Collection Highlights

See other highlights from the collection Hermann Goering's Field Marshal Baton POW uniform of Sgt. Allen Dunlap Civil War Drum PFC Lester Telegrams Personal effects of Cpl. Aaron Yamin Ulysses S. Grant's Spirit Chest

The field marshal's special symbol was the baton.

Hitler presents Field Marshal Baton to Hermann Goering Enlarge image Field Marshal General of the Air Force Hermann Goering Enlarge image

A Field Marshal is, in some nations, the highest military rank, one step above a full General; and of a comparable rank to the highest ranking General(s) in an army that does not use such a term. As the highest rank, answerable only to the nation's ruler, appointments have often been made as much for political as for military purposes, and not infrequently as a way to publicly reward a successful general.

And so it was with great pomp and ceremony that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler presented this baton (see picture below) to Hermann Goering in 1938. Since the rank of Field Marshal is usually reserved for Army Generals, Goering, as the head of Germany's Air Force (Luftwaffe), therefore received the special title of Field Marshal General of the Air Force.

Goering enjoyed wielding power and the baton embodied this. It was carried by the Luftwaffe chief when the Germans received the surrender of France in the old railroad car at Compiegne, France, in 1940. On May 7, 1945, this baton was discovered in Berchtesgaden, Germany. It was later turned over to the U.S. Government in 1948.

The baton itself is inscribed with "The Fuhrer to the first Field Marshal General of the Air Force Hermannn Goering, 4 February 1938." The staff of blue velvet is adorned with Nazi eagles, as well as German Iron Crosses. Both ends of the baton feature the German Air Force symbol (another eagle), encrusted with diamonds.