PAUL KONIG- Deutschland- PAPERWEIGHT

[Georg]

I came across this WW1 era (or just post WW1) paperweight. It is on an Iron Cross type design , and in the center it have two gold color coins, one side is a image of a military officer and the words”U- Deutschland , PAUL KONIG Kapitan.On the other side the other side is a submarine and other words around the edge. It is approx. 2 ¾ X 2 ¾. I have not seen one like this one before, have you guys seen this type before? I picked it up off of E-bay for $4.25 (I think, anything under 5 bucks is a safe buy)

[oradour]

Georg, under a $5 ! a bargain to be sure....commemorates the U-Boot 'Deutschland' (specially converted submarine, for the carrying of goods)that made the trip to the U.S.A. to fill up and bring in much needed supplies required back home in Germany on the 9th July 1916. Germany intended to break the British Royal Navy's blockade of its shores by using converted submarines, but actually this was the one and only trip !....nice buy, worth more than you paid.

[drmessimer]

Re: PAUL KONIG- Deutschland- PAPERWEIGHT: What you have there is a souvenir that was cast in Baltimore in July 1916 to commerate the U-Deutschland's arrival there. The U-boat's iron ballast was used for the paperweight and the brass for the disk was provided by the foundry that did the casting. The paperweights were sold in Baltimore, Washington, DC and New York City to raise money, ostensably, for the relief of German and Austrian POWs. Other souvenirs that were manufactured from the boat's iron ballest included oval watch fobs bearing a likness of the U-Deutschland, and a flat silhouette of the U-Deutschland. They are fairly rare and I have seen them offered for sale for as much as $150. The U-Deutschland and the other seven boats that were built were specifically designed to be cargo-carrying submarines. But only two were completed in that configuration, Deutschland and Bremen. The others were all completed as U-Cruisers and the Deutschland was converted to a U-Cruiser in 1917. The Bremen disappeared without a trace on her maiden voyage to the United States in 1916. After the war, Deutschland was turned over to the British who displayed her as a war trophy until January 1919 when she was sold to Horatio Bottomley, owner/publisher of John Bull. During his brief ownership her interior was gutted and the various metals were used to make dozens of souvenirs which were sold in the UK to raise money for the Victory Club. Dwight

[SteveR]

Nice buy.

[Walkwolf]

A teriffic piece with interesting history behind it.
You can't beat that price.........!

[deutschlandfan]

I have one of the paperweights myself and three books that were written about the sub, two in german. drmessimer is correct about the Deutschland being built as a commercial sub with no weapons capability. germany did not want to go to war with the usa but trade with us. the sub was built as a blockade runner. after we declared war on germany the boat was turned over to be converted to a warship. it was a very effective warship sinking 43 ships and damaging 3 as the ww1 u-155. it sank 120,434 tons of shipping. only served as a warship for 1.5 years. one of the best sites for uboat info is uboat.net. to me one of the worst things about ww1 is sailing ships were sitting ducks for uboats or any warship. quite a few were sunk. rlb

[drmessimer]

Deutschlandfan: Which three books do you have? Could you post photos of the covers? I have tried to track down and accquire a copy of every book written about the boat, and I'm always hoping one more will show up. Thanks, Dwight

[MeganKoenig]

That's a bargain at $5!! I have been looking for one, myself. Captain Paul Konig is actually my Great Grandfather's uncle, who bears an uncanny resemblance to my father. I have been trying to find this as a gift for him. I have just purchased his book "Voyage to Deutschland". What a find!

[MeganKoenig]

There was also a memorial here in Baltimore in September that I am just finding out about a little too late. It was to honor him in the 80th anniversary of his death.

[drmessimer]

Megan Koenig: Welcome to the Forum and may I suggest that you vist our thread, The Deutschland: Model and Artifacts in the Imperial germany and Austria section. One of our contributors is the grandson of a Deutschland crewman.

The large paperweight Iron Cross is probably the most interesting and misrepresented of the Deutschland ballast items. If you hunt for information about this item online, you will get at least three or four different stories about who had it made, the purpose for which it was made, and who actually made it. Some of those stories have at least a modicum of fact, but none of them are 100% historically correct. This is the correct information about this ballast item.

While the Deutschland was in Baltimore, Captain Paul König arranged to donate an unspecified amount of the boat’s cast iron ballast to two wartime Charity organizations that operated under the auspices of the Baltimore Chapter of the Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland (VDA). The two registered charities that were headquartered in New York were the American Relief Committee for Widows and Orphans of the War in Germany and the Prisoners of War Relief Committee. The Baltimore VDA was part of a worldwide organization that was headquartered in Berlin. The VDA exists in Germany today as the Verein für Kulturbeziehung im Ausland with headquarters in Sankt Augustin.

The Baltimore sculptor, Hans Schuler, designed the cross and the medallions that are embedded in both sides of the cross. The Baltimore ironworks, G. Krug and Son cast the crosses. the embedded medallions are brass-plated white-metal shells that were struck separately and set in cast depressions on the two sides of the Cross
The crosses were used to solicit donations to the two registered charities either through direct sales or by giving the crosses as gifts to potential big pockets donors.

The Baltimore VDA retained possession of the entire stock of crosses in Baltimore and functioned as the sales agent and distribution authority in the name of the two registered committees. It was a straight forward and legitimate fund raising arrangement. After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the Baltimore VDA, fearing wartime reprisals and confiscation of the organization’s assets, hid the crosses for the duration. At some time between the end of the war and 1932, Paul König returned to Baltimore and took possession of the entire lot of crosses and took them back to Germany where he turned them over to the VDA chapter in Bremen, which used the crosses as member awards until sometime in WWII.

Another interesting feature is that G. Krug and Son is the oldest Iron works factory in the United States and has been doing business in the same location since 1810.

Sources:
Petra Messbacher, Geschäftsfüherin VDA e.V., Sankt Augustin email, 25 September 2013
Patrick Cutter, Museum Director, G. Krug and Son, Baltimore, email 24 September 2013
Records of the Department of State, RG59, M367, 763.7114/2670, List of Alien Charitable Organizations, 22 April 1917
Urkunde, VDA an Friedrich Tanger, März 1937, Claas Stöckmeyer, Bremen
Dave Schenkman, numismatist, from Vernon Taylor, Catalog of Hans Schuler’s Work. The Best to you, Dwight