SMGL-25607 Silver Cigarette case with Presentation dedication and signatures

I will be the first person to tell you that most embellished cigarette cases are junk from Poland, which is why you rarely see these types of items on my site. This case is a different story though. First off, it’s solid silver with the German silver mark of “Moon, Crown and Content” (.835 in this case). This mark was required by law and should be on all genuine silver items produced in Germany. Second, the inscription perfectly lines up with an officer who can be researched and ultimately made the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Also the engraver’s skill is simply top notch.

The dedication is as follows: To the departing Hauptman Geerkens in memory of the entry into the liberated Rheinland on the 7th of March 1936 and the company commanders in the regiment from 15th September 1934 to 1st October 1936 Paderborn Koblenz Infantry Regiment 18.

What we know about this information from the German archives is that it lines up with Geerkens commanding Regiment 18 from 1934 until June 1936 when he was re assigned to command the 6th Infantry regiment 80. So “departing” in this case means “moving on” and not retiring.

Geerkens had a long career, entering service at the age of 18 to fight in the great war, then being called up again in 1934. He was also the brother of Major General Heinrich Geerkens.  He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1942.

The case itself was used for sure and shows signs of use and wear. The case closes and opens perfectly with the spring tension lock working just fine. The hand carved eagle is really amazing and shows the work of a true professional. The dedication is also expertly done by hand. There is one flaw, which you can see was fixed where it says “1934”. It looks like the “4” was originally a “5”. Due to the fix, id say it was most likely an error of communication from the officers commissioning the job. The cost of the case and the work put into it would have made re-doing the case a complete waste and the smith who did the carving likely was not willing to eat the cost if it wasn’t his mistake. I see no reason for this to be a concern of originality, but it must be pointed out. The other fantastic part on this case is the hand carved signatures on the other side. I cannot imagine the amount of skill required to look at a signature on a piece of paper and then reproduce it with a small chisel on silver. It looks like “Fischer” was the senior officer below Geerkens based on his placement at the top center.

Of course this item is backed up by our money back guarantee if for any reason you are not satisfied with it.

From:  Lieutenant Colonel Hubert Geerkens (1898-1951) – Axis History Forum

Hubert Franz Geerkens
*10.11.1898 Buchenschacher
+xx.06.1951 Borowitschi / Ilmensee

xx.xx.191x Lieutenant
xx.xx.1934 Captain with RDA of 01.06.1934 (50)
01.02.1940 Major (53)
01.04.1942 Lieutenant Colonel (238)

xx.xx.191x in the Infantry Regiment 16
xx.xx.19xx retired

01.10.1934 in the Infantry Regiment 18 [according to DAL] 15.10.1935 Chief of the 2nd / Infantry Regiment 18 (Paderborn) [according to occupation] 06.10.1936 Chief of the 6th / Infantry Regiment 80 (Koblenz)
xx.xx.1939 in the Infantry Regiment 208
xx.xx.1940 Commander of the I. / Infantry Regiment 501
26.01.1942 entrusted with the leadership of the Infantry Regiment 501 (until 07.03.)
14.01.1943 Führerreserve OKH (XII)
22.02.1943 Commander of the Grenadier Regiment 436
25.08.1943 Führerreserve OKH (XII)
20.09.1943 Head of Reconnaissance Staff 1 of Army Group North
15.10.1944 Commander of the Upper Section Geerkens [What is that?] xx.xx.194x in Soviet captivity

xx.xx.19xx EK II
xx.xx.19xx EK I

Further research:

13.09.1916 joined
the infantry regiment Freiherr von Sparr (3rd Westphalian) No. 16 as a flag junker 03.10.1917 in the field
04.12.1917 Fähnrich
09.04.1918 Lieutenant
19.08.1918 to the 1st replacement machine gun company of the VII Army Corps commanded
09.09.1918 to the 17th Infantry Division in
march 19.09.1918 at the Ghzgl. Meckl. Grenadier Regiment No. 89 arrived
01.11.1918 in franz. Captivity
03.02.1920 from Franz. Captivity back
31.03.1920 in the Reichswehr-Brigade 7 transferred
25.05.1920 verasbchiedet

15.09.1934 re-employed
as captain 30.11.1938 anderw. RDA v. 01.05.34 (140) received 23.04.1920 Iron Cross 2nd Class
23.04.1920 Wounded badge in black
18.01.1935 Cross of Honour for Front Fighters
02.10.1936 Wehrmacht (Army) Service Award 4th Class
31.01.1940 1939 Brace to the Iron Cross 2nd Class
19.06.1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
04.09.1940 Infantry Assault Badge