Meet Oberstleutnant Richard Falke

[Claudio]

A close-up of original picture from the online Thies' catalogue...

[jaba1914]

I'm a little bit confused because i know a collector who bought the Ehrenbecher of Richard Falke many years ago at a german auktion. It is engraved. So one of this two don't belong to Richard.

Regards Alex

[Claudio]

That's interesting... who knows if Herr Thies or the consignor could tell more about that! :speechless1:

[jaba1914]

Usually Ehrenbecher had no engraving so who knows where was the original owner. The documents are from Falke, so maybe the seller put the Ehrenbecher to those documents for better selling. More than 15.000EUR for an Ehrenbecher and two documents are a vary high price.

This is only my Theorie but fact is there are two Ehrenbecher related to Falke so one could not be him.

Regards Alex

Edited November 19, 2010 by jaba1914

[Claudio]

Well Alex, that is exactly what I thought... I don't know the market price of such an Ehrenbecher and I could think that it might be more expensive than a WWII, but then I need also to know what to look for in order to check it if it's an original period piece... That's why I am not going to bid on it.

Claudio

[jaba1914]

A Ehrenbecher in silver worth about 8000EUR. This are not realy rare. There are about 3-4 at german dealers for sale now.

I suppose the two documents of Falke and the pic don't worth more than 1000EUR.

Of course an Ehrenbecher related to a famous person worth more but this is hard to proof is this doesn't come directly from the family.

Regards Alex

Edited November 19, 2010 by jaba1914

[VtwinVince]

Alex is right, something fishy going on here. I would be very surprised to see the award of a silver Becher this late in the war.

[jaba1914]

Alex is right, something fishy going on here. I would be very surprised to see the award of a silver Becher this late in the war.

Yep, he had the victory late 1917 on 23. Sept. and got the Ehrenbecher Oct 1917. It should be an iron one.

Regards Alex

[JoeW]

I purchased over two decades ago from a well-known German auction house this Ehrenbecher that was awarded to Oberleutnant Richard Falke to celebrate his first aerial victory in combat in WWI. Though he had extensive air service in Palestine after transferring from land forces where he served since earlier in WWI, as an observer he never scored a victory in combat. After his transfer to the Western Front in August 1917 as commander of Kampfstaffel 24, he finally scored his first victory in combat on September 23, 1917. This is well documented. He continued in command and combat, being transferred to BG4, until he and his pilot were shot down and captured in June 1918. He survived both wars. This is his Sanke card photo.

He received numerous awards and honors. Among these was this Ehrenpokal.

At the top is the inscription of the date and location of his first (and only) combat victory.

It is inscribed with his name and command at the bottom of the chalice.

And finally on the bottom is the seal of the Commander of the German Air Services.

On the upcoming December Thies Auction, there is offered at a considerable minimum a grouping of Falke material, including the transmittal letter of the Falke Ehrenbecher and an unnamed silver Ehrenbecher purported to be the one awarded to Falke. It appears to be a correct silver Ehrenbecher, but it is without inscription as are others that have been offered in the past with an without attribution to specific flyers. It is believed that Ehrenbechers conferred later in the war were of iron/steel as silver supplies were exhausted. My Falke Ehrenbecher is steel/iron composition. Included also is the notice of his award of the Imperial Austrian Flyer's badge.

Earlier this year or last year, another piece of Falke material was sold on the Zeige Auktion. It is obvious that Falke's estate was disbursed to many places, documents and respective awards separated. It would do well for a potential bidder to apprise himself of all facts before the auction.

[JoeW]

Claudio, I am so very impressed with your wonderful Falke grouping. It is enormous and complex. Thank you for sharing. I was not successful in bidding for the miniatures on the Zeige auction.

I found some wonderful information on Falke's escapades in the article "Winds Over the Sinai and Palestine" by Dr. Dieter Groeschel and Juergen Ladek published in the Spring 1998 issue of the magazine "Over the Front". And of course, Falke is mentioned in some of the O'Conner books on Imperial German combat awards.

I am more a collector of material from the later periods in German history, not an avid Imperial collector, but when I saw the Ehrenbecher offered in 1989 I desired to pair it with a Luftwaffe Pokal that I had in my collection at the time and was successful at auction. I proceeded over the years to "flesh" in the person to whom the Ehrenbecher was inscribed. He was a most fascinating soldier/airman.I found an example of his Sanke card and added some examples of awards that Falke would have received to accompany the Ehrenbecher.

And over the years I acquired some pieces of Imperial headgear. The heavy cavalry helmets particularly impressed me, such as this Saxon Karabiner example.

Edited November 20, 2010 by JoeW

[Claudio]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for posting some images of your Ehrenbecher; it makes more sense that yours it's made of a iron alloy (since it was awarded to Falke after 1916), than the one being offered on Thies' auction, like also Alex said it so well. The engraving on your Ehrenbecher looks to me also period... :cheers:

I am just wondering how many items more of Falke's group lie in different places and collections...

Ciao,

Claudio

[JoeW]

Well for sure the Internet has assisted in bringing the community of collectors together and passing knowledge on rather quickly. Thinking back to the auctions of the 1970s and 1980s, it was difficult to expand collecting brotherhood and information. Many of us were in vacuums. Was your grouping acquired from private or public auction, if you are at liberty to reveal.

[Claudio]

Hi Jeff,

no need for secrecy from my part; my Falke's group I got it from Zeige... very likely we bid against each other...

Ciao,

Claudio

[demir]

Claudio,

Thanks for sharing with us this lovely collection of yours and all the documents.

Regards

Demir

[VtwinVince]

Aha, so mystery solved, and that is a great Ehrenbecher, Joe.

[ostprussenmann_new]

This is a wonderful grouping and quite impressive.

[redeagleorder]

A very impressive grouping to a brave man

[Claudio]

Finally found Falke's medal bar and reunited with the rest of the documents and pictures... Someone told me that also his civilian tuxedo bar (Frankspange) is around in Germany, lying in a collection without the knowledge of the current owner about the wearer's name.

On the bar there is no Hamburg Hansakreuz, like on Falke's ribbon bar or miniature chain, but I didn't find any documents confirming his bestowal of such cross. I think he was a bit naughty, wearing a cross he didn't actually formally and officially get... But at least he didn't have the guts to wear it on his full scale medal bars...  

Enjoy the pictures....  (The HHOX is a Godet's Spangenstück, with a flat reverse, but with the typical Godet's rivets)

C

[JoeW]

Excellent acquisition Claudio. Congradulations!

 

[Stogieman]

Nice work Claudio

[ccj]

How'd you manage that? I'm happy for you as that's a major feat.

[turtle]

This is really a very beautiful and impresssive medal bar, especially with this great background story!!!

[Claudio]

Well... It was for sale in a German Auction, and as soon as I saw it, I immediately knew that this kind of combination of awards must be quite unique. Furthermore a fellow collector confirmed my thoughts.

C

Edited May 18, 2016 by Claudio
Correction

[Deruelle]

Nice work Claudio, congrats

 

Christophe

[demir]

Thanks Claudio for the beautiful photos and information. I am also very happy for you for acquaring the medal bar.

Regards

demir