I hesitate to post as I really am "asking for a friend. To wit: Many decades ago a cousin and I had a mutual friend, Cyrus Brown Follmer. At one point Cyrus was vice-counsel in the American Embassy in Berlin before we were involved in the war. Cyrus passed away in 1990 at the age of 96. Before he died he left many items he had collected with my cousin. My cousin passed away last year and left these items with his widow. His son has no interest in the items and she fears that upon her death these items will be discarded. Ergo, she is willing to sell most of these items. Let me just say that time is of the essence. Three of the many items are as follows.
1. A wooden box, tongue and groove style. An attached tag dated 1945 states that the box was from Hermann Goring's hunting lodge in Berchtesgaden . I know his official hunting lodge was elsewhere, but Cyrus knew Hermann well so this was one of his hunting lodges. The box was full of sand and was kept in Goring's bedroom in case of fire. It is approximately 24 3/4 inches wide, 15 7/8 inches deep and 21 inches high. In 1980, a Bucknell student wrote a 100 page biography about Cyrus. The paper is entitled, "The American Maker." In the paper Cyrus noted, "Once we spent the night in Hermann Goering's hunting lodge. I brought home as a souvenir the beautifully made wooden box filled with sand that sat beside his bed. Everybody kept sand handy to extinguish fires started by bombs." There are three problems here. First, we need someone who can authenticate the box. Second, we need a venue to sell it. Third, there may be a problem as to how Cyrus obtained the box. Are their any experts on Berchtesgaden furniture and an auction house that specializes in WWII items?
2. I have in my possession a piece of paper that was folded over to form a pamphlet. It involves a program to honor Franz Daniel Pastorius who led the first group of German emigrants to the British Colonies. The program was performed on 8 October 1933 in the festival (opera house) hall Kroll. The program states that one of the speakers was Reichminister Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Someone (I assume Cyrus) used a pencil to translate into English some of the German. He also noted, "Extremely interesting-Good speeches- Dr. Goebbels. Again, authentication and sales venue?
3. I have not seen this item. At one point Cyrus wrote from Germany to his father in the U. S. He sent the letter by the quickest route, on the Hindenburg. I don't know how many letters exist that came across the pond on the Hindenburg, but this is one of them. My cousin's widow, who is a high school classmate of mine, says the envelope has "Hindenburg stamps" on it. Would the stamps have to be verified or is this a case of "res ipsa loquitur" for you attorneys out there.
Any guidance you can give me on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Cyrus led a very interesting life from leaving Bucknell in 1916 to joining a French ambulance corps to helping Jews escape through the American Embassy to hoodwinking the officials at the Soviet Embassy in Canada. His story would make a great miniseries. Both my friend and I have Cyrus stories not contained in the American Maker. Thanks.
1. A wooden box, tongue and groove style. An attached tag dated 1945 states that the box was from Hermann Goring's hunting lodge in Berchtesgaden . I know his official hunting lodge was elsewhere, but Cyrus knew Hermann well so this was one of his hunting lodges. The box was full of sand and was kept in Goring's bedroom in case of fire. It is approximately 24 3/4 inches wide, 15 7/8 inches deep and 21 inches high. In 1980, a Bucknell student wrote a 100 page biography about Cyrus. The paper is entitled, "The American Maker." In the paper Cyrus noted, "Once we spent the night in Hermann Goering's hunting lodge. I brought home as a souvenir the beautifully made wooden box filled with sand that sat beside his bed. Everybody kept sand handy to extinguish fires started by bombs." There are three problems here. First, we need someone who can authenticate the box. Second, we need a venue to sell it. Third, there may be a problem as to how Cyrus obtained the box. Are their any experts on Berchtesgaden furniture and an auction house that specializes in WWII items?
2. I have in my possession a piece of paper that was folded over to form a pamphlet. It involves a program to honor Franz Daniel Pastorius who led the first group of German emigrants to the British Colonies. The program was performed on 8 October 1933 in the festival (opera house) hall Kroll. The program states that one of the speakers was Reichminister Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Someone (I assume Cyrus) used a pencil to translate into English some of the German. He also noted, "Extremely interesting-Good speeches- Dr. Goebbels. Again, authentication and sales venue?
3. I have not seen this item. At one point Cyrus wrote from Germany to his father in the U. S. He sent the letter by the quickest route, on the Hindenburg. I don't know how many letters exist that came across the pond on the Hindenburg, but this is one of them. My cousin's widow, who is a high school classmate of mine, says the envelope has "Hindenburg stamps" on it. Would the stamps have to be verified or is this a case of "res ipsa loquitur" for you attorneys out there.
Any guidance you can give me on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Cyrus led a very interesting life from leaving Bucknell in 1916 to joining a French ambulance corps to helping Jews escape through the American Embassy to hoodwinking the officials at the Soviet Embassy in Canada. His story would make a great miniseries. Both my friend and I have Cyrus stories not contained in the American Maker. Thanks.
