ID 948142
Lot 4078 | Wall Tapestry
Estimate value
€ 25 000
Cf. Ltc Ret. Thomas M. Johnson book "World War II German War Booty, Volume II”, Pg. 66. The photo caption states that the tapestry was removed from the Berchtesgaden residence of Heinrich Himmler in April of 1945 by a member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne during the occupation of Berchtesgaden. A signed letter of provenance from son of 506th PIR veteran confirming fathers acquisition details and the sale of tapestry in 1980 to John Lesher who provided photos and details for inclusion in reference. Though unable to substantiate this specific detail of location acquisition, similar tapestries were designed by SS Oberführer and Professor Karl Diebitsch and created by Elfie Seifert (see also Hermann Historica Auction 88 Lot 12100, Auction 91 Lots 11103 & 1104 "Studio Elfie Seifert" pictures of tapestries). Karl Diebitsch joined the Nazi Party on May 1, 1920 as a member of the Freikorps. He completed his formal art training in 1925 and following that lived and worked in Munich as a painter and graphic artist, later moving to Berlin in 1933 after the Nazi Party came into power. He was responsible for much of the Third Reich regalia, including the chained SS Officers dagger scabbard, sword parts (including the handle of the Degen, SS ceremonial small sword), many other SS items, and, with designer Walter Heck, the black SS uniform. He also designed the letterhead logo of the Ahnenerbe, many of the German postage stamps during the Third Reich and crests for the SS Officers. He served as the Director of SS Porzellan Manufaktur and was “art advisor" to Heinrich Himmler prior to WWII and served as a Reserve Officer in the Waffen SS during WWII with staff assignments to the SS-Totenkopfstandarte (SS Death Head Regiment), SS-Regiment "Germania", SS-Division "Wiking" and the Höhere SS und Polizei Führer (Higher SS and Police Leader) of Italy. He was finally promoted to the rank of SS-Oberfuhrer in April of 1944 and managed to survive the war and died during the 1980s.
An alternate possibility is the veteran confused the location where he picked it up and that it hung in the Berchtesgaden Reichskanzlei (the “small” Reichskanzlei). This was the official N.S. chancellery used by the N.S. government and Hitler for state business when the Führer was in the Berchtesgaden/Obersalzberg area.
Provenienz: Signed letter from son of 506th PIR veteran confirming fathers acquisition details, sale of tapestry in 1980 to collector.
USA-Los – weitere Infos hier
Wall Tapestry
Dark red/burgundy velvet body, measuring ca. 350 x 200 cm, with additional ca. 25 cm thick gold bullion fringe along lower edge. Top ca. 100 cm is left unadorned for mounting/hanging. Lower ca. 250 cm section dominated by a finely executed field of woven gold bullion work. Perimeter features a ca. 7 cm thick woven border with braid piping accents bordering a gold woven swastika themed Greek Key pattern, terminating in each corner with a braid in sun wheel design. Center field consisting of woven gold bullion over dark red/burgundy velvet with exposed alternating patterns of swastikas and oak leaf clusters each bordered in braid, measuring ca. 25 cm, respectively. Overall excellent condition with minor separation of the bullion in the lower left quadrant of the main field, along with a few other small losses and minor staining.
Cf. Ltc Ret. Thomas M. Johnson book "World War II German War Booty, Volume II”, Pg. 66. The photo caption states that the tapestry was removed from the Berchtesgaden residence of Heinrich Himmler in April of 1945 by a member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne during the occupation of Berchtesgaden. A signed letter of provenance from son of 506th PIR veteran confirming fathers acquisition details and the sale of tapestry in 1980 to John Lesher who provided photos and details for inclusion in reference. Though unable to substantiate this specific detail of location acquisition, similar tapestries were designed by SS Oberführer and Professor Karl Diebitsch and created by Elfie Seifert (see also Hermann Historica Auction 88 Lot 12100, Auction 91 Lots 11103 & 1104 "Studio Elfie Seifert" pictures of tapestries). Karl Diebitsch joined the Nazi Party on May 1, 1920 as a member of the Freikorps. He completed his formal art training in 1925 and following that lived and worked in Munich as a painter and graphic artist, later moving to Berlin in 1933 after the Nazi Party came into power. He was responsible for much of the Third Reich regalia, including the chained SS Officers dagger scabbard, sword parts (including the handle of the Degen, SS ceremonial small sword), many other SS items, and, with designer Walter Heck, the black SS uniform. He also designed the letterhead logo of the Ahnenerbe, many of the German postage stamps during the Third Reich and crests for the SS Officers. He served as the Director of SS Porzellan Manufaktur and was “art advisor" to Heinrich Himmler prior to WWII and served as a Reserve Officer in the Waffen SS during WWII with staff assignments to the SS-Totenkopfstandarte (SS Death Head Regiment), SS-Regiment "Germania", SS-Division "Wiking" and the Höhere SS und Polizei Führer (Higher SS and Police Leader) of Italy. He was finally promoted to the rank of SS-Oberfuhrer in April of 1944 and managed to survive the war and died during the 1980s.
An alternate possibility is the veteran confused the location where he picked it up and that it hung in the Berchtesgaden Reichskanzlei (the “small” Reichskanzlei). This was the official N.S. chancellery used by the N.S. government and Hitler for state business when the Führer was in the Berchtesgaden/Obersalzberg area.
Provenance: Signed letter from son of 506th PIR veteran confirming fathers acquisition details, sale of tapestry in 1980 to collector.
USA lot - more info here
Condition: II
Auction house category: | Third Reich contemporary history |
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Auction house category: | Third Reich contemporary history |
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Address of auction |
Hermann Historica Bretonischer Ring 3 85630 Grasbrunn / München Germany | ||||||||||||||
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Phone | +49 (0)89 5472 649 0 | ||||||||||||||
Fax | +49 (0)89 5472 64999 | ||||||||||||||
Buyer Premium | 25 % | ||||||||||||||
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase | ||||||||||||||
Business hours | Business hours
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