Medals of the Knight's Cross wearer Hermann Böbel disappeared

[Alterhase]

The medals of the Knight's-Cross-Wearer HERMANN BÖBEL were entrusted on loan to the Military Museum in Amberg-Germany (Leopold Barracks) by his family after his death 1990.

There they disappeared during the closure of the Bundeswehr Museum End of 2017.

Further information: http://www.forum-historicum.de/achtung-diebstahl.html

[WalterB]

The medals of the Knight's-Cross-Wearer HERMANN BÖBEL were entrusted on loan to the Military Museum in Amberg-Germany (Leopold Barracks) by his family after his death 1990.

There they disappeared during the closure of the Bundeswehr Museum End of 2017.

Further information: http://www.forum-historicum.de/achtung-diebstahl.html

Typical. Placing trust in a museum for safekeeping is often misplaced.

[Don D.]

Sounds like an employee gave himself a bonus.

[PaulR]

This announcement is bad for several reasons. The one that comes to my mind is that the thief now knows the awards are missed and the pieces will be sold for its parts... Bobel's awards are now out there as unattributed....

[Alterhase]

The museum in Amberg was the property of the German Army Museum Dresden.

In April 2017, when it became known that the Leopold-barracks will be closed, the museum was handed over to the "Development association of the Amberg Military History Collection".

The museum collections were distributed. The Bundeswehr got all the ammunition back for illustrative purposes. Some of the exhibits took the Panzer Brigade 12 to their new location in Cham to set up a traditional room there. Nine people from other museums / educational collections were also in Amberg to select exhibits for their facilities.

The remainder of the museum exhibits became the property of the "Development association of the Amberg Military History Collection". The boxed material was temporarily stored in the former construction yard of the city of Amberg. They will be exhibited in the Bundeswehr Service Center Amberg (formerly the clothing chamber) after its renovation. A much smaller exhibition should be designed there under "modern aspects".

The Panzer Brigade 12 points out that they only provided the rooms and otherwise was not responsible for the museum. The former deputy brigade commander of Panzer Brigade 12 - Lieutenant Colonel Behr - had at the time received the estate of Hermann Böbel in his position as chairman of the "Development association of the Amberg Military History Collection" and not as a representative of the Bundeswehr. It can not be reconstructed where the estate of Böbel ended up.

The "Development association of the Amberg Military History Collection" states that they can not find any documents about the transfer ... and the orders of the Knight's Cross bearer Hermann Böbel are also not listed in the inventory.

The family has been asked to provide a written lease agreement or similar documents.

[Alterhase]

Photo of the exhibition of the Böbel estate in the Military History Collection in Amberg (Leopoldkaserne) from 1995:

[bytown]

It's unfortunate that this has happened.

Family might have been better off donating to the Regiment that he belonged to or if it doesn't exist today sell the awards to a collector.

The man's awards would still be together and not out there somewhere to be broken up and lost forever.

Wayne

[Sonderkommando]

This is the perfect example as to why NOTHING should be given to museums.




Sad story...

[Rolf D.]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

I imagine the family wanted them displayed instead of selling them. Instead they get displayed, stolen, and likely sold anyway. A private collector will always be a better steward because of the personal investment. Museums don't care because the stuff is given to them and they have limited space. In this instance, shut down. Very sad.

[Dietrich Maerz]

The real bad thing is most likely that no real effort will be made to recover the items. For the majority of the German government (and therefore an indirect advise to lower echelons of the executive) the disapearance of “Nazi Devotionalien” is not really a crime but more like a cleansing of unwanted history. Reports will be filed and that is the end of it. Why would they waste resources for recovering something with a swastika that belonged to a former Nazi? Justitia in Germany is no longer blindfolded, she is guided by politics!

[Tom B]

The real bad thing is most likely that no real effort will be made to recover the items. For the majority of the German government (and therefore an indirect advise to lower echelons of the executive) the disapearance of “Nazi Devotionalien” is not really a crime but more like a cleansing of unwanted history. Reports will be filed and that is the end of it. Why would they waste resources for recovering something with a swastika that belonged to a former Nazi? Justitia in Germany is no longer blindfolded, she is guided by politics!

I totally agree ! Tom

[Stormrider59]

Justitia in Germany is no longer blindfolded, she is guided by politics!

That's not unique to Germany