Description:

1939 EAST PRUSSIA POLITICAL LEADERS' SHOOTING PRIZE
A rare, finely crafted shooting trophy awarded by the First President of East Prussia, apparently the notorious Erich Koch who served as both Gauleiter and President until 1939. This superb award is a circular 14 1/2" dia. silver tray, slightly bowl-shaped, bearing at center a silver-outlined map of East Prussia. The 3/4" silver border of the award is deeply engraved in capital letters: "Presented by the Upper District President of the Province of East Prussia Competitive Shooting Competition of Political Leaders Reichs Party Day 1939". The bottom is hallmarked by the maker with his seal and name:"STAATL. BERNSTEIN MANUFAKTUR KONIGSBERG", the same maker of the famed Mein Kampf editions bearing amber-inset covers. Most impressive is the fact that the entire bowl is lined with 1 1/2" x 1/2" sections of golden amber, all intact and perfectly fitting. A superlative item. This certainly a contentious award: until the fall of Poland, East Prussia had been an exclave of Germany, separated from that state by the "Polish Corridor" which also included the Free City of Danzig. The map shown in outline on this presentation piece incorporates Danzig in its outline and whether it was made pre or post-invasion, it shows East Prussians' sympathies. They would need their shooting abilities five years hence, as the Russians rolled across their borders destroying everything in sight. As for Gauleiter Koch, he would use slave labor, persecute Jews, Russians and Poles, and be accused of over 400,000 deaths, yet escape the hangman's rope and die in 1986.In the meantime, he was accused of complicity in the theft of the famed "Amber Room" from Leningrad.

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January 30, 2013 11:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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