Germany, Wehrmacht. A Cased German Cross In Gold By Otto Klein & Co., With Personal Effects, To Erich Jeckstat

Deutsches Kreuz in Gold). Instituted 28 September 1941. (1941-1945 issue). Constructed of cupal with multi-coloured enamels, consisting of a double-overlaid starburst pattern with eight points, the centre with a black enameled mobile swastika on a circular silvered disk, surrounded by a gilded stamped wreath of laurel leaves and ribbons, joined together at the bottom by an institution date of “1941”, the wreathed ringed on both the inner and outer edges by red enamel, the reverse with four visible rivets holding the obverse features in place, with a crimped barrel hinge and tapering vertical pinback meeting a round wire catch, marked with code “134” for maker Otto Klein & Co., Hanau, measuring 62.40 mm (w) x 62.86 mm (h), weighing 44.2 grams, minor age-appropriate tarnishing is evident, accompanied by its period original presentation case, constructed of a wood frame with a faux black leather exterior, the interior with a white satin-type lid liner and intact hinge cover, with a slotted black velvet medal bed, opening with a functional magnetic metal spring catch with exterior stud release and a functional magnetic metal hinge, unmarked, measuring 105 mm (w) x 105 mm (l) x 26 mm (h), otherwise in near extremely fine condition.

Accompanied by a reproduced studio photograph of Jeckstat with his wife Trudel Jung, undated, measuring 86 mm (w) x 100 mm (h), in extremely fine condition; a photograph of Trudel Jung, with a reverse inscription of “Paris” and date of July 1942, measuring 57 mm (w) x 77 mm (h), in extremely fine condition; a Paris travel pass issued by the Wehrmacht Paris Command, dated 17 July 1942, measuring 159 mm (w) x 110 mm (h), in very fine condition; two visitation cards from a Wehrmacht brothel in Cherbourg, dated 7 and 16 July 1942 and signed on the reverse by Jeckstat, each measuring 105 mm (w) x 62 mm (h), in extremely fine condition; a typewritten letter issued by the Comrade’s Association of Kampfgruppe 100 detailing Jeckstat’s 1958 accidental death and his wartime career, authored by Paul Schmidt, measuring 193 mm (w) x 297 mm (h), in extremely fine condition, and; a handwritten letter to Jeckstat’s widow, dated 24 October 1958, measuring 194 mm (w) x 297 mm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Erich Jeckstat was born 8 July 1919 in Goldap, Germany (now Gołdap, Poland). He served with Kampfgeschwader 100, a Luftwaffe bomber wing, throughout the duration of the war. His service record includes flying wounded soldiers out of Stalingrad following its encirclement by the Red Army, actions which saw him awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 March 1943. Jeckstat survived the war, but was killed in an automobile accident along his his parents-in-law on 11 October 1958 in Augsburg, Germany.