What is this cape?

[wharfrat57]

Very nice piece. Have never seen one. Thanks for sharing

[HJ-Collector]

excellent war trophy! beats finding a kvk2 medal or something in there! a nice moderator here at the forum owns a nice one of these lufty capes, maybe he will post his if he sees this thread!

[37Webbing]

Having been in the museum field for a couple of years I can tell you that museums sell donated items if they don't fit in the written scope of the museums purpose. Local city and county museums are notorious for being the local attic for the deposit of Grandma's sewing machine and grandpa's war trophies where they have untrained volunteers stuffing things into boxes without cataloging the items and none of them know anything about conservation or restoration. Horror stories abound.
Items have a much better chance of surviving the ages if they are owned by a collector that values and cares for them. Even the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC will deacquisition an item if they decide they don't need it. That happens a lot. So believing that donating or loaning an item to any museum will guarantee its existence and history is not necessarily a wise thing to do.

I know I am hijacking the thread a bit with this, but it really depends on the country. I myself work in a museum ( as a part time job since I am studying) and I admit that I know nothing of US and UK museum laws, but state owned and state operated museums in Scandinavia (at least Denmark and Norway) are not under any circumstances allowed to sell items in their collections. If they wish to part with an item, they destroy it. A mantel like this would be "safe" here, since it is a valuable and scarce item. It would not likely be put on display unless needed in a exhibition, but it would remain in the museum collection indefinite, and be used a "study" item for interested students.

On a different note, It is a very lovely mantel, and since it has sentimental value, I think you should keep it. A museum and / or a collector would never "appreciate" it in the same way as you do.

[AnnaR]

Hi again everyone, and thank you all for the continuing feedback. It's been a lot of food for thought for my mother. As promised, I have sharper pictures and a few corrections/additions to the story.
-My grandfather never spoke about the war directly with my mother. Everything she learned, she heard from my grandmother. Apparently my grandfather had even refused to accept any of the medals awarded to him and wanted to leave it all behind.
-The fight occurred in France, as my grandfather landed at Normandy. It was not the dead of winter when the fight occurred but the very late fall or beginning of winter.
-The reason my grandfather was separated from his troop was because he was delivering a message. She said he might have been an MP and was often on foot or in a jeep.
-The cape itself had either been on the ground or in a bag during the fight.
-My mother said my grandfather had also taken a sword (this is definite heresay) from the encounter, "about a foot and a half long, very nice." (She may be mixing some of it up with a WWI bayonet lying around, but that one is definitely not very nice.) The sword itself is long gone, apparently having been pawned of by an uncle about 40 years ago.

Mom seems more interested in selling now rather than donating after reading this thread, and is less attached to it than I originally thought. If she makes any decisions on selling privately or at an auction, I'll be sure to provide updates.

Here are the sharper pictures, including the name tag.

[dramos]

Wow, great piece! Finding these sort of things is always fun because a lot of times it reveals info both about family members and what they did. I for one love anything related to the luftwaffe (German Airforce), not sure why but i do! Congrats on the find. My advise would be to keep it or sell it someone who you know will appreciate it for years to come!!

[lithgow]

The 'sword' sounds like it was one of the ceremonial dress daggers or bayonets that the Germans were so fond of, the sort of thing that would be found with other dress items like the cape.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Looks even better in those pics.

This was an optional item for Officers to purchase. So not everyone bought one.

Cheers, Ade.

[Fred Green]

Hello Anna,

With the additional photos the real beauty of this cape comes out. The excellent craftsmanship in the eagle, the closure clasps, and quality of the wool. A sweet addition is that there is a tailor's label with a name. This is a super piece and if you decide to sell I believe you can do very well.
Thank you for sharing.

Fred

[rbminis]

The 'sword' sounds like it was one of the ceremonial dress daggers or bayonets that the Germans were so fond of, the sort of thing that would be found with other dress items like the cape.

Likely a first pattern Luft. officer's dress dagger. They were longer than the second pattern and "could" easily be described as a sword.
Ralph.
By the way Anna,
Welcome to the forum and a lovely Luftwaffe officer's cape!

[HPL2008]

Here are the sharper pictures, including the name tag.

The embroidery work of the eagle is quite beautiful.

By the way, the owner's name on the label is Ltn. [= Leutnant, i.e. 2nd Lieutenant] Zöppel.

(I have checked the Volksbund database for the name, but with no result. It does list four men named Zöppel, but all of them were privates.)