"Mahnmal" monument centerpiece

[chen]

They really are a nice accessory to the Blood Order. They're hard to find and it took me some time to locate mine.

ErichS
Any idea whether any bigger size ever made before?

[ErichS]

ErichS
Any idea whether any bigger size ever made before?

I have only seen the ones this size which were desk pieces.

[chen]

ErichS,
This is what I am planning to do. Of course, no postcards at back.

[chen]

ErichS,
This is what I am planning to do. Of course, no postcards at back.

Attachment.

[Br. James]

A wonderful piece, one that I've wanted forever! John Pepera had one in his collection...perhaps this was his? Your friend is a VERY lucky collector, Chen!!

Br. James

[Military]

What happened to John Pepera's piece and his collection?

Mil

[ErichS]

What happened to John Pepera's piece and his collection?

Mil

It's in my collection.

Chen, what's wrong with my postcards?

[chen]

It's in my collection.

Chen, what's wrong with my postcards?

ErichS,
Nothing wrong with your postcard. Your display is indeed quite nice.
What I am trying to say for my display, I will not using postcards as background, but instead I will enlarge some period photos( like this one) in order to construct a small diorama. The statue will be put up high while the blood orders will be down below.

[Br. James]

I didn't know you managed to secure John Pepera's example of this desk piece, Erich!! I recall writing to him about it a number of years ago and he never indicated to me that he would even consider selling it...and if he had, it would be in MY collection today! You're an even luckier man than I've already known you to be, my friend!

Br. James

[Jon Fish]

Attachment.

Chen I can already do that but you wanting to scares me !

[shaneos3]

Thanks for posting Erich, These little Mahnmal desk pieces are super cool and this one with a dedication is even nicer, congratulations to the owner. What ever happened to the real eagle that sat upon the monument? I expect that it is in someones collection........I have never seen it - unlike a couple of other large KSE eagles that made it into displays eg. the Reich Chancellery eagle, Does anybody have a pre-war Kurt Schmid-Ehmen eagle or were they all destroyed ???? It just seems amazing that such an important sculptor of such an Iconic piece seems to have left behind such few remnants of his most recognizable work compared to say Arno Breker etc..........................

Jon Fish - Here is an amazing photograph of Kurt Schmid-Ehmen, the sculptor responsible for creating the eagles for some of the most important monuments of the Third Reich.
Here below is an image from the Imagno archive of the sculptor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen (1901-1968) at work on a model for the eagle created to adorn and ‘protect’ the ‘Mahnmal des 9.November 1923 (1933), erected on left side (while facing) of the Feldherrnhalle in München’, the honour memorial to the fallen of the failed putsch of 1923, Munich. This work of 1933 and the 1934 Hoheitszeichen Reichsparteitagsgelände, which Hitler personally appointed Schmid-Ehmen to design for the grandstand of the Luitpold Arena in the Reich Party Rally Grounds Nuremburg are surely his most well known works.

[Br. James]

Hi Shane,

We have seen some fairly recent photos of the Mahnmal monument as it appeared after it had apparently been pried loose from its footings and pushed out of the Feldherrnhalle archway and found laying on the Residenzstrasse below. Perhaps you can do a search of this thread and you'll hopefully find those pix?

Br. James

[chen]

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[mloppkit]

It just seems amazing that such an important sculptor of such an Iconic piece seems to have left behind such few remnants of his most recognizable work compared to say Arno Breker etc..........................

From this photo, we can see that the eagle is clearly seperated from the swastica - a very early "de-nazification". Whether or not it made it into anybody's collection I do not know. I am aware of an original Pre-War Bronze Wall Eagle by Professor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen that sold a few years ago and is in the hands of a private collector. Most of the KSE Nuremberg eagles that we see have seen on this forum except for one have been post war "Estate Casts". I agree with Jon Fish that

"This work of 1933 and the 1934 Hoheitszeichen Reichsparteitagsgelände, which Hitler personally appointed Schmid-Ehmen to design for the grandstand of the Luitpold Arena in the Reich Party Rally Grounds Nuremburg are surely his most well known works"

According to Frau Hetty Schmid-Ehmen, the National Eagle Emblem was done ONLY ONCE in small form by Professor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen as a commission by the city of Nurnberg in 1937 for the birthday of Reichminister Kerrl who was at the time the chairman of the organisation responsible for NSDAP buildings. This eagle has been shown on this forum before and it is in the hands of a well known eagle collector who also has the large bronze gilted Deutsche Hof eagle and the equally large eagle that was mounted on the gate to the Party Headquarters in Munchen.

Best Regards,
Michael

[shaneos3]

Hello Mr Loppkit,
Thanks for the info, I'm glad to hear that a few of Kurts wonderful eagles have survived and are out there being appreciated along with the Munich Party building eagle.

Chen & Mr James, thanks for showing the photo again of the Mahnmal monument lying broken on the ground. I find it heart-breaking though to see such a culturally important and beautiful piece that honoured the dead desecrated like that. One has to feel for Kurt Schmid-Ehmen, seeing his wonderful hand-crafted tribute piece treated in that way and then to have his two Nurnburg eagles blown up at the Luitpold arena, imagine how upset people would be if someone blew up the Statue of Liberty or the Washington Monument or destroyed that wall in the United States that has all the dead soldiers names engraved on it, how people can be so culturally insensitive and disrepectful I will never understand...

On the other hand I am very pleased to hear that a few of Kurt Schmid-Ehmens wonderful pre-war eagles have survived to this day and are still appreciated. I think it is significant that even the very few post-war estate casts Nuremberg eagles that you mention were still true to the original design, maybe not quite the same quality as the original pre-war pieces but I see that they still retained the swastica, I imagine that Kurt would have been under a lot of pressure not to do this and certainly would probably not been allowed to sell them - that is true artistic integrity.