Hunting weaponry is not restricted to firearms and archery equipment. Hermann Göring, the master huntsman of the Third Reich, was a traditionalist and appreciated the old-fashioned methods used for centuries by the Germans. And, in the tradition of the big game hunters, the kill is only a part of the celebration of the hunt. The presentation of trophies, prizes; and, even the serviceware he used to eat the game they took, played an important part in the overall pageantry of the event. Göring loved to share the experience of the hunt with his closest friends, and to further his enjoyment; he had a massive game preserve which was virtually his private hunting grounds.
The Rominten Heath (or Moor), located in northeastern Prussia, has been a hunting haven since the days of the Hohenzollern kings. In 1890/91, Kaiser Wilhelm II commissioned the Norwegian architect Ufer der Rominte to build the definitive Jagdschloss, literally a hunter's castle. The Dutch exile architect, Hetzelt, later remodeled the lodge to suit the desires of Hermann Göring. The Reichsjägerhof -- called "Emmyhall" for Göring's second wife -- was in almost constant use by Göring and members of the Nazi High Command from September 26, 1936 until the arrival of the Russian army in October 1944.
The hunting preserve surrounding the lodge comprised nearly 40,000 hectares (approximately 16,000 acres or 25 square miles). Göring regularly stocked this preserve with Prussian elk, deer, wild boar, antelope, and other game animals.
The Rominten Heath is located in Lithuania Minor. Currently, it is called Krasnolesje by the Polish, Kaliningrad by the Russians, and Königsberg by the Germans. Geographically, it is in an outlying fragment of the Russia, about 250 miles from Berlin. When the borders were altered in 1945, part of the Rominten Heath was in Poland, the rest in Russia. Today, both countries maintain their portions as a natural wildlife preserve.
There are many letters, diaries, and guest books documenting Göring's use of the land, stocking the game herds and innumerable hunting trips with his personal friends, guests, and members of the German High command from the middle 1930s to late 1943. Records of the period indicate Göring spent a considerable amount of time their during the Russian Offensive of 1942/43. Documentation -- including an intact guest book which survived the fire when the Russians burned the lodge in 1945, subsequently sold at auction several years ago -- and hundreds of photographs indicate that Göring made dozens of trips to the hunting preserve.
During the Stalingrad crisis from November1942 to January 1943, Göring spent most of his time in East Prussia, occasionally traveling to Carinhall or Berlin. Staying at the Rominten lodge left the Reichsmarschall conveniently close to Hitler who was in his East Prussian fortress, the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair). Hitler was awaiting the fate of the doomed German Sixth Army, by this time completely surrounded by the Red Army. Göring's appointment diary and the diary of Wolfram von Richthofen (the cousin of the famed Red Baron), both record Göring's participation is several Rominten wild boar and Prussian Royal Stag hunts in January and early February of 1943. While the war was being lost on the Russian Front, Göring was living the life of royalty.
In January 1943, Hermann Göring was preoccupied with the preparation of his 50th birthday celebration. He wined and dined many of the Axis powers heads of state and leading businessmen. One of the planned events was a hunt for the Royal Stag Augustus in the Rominten Heath scheduled for the 24th of January 1943. The type and quality of the many presents and presentations Göring received indicate the political power he wielded.
One of the many gifts Göring received was a 2400-piece porcelain china service made by Sévres in an elaborate hunting motif. Three leading German businessmen gave this incredible set to Göring. The Göring coat of arms is prominently rendered in gold on the surface of the plates. Some of the pieces in this set have oval panels on three sides of each piece depicting several types of different game animals, such as bock (antelope), rotwild (wild boar), sau (Long-antlered Prussian elk), hirsche (deer), auroch (bison), and others. There was a special border in a similar hunting motif, with the oak leaf and acorn borders in gold on pale green made to commemorate different Royal Stag hunts. The serving plates were rendered with the names of the Royal Stags taken during each hunt. Names such as Der Großmächtige von Gilge (The High and Mighty of Gilge) and Der Großmächtige von Schuiken (The High and Mighty of Schuiken) and Matador are but a few of the named hunts. Their names forever remembered on the dinner plates from the hunt set described above in the panels on the border.
Göring had a singular fascination with wild boar hunting. He was enamored with the mediæval tradition of boar hunting with a spear. His Carinhall hunting estate in the Shorfheide that overlooks the lake Dolln See even had a boar target range, with a life-sized boar mounted on a rail system to simulate the hunting experience for his guests.
Pictured is a unique custom boar spear built in a traditional mediæval Germanic design. Although this is obviously a presentation piece, it is equally obvious that it is a supreme example of hunting weaponry. It is totally functional, perfectly balanced, superbly designed, robustly constructed, and meticulously crafted. This boar spear is 125 cm in length (approximately 50 inches) overall. The spearpoint is a Paul Müller bullseye pattern-weld Damascus. The blade is a flattened diamond cross-section, in a classic leaf shape. The spearpoint is mounted in a 13-sided deep blue steel shaft approximately 24 cm long. On two sides of this shaft the words: AUGUSTUS ROMINTEN 24 JANUAR 1943 are engraved on the flats in block letters.
The grip portion of the boar spear is a dark mahogany, deeply grooved in a diamond-shaped gripping surface. The wooden handle is 43 cm long, and measures a hefty 4-cm in diameter. The opposite end of the spear is a deeply blued steel shaft, 35 cm long, mirroring the design of the blade-side shaft with the 13 flats, tapering to a blunt end. On this shaft are two flattened spherical crossguards. The frontmost measures 7 cm in diameter and 3 cm thick. The second measures 5 cm in diameter and is also 3 cm thick and is located 4 cm behind the first. These spheres are hollow and are partially filled with a material that "rattles" when the spear is shaken or turned. The rattle serves as a device designed to get the attention of the prey.
The members of the Deutsche Jägerschaft (DJ) German Hunting Association presented this "loving cup" trophy to Reichsjägermeister Hermann Göring on the occasion of the AUGUSTUS Rominten Royal Stag hunt on 24 January 1943.
This elegant trophy is 800 silver and is Hallmarked with the Reichsmark crescent moon and crown, "800", and the table marker mark. Additionally, the name JULIUS HERZ and accession number 42337 appear on the underside of the base.
The cup measures 24 cm high with a base diameter of 11.3 cm. The cup is 14 cm wide at the rim. Two 17cm square handles extend above the rim of the cup.
There is a considerable amount of heavy fluting covering nearly half of the lower part of the cup and matching fluting on the pedestal base. The fluting is in a scalloped pattern of four sets of seventeen flutes. The upper half of the cup is adorned with a double row of 68 0.5 cm spear points at 1 cm and 3 cm below the lip.
The cup is engraved on four sides, corresponding to the design of the flutes. On opposite sides, there is the Deutsche Jägerschaft "DJ" logo, the swastika in rays within the antlers of a Prussian elk skull, alternating with the dedication to the Royal Stag AUGUSTUS at Rominten 24 Januar 1943.
This trophy is an exemplary piece of silver craftsmanship, showing meticulous detail worthy of the status of the Rominten Hunt.
A complete 2400 piece set of Sévres porcelain china was specially commissioned for Hermann Göring's 50th birthday anniversary. There were approximately 150 place settings. Each piece is decorated with game scene panels, with the dinner plates commemorating the Royal stag Hunts. This pattern varies from the standard jäger pattern notably in the details of the borders of the plate. Instead of three game scene panels, there is only one centered at the top in an oval panel. The name of the hunt and the date is depicted in the lower panel of each plate. The one pictured displays the Royal Stag horns in the top panel and the name of the hunt centered in the lower panel. This particular example is from the "Augustus" hunt of 24 January 1943 in the Rominten Heath
Each piece of the set shows the gilt Göring crest with oak leaf supporters and the winged helm surmount in heavy gold leaf. The borders of each piece are pale green with a set of 6 pairs of branches displaying 12 leaves and 8 acorns in a repeating pattern. Game panels adorn the areas between the leaves and acorns. Each piece is gold rimmed on the inner and outer edges.
Keith Wilson, Jr., a noted collector of the Sévres jäger china pattern, recently visited the Sévres porcelain china factory in France. He was shown some of the original surviving molds for this magnificent set, stored and locked away. The Sévres representative told him this pattern's artwork was designed in Berlin and then sent to France to be produced into this magnificent set of china service.
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Hermann Göring was a truly evil man, ruthless and amoral. However, as the master huntsman of the German Third Reich, he put in place many game preservation laws and environmental policies that remain unchanged since they were put into practice 65 years ago. He was a warrior, a statesman, and a businessman. He was also one of the last great hunters in the grand tradition of man against beast.