85 - Reservist stein, airship troops Munich, airship “Graf Zeppelin”, lithophane, 2nd half 20th century

Reservist stein, airship troops Munich, airship “Graf Zeppelin”, lithophane, 2nd half 20th century Ceramic and pewter, reservist stein, replica, white body with lithophane in the base, orange and red ring stripes, pointed pewter lid with relief decoration and eagle finial, thumb-lift with foliage, below the rim a surrounding banderole in Fraktur “Garde-Luftschiffer-Batt. (München) 1906-09”, to the front a coat of arms with crown, black-white-red and white-blue flags and oak leaves, spiked helmet, cable drum and anchor, on each side a soldier in grey uniform, above a biplane, captive balloon, airship hangar and an airship inscribed “GRAF ZEPPELIN”, banderoles “Erinnerung an” and “Dienstzeit”, name lists of comrades and superiors, 2nd half 20th century, good condition commensurate with age, partially slightly rubbed, H. 27.5 cm. 360-degree photo available on our website. Soldiers of the German Empire bought reservist steins as souvenirs at the end of their military service: beer steins with pewter lid and finial, with regiment, period of service and comrades' names and often with a lithophane, a picture in the base visible against the light; the tradition ended with the First World War. After the Second World War, German manufacturers began to reproduce such regimental steins, first for American soldiers and collectors, later for the souvenir trade; the replicas adopt the stein shape, pewter lid with eagle, ring stripes, lithophane and transfer decoration of the models, combining motifs from different decades. The decoration is modelled on the airship troops, the forerunners of military aviation: in Munich the Bavarian airship detachment had existed on the Oberwiesenfeld since 1890, in Berlin-Reinickendorf the airship battalion attached to the Guards Corps since 1901. The airship depicted, LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin”, made its maiden voyage in Friedrichshafen in 1928, circumnavigated the globe in 1929 and remained in service until 1937.