpower losses. To make up Heer losses, Luftwaffe Field Divisions were rapidly mobilized from Luftwaffe ground personnel. From Oct 42 to early 1943 some 200,000 Luftwaffe personnel were organized into 21 Field Divisions-as 7,000+ strong M1942 Rifle (Jager) Divisions to replace the massive loss of men on the Eastern front. Due to the lack of training and poor leadership (the officers were Luftwaffe) results in the field were poor. Of the 21 divisions formed, 17 were either destroyed or disbanded before the end of the war.

Note: The Army had intended for the 200,000 to be used to make up Army losses by their integration into existing army units but Goring successfully opposed that idea as he did not want his National Socialist airmen going into the ‘reactionary’ army. To compound the army’s problem, it had to equip those divisions.

W-111 L = 208 mm / 8 3/16”

W-111 Luftwaffe

Fork: One piece, natural aluminum construction four tine mess hall fork. The obverse of the handle has a central, raised, ridge and a well impressed, second pattern, (Circa 1936/1937-1945), Luftwaffe style eagle with out-stretched wings, clutching a mobile swastika in one talon. There are also two “I”’s stamped to the front which are probably a unit marking of some sort. The reverse of the handle is well marked with impressed manufacturer’s initials and date, “H.M.Z” for Hessische Mettallwerke, Ziegenhain 40. The reverse of the handle also has the impressed designation, “Fl. U.V.” indicating, Flieger Unterkunft Verwaltung, (Flight Barracks Administration). Shows period wear and use.

Some Luftwaffe Unit Types:

W-112 L = 205 mm / 8 1/16”

W-112 Luftwaffe, crosswise marking

Fork: One piece, four tine mess hall fork. Obverse is clear but fluted in 3 sections. The reverse of the handle has a second pattern, (Circa 1936/1937-1945), Luftwaffe style eagle with out-stretched wings, clutching a mobile, swastika in one talon. The reverse also carries markings: “Wellner” “Patent” “90” within a circle and “45” within a square. The Luftwaffe style eagle is stamped crosswise which is unique. Neither my source nor I have ever seen this placement and was the reason for its acquisition. Shows period wear and use.

Although officially announced in 1935, the Luftwaffe had existed in one form or another practically since the day the treaty banning it had been signed. Initially there were Freikorps air units, then later glider and sail plane formations tasked with finding ways around the rigid restrictions of Versailles, a secret training base in the Soviet Union, and various cover organizations for the initial forming of the new German air force. The Luftwaffe was officially disbanded in August of 1946 by the Allied Control Commission.

W-113 L = 209 mm / 8 1/4”

W-113 Luftwaffe

Tablespoon: With raised, early Droop-Tailed Eagle (1935/6) and swastika on obverse. Maker marked reverse: Roman numeral ‘II’ which could be an indication that the piece has a double layer of silver plate and a diamond enclosing crossed swords and the letters “V’ at the top of the cross, ‘D’ on the left, ‘N’ on the right and ‘S’ below the cross, the maker mark for Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke AG Schwerte.

Germany’s front line fighter plane was the Messerschmitt Bf 109 with direct fuel injection as opposed to the Spitfire’s carburetor engine which gave the Messerschmitt significant advantages in certain maneuvers. The kill ratio (almost 9:1) made this plane far superior to any of the other German fighters during the war and over 33,000 were produced. The closest rival was the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 with a kill ratio of 4:1, but introduced later in the war when things were more difficult. Some 20,000 Fw 190’s were built. These two aircraft were half the total aircraft manufactured by Germany in WWII.

Note: Regarding the Bf 109: Erhard Milch disliked Willy Messerschmitt and as State Secretary of the Luftwaffe he forbid Messerschmitt from competing for the Luftwaffe’s Modern Fighter Aircraft program. Messerschmitt responded by secretly submitting their proposal through the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW), winning the competition. Immediately Messerschmitt acquired BFW, Milch’s response was to require that the aircraft carry the Bf-109 designation on all official documentation and not the universally used ME-109.

W-114 L = 207 mm / 8 1/8”

W-114 Luftwaffe

Tablespoon: Officers Service, in silver plate with raised, early Droop Tailed Eagle and gold plated swastika on obverse. Maker marked on reverse: V.S.F. for Vereinigte Silberwaren-Fabriken AG., Duesseldorf. 90.

1st Pattern Luftwaffe eagle (1935 & 1936) has the leg positioned horizontally across the eagles body compared to the upward curving leg of the 2nd pattern. Other items of note: 1st pattern’s short, stubby wings, and very large swastika.

From as early as 1936, the Luftwaffe had their own dishes and plates. In fact in 1941, Luftwaffe bottled beer came in bottles with raised ‘Luftwaffe’ on the exterior and on the porcelain ‘corks’. Favored dish and plate suppliers were Bohemia, Thun and in 1942 Tielsch-Altwasser.

W-115 L = 142 mm / 5 10/16 “

W-109 Luftwaffe

Teaspoon: General Officer’s service piece. Marked on obverse with Luftwaffe emblem. Reverse maker mark of Vereinigte Silberwarenfabriken, Dusseldorf, founded 1899 followed by 800, RM.

Maximum air strength in Europe during WWII: Germany 5,000 combat aircraft, America 21,000, England 8,500 and Russia 17,000.

German WWII FIGHTER aircraft production rates:

1939 37/ month.

1940 126/ month

1 250/ month under Udet

2 1,000/ month under Milch

Fall 1944 4,000/ month under Speer

Notes: 1. At 5’3”, Ernst Udet was Nazi Germany’s shortest General. Albert Speer was 6’3”.

2 See OG-55, in 1942 the BR-52 Kriegslok (War Locomotive / freight) empty weight 75.9 tons were being built at a rate of 500 per month! Total built 6,500+.

3. In 1940, the Luftwaffe was producing more pilots than aircraft.

W-116 L = 174 mm / 6 13/16”

W-116 Luftwaffe

Dessert spoon: General Officers Service in silver with a fraktur personalized? letter “B” over the Luftwaffe Eagle on the obverse. The reverse is well marked with the manufacturer’s name ‘LAMEYER’ followed by the RM of a crescent moon & crown (Halbmond und Krone) and 800 (the decimal silver standard mark) followed by a maker’s mark of a small ‘W’ left of a capital ‘L’ followed by a ‘&’ and a capital ‘S’ with a crown on the top. The “W” for the first name of Wilhelm, the ‘L’ for family name Lameyer, the ‘& S’ most probably for ‘and son’ of Hanover.

Total German WWII Aircraft production: 113,515 aircraft with 100,000 destroyed and 70,000 aircrew killed.

(The US produced over 100,000 aircraft in 1944 alone of a total 300,000).

For comparison, the most produced military aircraft in history was the Russian II-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft at 42,330. In 1942 alone, Russia produced 40,000 aircraft vs Germany’s 5,000.

Note: The English teaspoon holds 5 ml, a dessert spoon 10 ml and the tablespoon 15 ml.

W-117 L = 152 mm / 6”

W-117 Luftwaffe. Fliegerhorst “Julich” 1936

(Air Base Julich)

Nut Cracker: One arm: Fl. H.Kdtr.Ju. 1936 (Fliegerhorst Kommandantur Julich 1936), or Air Base Headquarters Julich 1936. Other arm: first pattern (1935 & 6) eagle with swastika and reverse maker marked WELLNER, 10 and 3.

Julich is a good size German city strategically located near the German border with Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium, and played an important role in the invasion of those countries by Wehrmacht forces in 1940. This is a rare and beautiful example of the standard 6 inch heavy (230Gr / 8.1Oz), silver plated nutcracker manufactured during the Third Reich in Aue, Germany by the firm of August Wellner & Sohne and is one of the rarest pieces of Wellner Luftwaffe table service. Founded in 1935, during this early period of the Luftwaffe, German base specific cutlery made its appearance which by itself is rare. The engraving style and time frame is harmonious with W-93 & M-168’s Maker Mark. Hermann Goering personally chose an insignia for the Luftwaffe that differed from that of the other armed branches. The eagle, an old symbol of the German Empire, was used, but in a different posture. Since 1933, when Hitler’s National Socialist Party came to power, the eagle held between his claws the symbol of the party—the swastika (an old symbol of sunrise)—which usually was enveloped by an oak wreath. Goering rejected the old heraldic eagle because he felt it was too stylized, too static, and too massive; instead he chose a younger, more natural and lighter eagle with wings spread as if in flight, as he considered this a more suitable symbol for an air force. While the Wehrmacht eagle held the symbol of the National Socialist Party firmly in its talons, the Luftwaffe eagle held the swastika with only one talon while the other was bent in a threatening gesture.

W-118 L = 147 mm / 5 13/16”

W-118 Luftwaffe Fliegerhorst “Staaken”

(Air Base Staaken)

Coffee Spoon: Obverse marked with a well-detailed, incised, 2nd pattern (1937-1945) Luftwaffe eagle and swastika. Reverse: Silver weight “21”, Silver “90” and maker mark “Krupp Berndorf” and air base ID “Staaken” in jeweler script.

Staaken is located approximately 17 km west of central Berlin. Here during WWI the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin company manufactured zeppelin airships and R.VI biplane strategic bombers. In 1919 the regulations of the Treaty of Versailles ended zeppelin production and the area was transformed into an airfield. In 1927, the former zeppelin manufacturing halls were locations for various film productions including parts of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (a favorite of Hitler and the most expensive silent film ever produced!). In 1929 the estate was sold to the City of Berlin, while parts of the airport were still used by the Lufthansa airline for flight training and maintenance purposes.

From the founding of the Luftwaffe in 1935 till 1945, this field was the home of Luftwaffe Air Base Staaken (Fliegerhorst Staaken) although it shared the property with the Demag (Deutsche Maschinenfabrik AG) that built Panther tanks during World War II using forced labor of over 2,500 prisoners held in the nearby Falkenhagen labor camp, a sub camp of Sacksenhausen concentration camp.

Source comment: Spoon shows light surface wear/age with some loss of silver plating to underside of the spoon bowl and adjacent to the Staaken personalization.

Note: This style/length spoon is called a ‘Five O’Clock Spoon’ by English/American collectors and is my favorite!

Wehrmacht’s Military Justice

Oath: From “The Hitler Salute” by Tilmer Allert: “Oaths are by their nature unconditional: they are made to ward off the possibility that the intensity of the relationship they govern will slacken and fall prey to moral weakness or negligence.”

Until 1933, members of the German military swore their oath of allegiance in the following words: “I swear by God this sacred vow that I will faithfully and truly serve my people and my country at all times, and that I will be prepared as a brave and obedient soldier to be ever willing to risk my life to uphold this vow.”

In 1934, the wording was changed to: “I swear by God this sacred vow that I will offer my unqualified obedience to the leader of the German Empire and the German people, Adolf Hitler, the commander-in-chief of the military, and that I will be prepared as a brave soldier to be ever willing to risk my life to uphold this vow.”

For comparison

US Military enlistment oath: “I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

Initial problems were created with the basic requirement to take the oath. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only group of people in German society which refused as a unified body to serve in the armed forces. In addition, after their occupation, the citizens of Luxembourg as well as the French citizens of Alsace and Lorraine were made ethnic German citizens and therefore subject to being drafted by the Wehrmacht. Polish citizens that were classified as ethnic Germans were also subject to the draft. In all these cases, to refuse to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler automatically triggered the death penalty which was administered by the military courts.

The next level of legal enforcement of military discipline occurred after joining the Wehrmacht and having taken the oath. Now the focus is the maintenance of discipline.

Obedience to orders is fundamental to military organization. The individual abandons the right to self determined decisions by joining the armed forces. Unconditional obedience, subordination and military unity is the goal.

Some one million Wehrmacht soldiers were subjected to military courts for failing (wehrkraftzersetzer) “subverting the power of defense”. Of these some 20,000 were executed for this offense. (Numbers executed for criminal crimes is not included). For comparison, the US actually executed one soldier in WWII and Germany had executed 48 during WWI.

Example: An enlisted soldier in Poland was ordered to shoot an old woman who refused to surrender her 2 pigs to his forage unit. After refusing 3 direct orders, he was arrested, tried and shot.

SS

An explanation as to the plethora of SS Besteck comes from an item in a Germania International write-up: “Traditionally, in Germany, tableware was the gift of choice. This involved sets of spoons, knives and forks sometimes in special cases. There was born a tradition in the Waffen-SS of presenting tableware to couples who were about to be married. This went back to the 1930’s with the Allgemeine-SS. From 1939 on, thousands of war wounded of the Waffen-SS had nothing to do other than lie around in hospital beds or languish about with no actual mental therapy. The SS command decided that various artistic projects should be offered to them that would fill the bill. The question was what therapy would give the recuperating soldier something to occupy his hours, and at the same time be something that would add to the cultural expression and acumen that was always the professed agenda of the SS. Then someone came up with the idea of supplying the men with simple tools for constructing various items such as presentation dinnerware and also engraving tools and applique kits were supplied for acid etching and hand engraving. The men were allowed to sell these hand tooled gifts. One of the most popular of the art projects was making up sets of dinnerware—knives, forks, spoons—with the SS symbols applied. The actual flatware was not produced by these wounded men, rather it was a matter of certain companies who produced these utensils to donate them to the soldiers who, with their newly acquired tools, applied carefully the SS runic symbols to the various pieces. Firms such as Krupp, Sy and Wagner, Tiger, Eickhorn, Wellner etc., donated sets from vendor stocks to be decorated and sold with the benefits going to the soldiers families.

These were often called wedding sets because SS men of various Waffen-SS units would often give them as presents to a comrade and his wife as a marriage present. It became a respected tradition among the ranks of the Waffen-SS and continued on to the end of the war.” With over 900,000 serving in the Waffen-SS, and over 400,000 wounded in action, this was a large number to find distractions via the Verwundete (wounded) Program!

Legal Problems for the SS

Due to its creation by Hitler personally and its subsequent involvement with the NSDAP as a Party-affiliated organization, the SS was listed as a criminal organization at Nuremberg in 1945. The Waffen-SS (the militarized formations of the SS were named Waffen-SS in the winter of 1939-40 having originally been formed as the SS-VT or SS (Special Troops) was thus denied the rights of the other military service veterans. Only conscripts sworn in after 1943 were exempted from criminal charges on the basis of involuntary servitude. All Allgemeine-SS members were listed as criminals.

The SS mottos: Meine Ehre Heisst Treue-

My Honor is Loyalty &

Believe! Obey! Fight!

SS-119 L = 211 mm / 8 5/16”

SS-119

Tablespoon: Obverse carries the SS Runes in a circle while the reverse is marked ‘NEUSILBER’. Neusilber was created by the Gebrueder Henninger (Henninger Bros.) as a substitute for silver and was composed of 5-30% nickel, 45-70% copper and 8-45% zinc with trace amounts of lead, tin and iron. It later used the trade name Alpacca.

SS Regalia: Adopted as a link to the past, the Totenkopf (Death’s Head) was the only common badge of all SS formations such as the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS.

From a 15th Century poem by Garnier von Susteren: Behold the Knight in solemn black manner. With a skull on his crest and blood on his banner

The Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler adopted the Totenkopf in 1923 whose regimental song included: In black we are dressed, In blood we are drenched, Death’s Head on our helmets. Hurrah! Hurrah! We stand unshaken!

The SS Runes was designed by Walter Heck in 1931 by combining two Sig-Runes side by side. The Sig-Rune was a symbol of victory.

An SS motto: “To accept death and to hand out death”.

SS-120

Fork: Obverse carries SS in a wreath. Reverse RM, 800, ‘A’ in a 6 pointed star, the maker mark of Robert Altermann, Gorlitz (with companion knife)

Short SS History: 9Nov1925 Schutzstaffel named. 6Jan 1929, Himmler becomes leader of its 280 members. Nov1933-’Adolf Hitler’ Life Guards. 20Jul34 SS becomes an independent organization with 200,000 members. . 24Sep34, the SS-VT (Verfugungstruppe) or Political/Order Troops. In Dec35, a third branch of the SS was formed to run the new concentration camps, SS-TV (Totenkopfverbande) the Deaths Head Units and in 1939 Waffen-SS formalized.

The SS was a state within a state holding such positions as Hitler’s secretary, personal adjutant, chief medical officer, his personal pilot, his chauffeur, the majority of his young valets and aides. Within the NSDAP, Party treasurer, Supreme Party Judge, Chief of the Party Press Office, Head of the Party Chancellery, Chief of the NSDAP Racial Department and Deputy Gauleiter of the Foreign Section of the NSDAP. State cabinet posts: Head of the Reich Chancellery, Foreign Ministry, Red Cross etc. etc.

The permanent SS group at each concentration camp was small. For example, at Dachau there were only 300 SS, all over 40 years of age, to oversee some 17,000 inmates. The camps were essentially run by the inmates with the Greens (police preventive detention = criminals) mostly in charge. In January 1945, some 715,000 including 200,000 women were still interned in concentration camps.

Note: This knife blade style is termed “Old French”.

SS-121 L = 202 mm / 7 15/16”

SS-121 Allgemeine SS-F.S. Braunschweig

Fork: Obverse clear, Reverse Marked SS-F.S. where F = (Fuss / Foot / Infantry) S. = (Standarte / Standard unit) over ‘Braunschweig’. Maker mark ‘WMF’ (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik of Geislingen, 1853 to present. ‘Cromargan’ is a registered trademark of WMF composed of 18% Chrome, 10% Nickel and 72% steel.

This is an Allgemeine-SS fork. Allgemeine translates to General or Universal.. Hitler assisted Himmler in his first great victory over the SA by decreeing on November 7, 1930: “The task of the SS is first the practice of the police service within the party. No SA leader is entitled to give instructions to the SS!” Its original role was to protect Hitler then to support the police in maintaining order which later developed into a force to combat internal uprisings. By the start of the war, the Allgemeine-SS had 485,000 members in Germany. With the war, only 100,000 were exempted from military service and by 1945 that number had been reduced to 48,500.

Braunschweig (Brunswick, Brunswiek) is a city in central Germany’s Lower Saxony. It is the city in which Adolf Hitler sought and found employment with the Braunschweig State Government in February 1932 to qualify for German citizenship (Hitler being Austrian) which was required to become a candidate for the German Reichstag. This was his first step to becoming the leader of the state (Reichskanzler).

Note: The Standarte was originally composed of 2,000, reduced to 1,000 in 1941 and finally to 400 in 1945. There were 127 Standarte in November 1944 each associated with a particular metropolitan area. Braunschweig’s Standarte was designated number 49.

SS-122 L = 145 mm / 5 11/16”

SS-122 Allgemeine-SS Standardt 28, Hamburg

Teaspoon: Obverse marked ‘28=SS=Standarten’. Reverse Reichsmark, 800 unknown Maker Mark of a bird in a circle looking left and ‘ARON’.

The Standarten was the standard unit of the Allgemeine-SS / General SS as set up in 1930 with a nominal goal of 2,000 men. Each SS Stardarte was composed of three active Sturmbanne or battalions one reserve Sturmbann and a marching band. The Sturmbann strength was nominally between 500 and 800 men. Within the Sturmbannn were four Sturme or companies, a medical squad and a fife and drum corps. A Sturm nominally had between 120 and 180 men. The Sturm was further divided into 3 or 4 Truppen (platoons) each composed of 3 Scharen (sections). The Schar composed of between 10 and 15 men. Standarten were numbered consecutively from 1 to 127. Number 28 being located in Hamburg.

On 26 July 1934, Adolf Hitler announced that “in consideration of the very meritorious service of the SS, especially in connection with the events of 30th June 1934, (night of the Long Knives when the SA leadership was killed by the SS) I elevate it to the status of an independent organization within the National Socialist Worker’s Party.”

SS-123

L = 180 mm / 7 3/16”

SS-123 SS-VT Reich

Gravy Ladle: Obverse clear, reverse SS-VT Reich, WMF & Cromargan.

Fuhrer Order on the armed units of the SS of 17 Aug 1938 established the SS-VT as political / order troops at the special disposal of the Nazi regime. Under the Reichsfuhrer-SS for internal security duties, except in time of war when it would be at the disposal of the army.

Fuhrer Order II. The armed units of the SS

“The SS Verfugungstruppe is neither a part of the Wehrmacht nor a part of the police. It is a standing armed unit, exclusively at my disposal. As such, and as a unit of the NSDAP its members are to be selected by the Reichsfuhrer SS according to the ideological and political standards which I have ordered for the NSDAP and for the Schutzstaffeln.”

This ladle was made for one of the most well known and researched Panzer Divisions of the Waffen-SS. “Das Reich”, as it was ultimately named, was composed of some of the most intensely trained and battle hardened troops in the world at the time. They took part in their first campaign in the West against the low lying countries in France as the SS-VT Division Reich, composed of 3 of the original 4 SS-Standarten (Regiments): Deutschland, Germania, and Der Fuhrer. The 4th was the SS LAH which was developed on it’s own. After the Western campaign the SS-VT was reorganized and saw many name changes including “Reich” until it ultimately became the SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Das Reich”.

SS-124 L = 208 mm / 8 3/16

SS-124 Waffen-SS

Tablespoon: Obverse baroque with engraved owner initials of ‘DJC’. Reverse with impressed ‘Waffen-SS’, RM, 800 and a Bruckmann & Sohne trade mark ‘eagle’.

In September 1934, the SS-VT (Verfugungstruppe) or Political Troops (after the ‘Night of the Long Knives’) took over many of the guard functions at important Government locations. In October 1934 they were motorized. Their cadet school was opened in October 1934 at Bad Tolz.

Note: In early 1935, Bad Tolz passed out the first 54 cadets. Nearly all of whom were killed in battle between 1939 and 1942.

SS-VT: SS-Verfiigungstruppe-SS Special Purpose Troops; the militarized formations of the SS renamed Waffen-SS in the winter of 1939-40.

Originally, Waffen-SS personnel requirements called for a minimum height of 5’11” for all volunteers except for the LAH which required a minimum height of 6’1”.

SS-125 L = 149 mm / 5 14/16”

SS-125 WAFFEN-SS

Teaspoon: Obverse plain with no decoration marked ‘Waffen-SS’. Reverse hallmarked with a Wellner’s ‘elephant’ over ‘Alpacca’ enclosed in an oval.

Waffen-SS or Armed-SS, literally Weapons-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel and founded in 1939.

Waffen-SS consisted of 38 combat divisions, each with numerical designations followed by such names as “SS Panzer Division”, “SS Panzergrenadier Division” and “Waffen Grenadier Division Der SS”. The 3rd SS Panzer Division = “Soldiers of Destruction” and the 12th SS Panzer Division = ‘Fighters not Soldiers”. Waffen-SS KIA estimated at 180,000, WIA 400,000 and MIA 70,000.

Waffen SS Trivia: Although some 922,000 served in the Waffen-SS, ultimately 57 percent were non-German nationals! Breakdown: Reich Germans 400,000, West Europeans 137,000, East Europeans 200,000 and Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) 185,000. Initially the W-SS was ‘German’. In 1940, with the founding of the Wiking Divison it became ‘Germanic’ The so called ‘Germanic’ divisions being the 1st LSSAH, 2nd Das Reich, 3rd Totenkopf and the 5th Wiking. From 1941 on, it became, per Leon Degrelle, the first truly European Army, ultimately composed of volunteers from 30 countries such as the 54,000 from Rumania and the 50,000 Islamic volunteers.

SS-126 L = 208 mm / 8 3/16”

SS-126 1st SS Panzer Division ‘Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler’

Tablespoon: Obverse carries the formal pattern (also referred to as ‘twisted wire’ pattern) of intertwined LAH letters as used in the barracks of the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, the elite soldiers of the Schutzstaffel, or Black Corps. Reverse maker marked ‘V.S.F.’ for Vereinigte Silberwaren-Fabriken AG., Duesseldorf. 90.

9 November 1933 (the 10th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch) the Leibstandarte-SS ‘Adolf Hitler’ = ‘Adolf Hitler’ Life Guards (in the fashion of the famous Imperial Royal Lifeguard Regiments) was created. It was funded from the national budget rather than the NSDAP’s and thus became in Himmler’s own words, “a complete law unto itself”. They served Hitler as guards, adjutants, drivers, servants and waiters. The original LSSAH compound was located in South West Berlin at the Lichterfelde Kaserne (Berlin-Lichterfelde) which was an old Prussian cadet training school and became the headquarters for the Leibstndarte-SS “Adolf Hitler”. This was also the location of some forty or more SS executions during the ‘Night of the Long Knives”. Later became the headquarters for the SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte under ‘Sepp’ Dietrich .

The spoon is in the Beidermeier pattern which evolved in such cities a Vienna, Munich and Berlin during the ‘Beidermeier’ period of 1815-1848 in Germany and Austria.

SS-127 L = 144 mm / 5 11/16”

SS-127 LSSAH

Teaspoon: Intertwined script letters L-A-H. Sometimes referred to as twisted wire design. Maker marked “Becker 90”.

Commanded by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Josef ‘Sepp’ Dietrich it fought in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Russia, Belgium, and Hungary. Of the June 1944 strength of 19,700 troops, the remaining 1,500 survivors with 16 tanks surrendered to US troops in Austria in 1945.

SS-128 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

SS-128 LSSAH 1941

Teaspoon: Obverse marked “LSSAH” 1941. Reverse maker marked: WMF, (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik of Geislingen, Germany 1853 to the present), RM, 800.

SS Oath-Nov 33-”I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor, loyalty and bravery. I vow to you, and those you have appointed to command me, obedience unto death. So help me God.”

In 1929, Hitler described the SS man as, “Those who throng to the SS are men inclined to the authoritarian state, who wish to serve and obey, who respond less to an idea than to a man.”

Half of all the W-SS Division commanders died in combat!

SS-129 L = 136 mm / 5 6/16”

SS-129 LSSAH.

Teaspoon: Obverse monogram: Capital ‘L’, ‘SS’ runes, Capital ‘A’ and Capital ‘H’. Maker marked on the reverse: RM, 800, LW in a crest (Lutz & Weiss, Pforzheim founded 1882). Pattern: High relief, floral pattern, both sides, asymmetrical with roses at base.

In the early years prior to and of WWII, the Army resented the SS for taking the best candidates (volunteers) and as the Army controlled procurement for both, they took the best weapons first, supplying the W-SS with weapons from acquired / captured stocks.

Weapons fielded to each organization during those early years:

SS-130 LSSAH

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the L-A-H intertwined initials. The obverse maker marked by Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen founded 1929, 800 and RM. Also has a hand engraved “G” over “M”.

As a result of the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939, Hitler was able to detail weapons acquired as: 1,582 airplanes, 2,175 pieces of field artillery, 469 tanks, 500 antiaircraft guns, 43,000 machine guns, 1,090,000 rifles, 114,000 revolvers, a billion rounds of ammunition and 3 million artillery shells in his 28 April 1939 Reichstag speech. Those MG’s ended up in the W-SS. See the 3rd SS Panzer Division description SS-138.

Note: Track 16 of the 2005 digitally re-mastered “Triumph of the Will” DVD of the 1934 Nazi Party Rally in Nuremburg filmed by Leni Riefenstahl has some 5 minutes of the LSSAH review accompanied by their band playing Hitler’s favorite, the Badenweiler March with appearances by both Himmler and Sepp Dietrich.

SS-131 L = 175 mm / 6 7/8”

SS-131 2nd SS-PZ. DIV. (Reich)

Fork: Obverse with undecipherable entwined engraved initials. Reverse with RM, 800, unknown maker mark, retailer ‘H. Leher”, 2 SS Panzer Division.

Originally established as the SS-VT Div in October 1939 with later name changes from the April 1940 designation as SS-Division Deutschland to October 1940’s 2nd SS-Panzer Division “Reich” and in May 1942, after refitting with more tanks, assault guns and armored personnel carriers it was renamed SS-Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’. The 2nd SS having acquired superior motorized units was able to accomplish wonders in what became to be known as the ‘lightening’ campaign in the Balkans in the spring of 1941.

In the SS, a German citizen (Reichsdeutsche) could immediately wear the SS collar runes upon entering the Waffen-SS. Racial Germans (Volksdeutsche) those definitely of German stock but resident outside of the Reich. typically wore a division collar patch and the SS rune on the breast..

SS-132 L = 139 mm / 5 1/2”

SS-132 SS-Reich

Teaspoon: Obverse SS-Reich. Reverse hallmark: RM, “800”, followed by “LSF” in an oblong enclosure for Liegnitzer Silberwarenfabrik, Liegnitz. Pattern: bottom 1/ 3rd of obverse has 18 symmetrical dots of increasing size on each side with largest at bottom.

During 1939 and 1940, German forces occupied western European countries which allowed the W-SS to recruit pro-Nazi’s, anti communists, Volksdeutsche etc. while the Wehrmacht was not authorized to do so. By the end of 1942, the W-SS fielded some 200,000 troops.

Das Reich received more high bravery / valor awards than any other W-SS Division i.e., 69 Knight’s Crosses.

The designation of Das Reich was changed eleven times from September 1939 till February 1945 due to status changes as well as later in the war to camouflage the units true identity and confuse enemy intelligence.

SS-133 L = 146 mm / 5 3/4 “

SS-133 SS-Reich

Teaspoon: Obverse ‘SS-Reich’ with the SS in what is termed ‘lightning bolt’ style. Highlights on edges of lower 1/ 3. Reverse maker marked; Berndorf over their trade mark ‘walking bear’ and Alpacca below in an overall oval shape.

SS enlistment requirements were 25 years for officers, 12 years for NCO’s and 4 years for enlisted men. The Officer and NCO enlistment durations date from those specified by the Treaty of Versailles for the German Army in an effort to discourage enlistments.

Note: Responsible for issuing personal equipment items, control of SS mess hall supplies and rations was under SS-WVHA, SS-Wirtschafts und Verwaltungs Hauptamt (SS-Economic and Administration Department).

SS-134 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

SS-134 SS-Reich

Teaspoon: Obverse carries a textured SS-Reich. Reverse is unmarked.

On 5 Dec 1941, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer (4 Star) Paul Hausser, commanding SS Division ‘Reich’ came within 16 kilometers / 10 miles of the outskirts of Moscow, Temperature was-36C /-33F. They actually captured a beginning station of a tram line to Moscow.

SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer Hauser, whose nickname was “Papa Hauser”, lost an eye in combat and became famous as ‘the SS general with the eye-patch’.

In 1946, Hauser stated. “The guards of the concentration camps and the personnel in the command did not belong to the Waffen-SS.” See the 3rd SS-Panzer Div description SS-138.

Regarding uniform colors: Within the NSDAP, the three “teeth” organizations were the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) security police with grey uniforms, the Gestapo secret police in plain street clothes and the Waffen-SS in grey uniforms. The black uniformed SS were the Allgemeine-SS.

SS-135 L = 103mm / 8 1/16”

SS-135 SS-Reich (Austria)

Table fork: Obverse carries the ‘lightening’ SS and Reich. Reverse has an Austrian crowned double headed eagle followed by ‘maker mark ‘BMF’ (Berndorf Metallwaaren Fabrik / Berndorf Metalware Factory) with the M and F sharing the vertical line indicating the plant location as Vienna.

The 2nd SS was initially sent to the Balkans in 1941. Then participated in the invasion of Russia along the track from the Dneiper crossing, Smolensk, Kiev and on to Moscow. In 1942 to France for R&R. As a Panzer Grenadier Division participated in the occupation of Vichy France. March 1943 returned to Russia where Paul Hausser recaptured Kharkov presenting Hitler with a long sought victory, then on to Kursk and Kiev. Back to France in February 1944 and into Normandy in June. By the end of August, the Division had been reduced to some 450 men and 15 tanks. By September the tank count was down to three. Back to Paderborn area for R&R then participated in the failed Ardennes attack, followed by the final transfer to Hungary. By the end of the war they were able to maneuver into the area near Pilsen and surrender to the U.S. Army on 8 May 1945.

Special note; Although Austria had only 8 percent of

the population of Germany, it supplied 14 percent of the SS manpower.

SS-135 L = 213 mm / 8 3/8”

SS-135 SS-Reich (China Silber)

Fork: Obverse with SS-Reich. Reverse with China Silber. Between the China and Silber is a bear. Above it is ‘PFG’ and below ‘CHS’. Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik, A. Krupp AG, Berndorf / Osterreich used the maker mark: bear and PFG.

In the early 17th Century, Imperial China had exported the first metal alloy called Packfong to Europe. It was not until 1770 that the constituents of Packfong (copper, zinc and nickel) were identified and the alloy reproduced in the independent city of Suhl in the South of the Free State of Thuringia, Germany gave it the name of ‘White Copper Suhler’. In 1823 the Prussian Society for the Promotion of Commercial Diligence started a competition to produce a white alloy with the appearance of .750 silver that could be used for cooking utensils. In 1823 Dr. Ernst August Geitner of Aue developed Argentan and in 1824 the Brothers Henniger in Berlin created German Silver a replacement for white copper which had used arsenic. The first use of the term China Silver was in 1844 in Austria and referred to heavily silver plated brass. Later the name China Silver was used to describe a nickel silver / German silver base upon which silver has been electroplated. To better identify the actual amount of silver electroplated, the marking of the amount in grams applied to 24 pieces was standardized, overwhelmingly at 90 grams per 24 pieces and the pieces so marked.

SS-137 L = 140 mm / 5 9/16”

SS-137 SS-Reich

Teaspoon: Obverse monogram SS-Reich, Maker marked: 800, RM, unreadable entry, XX, for Wilhelm Muller of Berlin. Scalloped handle, double outline.

Fuhrer order on the armed units of the SS of 17 Aug 1938 established the SS-VT as political troops at the special disposal of the Nazi regime. Under the Reichsfuhrer-SS for internal security duties, except in time of war when it would be at the disposal of the army.

This translation is from Document 647-PS [translation], in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Volume III: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1947. pp. 459-466 from the above referenced Fuhrer order:

II. The armed units of the SS A. The SS-Verfugungstruppe 1. The SS Verfugungstruppe is neither a part of the

Wehrmacht nor a part of the police. It is a standing armed unit, exclusively at my disposal. As such, and as a unit of the NSDAP its members are to be selected by the Reichsfuhrer SS according to the ideological and political standards which I have ordered for the NSDAP and for the Schutzstaffeln.

SS-138 L = 141 mm / 5 9/16”

SS-138 3rd SS Panzer Division ‘Totenkopf’ (Death’s Head)

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 3rd’s Coat-of-Arms, reverse distributor: E. Kludas, MM: Koch & Bergfeldhas 800, RM.

Raised Nov 1939 with most of the initial enlisted men coming from the SS-Totenkopfverbande, (SS Concentration Camp Guards). Through the Battle of France the division was generally equipped with ex-Czech weapons. In November 1942, ‘Das Reich’, ‘Totenkoph’ and ‘Wiking’ were officially re-designated as SS-Panzergrenadier Divisions, and finally acquired the same type and quantity of equipment to that of army panzer divisions. Surrendered to US troops in Austria 9 May 1945 with less than 1,000 men and 6 tanks from an original strength of 19,000. Handed over to the Russians.

Note: Commanded by Theodor Eicke from 14Nov1939 till his KIA on 16Feb1943, shot down behind Russian lines on a recognizance. The 3rd Panzer acquired the identity as “that lost lot” or the Bones Companies. Under Eicke, ‘Totenkopf’ Div had 60,000 KIA/WIA/MIA vs ‘Wiking’ Div’s 19,000, (the divisions mostly served side by side), the difference is attributed to the commanders. Eicke’s favorite guidance: “There is only one thing that is valid, orders!”” and “Tolerance is a sign of weakness”. Totenkopf had the most requests for “transfers out” of any W-SS Division and supplied most of the volunteers for the SS paratroop battalion, generally recognized as a suicide squad.

Note: Eicke, a “dangerous lunatic” imprisoned as a violent hardened criminal was released from a mental hospital in 1933. He personally shot Ernst Rohm on 2July1934, In 1936 he styled himself, Commander of Death’s Head Units or “Fuhrer der Totenkopfverbande” after they were allowed to wear the death’s head collar patches.

SS-139 L = 141 mm / 5 9/16”

SS-139 4th SS-Panzer Grenadier Division “Polizei”

Spoon: Obverse ‘SS=Pol.=Div.” and reverse 800, RM and maker marked ‘Siberce’.

This Division was formed and composed of members of the Ordnungpolizei (OrPo / Order Police), the uniformed police on 1 October, 1939 and was not considered to be an elite SS Division because of the manner in which the members of the unit were allowed to join, resulting in the wearing of the Ordnungpolizei uniform with a Heer Eagle on the arm. At the time, SS uniforms were not provided for the unit.

The Division’s first action was during the Campaign in France. In 1941, the Division was transferred to the Eastern Front and during heavy fighting for the Luga bridgehead, held by a number of Soviet Divisions, the 4th SS Division lost over 2000 soldiers in bloody frontal assaults but managed to fight into the Northern edge of Luga and encircle and destroy the Soviet defenders.

It was not transferred to the Waffen-SS until 10 February 1942, when the Division was given “official” Waffen SS status, and in June 1943 its title was changed to 4th SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Polizei” and was sent to the Balkans area. Elements of the Division saw action in Greece on anti-partisan duties and also fought near Belgrade. In January 1945, the Division was pushed into Slovakia, soon after, the 4th SS was moved to Danzig where it was trapped by Soviet forces. After dire battle the Division was shipped across the Hela Peninsula and over sea to Swinemude. There, the Division rested and on 8 May 1945, surrendered to the Russians although some members, attached to Army Group Steiner, surrendered to the Americans.

SS-140 L = 215 mm / 8 7/16”

SS-140 5th SS Panzer Division ‘Wiking’

Tablespoon: Obverse is flat and unmarked. Reverse carries ‘SS-Div. Wiking’ & ‘ROSTFREI’.

The 5th SS-Panzer-Division (Viking) was originally formed in November 1940 as the SS-Division (mot.) Germania by consolidating the regiments Germania, Nordland (Scandinavians), Westland (Dutch, Flemings) and the 5th SS-Artillerie Regiment into a new divisional unit. On January 1st 1941 the division was renamed, SS-Division “Wiking” and on November 9th 1942 the division was upgraded and renamed SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Wiking”. The division was upgraded again and received its final designation on October 22nd 1943 as 5th SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” and surrendered in Furstenfeld, Czechoslovakia in May 1945. Although the enlisted men were predominantly Nordic volunteers, it was officered by Germans.

SS-141 L = 133 mm / 5 1/4”

SS-141 9th SS Panzer Division ‘Hohenstaufen’

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 9th’s Coat-of-Arms. Reverse carries the RM, 800 and maker’s mark HTB for Hanseatishe Silberwarenfabrik, Bremen.

The Hohenstaufen, named after the family of the first German Emperors and specifically for family member Frederick Barbarossa whom the Fuehrer considered a great hero. Activated in early 1943 and faced with manpower shortages, 70 percent of the division’s manpower were conscripts with 60% to 70% from the years 1925/26 or about 18 years of age. Included were a number of ethnic Germans from Hungary. In June 1944 engaged in Normandy fighting with a strength of 15,849. By 21 August only 460 men, 20 guns and 23 tanks remained as a result of losses particularly around Caen and Avranches. Transferred to Western Germany in late September to be brought up to strength, their numbers were made up with Luftwaffe personal and other remnants. Participated in the failed Ardennes offensive, moved to Hungary and suffered severe losses against the Russians in March 1945 west of Budapest. Hitler was so enraged by their failure to defeat the Russians that he ordered the men of the 1st, 2nd, 9th and 12th Divisions of the Waffen-SS to be deprived of their decorations and cuff bands. The 9th reportedly returned their decorations in a chamber pot. They fought their way back to Austria and on 5 May 1945 surrendered to US troops near Steyr.

SS-142 L = 138 mm / 5 7/16”

SS-142 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’

Teaspoon: The obverse carries the 10th’s Coat-of-Arms while the reverse carries designer ‘A. Finster’, 800, RM, and the maker’s mark of Herman Walter, Halle.

This unit was named after Georg von Frundsberg who lived from 1473 to 1528. Frundsberg was a well known soldier and hero who fought in the services of the Hapsburg Monarchy during several wars.

Recruiting of German conscripts started on 8 January 1943. Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, when questioned by Adolf Hitler concerning the average age of the soldiers and officers of the division, stated “Achtzehn Jahre” (18 years). Division raised in Charente, France and originally named ‘Karl der Grosse’.

To the Russian front in March 1944, returned to France June 1944 involved in heavy fighting at Caen, Avranches and Falaise. Moved through Belgium to Arnhem area fighting the British. Moved into Pomeranian on 2 March 1945 and fought heavily in areas Stettin, (Poland) Stargard, Furstenwalde. On 7 May, 1945 remnants of the division destroy 5 Soviet T-34 tanks en-route to Sudetenland. From 10 to 12 May, 1945 the division’s remnants attempt unsuccessful reassembly, and disband on their own in an effort to make their way west individually. A number of survivors, who are not captured by either Soviet or Czech forces en-route, surrender to the US 102nd Infantry Division at Tangermunde, on the Elbe River.

SS-143 L = 145 mm / 5 3/4”

SS-143 11th SS Freiwilligen Panzer Grenadier Division “Nordland’.

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 11 th’s Coat-of-Arms. Reverse carries retailer G H DANZIGER, maker mark of Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen (founded 1829)’800’ no RM.

Formed in the summer of 1943 of various existing foreign volunteer units. It was the first SS Division to be officered by foreign volunteers. Most of the volunteers were from Scandinavia but the division had the widest range of nationalities found in a single German division including Danish, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Finnish, French, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss and British volunteers that had either served in the division or been attached to it. Its emblem is the “Sun Wheel” Swastika (Sonnerrad Hackenkreuz)-a circular swastika-the symbol of eternity. On 25 April 1945, the primary defender of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin was the SS Division Nordland with virtually no Germans. They had never taken a prisoner and did not expect to be made prisoners.

Motto: When all were unfaithful, we remained faithful.

Note: Along with Nordland, the other W-SS defenders of Berlin were the 33rd W-SS Div Charlemagne (French) and the 15th W-SS Div (Latvian).

SS-144 L = 133 mm / 5 1/4”

SS-144 12th SS Panzer Division ‘Hitlerjugend’

Teaspoon: Obverse with 12th’s Coat-of-Arms, reverse 800 RM, maker mark ‘FUCHS’ for Gebrueder Fuchs, Solingen.

Described as a “crack” division, the Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth born in 1926, (age 17) while the senior NCOs and officers were generally supplied by the 1st SS Panzer Division. They were referred to as the “candy soldiers” as they were too young for normal military rations of spirits and tobacco. The Division insignia depicts the Hitlerjugend sigrune crossing the key of the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH’s insignia.

The idea of a Waffen-SS division composed of Hitlerjugend (HJ) members was proposed in January 1943. Himmler soon became an enthusiastic advocate as did Hitler, and on 13 February 1943, the official order for the creation was issued.

The division, with 20,540 personnel, first saw action on 7 June 1944 as part of the German defense of the Caen area during the Normandy campaign and it came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,500 men. In 1944, its commander Kurt “Panzer” Meyer became the youngest general ever to serve in the German military at age 34. On 16 December 1944, the division was committed against the US Army in the Battle of the Bulge, suffering 60% casualties in the 4 week period. After the failure of the Ardennes offensive the division was sent east to fight the Red Army near Budapest. The Division eventually withdrew into Austria and on 8 May 1945, the surviving 7,500 men surrendered to the US Army at Enns.

SS-145 L = 125 mm / 4 15/16”

SS-145 Regt. Gruppe 13. SS Gebirgs ‘Handschar’.

Teaspoon: The obverse carries the Regt. Gruppe 13’s Coat-of-Arms while the reverse: 800, RM and maker mark of Vereinigte Silberwarenfabriken, Dusseldorf,

In the Fall of 1942, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler and SS-General Gottlob Berger approach Hitler with the proposal to raise a Bosnian Muslim SS division. Himmler thought that Muslim men would make perfect SS soldiers, as Islam “promises them Heaven if they fight and are killed in action.” Hitler formally approved the project on 10 February 1943 and SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Arthur Phleps, a Romanian ethnic German commander, was charged with raising the division. The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) was commanded by German officers, and composed of native Germans from Croatia (Volksdeutsche), and Bosniaks, who are Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the largest of both the Muslim-oriented divisions and the SS Divisions with 21,065 men, of whom 10% were Croatians. The division had a Muslim Imam for each battalion and a Mullah per regiment. Handschar (Bosnian/Croatian: Handzar) was the local word for the Turkish scimitar, a historical symbol of Bosnia and Islam. The Handschar division was a mountain infantry formation, known by the Germans as “Gebirgsjager”. It was used to conduct operations against Yugoslav’s primarily Christian Serb Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia from February to September 1944. Recruitment for the division fell as the war progressed and when rumors spread that the division was going to fight the Soviets, the Muslims deserted in droves and was disbanded in October 1944.

The German Volksdeutsche cadre then formed the SS-Gebirgs ‘Handschar’ (a regimental Group) fought in Hungary and ultimately surrendered to the British in Austria 5/45.

SS-146 34th Grenadier Regiment of the

15th SS Waffen Grenadier Division-’Latvian No. 1’

Fork: Obverse carries ‘CS’ for Cesis-Schule. Reverse with ‘SS’ in a circle, ‘90’ and an unidentified Maker Mark of three die (cubes) showing the Four sides, Wellner?

The Latvian city of Cesis was the location of the 34th Gren Regiment’s headquarters. The school building and its cutlery were used by the 34th during its formation and this fork had the ‘SS’ added at that time.

The SS had success in 1942 in recruiting in the Baltic States forming ‘Legions’ of ‘volunteer’ units promising German citizenship, free land and restriction to the war on Communism. The 15th Waffen-Gren Div der SS was formed when manpower shortages became obvious after the invasion of Russia. Latvian (Lettland) conscripts formed the 15th Waffen-Gren-Div and the “Voluntary” title was dropped when to increase the unit strength, Himmler enforced compulsory military service in the Ostland in age groups 1915 to 24 in 1943 and 1904 to 14 & 1925 & 26 in 1944.

The 15th fought on the Eastern Front but lost enthusiasm when their homeland was occupied by the Soviets. The 15th was decimated in the defense of Pomerania in early 1945. The survivors participated in the defense of Berlin (see SS-143). Other remnants surrendered to the Americans at Gutergluck near the Elbe River.

Note: Some 15,000 Latvians served in the two Latvian SS Divisions: The 15th SS Grenadier Div. ‘Latvian No 1 and the19th SS Grenadier Div ‘Latvian No 2’. All officers were German.

SS-147 L = 142 mm / 5 10/16”

SS-147 37th SS Freiwiiiigen Kavaiierie Division ‘Lutzow’

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 37th SS Cavalry Division’s Coat-of-Arms. Reverse marked RM, 800, HTB for Hanseatishe Silberwarenfabrik, Bremen.

The 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division-Lutzow was listed for the first time on 1March1945. It had been officially established 19Feb1945 following the near-complete annihilation of the 8th and 22nd SS Cavalry Divisions during the Budapest breakout attempt on 11/12 Feb 1945. It consisted of remnants of 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer and 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresia, including former’s SS Pioneer Battalion 8, in addition to mostly 16-or 17-year old German, Hungarian Volkdeutsche, and ethnic Hungarian recruits. The 37th SS also inherited the horses of the two annihilated divisions as both the 8th and 22nd were fighting dismounted when Budapest was surrounded. The new division never exceeded regimental strength. The 37th was the 3rd and last cavalry division of the W-SS. The Division emblem sword was the emblem of the original SS Cavalry Brigade. The division saw action against Soviets as a part of 6th. SS-Panzerarmee during the final weeks of war, before surrendering to Americans in Austria in May.

The Division’s namesake, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Luetzow (1782-1834) led the swashbuckling German volunteer cavalry unit known as the “Black Troop” in the war against Napoleon in 1813.

Note: 1. The Division motto: “You came very late, still you came”.

2. In its last month of existence its strength was reduced from 2,000 to 180.

SS-148 L = 142 mm / 5 5/8”

SS-148 39th SS Grenadier Division ‘Nibeiungen’

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the 39th’s Coat-of-Arms. Reverse has the RM, 800 and maker mark of Gebuder Reiner, Krumbach Bayern 1910-present.

The SS-Junkerschule Bad Tolz was the officers training school for the Waffen-SS. It was the equivalent of the United States Military Academy. The school was established in 1937, in the town of Bad Tolz which is about 30 miles south of Munich. The location selected was primarily due to the beauty of the surrounding area. A sub camp of the Dachau concentration camp was located in the town of Bad Tolz to provide labour for the SS-Junkerschule. The 38th SS was formed on 27 March 1945 from four infantry battalions mainly composed the staff and students from the school combined with Himmler’s bodyguard battalion and stragglers from the 30th SS-W Gren Div. It never exceeded a strength of 6,000 men. The Division was at first named Junkerschule because of its formation from the members of the SS-Junkerschule. It was then renamed to Nibelungen from the medieval poem of the name Nibelungenlied made famous by Richard Wagner in his opera Ring des Nibelungen. The original medieval poem and Wagner’s opera both revolve around themes of epic German mythology. The Division never achieved anywhere near full division status but did see some combat with its first action in the Landshut area of Upper Bavaria. The engagement was against American troops where the 38th over ran a few American positions. The 38th then saw brief action in the Alpen and Donau areas before surrendering to the Americans on 8 May 1945 in the area of the Bavarian Alps.

From 1945 to 1991, the former SS-Junkerschule was the base of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group.

SS-149 L = 133 mm / 5 1/4”

SS-149 SS

Teaspoon: A formal pattern in art nouveau style. It is heavily silver plated approximating the look of real silver. Reverse stamped: “P” “100”. The SS runes may have been soldered in place and originally had 14K gold applied which has worn off in this case. This service has been identified with the 3rd SS-Totenkopf Division’s Headquarters in the Bavarian Mountains (SS-Oberbayern).

Trivia: Initially, W-SS Divisions had no Division chaplain and in 1941 Heinrich Himmler was quoted, “I have six divisions composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn’t prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls.” As the composition of the W-SS broadened to that of a European Army, so did religious tolerance with such examples as the 28th W-SS Division, Wallonia (French speaking Belgians) having catholic chaplains and the 13th W-SS Division, Handshar (an Islamic Division) with both Imams and Mullahs.

Leon Degrelle, CG ‘Wallonia’ observed that had it not been for the W-SS and its heroic sacrifices in the East, the Russians would have arrived in Normandy before the Allies and all of Europe would have been communist.

SS-150 L = 142 mm / 5 9/16”

SS-150 SS

Teaspoon: Obverse has the SS in a double circle with scolloped edges Reverse distributor: “E. Kludas”, maker mark: Koch & Bergfeld, Bremen founded 1829, 800, RM. The double circle was also seen on the saddle blankets of the SS equestrians as well as their athletic sport shirts (sporthemd).

Note: When Germany took over the northern part of Italy on 8 September 1943 as the Italian Social Republic, the SS could then accept Italian volunteers. Himmler forbid them the SS Sigrunen and the SS sleeve eagle. He required them to use Italian specific emblems such as a sleeve eagle clasping a fasces in its talons but they did wear the universal death’s head cap emblems.

Also, with the fall of Italy, the Germans appropriated large stockpiles of Italian clothing materials including camouflage material and the Waffen SS as a result, took a large percentage of that camouflage material for later Waffen SS uniforms and headgear. The 12th SS tank crews got German U-boat leather jackets and trousers (originally sold to Italy’s navy) protecting them from serious burns.

Trivia: The SS colors were black and white, the same as worn by the Teutonic Knights.

SS-151 L = 127mm / 5”

SS-151 SS

Mocha spoon: Obverse carries a very bold SS with high ornamentation. Reverse maker marked RM, 800, crossed hammers of Gebruder Petersfeldt of Berlin, founded 1848.

The Algemeine-SS or General-SS was order formed by Hitler in March 1923 as the Strosstrupp Adolf Hitler (Shock Troops Adolf Hitler) composed of 30 men. The NSDAP was banned after the 9 November Putsch. Released from prison in December 1924, in April 1925 Hitler formed a new bodyguard called the Schutzkommando which on 9 November 1925 became the Schutzstaffel (Protective Squad). Himmler was appointed the Reichsfuhrer-SS on 6 January 1929 and was granted, by Hitler, the status of an independent organization under direct control of the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party) in July 1934.

SS-152 L = 216 mm / 8 9/16”

SS-152 SS Wewelsburg,

Tablespoon: Obverse carries the SS with Wewelsburg wrapped around the top and raised ribs, both sides, interrupted at 1/ 3 above bottom, two lobes. Reverse carries the maker mark of M. H. Wilkens, Bremen-Hemelingen, founded 1810 and still active + 800 + RM.

On 27 July 1934 Himmler leased Wewelsburg castle for 100 years. The castle, one of only 3 triangular castles in the world, was to become the ritual headquarters of the SS Ordensburg und Reichsfuhrerschule (Cultural Relics and Leadership School) under the command of SS General Siegfried Taubert with a library of 12,000 volumes. SS honor rings of deceased SS elite members were to be returned. Himmler was to have been buried in the crypt. The spoon has been hand engraved, not stamped, leading to the possibility that this was done on site by “Niederhagen Labor Camp” ie concentration camp detainees as the smallest KZ or konzentracion camp collocated with the castle as a labor source. These silver pieces were only used in the North Tower by VIPs at this “Camelot of the SS”. The castle was the venue of various Ahnenerbe-Forschungsund Lehrgemeinschaft-(Society for the Research and Teaching of Ancestral Heritage) ceremonies, the body for the research of ancestral heritage.

SS-153 L = 211 mm / 8 5/16”

SS-153 Wewelsburg SS/RFS

Tablespoon: Obverse carries the circular emblem of the SS-Reichsfuhrerschule (SS-National Leaders School) at Wewelsburg. encompassing the SS runes. Reverse maker marked: A Centaur for H. A. Erbe AG.,Schmalkalden with a “20” in a square.

Himmler intended that Wewelsburg should ultimately be used as a Reichshaus der SS-Gruppenfuhrer or SS Generals’ Residence, but with the outbreak of the war, it was converted into a staff college for senior SS officers and was where they would complete their education. The commandant, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Siegfried Taubert was formerly Heydrich’s chief of staff and the father-in-law of Ernst Robert Grawitz, the SS medical chief.

The Centaur is a symbol of the dark and unruly forces of nature.

Note: SS Amtsgruppe W’s Amt VII Section 2 of Bauer & Co. was the SS picture restoration company employed by major European art galleries which also confiscated valuable paintings for display at Wewelsburg and the House of German Art, Munich.

SS-154 L = 198 mm = 7 13/16”

SS-154 Wewelsburg SS/RFS

Fork: Obverse carries the SS-Reichsfuhrerschule (SS-National Leaders School) at Burg Wewelsburg encircling the Sun Wheel Swastika. Reverse carries maker mark of Friedrich Wilke, Westig i, Westfalen and ‘ALPACCA’.

From its 1934 acquisition, the SS spent some 12 million Reichsmarks refurbishing the castle to reopen in 1937 with a grand staircase, forged iron hardware threw-out, huge tapestries depicting Germanic scenes, oak woodwork, and statues of German heroes. The dining room was 100 X 145 ft. with a massive circular Arthurian table in solid oak.

The redesign referred to certain characters in the legends of the Holly Grail for example, one of the arranged study rooms was named Gral (“Grail”), and others, Konig Artus (“King Arthur”), Konig Heinrich (“King Henry”), Heinrich der Lowe (“Henry the Lion”), Arier (“Aryan”), Runen (“Runes”), Deutscher Orden (“Teutonic Order”), Reichsfuhrerzimmer (“Room of the Empires Leader(s)”; “Reichsfuhrer-SS”, or “the Empire’s Leader of the SS” was Himmler’s title). In addition to these study rooms, the SS created guest rooms, a dining room, auditorium, a canteen, kitchen and a photographic laboratory with an archive.

There was also a magnificent guest room set aside for Adolf Hitler, who never visited the castle.

Note: The 11th SS-Freiwilligen Panzer Grenadier Division “Nordland” also used the “Sun” swastika as its coat-of-arms.

SS-155 Wewelsburg’s Village Assembly Hall (VAH)

Five piece set of a knife, fork and spoon, dessert spoon and sugar tongs. Obverse inscribed “Gemeinschaftshaus Wewelsburg”. Reverse ‘WMF’ (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Geislingen founded in 1853 as the result of the merger of Schweizer and A. Ritter & Co. and still in operation), ‘Patent’, ‘90’ and ‘45’ in a losenge. The knife’s steel blade with “WMF Nirosta”. as well as manufacturer’s marks “WMF-90” on the handle neck.

This (village) assembly hall had previously been an old half-timbered farm that was purchased by the SS, rebuilt and enlarged, starting in 1935/36, under the direction of SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Walter Franzius and with the help of the SS and the SA, the RAD as well as the HJ and the BDM. It was supposed to function as a meeting point for the villagers and the members of the SS from the nearby SS school at Wewelsburg and as such the SS runes were down played. The house still exists today, now hosting a restaurant. Cf. Karl Huser, “Wewelsburg 1933 bis 1945-Kult-und Terrorstatte der SS”, pp. 216/217, and Russell/Schneider, “Heinrich Himmlers Burg-Bildchronik der SS-Schule Haus Wewelsburg 1934-1945”, p. 86-94.

Note: The acquisition of this set was stimulated by the fact that my wife and I had a pleasant K&K (Koffee and Kucken) at the restaurant. Unfortunately I was unaware of the assessment of a 23% commission on the successful? bidder. So ignorance has a heavy price but it is a very nice addition with both pleasant and unpleasant memories.

SS-156 L = 211 mm = 8 5/16”

SS-156 Police

Fork: Obverse clear. Reverse carries “Pol. Reich” in stamped scroll plus maker mark of RONEUSIL over ROSTFREI and shield.

On June 17th 1936, Reichsfuhrer-SS, (National Leader of the SS), Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany. The Police were divided into eight, assorted, branches of service consisting of the, Schutzpolizei des Reiches, (National Protection Police), the Gendarmerie, (Rural Police), the Wasserschutzpolizei, (Water Police), the Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police), the Polizei Medizinal Beamte, (Police Medical Officials), the Polizei Verwaltungs Beamte, (Police Administration Officials), the Polizei Veterinar Beamte, (Police Veterinarian Officials) and the Schutzpolizei des Gemeinden (Municipal Protection Police), with each branch having a distinguishing truppenfarbe, (Branch of service color), and distinct insignia for specialized personnel. On acceptance into full-time or auxiliary police service individuals were issued a Dienstausweis, (Service Identification Card), and a Dienstpass (Service Pass), for internal administration to record the individuals police service record. Service with the police did not exempt individuals from auxiliary military service and when called for service with the Wehrmachtgefolge, (Armed Forces Retinue), the civil police were issued a specific police Soldbuch (Pay Book), which remained in the recipients possession as his official military identification document. Quite often when called for service with the Wehrmachtgefolge the civil police personnel would be issued an SS Soldbuch. Note: Civil police serving as military auxiliaries were not considered military police.

SS/P-157 L = 142 mm / 5 9/16”

SS/P-157 Police

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the Police eagle looking right (indicating a ‘state’ organization with the swastika which was added in 1933 while the reverse is maker marked: RM, ‘800’ ‘G’ facing ‘R’. for-Gebruder Reiner, Krumbach Bayern, founded 1914.

From Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933 to 1936, his focus was to take unrestricted control of the police. In June 1936, Himmler was appointed as Chief of German Police-Chef der Deutsche Polizei. Himmler then merged the SS and the Police into a single ‘State Protection Corps’ or Staatsschutzkorps under Himmler as the Reichsfuhrer SS und Chef der Deutsche Polizei (RFSSuChdDP). To do this, he absorbed the police into the SS. The German Police now fell into two distinct groups: The Ordnungspolizei or Orpo, the uniformed police and the Sicherheitspolizei or Sipo, the security police. These two were folded into the RSHA-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office) under Heydrich on 22 September 1939, just prior to the start of WWII.

SS/P-158 L = 137 mm / 5 6/16”

SS/P-158 Police

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the police eagle looking right with swastika. Reverse carries marker mark CB for C. Backhausen, Tangermuende, 800 RM.

The police emblem is typically a six feathered eagle. The exception was sleeve eagles which were six feathered for NCO’s and enlisted men whereas the Officers and Generals sleeve eagles were 3 feathered.

OrPo Ordnungspolizei although separate from the SS their commander was Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer Kurt Daluge. They maintained a system of insignia and ranks unique to OrPo. They were the uniformed, regular police force and as a result of their green uniform, they were called the Grune Polizei (Green Police).

SiPo Sicherheitspolizei or secret police included the Gestapo (secret state police) and Kripo (criminal police) both directly under the SS.

It was Himmler’s intent to wipe out the OrPo and have everyone under direct SS control.

SS/P-159 L = 214 mm / 8 7/16”

SS/P-159 Police Headquarters-Breslau

(Kasino Polizer Praesidium)

Dinner Fork: Obverse carries the police logo, the six feathered eagle looking to its left holding a mobile swastika in its talons. The left looking eagle symbolizing the Parti may be due to the items creation after being included in the SS. Reverse maker marked ‘Wellner’ with the elephant over ‘Alpacca’ followed by a 3 line impression: “Kasino’ over ‘Polizei Praesidium’ over Breslau”.

After WWI, Breslau, located on the Oder River, was in the German ‘Province of Lower Selesia’. Breslau was one of the focal points for transport of victims to Auschwitz and in particular the Inspector of the Security Police and the security service’s local representative of the RSHA (Reich Security Head Office) in Breslau. were very active in this respect. On July 25, 1944 Adolf Hitler declared the city a Festung (fortress) that was to be defended at all cost. Battle of 1945: The Wehrmacht, aided by the Volkssturm and slave laborers started to convert the city into a military fortress, capable of lengthy defense against a possible Soviet assault. Much of the city centre was demolished and turned into an airfield. On February 13 the Soviet forces laid siege to the city and the battle started. On February 15 the Luftwaffe started an airlift to aid the besieged garrison. For 76 days, until May 1, the German air force made more than 2000 sorties with supplies and food, more than 1638 tons of supplies were delivered. During the battle in the heavily-bombarded city, both sides resorted to setting entire districts on fire. Finally, on May 6, only two days before the unconditional surrender of Germany, General Hermann Niehoff, the German commander of the Festung Breslau surrendered the city to the Soviets. After WWII, the Potsdam Conference assigned Breslau to Poland and it was renamed Wroclaw.

SS/P-160 L = 202 mm / 8”

SS/P-160 Police Headquarters-Kattowitz

(PolizeiPrasidium-Kattowitz)

Tablespoon: Obverse carries ‘POLIZEIPRASIDIUM over Kattowitz. Reverse marked ‘Rustfrei.

Prior to W.W.I, the city of Kattowitz, being located in Prussia’s upper Silesia, was German. After W.W.I, upper Silesia was granted to Poland by a League of Nations plebiscite and the cities name was changed to Katowice although the city residents had overwhelmingly voted to remain German, the rural vote carried the day for Poland. With German occupation in 1939, the city again became Kattowitz. It was during this period that the German Polizei Prasidium existed. The first Jews to be exterminated at Auschwitz (located in the Kattowitz district) were arrested by the Kattowitz police in September 1941. From Kattowitz, a police court-martial tribunal visited Auschwitz concentration camp every four to six weeks and passed judgement both on prisoner misconduct and hostage liquidation cases. In most cases a death sentence was pronounced. With the arrival of Red Army troops in 1945, the city reverted to Katowice.

Note: In 1953 the city was renamed Stalinogrod (Stalin’s City). This was so unpopular with the residents that in 1956 it again became Katowice.

Misc: During the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, Poland seized the area of Olsa.

SS/P-161 L = 210 mm / 8 4/16”

SS/P-161 LAGER STEGSKOPF

(Camp Stegskopf)

Table Fork: Obverse carries a Police logo, but here with a three feathered wing and the eagle looking to its right holding a mobile swastika in its talons. Reverse maker marked with an Wellner device composed of ‘S.M.F.’ in an arch over the Wellner trademark ‘die’ with the 4 side showing, straddled by the ‘W’ and ‘S’ for Wellner & Son over ‘Alpacca’ all encompassed in an oblong oval.

Stegskopf is located in the north Rheinland-Pfalz near Koblenz and was the site of both a WWII POW camp and a training center for young German radar technicians.

The 3 feathers indicative of a service for higher officer?

SS-162 L = 139 mm / 5 7/16”

SS-162 K.L.Buchenwald

Teaspoon: Obverse clear, reverse carries DAW over K.L.BUCHENWALD, Rostfrei-Inox for Buchenwald Concentration Camp (Konzentrationslager Buchenwald)

The KLs were founded to isolate people viewed as “subversive dangers to the German race” and operated by the SS, completely outside normal German law. Buchenwald was established on Ettersberghill near Weimar, in 1937 and eventually grew to include 140 satellite camps or sub camps. The main gate’s wrought iron inscription read, “Jedem das Seine” or “To Each His Own”. As KL Buchenwald was on property of the German Reich, the SS actually purchased the camp’s plants in the autumn of 1940 and founded a branch of the SS arms factory, Deutsche Ausrustungs Werke GmbH (DAW) employing from 500 to 1,400 inmates manufacturing wood and light metal products. The KL system was transferred to the SS Economic Administration Main Office in March 1942 due to a decision to engage concentration camp labor to support the war effort oriented primarily towards the wartime requirements of the Waffen-SS. Although not an extermination camp, the estimated camp death rate was 18% (43,000 of the 238,380 passing through from 1937 to 1945, with an additional 13,500 sent on to extermination camps bringing the total to 24%) Prisoners were marked with triangular camp badges of 7 colors: Red = Political, Green = Police preventive detention, Black = Work Shy, Purple = Bible / religious, Blue = Emigrant, Pink = hom*osexual and Yellow = Race Defiler. On 26Jan38, Himmler issued an open arrest order for all able-bodied men “who have ascertainably refused 2 offers of employment without justification or have begun employment but quit it again after a brief time for no valid reason.”-these were the “Work Shy”!

SS-163 L = 184 mm / 7 4/16”

SS-163 Totenkopfstandarte 4 Ostmark

Fork: Obverse carries “SS OSTMARK”. Reverse ‘Wellner’ and ‘Alpacca’.

The SS started staffing concentration camps in 1934. In 1936, Gruppenfuhrer Theo Eicke’s Death’s Head Units were combined into the SS-Totenkopfverbande. His recruiting focused on ‘big sixteen year olds” directly from the Hitler Youth. Most Totenkopf (Death’s Head) men were under 20, 95 percent were unmarried with few or no personal ties. They were ideally suited to Eicke’s moulding to hate the prisoners. Their job being to isolate the “dangerous enemies of the state” and to “treat them rough”. Any member allowing a prisoner to escape would be handed to the Gestapo. The initial SS-Totenkopfstandarte units were: #1 ‘Oberbayern’ at Dachau, #2 ‘Brandenburg’ at Sachesenhausen and #3 ‘Thuringen’ at Buchenwald. After the invasion of Austria on 13 March 1938, the SS formed the fourth regiment of the Death’s Head units the SS-Totenkopfstandarte 4 “Ostmark”, in Linz, Austria on 1 Sept 1938. The SS-Ostmark’s mission was to staff the new concentration camp at Mauthausen.

With the war, SS-Ostmark was transferred to Prague in Oct 1939 where it relieved SS-Standarte Der Fuhrer. Then transferred to Holland June 1940 for use in the costal defense. In 1941 It was re-designated SS-Infanterie-Regiment 4 Ostmark and attached to 2. SS-Infanterie Brigade and afterward disappeared from the records on 25 Feb 1941.

SS-164 L = 140 mm / 5 1/2”

SS-164 SS Heimwehr “Danzig”

Teaspoon: Obverse carries the Danzig crest over a mobile Swastika. Reverse marked: distributor ‘F.TAEGENER’ RM, 800, unreadable maker mark.

SS Heimwehr “Danzig” was an SS unit established in the Free City of Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland) before the Second World War. Originally known as Heimwehr Danzig (Danzig Home Defense), it was officially established on 20 June 1939, when the Danzig senate under Albert Forster decided to set up its own powerful, armed force. Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler supported this project and sent SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Hans Friedemann Goetze to Danzig. Goetze was the commander of the III. Sturmbann (Regiment) of the 4th SS-Totenkopfstandarte “Ostmark,” established in October 1938 in Berlin-Adlersheim. On 18 August 1939, the Polish government militarily mobilized against the German Reich. The Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) in Danzig “completely spontaneously” founded the 1,550-man strong Heimwehr Danzig (Danzig Militia).

On 1 September 1939, German troops attacked Poland. The SS Heimwehr Danzig fought on the German side, in the process capturing Danzig’s Polish post office, an event to which Gunter Grass dedicated a chapter entitled, The Polish Post Office in his novel The Tin Drum. Later, the SS-Heimwehr Danzig participated in the attack on the Danzig Westerplatte, and already was considered a part of the SS-Totenkopf Division then forming under Theodor Eicke. Later, it provided coast guard service in Danzig. On 30 September 1939, SS Heimwehr “Danzig” was dissolved, becoming a part of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf and ceased to exist as an independent unit.