Lot 8123

Description

Silver, hammered by hand, the mark of fineness "835" in the base. The front engraved with the motto and date (tr.) "May victory make you humble, defeat bitter! Whether winning or losing, you remain chivalrous SS men! 25.7.1937" with the engraved signature "H. Himmler". The dedication "Dem treuen Mitarbeiter Sepp Syr" engraved on the back. Height 10.6 cm, weight 171.77 g. Sepp Syr (1903 - 1977) joined the SS on 1 July 1937 and became an instructor at the SS Hauptreitschule, serving under Hermann and Waldemar Fegelein. During World War II, he served in various SS units, e.g. as commander of the SS Ski-Battalion from 1942, as commander of SS Cavalry Regiment 3 in 1942/43, as commander of SS Gebirgsjäger Regiment 27 from 1944 and as commander of SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 79 from 1945. He was promoted to Obersturmbannführer in January 1945. It seems reasonable to suppose that every founding member of the SS Hauptreitschule received a presentation beaker from Himmler in 1937 and that these remained in Munich at the beginning of the war. In any case, this silver beaker was in the possession of Gretl Fegelein/Berlinghoff after the war and was given to her housekeeper Lieselotte Otto in 1965.

Provenance: From the estate of Lieselotte Otto, who was housekeeper to Kurt and Gretl Berlinghoff (née Braun, widowed Fegelein) in their Munich apartment in Agnes-Bernauer Strasse/corner of Behamstrasse between 1963 and 1965. When the Berlinghoffs moved to Steingaden in 1965, Lieselotte Otto was given this silver beaker by Gretl Berlinghoff as a token of her appreciation. Furthermore, a studio portrait of Gretl Berlinghoff in a dress and fur jacket and a rare colour photograph of Gretl and Kurt Berlinghoff with their daughter Eva Fegelein-Braun on the balcony of their apartment in Agnes-Bernauer Strasse in Munich.

Condition: I - II Questions about the lot?