Germany, SS. The Photo Album And Documents Of SS-Obersturmführer Willi Döppner, 2Nd Ss Panzer Division Das Reich

(Waffen-SS Fotoalbum und Papiere). A rare photo and document grouping from the estate of SS-Untersturmführer Willi Döppner, consisting of:

1. A photo album, constructed of a heavy card stock binding with a grey paper stock exterior liner and faux brown leather spine reinforcement emulating the appearance of leather-bound book, the interior content consisting of 20 black card stock pages retaining 64 period photographs, the latter consisting of large studio portraits of Döppner in a Waffen-SS assault gun wrap, followed by an array of private wartime photos of depicting Waffen-SS personnel in uniform on review and at leisure, notably depicting personnel in camouflage uniforms and with two photos showing Waffen-SS Tiger I tanks in the field, completing with a mugshot of Döppner in Allied captivity and several images of him with comrades in postwar Germany, measuring 23.5 cm (w) x 30 cm (h), in extremely fine condition, accompanied by three professionally-enlarged portraits, two of which show Döppner in a Waffen-SS assault gun wrap and with Obersturmführer rank insignia visible, with the third showing Döppner standing alongside decorated and uniformed Waffen-SS Officers, all measuring 18 cm (w) x 24 cm (h), with minor tearing evident, in overall near extremely fine condition.

2. An award document for a War Merit Cross II Class with Swords, named to Döppner as an Untersturmführer of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, issued on 30 January 1944, featuring the handwritten signature of then-Oberführer (and later Gruppenführer) Heinz Lammerding (Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, 11 April 1944), measuring 14 cm (w) x 20 cm (h), in mint condition.

3. A letter of recommendation praising Döppner’s work as a Gruppenführer and instructor at an SS training school, recognizing both his professionalism and upstanding personal character, dated 29 June 1935 and featuring the handwritten signature of then Oberführer Gottlob Berger (later-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS, and recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords on 26 September 1944), measuring 21 cm (w) x 29.5 cm (h), with folding creases visible, in near extremely fine condition.

4. A second letter of recommendation from the Schulführer (School Leader, or Headmaster) of Nachrichten-A-Schule, Bad Cannstatt, similarly praising Döppner’s time there, dated 31 May 1935, measuring 21 cm (w) x 29.5 cm (h), with minor material fatigue evident, in near extremely fine condition.

5. An oath document for Döppner’s appointment as a Steuerpraktikanten in Stuttgart, constructed of off-white card stock with black ink, dated 29 December 1937, measuring 21 cm (w) x 29.5 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.

6. An oath document for Döppner’s appointment as a Steuerinspektor in Stuttgart, constructed of off-white card stock with black ink, dated 27 January 1939, measuring 25.5 cm (w) x 35.5 cm (h), with a central folding crease visible, in extremely fine condition.

7. Two Schule Cannstatt identity documents to Döppner, both retaining certified studio portraits, in extremely fine condition.

8. A pair of postwar paper items, including an ink print dated 1945 and featuring a handwritten dedication to Döppner, as well as a recent newspaper cutout concerning the 1936 opening of a stretch of the Autobahn, in overall extremely fine condition.