This silver-mounted bone snuff box represents an exceptional example of the elaborate presentation gifts that Hermann Göring commissioned in his capacity as Reichsjägermeister (Reich Hunting Master) for distinguished individuals within the hunting community and the Nazi hierarchy. The particular historical significance of this object lies in its vacant, never-engraved monogram medallion, which indicates that this precious gift was never presented to its intended recipient.
The Reichsbund Deutsche Jägerschaft (RDJ), or German Hunting Society, was founded on July 3, 1934, through the Reichsjagdgesetz (National Hunting Act) as a statutory corporation. With this establishment, the Nazi regime completed the total coordination (Gleichschaltung) of German hunting. All existing hunting clubs were dissolved and their members transferred to the RDJ. Membership in the RDJ was mandatory for all hunting license holders in Nazi Germany. Hermann Göring was appointed Reichsjägermeister in 1934 and held this position until 1945. As a passionate hunter, Göring used this role to centralize German hunting under Nazi control.
The organization promoted what it termed “ethical” hunting culture and wildlife preservation according to Nazi ideology. Simultaneously, Jews were systematically excluded from membership. The Deutsche Jägerschaft employed the traditional symbol of the stag antler, which after 1933 was nazified through the addition of a swastika between the antler tines and a bandeau inscribed with “DJ” beneath. This nazified symbolism appears on the present snuff box, with the swastika between the antler tines fashioned separately in gold.
Göring commissioned numerous elaborate presentation gifts through favored craftsmen, notably the goldsmith Professor Herbert Zeitner, for his inner circle, senior hunting officials, and Nazi party leaders. Documented recipients of similar hunting gifts from Göring included Franz Ritter von Epp, the Bavarian Landesjägermeister, who received a hunting dagger in 1938, and Friedrich Karl Florian, Gauleiter of Düsseldorf, who received a silver plaque in 1939. Additional recipients included various Gau- and Kreisjägermeister as well as senior Nazi officials.
The present snuff box exhibits extraordinarily high-quality craftsmanship. The hollowed bone is fitted with custom-made silver plates on both front and back. The front displays an applied stag antler over the DJ bandeau with the separately applied gold swastika. The reverse shows oak leaf decoration with a silver-gilt monogram medallion intended for personalization but never engraved. An engraved silver threaded nut on the back allows removal of the back plate for filling the hollowed interior. The top features a threaded silver opening with a silver stopper bearing relief swastikas, while the bottom concludes with a threaded silver decorative acorn. Notably, the piece bears no hallmarks or manufacturer's marks.
The vacant monogram medallion holds particular historical significance. Typically, such presentation gifts bore the name or monogram of the recipient. The absence of this personalization suggests either that the intended recipient was never designated or that circumstances changed such that presentation never occurred. Such personalized presentation gifts were produced in very limited numbers, each individually commissioned for specific recipients.
Following the German capitulation, the Reichsbund Deutsche Jägerschaft was dissolved by Allied Control Council Law No. 2 on October 12, 1945. All properties, funds, and archives were confiscated, though most organizational records had already been destroyed during the war. After 1945, such objects became collectible militaria. Modern German hunting is organized through the Deutscher Jagdverband (German Hunting Association), founded in 1949, with federal hunting laws replacing the centralized Nazi system.
This snuff box thus represents not only fine craftsmanship and the material culture of Nazi hunting administration, but also serves as a tangible reminder of the unbestowed honors and disrupted plans of a collapsing regime. Its vacant medallion speaks eloquently to history's interruption of Nazi ceremonial life.
