Description
The 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 is a German 88 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun, developed in the 1930s. It was widely used by Germany throughout World War II and is one of the most recognized German weapons of the conflict. The gun was universally known as the Acht-acht (“eight-eight”) by the Germans and the “eighty-eight” by the Allies. Due to its lethality, especially as a tank killer, the eighty-eight was greatly feared by Allied soldiers.
Made of copper and aluminum by Junghans (which produced the clockwork timers of the original 8.8cm), this Presentation Decanter is in EXCELLENT used condition! As it is made out of copper, there are some shallow dents on the side, but nothing that detracts (these can also be rectified by the winning bidder). The aluminum replica fuse is dirty with scratches and marks as you can see in the photos, but those too could also be cleaned-up and corrected by the winning bidder. The top unscrews to reveal the ORIGINAL glass bottle and cork, which are usually almost always missing! Though the cork has shrunk slightly due to the age, it still seals. No cracks or damage to the cork or glass. Originally this contained 4 small Schnapps shot glasses inside the bottom, which are missing (common). I have seen these decanters with both steel and glass shots, so they should be easy to replace. Normally, the glass bottle was affixed with plaster to the disk containing the shot glasses. This would allow the user access to the individual shot glasses by simply spinning the bottle. When this arrived to me, the plaster had long deteriorated, but you can see where it once was applied. Though only a few of these are known to have survived the war, almost every one that comes up is described as being “converted” from an original shell – this is NOT the case. Junghans had these custom-made out of copper to the exact specs of the original, and never used an original shell or fuse. I believe only 5 of these are known to exist, making it EXTRAORDINARILY RARE! Would make a FANTASTIC addition to any collection or display!
