I just had to share these photographs of the kind of piece you don't see every day...
During a trip to Vienna last week, I visited the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) in the Hofburg. One of the many remarkable pieces on display there is the Prussian Field Marshal's Baton presented by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Austrian Kaiser Franz Josef I in 1898.
The baton was made by the renowned Sy & Wagner company of Berlin. As can be expected of an item symbolizing the authority of the highest military rank and presented by one emperor to another, the craftsmanship and materials are of the finest quality:
I know the photographs aren't perfect, but the baton is (of course) kept behind glass in a room with dimmed illumination...
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