This is one of two such lidded half-liter steins I have from a pair of sergeants who trained in Company 3 of the German Army’s 7th Motorized Vehicle Battalion (Kraftfahr Abteilung) in 1937 in Munich.
One was a gift from my late father-in-law Capt. Phil Kroon who brought it back from WWII. I found the other on Ebay about 10 years 
They show a BMW R75 motorcycle with a Wehrmacht Heer (Army) license plate on the front fender and the Reich War Flag and the National Ensign in the background.
They also have matching pebbled pewter lids decorated with the left profile of a German helmet inside a wreath of oak leaves. And each lid has a small ding in it. Considering all they’ve been through, it’s remarkable they’re in such good shape. I’ve seen one other of these in an online auction and I’m still kicking myself for letting it get away.
I was surprised to learn a few years ago that there is a 1 liter version of this pattern. A collector friend in Indianapolis has the only liter-size example I’ve seen.
2 comments:
I think this is one of my favorites. Not only because of the motorcycle image, but because the graphic is just really cool.
Yeah, me too.
I remember the moment my late father-in-law pulled it out of his footlocker full of WWII souvenirs and it saw the light of day for the first time in 35 years. I recognized it as a BMW and my heart stopped. I obviously was meant to have it. He knew it and I knew it.
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