Germany, Imperial. A Rare First War Pilot's Flight Jacket
Item #G31537
$2,565
From the estate of First & Second War Goblet recipient Erich Otto Friedrich Mix. This coat has a fine smooth-finished dark brown cowhide leather exterior. The collar is in black bear fur and is stitched in place to a strip of black cotton, that in turn, is stitched to the dark brown cowhide leather. The front has a vertical row of five buttons on the right side, each of which is covered in a thin layer of fine brown leather on its upper, with a black finished non-magnetic metal core which is twice marked "ASTOR 36" on the reverse, facing an equal number of black cotton button loops on the left side. Each of the leather covered buttons is backed by a gray plastic button that appears just inside the opening. An additional leather covered replacement button has been sewn in place just inside the opening on the right side near the bottom of the coat. The bottom on the exterior is trimmed in a 100 mm wide band of black bear fur. The body of the interior is also lined in black bear fur, as are both sleeves, with black cotton trim just inside the opening on both sides and a wide band along the bottom, all of which is padded. Each cuff is trimmed in black cotton along the open edge, the black bear fur lining at the opening incorporating a 90 mm band of black cotton extending from the core of the cuff and is elasticized at the opening. The coat measures 520 mm across the shoulders and 700 mm in length overall, exhibiting separation of the black bear fur lining from the body of the coat in two locations and exposing the underside of the cowhide leather, the brown cowhide nicely toning on the exterior, displaying a nice texture to both the leather and the fur, along with quality workmanship, the remainder of the stitching intact. Near extremely fine.
Footnote: Erich Otto Friedrich Mix was born on 27 June 1898 in Labuhnken, West Prussia, and in 1916 (after the "Notabitur", i.e. the school-leaving examination in wartime for pupils about to be conscripted) served as infantryman and later as pilot. He studied law and political science in Berlin (doctor's degree 1921), entered the civil service, and in 1931 became 2nd Mayor of Stolp (Pomerania). A member of the NSDAP from 1932 onwards, Mix was elected Mayor of Szczecin (1933), of Tilsit in 1934 and, finally, Lord Mayor of Wiesbaden in 1937. From 1939 onwards, he was suspended from his political offices and served in the Luftwaffe. He became squadron leader in the JG 53, group leader in the JG 2 and ultimately, after being assigned to various staff functions, commander of the Jagdgeschwader 1 in August 1942. During the denazification, Dr. Erich Mix was initially classified as offender (category II) in February 1947, after appeal proceedings the charge was changed to follower (category IV), whereupon he resumed his political activities. From 1952 until 1954, Dr. Mix represented the Free Democratic Party in the Wiesbaden City Council Assembly and in 1954 again became Lord Mayor of Wiesbaden. This makes him the only Lord Mayor to have held this office both in the Third Reich and in the Federal Republic of Germany (until 1960). He was also a member of the
Hessian Landtag (state parliament) and chairman of the FDP Landtag faction. From 1962 until 1966, he held the position of Vice President of the Landtag. Dr. Erich Mix died on 9 April 1971 in Wiesbaden.