This is a unique piece created by the Munich master goldsmith Max Olofs, circa 1940. The casket is made of heavy hand-raised and hammered silver with gilded inner edges and border decorations as well as precious amber inlays. The lid is stepped in three levels, with a centerpiece depicting a national eagle with swastika and the initials “K S” (Karl Strölin), composed of various amber plates. The individual amber pieces were cut so that when assembled they form the eagle and the initials. Additionally, in the four corners are four round amber “buttons” in the same technique, where the assembled amber pieces each form a swastika. The four amber “buttons” are also found on the underside of the casket; the eight “buttons” on the front and back serve as feet and to protect the casket when it is opened. On the underside at the right edge of the base plate, hallmarked with the city mark of Munich and the artist's signature of the goldsmith Max Olofs.
The inner lid of the casket is gilded and fastened with screws engraved with swastikas. In the corners are gilded oak leaf decorations.
Inside the casket is an inset certificate of parchment,
with a golden Mercedes star, the emblem of Daimler Benz AG
and dedication text in black and red ink as well as gold lettering (similar to Knight's Cross presentation folders):
To the highly meritorious Lord Mayor of the City
of Germans Abroad and Home of the Automobile
Dr. Karl Strölin on his 50th Birthday
dedicated with the most cordial congratulations.
May you as a loyal fighter and pathfinder
of the Führer be granted many more years of health and
strength to continue working for a long time
on the construction of Greater Germany.
Stuttgart, October 21, 1940.
Management and Workforce of Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft
With the original signatures of the Chairman of the Board Wilhelm Kissel and the Board Member and General Inspector of the Führer for Motor Vehicle Affairs Jakob Werlin. The certificate is signed at the bottom by the artist “Leonhard”.
Weight 6.2 kg. Only slight signs of age, in very good condition. Impressive presentation casket of outstanding silversmith and jeweler quality. One of the very few large-format works by Max Olofs, most of his works are in museum or state collections.
Included are two contemporary photographs of the casket (as reproduction photos) as well as a contemporary report about the artist Max Olofs.
Karl Emil Julius Strölin (born October 21, 1890 in Berlin; died January 21, 1963 in Stuttgart) was a German National Socialist politician and Lord Mayor of Stuttgart from 1933 to 1945.
Karl Strölin was born in 1890. As the son of a later general, he received a place in the Prussian Cadet Corps and entered the officer career path. Promoted to the rank of Hauptmann (captain), he participated in the First World War. In 1923 he joined the NSDAP for the first time and then again in 1931. After the National Socialist “seizure of power,” the Württemberg Reichsstatthalter Wilhelm Murr appointed him on March 16, 1933 as State Commissioner for the administration of the city of Stuttgart. On July 1, 1933, he was appointed by Murr as Lord Mayor of Stuttgart for life. Strölin rose to the Reich leadership of the NSDAP.
Strölin had contact with the former Leipzig Lord Mayor Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, who was significantly involved in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. On behalf of Goerdeler, Strölin transmitted on April 14, 1944 to Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel an inquiry about a meeting between Rommel and the former Reich Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath for a discussion about a political overthrow in Germany. Rommel, out of political caution, did not come himself but sent his Chief of Staff, Hans Speidel, to the meeting with Neurath and Strölin on May 27, 1944 in Freudenstadt. Speidel on Strölin's statements at the meeting: “Lord Mayor Dr. Strölin pointed out above all the central problem of the person Adolf Hitler, with whom foreign countries would not make political agreements. Only his elimination would enable a new creative policy.” – “Both men [Neurath and Strölin] asked to transmit, intended for the Field Marshal, the urgent appeal to make himself available for the salvation of the Reich, whether as Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht or as interim Head of State.”
After the attack of July 20, there was also a house search at Strölin's residence, which however produced nothing incriminating against him. Nevertheless, he was dismissed from the NSDAP Reich leadership in 1944 with revocation of his party rank. However, he remained Lord Mayor of Stuttgart.
Shortly before the end of the war:
When French and American troops advanced on Stuttgart in April 1945, the National Socialists declared the city a fortress and demanded that it be defended with all available means.
Strölin therefore secretly made contact with the French Army and offered the peaceful surrender of his hometown. In doing so, he consciously risked his life, as he was defying the express order to hold out from the NS leadership. In fact, the Geheime Staatspolizei learned of Strölin's contacts with the enemy army and obtained an arrest warrant against him. However, the radio operator who received the telegraphically transmitted arrest warrant in Stuttgart made it disappear. Thus he saved not only Strölin from summary execution, but also the city from destruction. On April 21, 1945, French troops were able to occupy the Stuttgart inner city areas largely without combat. One day later, Strölin officially handed over the city to a French general.