DIETRICH MAERZ ON GÖRING'S GRAND CROSSES

 

Dietrich Maerz: expert or conman?

Dietrich Maerz was up to his old tricks recently on the Wehrmacht Awards Forum, of which he is now an administrator. Maerz, who deletes posts by anyone who disagrees with him or challenges the honesty of certain militaria dealers, was expounding on a platinum-framed, onyx-cored Grand Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 said to have belonged to Hermann Göring.

 

This Grand Cross was recently offered for $112,000 by Canadian medals dealer Barry Turk of eMedals, one of the few dealers left in the trade who is (a) a genuine phalerist and (b) able to read and write well. However, Mr Turk ought to exercise caution when it comes to high end Third Reich decorations, medals and insignia by sticking to incontestably original pieces.

 

A member had mentioned my articles in a discussion thread about the Grand Cross on the eMedals website and Mr Maerz clearly felt obliged to warn the WAF's members not to read my articles. Mr Maerz, who seems to have no history in phaleristic circles before his sudden appearance on the Wehrmacht Awards Forum, has every right to criticise my articles but I refute his assertion that my motive is “to damage the hobby”. My motives in exposing crooked dealers and fakery are varied but one of my main aims has always been to protect the hobby from crooks and their shills. I admit that the vast majority of collectors will never own Nazi VIP items but I have also covered fakes that are affordable for most people.  

 

Dietrich Maerz came from nowhere and was quickly hailed as an expert in Third Reich era awards by the usual suspects. One of his early offerings was a hilarious article on Steinhauer & Lück Knights' Crosses of the Iron Cross 1939. This was followed by his promotion of the 'Rounder' Knight's Cross although, to be fair to Maerz, he was not this fantasy piece's only champion. Several leading dealers sold them to gullible collectors with more money than sense. Maerz has always denied taking bribes from crooked dealers to promote their wares. Unfortunately for the cabal promoting the 'Rounder' Knight's Cross, they permitted a mentally unstable fantasist into their band of Internet shills. This individual claimed that 'his' Rounder Knight's Cross had been brought back from Stalingrad and given to his aunt, a German noblewoman whose family name could not be found in any references.

A beautifully-made Grand Cross: 1940s or 1980s?

Klietmann: pioneering faker

I have handled several Grand Crosses, of which two were the LDO-marked examples widely held by many at the time to be genuine. Of course, with what we now know about the activities of early fakers and promoters like Klietmann and his wife, to name a couple, even the noted authority Gordon Williamson has professed himself unsure. Williamson, a noted and longtime authority on the Iron Cross in all its grades from its inception after the Prussian War of Liberation in 1813, had some interesting remarks to make on the subject of LDO-marked awards and badges in 2003:  "During the Third Reich period anyone who had lost their award could obtain a free replacement through the Präsidialkanzlei or buy one at their own expense via the LDO, these were in the terminology of the time referred to as Copies, Replicas or Restrikes (i.e.LDO-marked pieces). 

"How many recipients would wish to pay for an over the counter copy when they could obtain an official relacement free? LDO pieces were considered restrikes, copies or replicas, not proper awards. Original period manufacturers catalogues attest to this

. As far as dual marked crosses are concerned, as the LDO marks predate the Präsidialkanzlei marks, I can only assume that these were initially LDO-marked then had the PK number added when they were added to the PK official stocks, but that is conjecture." 

Gordon Williamson wrote in his book The Iron Cross of 1939: "It is believed that the only manufacturer officially authorized to produce the Grand Cross was the Berlin firm of C.E. Juncker. These authentic award pieces which have been examined simply have the "800" silver content mark to the reverse upper arm of the cross and to the ribbon suspension loop. Other pieces such as those supplied by the manufacturer for shop window or museum displays etc., also carry the LDO code L/12." 

However, Gordon Williamson also had this to say in 2002: "It is known that the Knights Cross dies were destroyed as were the dies for the Anti-Partisan War Badge -hence the hollow backed APB pieces thereafter made by AGMuK. Not ALL Juncker dies were destroyed however, the GK dies, the molds for the 20 Juli 1944 Wound Badge and much other tooling survived and was used after the war to remake pieces, hence I would never fully trust an L/12 GK."

The cross on the right in the above photograph is an example of the type attributed to Godet by serious students of the subject. The cross on the left is a postwar collectors Großkreuz by the Viennese firm of Rudolf Souval. The "Godet" GK is clearly different to the Juncker RK. Compare the jump ring to that of the GK worn by Göring in the studio portrait. They are the same. Neither dips as deeply into the frame as the Juncker jump ring and neither has the distinctive 'trench' around the bottom of the jump ring, as observed on Juncker GK. 

In this detail from a 1939 postcard depicting the Großkreuz, the form of the date conforms to that of the Godet GK, with the lower curves of the 3 and the 9 curling back on themselves. If we accept that the Großkreuz in the color studies of Hermann Göring in 1940 is not in fact a Juncker piece but a cross made by Godet, then where do the Juncker Großkreuze fit in? C E Juncker was one of the earliest of the Ritterkreuz makers. However, Godet did not make the Iron Cross. They sourced their Iron Crosses from C F Zimmermann, the Ritterkreuz included. It is therefore logical to assume that the cross awarded by Hitler to Göring originated in Zimmermann’s workshops. 

However, this does not mean that C E Juncker did not make the Großkreuz during World War Two. Examples of the Juncker GK exist with the firm’s LDO hallmark L/12 alongside the 800 silver content mark, as Gordon Williamson wrote and as I myself can confirm, having handled examples in London some forty years ago. 

Studio photo-portraits of Göring taken not long after he received the Großkreuz in 1940 show the award cross quite clearly. The jump ring dips into the frame but not as much as that of the Juncker GK. The difference is quite noticeable. The date 1939 is also visibly different to that of the Juncker cross. Note the sweep of the bottom of the 3 and 9 numerals. Compare these to the numerals on the Juncker cross. 

There are surviving examples of another kind of Großkreuz, sometimes attributed to Steinhauer & Lück and sometimes to Godet. The Godet thesis is more convincing because this Berlin firm was contracted to supply the early presentation sets of the Ritterkreuz in large red cases with lower grades of the Iron Cross, as presented by Hitler to the first Ritterkreuzträger of general officer rank in 1939 and 1940. It is logical that Godet would have been asked to supply the Großkreuz at the same time. Were this the case, it follows that the cross awarded to Hermann Göring by Adolf Hitler was probably made by  C F Zimmermann, who supplied Godet with Knight's Crosses and First Class Iron Crosses in 1939. 

In this detail from another wartime photograph, Göring appears to be wearing a cross whose jump ring differs from that in the Hoffmann portrait. The ring seems to descend further into the rim. Is this a cross by C E Juncker, who is widely accepted as having produced some Grand Crosses during the Second World War?

Mr Maerz, author of The Knight’s Cross 1939, stated in 2008 that "it can said with absolute confidence that the actual awarded piece was made by Juncker and was marked only with the silver content "800". However, quite a fe [sic] examples exist with the LDO code stamping L/12 for Juncker. These examples were of the same quality as the 'regular' piece and were used as shop displays (there is the misconception in the collector world that there was a difference between shop examples and 'real' medals. That is not true in most of the cases, however).

"After the prohibition of private sales the majority of theses [sic] shop examples arrived at the Präsidialkanzlei and were stored there. Soem [sic] were supplied to Museums and some were sold to collectors during the Third Reich. The reminder [sic] ended up at Schloss Klessheim and form [sic] there via US-veterans into todays [sic] collections. Only C. E. Juncker was licensed to produce the official version of the Großkreuz.". To the right is a Grand Cross attributed to C E Juncker of Berlin. 

As for the platinum-framed, onyx-cored cross currently for sale at eMedals, we can be reasonably sure that Göring had some de luxe variants made. Göring was known to have several Großkreuze distributed throughout his residences and his headquarters. Wartime photographs show two varieties of cross with 'paperclip' suspension arrangements and at least one cross with a non-standard suspension system. 

In this photograph of Göring taken during the war in Berchtesgaden, he wears his Combined 1st Class 1914 Iron Cross and 1939 Bar and his Grand Cross. Note the ribbon loop of large and solid appearance. The loop is clearly too wide to fit through the jump ring of a standard Großkreuz, unless the reverse is suitably narrow. The US Army photographs of Göring show a Grand Cross with a similar suspension arrangement, albeit taken at an angle. Is this the same cross in the colour photograph from Berchtesgaden? If the Großkreuz in these photographs had some kind of hinged or articulated ribbon loop instead of the jump ring, could this be one of the special onyx-cored crosses Göring commissioned from the Berlin jeweller Professor Herbert Zeitner?  After the war, Zeitner confirmed that he had made two Grand Crosses for the Reichsmarschall with hand-sculpted onyx cores set in white gold frames. These crosses evoked some of the more exotic dress copies of Iron Crosses of the Imperial era. 

Göring was quickly obliged to surrender his awards to the custody of then-US Army Major Paul Kubala, who placed them in the unit safe, from which they subsequently disappeared. In 2003, the German auction house Hermann Historica When the German auction house Hermann Historica auctioned a cased pair of onyx-cored Grand Crosses, the catalogue contained some fascinating statements. 

Lot Nr.6493 
Hermann Göring. 
Zwei Großkreuze des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 in Silberkassette, Geschenk Adolf Hitlers zum 50sten Geburtstag 1943. Die Großkreuze als Sonderausführung mit Platinzarge und schwarzem Onyxkern, unterhalb der Öse gestempelt “dGW” und eingeschlagene Platinpunze “950 PT”, der polierte Onyxkern mit hervorragend geschliffener Hakenkreuzauflage, die vorder- und rückseitige Jahreszahl besonders sorgfältig graviert, jeweils 72 x 63 mm, an Sprungringen. Komplett mit Bandabschnitt auf schwarzer Samteinlage in rechteckiger Silberkassette mit vier quadratischen Füßen, auf dem Deckel silbergefasste schwarze Onyxplatte mit aufgelegtem Reichsmarschallsadler in Silber, in den vier Ecken jeweils reliefiertes Familienwappen Görings, im Innendeckel fein gravierte Geschenkwidmung “Dem Reichsmarschall des Grossdeutschen Reiches Hermann Göring für seine Verdienste um Deutschlands Grösse und zu seinem fünfzigsten Geburtstag / 12.Januar 1943 / Adolf Hitler”. Am Bodenrand eingeschlagene Silberpunze “800” mit Halbmond, Krone und Monogrammmarke des Berliner Juweliers H.J.Wilm. 5 x 18,5 x 28,5 cm. Dazu die Fotokopie eines Schreibens des ehemaligen Besitzers Wolfgang Schulze von Mertschinsky vom Mai 1969, in dem er ausführlich schildert, wie er durch Vermittlung des späteren Königlich-Thailändischen Generalkonsuls Styler dieses “Silberetui mit den zwei Großkreuzen des E.K.1939 aus Platin und Onyx” Anfang 1958 von der Witwe Hermann Görings, Frau Emmy Göring, erhalten hat. 

Göring's 50th birthday present from Hitler?

The cased set was described as Adolf Hitler's birthday present to Hermann Göring on the latter's fiftieth birthday in 1943. The maker of the silver case was stated as H. J. Wilm of Berlin. The case looked like a cigar box by Wilm said to have been presented by Hitler to Göring although Hitler, a fanatical anti-smoker, would never have given anyone a tobacco-related present. As for the platinum-framed onyx crosses contained in this box, Hitler's express disapproval of the use of any materials other than iron and silver in the manufacture of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross is a matter of record. It also led to the formal interdiction of non-iron and silver Knight's Crosses on pain of losing the production licence and to the introduction in March 1941 of the LDO manufacturers' coding system. It can therefore be concluded that Hitler would have been very unlikely to commission a pair of Grand Crosses in platinum and onyx. The crosses in question bore the 950PT and the DGW hallmarks, DGW standing for Deutsche Goldschmiedekunst-Werkstätten. 

The Hermann Historica catalog blurb gushed on: Nachdem Hermann Göring das Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes von Adolf Hitler in der Reichstagssitzung am 19.Juli 1940 als einzigem Inhaber verliehen wurde, beauftragte er den Berliner Juwelier Prof.H.Zeitner mit der Herstellung der Sonderausführung in Platin und Onyx. Nach einem Schreiben von Prof.Zeitner wurde das Großkreuz nicht mit seinem Meisterzeichen gestempelt, da es sich um einen vorgegebenen Entwurf handelte. Die Onyxplatte wurde von der Fa. Moser in Karlsbad geliefert, der Onyxkern nach Entwurf von Herrn R. Rothemund in den Kunstgewerblichen Werkstätten Walter Brendel in Berlin gefertigt und die Gravur von Herrn Rupert Kohlrus (Fa.W.Brendel, Stein-Schönau) ausgeführt. 

Herbert Zeitner in 1958

Translated into English, this means: When Hermann Göring was named as the sole holder of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler on 19.7.1940, he commissioned the Berlin jeweler and goldsmith Professor Herbert Zeitner to produce a special design in platinum and onyx. According to a letter from Prof. Zeitner, the Grand Cross did not bear his hallmark as it was an already established design. The onyx was supplied by the firm of Moser in Karlovy Vary, fashioned into the core by Mr R Rothemund in the Walter Brendel Arts & Crafts Workshops in Berlin and engraved by Mr Rupert Kohlrus in Walter Brendel’s Stein-Schönau atelier. Karlovy Vary and Stein-Schönau are in what is now the Czech Republic. Herbert Zeitner was appointed Professor of Goldsmithing in 1935 and Director of the Master Goldsmith Atelier at the Prussian Arts Academy in Berlin. 

The vendors did not, however, include a copy of this interesting letter from Professor Zeitner, perhaps because Zeitner, who died in 1988, never wrote to anyone stating that he had made any Großkreuze with platinum frames for his client. The frames of Zeitner's custom Großkreuze were made of white gold, as Zeitner himself confirmed on a number of occasions, rather than of platinum, a metal that has only become expensive since the Space Race began, as national aero-spatial companies have bought and stockpiled the metal because of its resistance to oxidization. 

Platinum was used for Imperial Russian coinage in the same way that other countries used silver. Platinum is valued by jewellers as an ideal metal for setting precious stones, as the Combined Pilot-Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds demonstrates. The wreath was of solid gold but the eagle was of platinum. Otto Klein also used platinum for the Knight’s Cross Brillanten for the same reasons, as any good jeweler who understands the history of his craft can confirm. 

In other words, these Großkreuze in platinum with onyx cores doing the rounds every so often through auction houses like Hermann Historica and Manion’s, to name just two houses who have sold these 950PT crosses over the years, could be postwar fantasy pieces. The quality is acceptable but not up to Hermann Göring’s exacting standards. As one contributor to the discussion thread on the Wehrmacht Awards Forum pointed out, the suspension rings seem to be separately formed and soldered into the frames. His even marked eMedals' photograph to indicate an apparent soldered joint on the lower half of the ring. The hallmarks are clearly visible in this image. 

Dietrich Maerz invoked the name of the late Bill Stump in his post castigating me. Bill had this to say at the time Hermann Historica offered the cased pair of 950PT DGW Grand Crosses: "This set was made up by a pioneer German dealer by the name of Schulz Wolfgang von Merchenski. (I may not have spelled his name correctly.) I know all about the silver box being made from a special cigar box once belonging to Goring. I met this dealer years ago and he had a home in German [sic] and one here in the States. He had many fine original items and worked with "Dr." Peter Bauer super tailor who made most of the uniforms now in collections from his costume studio in Munich. They were two crooked old characters who laughed all the way to the bank as they deposited their profits from the suckers and fake mongers who sold their wares until they passed across the bar in the late 70's. I bet old Schultz will get a big chuckle when some sucker pays $40K or more in a few weeks for his post war 'art work'.". 

This was the same Wolfgang Schulze von Mertschinsky mentioned in the 2003 Hermann Historica catalogue and more recently in this article about the sale of dubious Adolf Hitler paintings through the German auction house Thies. Hermann Historica offered the cased 950PT DGW crosses with a photocopy of a letter dated May 1969 from the former owner, one Wolfgang Schulze von Mertschinsky, describing how he obtained them from the late Royal Thai Consul-General Styler, who had in turn obtained them in 1958 from none other than Emmy Göring herself, widow of Hermann Göring. Emmy Göring was stripped of most of her possessions, as well as anything that had belonged to her late husband, and jailed for several years after WW2. Is it really likely that she would have been able to hang onto an object of this size and value? 

As for the cross offered by eMedals at the time of writing, it is the same as the two crosses in the 2003 Hermann Historica sale and as a cross sold some years ago through Manions. It may even be the same cross handled by Manions. It is really up to any prospective buyer to invest $112,000 in it or not. As an investment item, it is probably as safe as any bond or share in that as long as there is a network of dealers and auctioneers prepared to deal in this kind of high end Nazi VIP memorabilia without applying too much thought and logic. He can also reply upon published experts like Dietrich Maerz, who clearly stands ready to confirm that this object predates May 1945. So, any buyer stands a reasonable chance of recouping his money through one of the network of dealers and auction houses dealing in highly priced 'Nazi personality memorabilia', from Hitler's cap through Golden Pilot-Observer Badges with Diamonds said to have belonged to various VIPs, Dönitz batons and, yes, Göring's own bling Grand Crosses. 

As for the question of whether Göring ever wore this cross and the other platinum-framed Grand Crosses like it, I think he was long dead before some postwar faker, who knew nothing about the history of precious metals, decided to produce these deluxe items for gullible collectors with more money than sense in pre-Internet days. The fakers should have studied their subject with more diligence and used white gold. But that is only my opinion, which Mr Maerz suggests is valueless. I shall leave readers to make their own minds up. 

 

Mr Maerz has never forgiven me for challenging him over his credulity-bending ‘Timeline’ theories about flawed-frame Steinhauer & Lück Knight’s Crosses and his part in the introduction into the marketplace of the subsequently discredited ‘Rounder’ Knight’s Crosses. Mr Maerz, a self-published authority who set up his own imprint after being rejected by serious publishers, is not unlike some of the earlier authors of books on Third Reich militaria, whose reference books contained items later found to be fantasy pieces. Elsewhere on the Stump blog are two articles about a dubious Anti-Partisan Warfare Badge with Diamonds featured in one of Mr Maerz's reference books.

I have never abused the name of the late W. C. Stump, as Mr Maerz suggests. I first met Bill Stump over forty years ago and we remained in touch.  Bill Stump would not only have supported the blog I set up after being thrown off every major militaria forum at the demand of the crooked dealers who sponsor these forums, he would have co-written it with me. He was a highly educated man and a teacher by profession.

 

Maerz claims to have been a good friend of Bill Stump and younger collectors have no way of knowing that this is a falsehood; the WAF management has banned every serious author from its forums to make way for Maerz and a new generation of charlatans and crooks' shills who are every bit as corrupt as some of the late Roger Bender's authors, like Colonel John Angolia.

Mr Maerz quotes from one of my Grand Cross articles but as his command of English is sometimes doubtful, seems to misunderstand what I wrote. I did see the eMedals advertisement but I have not been focusing too much on Third Reich medals and badges in recent years. Mr Maerz has been asked before to justify his own claims about fakes and fantasy pieces he has, inadvertently or otherwise, promoted through various media. In my view, entering into debate with Mr Maerz is a waste of time.