Could this be an original signature of Josef Bürckel - Gauleiter of Vienna?

[johninhb]

Hi everyone,

I'm going through a bunch of newly received material, and I also have a question please on this item...namely the signature. Was it done in person, or perhaps autopen?

The signature is part of a securely affixed small sheet with an embossed Party Eagle and Bürckel's titel as Gauleiter and Reichs Commissar. This appears be a signed New Year's 1940 dedication to a fellow work comrade? It is inside the front cover of a deluxe version of Heinrich Hoffmann's 1937 Hitler picture book 'Hitler -abseits vom Alltag'

So I guess I actually have 2 questions please? Is this common? As in, were hundreds of these produced and given out as New Year's gifts....and...any chance that the signature is directly done by Bürckel in person?

I'm kind of leaning towards autopen as a specific recipient is not named?

Thanks in advance for your help
John

[johninhb]

Full view of inside cover....

[johninhb]

The gift book itself.....

[max history]

It's not Bürckel's signature. It's beginning to look like this version signature could have been written by a member of his staff or someone from the publishing house and reproduced in facsimile. Very strange. There are lots of examples of printed Bürckel signatures in books and they are all the same as those shown as genuine here:

See http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ight=b%FCrckel

[Weweslburg]

For me a pretty strange doc, because the imprinted name on the doc reads Josef Bürckel as well as the signature also reads clearly Bürckel, but I never saw such an Bürckel signature. Here is an typical Bürckel signature.
<p><img src="http://cdn03.trixum.de/upload2/7/G/7GkrCXABMul8134399134381P4871.jpg"></p>

[johninhb]

Thanks Max for the link. It looks exactly like the dedication that John P found awhile back. And like you said, maybe it was a gift from his office,
but just signed by an aide or someone else representing him.

And to Wewelsburg....you're right. On mine, you can almost make out his signature as being 'Bürckel', (after knowing what the letterhead name is...ha!)
but on most other official documents, his signature is totally illegible.

Thanks to both of you
John