Deutsche Kunst Festival Flag Pole Top – 1938 Munich
Availability: Very Rare (There were 10 made and only 2 are known to still exist).
Size: 23″ high…28″ wing span…23″ wide at the base…10″ deep/thick measured beak to tail in a straight horizontal line front to rear
This Adler was one of 10 displayed on Parade during the July 1938 Munich Art & Culture Festival dedicated to highlighting German Art which ran for three days and was also a celebration of 2000 years of German Culture. This historic event was filmed in color. Most important German dignitaries (including Hitler and some important foreign visitors) attended this event both at the House of German Art and the street procession where these Pole Top Eagles were proudly carried, along with some other equally impressive eagles.
These eagles are made from thin pieces of beaten out “repousse” copper that are then soldered together. This is seen clearly in the first sold eagle photos as the gilt has been polished off showing the grey solder-lines where the “repousse” pieces were joined together. As such, these toppers are very light due to the “repousse” construction – only a few pounds in fact, and could easily have been carried all day. These are not heavy cast bronze building eagles but very light-weight hollow copper pieces designed and manufactured this way to specifically allow them to be carried for hour upon hour. A lot of work goes into this manufacturing process and credit must go to the craftsman who constructed these eagles with such detail presumably from an original mold.
Note in the two examples below – one has the correct multi-piece 3D short arm swastika as seen in the period footage of the parade, whilst the other eagle has a different ‘thin’ style ‘running’ swastika (possibly replaced) and has been heavily cleaned with all original gold paint removed.
Pics:
Here are a couple more photos of an original eagle from this 1938 festival with some of its original Gold Gilt still remaining and a shot of the Swastika showing its 3 dimensional construction:
