The Most German Man In The World

The Most Interesting Man in the World was an advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring actor Jonathan Goldsmith as a bearded, debonair older gentleman with voice overs that were both humorous and outrageous. The advertisements began appearing in the United States in 2006 and became a popular internet meme. 

Dos Equis retired the character in early 2016 with a tongue-in-cheek retirement ad launching him on a one-way trip to Mars. 

They briefly introduced a new male figure, Augustin Le Grand, but by 2018 fully shifted tone to the Keep It Interesante campaign—emphasizing storytelling from everyday people instead.

In March 2025, Dos Equis released a new hybrid AI ad that combines generative visuals with human creativity. Industry insiders praised its slickness — though some pointed out minor quirks like slightly unnatural hand movement.  Naturally, there's a beer tagline at the close.

You'll find a collection on YouTube - here's a sample...... 

Schneehund

 

 

The dog loves herself some snow.

From last weekend we got enough overnight to head-out for a post breakfast romp.  Not quite enough for snow shoes but 4-5 inches of white stuff nonetheless.  1.2 miles for me.  Somewhere north of 2 miles for the doggo.  And 3 miles for our guests.

Ruby is absolutely nuts for snow and was tearing-it up at every opportunity.

Then she can sleep it off later..... 

Friday Music

This is one of my personal Top Ten Tunes.  And this video is the first published on the blog to launch some of the oddball music that finds its way here every Friday. 

Originally released on The Moody Blues 1967 album Days of Future Passed - a concept album chronicling a typical day – this song was subsequently released as a single in 1968. 

According to an interview with Justin Hayward, he composed this tune while sitting in the middle of a field near his home in England on a beautiful spring afternoon. He claims that he had his acoustic guitar in hand and the song just came to him. The song features Hayward on lead vocals and acoustic guitar. The backing melody comes from the mellotron, which was played by Mike Pinder. There is also a short flute solo at the end played by Ray Thomas. 

Fun Fact:  The jeans worn by Ray Thomas in this video are identical to jeans I wore in 1969.  Tie-dyed with black spattered ink accents.  High style.  Traveling in Germany that summer  my trousers would periodically draw the gaze of the locals and hushed comments like:  Das Hosen! Good taste, Ray.  But I might have beat you to it.

Tuesday Afternoon.....  

Friday Street Food

One of the most famous German Sausages or Bratwurst is the Thuringian Rostbratwurst, which is brought to you in this German Street Food in Berlin Episode.  According to the Purity Law, this Bratwurst may only be processed with high-quality meat.  This meat comes with spices that vary greatly depending on the region within Thuringia.  In addition to the classic Thuringian Bratwurst, there are also Currywurst, the delicious Merguez sausages made from Beef and small Thuringian Sausages in a fresh bun. 

Up to 15 different types of Mustard are offered, which are made by the Weber Senf Manufaktur from Austria using traditional craftsmanship and the best ingredients.  Both the Sauerkraut, the Potato Salad, the Thyme Grilled Potatoes and the Ketchup as well as the Curry Sauce are made in-house.

The Tannenwalder Sausage Roastery Team, serve everything in Berlin from their mobile snack bar. 

Every Thursday, 12pm to 7pm, Organic Market at Kollwitzplatz, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin 

Every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Weekly Market at Kollwitzplatz, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

If memory serves, it's possible we visited the farmers market there in Berlin last March.  May by not.  I'd have to find the photos from that day to see if there is any evidence of this set-up.... 

Friday Morning Currywurst

On our trip to eastern Europe earlier this year I had an opportunity to dine-upon a currywurst.

Heretofore, I had assumed that this was a German sausage infused with curry before stuffing into a casing.

Wrong.

Turns-out it is nothing more than a pedestrian sausage (bratwurst) covered in curry-flavored ketchup.  It wasn't bad as much as it was uninspiring.  Reminiscent of a brat served-up at the Milwaukee ball park with Secret Stadium Sauce. In Germany it is a popular street food.

In any event I did return home with a bottle of the seasoning that I can mix with ketchup to make my own German version of secret sauce.

Maybe guests while have a higher opinion of it..... 

Friday Music

I think this might just be my new addiction.

I stumbled across this on YouTube and it is a perfect bookend to my trip to the former East Germany earlier this year.

The band arranger is Florian Rein (drums) and front woman and vocalist is Connie Kreitmeier. Additional band members include Max Grasmuller (clarinet), Martin Schnitzer (trombone), Dominik Globl (trumpet), Benedict Waldman (tuba) and Markus Orterer (accordion).  

 As a cover band, The Heimatdamisch (translation: The Native), covers works by AC/DC, Guns n' Roses, Lady Gaga and more.

Special guest is Alex Wesselsky.

Turn-up the volume for White Wedding...

Behind the Curtain

On October 27, 1961 combat-ready American and Soviet tanks faced off in Berlin at the U.S. Army's Checkpoint Charlie. 

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union over access to the outpost city of Berlin and its Soviet-controlled eastern sector had increased to the point of direct military confrontation.

Cooler minds prevailed, the Soviet system eventually collapsed and today Germany has been made whole.

Communism doesn't work... 

 

A Walk Down Memory Lane

One of my cloud photo storage reservoirs is hosted by America's premier search engine.  And from time-to-time Google sends an unsolicited zinger my way.  This photo was suggested to me Monday evening.

 

That was also the anniversary of V-E Day; Victory in Europe Day. On this day Germany unconditionally surrendered to allied forces in Europe.  Coincidence?  Between you and me I think it is their version of AI (artificial intelligence) at work.

 

Anyway, this photo was taken in Reims France in 1945 after the cessation of hostilities.

 

That is my pop (Howard) on the right with his Cathedral High School pal Donald Darnieder. 

 

Dad landed at Utah Beach as an combat infantryman. Wounded in the liberation of Belgium in September he was evacuated to England. Following recovery from his wounds he returned to the continent and served in the Army of Occupation in Germany after the war.

 

Don was ordained a priest the year I was born.

 

Thanks, Google, for the walk down memory lane.

 

Behind the Curtain

 

On our recent travels thru Eastern Europe I ticked-off a bucket list item.  A visit to a Nazi concentration camp.  Sachsenhausen to be exact. 

This was an emotionally exhausting visit; I needn't do this again.  Although I would recommend everyone make a similar pilgrimage in their lifetime.

Construction of the camp began in 1936 with its proximity to Berlin making it not only the administrative and training center for the Schutzstaffel (the SS) but a showcase camp for visiting members of the axis powers.  It was at this camp that the most efficient methods of execution were perfected before export to other Nazi death camps.  Himmler called Sachsenhausen a completely new concentration camp for the modern age.

Small scale trials were conducted here that would become larger in scale including the design of gas chambers and crematoria.  It was here that the first use of gas vans was launched.

crematoria ovens

The camp also contributed slave labor to the German war effort including a brick factory and aircraft manufacturer Heinkel for production of the He 177 bomber.  It was at this camp that Operation Bernhard was conducted.  Prison artisans designed and produced forged American and British currency in the largest currency counterfeiting endeavor to date.  Designed to undermine the economies of both countries these notes remained undiscovered as they were introduced into circulation in 1943 and are highly prized by collectors today.  

morgue in the medical experimentation facility

It is estimated that more than 50,00 inmates died at Sachsenhausen from causes that included malnutrition, disease, torture and abuse, medical experimentation and execution. Famously, high value prisoners such as captured allied special operations and commando units, resistance fighters, dissidents from both domestic and occupied territories.  Famous political prisoners included Stalin's oldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili, assassin Herschel Grynszpan, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, Spanish Prime Minister Francisco Largo Caballero, the Bavarian Crown Prince's family and Ukrainian Nationalist Stepan Bandera.

At least 30,000 Russian POWs were executed at this camp. 

execution trench

With the advance of the Red Army in the spring of 1945 Himmler ordered the execution of all of the camp inmates and the camp began to evacuate prisoners by means of a forced march to other camp locations.  Most perished of exhaustion or execution at the hands of the SS.  The remaining 3400 inmates were liberated by Soviet and US Army forces on April 22, 1945. 

In 1947 fourteen of the camp's officials, including former commandant Anton Kaindl and camp doctor Heinz Baumkötter and a couple of Kapos were brought before a Soviet Military Tribunal in Berlin.  All sixteen were found guilty and sentenced to life at hard labor.  They served their time in the harsh conditions of a Siberian camp with six perishing (including Kaindl) within a few months.  In 1956, those who were still alive were repatriated to Germany.

In March 2009 Josias Kumpf, 83 was deported from Wisconsin to Austria after he was identified as an SS guard at Sachsenhausen.  In May of 2022 a trial commenced in Germany against another SS guard, Josef Schütz.  He died in April of this year at the age of 102.

As a consequence of being located in the Soviet occupation zone after the war the Russians used the camp to house upwards of 60,000 German officers, Nazi functionaries and their own political prisoners and dissidents.  With the founding of the German Democratic Republic in 1950 remaining inmates were transported to Russia or other Nazi concentration camps in East Germany.  It is estimated at least 12,000 inmates perished from malnutrition and abuse during this post-war period.

With the fall of communist East Germany it was possible to conduct excavations of Sachsenhausen.  In 1990 the bodies of 12,500 victims of the Soviet period were found in several mass graves.  Most were children, adolescents and elderly.

Today the SS barracks and headquarters buildings remain in use as a training facility for the German national police force and living reminder of the brutality that took place here.

Never again

Behind The Curtain

The Transparent Factory (Gläserne Manufaktur) or factory made of glass is both a vehicle assembly plant and exhibition space located in Dresden, Germany.  The factory walls are constructed almost completely of glass.  The floors are made of Canadian maple (think: basketball court).  There are no smokestacks, loud noises or toxic byproducts. 

Opened in 2002 production on its 1.5 kilometer assembly line was limited to the Volkswagen Phaeton thru 2016.  Production is now exclusively the electric version of the Golf. There are about 380 employees including about 200 dedicated to assembly.

This facility only does final assembly with stamping, welding and painting occurring at the Zwickau facility. Painted bodies arrive here by truck along with an additional 1200 parts and 34 preassembled components. 

Our minder cautions us not to take photos of the assembly process - as a consequence I'm including some imagery supplied by VW.

Production takes place on two floors of the multistory building using an electric overhead railway to move vehicles between stations on the assembly line. Vehicles are custom-built using a combination of hand work and specialized tools.

Photo - Volkswagen

The floor creeps along at a speed of about one meter per minute with workers standing on the moving floor to remain stationary in relation to the car.   Bins and parts baskets with custom-delivered components for individual cars are delivered by robotic carts  while power tools are housed in pillars for access by the assembly workers.

Photo - Volkswagen

There is a two year wait for a (German) domestically-ordered vehicle from Volkswagen.  None available in the states - although production is ramping-up globally.

The humor highlight of the tour was Braumeister's question about all wheel drive options on a vehicle.  Our minder's lost in translation answer was:  All power come from the butt.

Concept vehicles are shown here including a really cool, all-electric dune buggy.

I want this... 

 

You can learn more by visiting this link.

Behind the Curtain

From our recent travels through Eastern Europe we happened to visit the towns of Torgau and Wittenberg.  Both figured significantly in spread of the reformation and one of my favorite  subjects - beer.

Resting place of Katharina Luther in Torgau

Five centuries ago a German monk named Martin Luther published 95 criticisms challenging the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church – notably the sale of indulgences.   

The reform movement began in Germany in 1517 but soon spread throughout much of northern Europe.  Although he intended to reform Catholicism and not break it apart the result led to the creation of Protestant churches separate from the Roman Catholic Church.  The Church of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church later in the 16th Century. 

 

It was Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon who were the driving force behind the long-overdue reformation of the Catholic Church's practices of the era.  Constructed in 1340 upon the palace grounds of the Duke it was All Saint's Church that became the official church of the University of Wittenberg and provided a pulpit for Luther and Melanchthon to preach. 

 

The original door to which Luther nailed his 95 Theses was destroyed by fire in 1750; with a magnificent bronze replacement installed in 1858.  Luther and Melanchthon are both entombed within this church.

 

 

The town church of St. Mary is renowned as the first ti have celebrated mass in German rather than the traditional Latin.  It was here that bread and wine were first offered to worshipers for the first time, earning it a place as the Mother Church of the Reformation.

 

 

 

The Luther children were baptized in this font - remaining in continuous today

 

It was here that Luther preached his sermons and later married former nun Katharina von Bora. 

 

Lucas Cranach, The Elder, was not only a court painter he was also a printer, held a license to sell wine, was elected mayor three times, owned many properties and was the wealthiest man in Wittenberg.   All likenesses of Luther painted from life were completed by Cranach The Elder.  Who knew?

Martin and Katharina

 

Luther’s act of conscientious defiance changed the world religiously, economically, politically, socially, and intellectually.  The written German language too.  It even changed beer as we know it today.  Yup – beer. 

 

Luther family living room

During a time where water was unsafe, beer was drunk by everyone and was the nutritional and social fuel of Germany.   Coincidentally, the Catholic Church had a stranglehold on beer production, since it held the monopoly on gruit — the mixture of herbs and botanicals used to flavor and preserve beer.  Hops – on the other hand – were considered noxious weeds and were not taxed by the church.  As a consequence a Protestant brewer who might care to defy the Catholic Church used hops to preserve and flavor his brew instead of the herbs.   

Martin's beer stein

 

 

As it turns out hop-flavored beer travels well and the export of this hopped beer may have contributed to the spread of Protestantism.  To this day, many breweries sport a picture of Martin Luther on their wall.   

 

On this day we absorbed a boatload of church history, and literally walked in the footsteps of Luther and his family.  As far as history goes this was bucket list-worthy. 

A worthy read is this:  Beer and the Reformation.

 

 

 

Behind the Curtain

In case you are scratching your noggin over the title of this post we recently returned from a trip of almost two weeks through Eastern Europe.  

Formerly a satellite nation in the orbit of the Soviets; in 1993 Czechoslovakia separated peacefully into two new countries - the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  A great number of Slovaks were of the opinion that the country was too Prague-centric and a great number of Czechs felt they were subsidizing Slovakia.  Neither country garnered a popular majority supporting independence.  Nevertheless, the divorce was orchestrated by the Czech and Slovak prime ministers - Vaclav Klaus and Vladimir Meciar following the 1992 elections.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR), aka East Germany, was reunified with West Germany on October 3, 1990.  The GDR was neither a democracy nor a republic.  Another former satellite nation in the orbit of the Soviets, free elections were nonexistent.  Citizens were generally forbidden to travel and lived under the iron rule of a puppet state answerable to Soviet Russia.

The people I met in both the Czech Republic and formerly East Germany have now been freed of Soviet domination for three decades.  They do not speak fondly of the Communist Years nor do they harbor any fondness for their former Russian overlords.

The boundary that divided Europe into two spheres of influence for more than three generations following the end of the Second World War and the end of the Cold War in 1991 was metaphorically known as the Iron Curtain.  

The Iron Curtain was a symbol of the effort made by the Soviet Union to keep its satellite states from the influence of the decadent west.  Unintentionally, this became our trip behind what was previously on the other side of the iron curtain.

The front end of the trip began with several days in Prague and ended with several days in Berlin.  Before, after and in-between were plenty of sights to be seen, food to eaten and terrific adult beverages to be quaffed.  

Speaking of which, if you've ever consumed an imported Pilsner Urquell from a green glass bottle in the states you might comment that it is a good beer.  Highly-hopped, almost to the point of skunkiness, nevertheless a good beer.

Pilsner Urquell served from the tap is milder, full-bodied yet mellow and delicious.  Of course, I would say the same thing about Guinness stout in Ireland.  A Guinness consumed in the shadow of the brewery is better.  But I am biased.  And I digress.

Czech cooking famously features pork, duck and chicken, cabbage and various dumplings swimming in delicious gravy.

One Czech Koruna is worth about .046 USD.  500 Koruna is worth about $23 and a mug of delicious Czech pils will set you back about 5 CZK.  The Czech Republic is both a member of the EU and NATO but does maintain its own currency.

If you fetch a couple thousand CZK from the ATM at a bank you'll feel like a high roller.  Live it-up as the exchange rate is in your favor.

And don't sweat deciphering the bill after dinner.  Learn a little Czech to match a little English.  The rest is gestures. 

Pro Tip: Euros and American dollars are readily accepted.

Kulturkampf - Part I

Noun. Kul·​tur·​kampf ku̇l-ˈtu̇r-ˌkäm(p)f. :conflict between civil government and religious authorities especially over control of education and church appointments. broadly : a conflict between cultures or value systems.

Historically, this was a conflict that occurred in the late 1800s between Otto Von Bismarck (the Prussian government) and Pope Pius IX (the Vatican).  The principle points of contention were clerical v. secular control of education and ecclesiastical appointments.  Begging the obvious there were differences of opinion depending-upon the relevant point of view. 

An 1875 cartoon lampooned this standoff illustrating Bismarck lassoing St. Peter's Basilica while declaring to Satan his intent to topple the papacy.  To which Satan says:  I have been trying to do it all my life.  If you manage it, I shall give you full marks.

Satire is hardly new under the sun but it is important to note that Bismarck, a staunch Protestant, distrusted Roman Catholic loyalty to the state.  He was deeply troubled by the notion of Papal Infallibility and its implication of supremacy to the Pope that outweighed loyalty to the state.  Finally, there was the Catholic Centre Party and its resistance to his policies in parliament.  

Of course there was no shortage of resentment on the part of Catholics as a consequence of decades of persecution that had begun under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm I.  As the Prussian Empire expanded this continued under what they perceived as the iron fist of Bismarck.  To make a long story short, as Prussia amassed larger sway over other German states, Catholic populations found themselves chafing under a Protestant administration.

For Bismarck the challenge was solidifying German national and cultural identity complicated by sizeable Catholic populations in an expanded Germany.  From Bismarck's point of view Catholic influence had to be blunted.  Bismarck found political allies in two seemingly disparate parties:  The Conservatives, who were determined to maintain the Protestant character of the government.  And the Liberals, who supported constitutional government and embrace of German Enlightenment (the rejection of perceived superstition, absolutism and dogmatism of Catholicism). 

Beginning in 1871, with the support of his political allies, Bismarck began implementing the following:

• Abolished the Roman Catholic bureau within the Prussian Ministry of Culture.  

• Threatened priests with imprisonment for voicing political opinions from the pulpit.  

• Jesuits were expelled from the German Empire (only to return in 1917).  

• All religious schools had to accept official government inspection.  

• Religious teachers were expelled from all government schools.  

• The German government broke-off diplomatic relations with the Vatican. 

• Strict state controls were placed on religious instruction and appointments within the Church.  

• Civil marriage became mandatory. 
  

• State funding for non-compliant Dioceses was revoked and their clergy expelled.

To their credit Roman Catholics responded politically and in the 1874 elections the Centre Party doubled their representation in parliament.  Sensing the handwriting on the wall Bismarck sensed that circumstances for the German Empire may have changed.  Closer relations with the Catholic Austrian Empire could serve as a counterweight to Russian ambitions.  Embracing the Catholic Centre Party to resist the rise of the Social Democrats was pragmatic.  Fortuitously, with the passing of Pope Pius IX in 1878 it was the ascension of a new Pope Leo XIII which led to a gradual declaration of an end to hostilities followed by the repeal or dilution of anti-Catholic legislation.  

Post Script:

Kulturkampf was considered dead, although the (rarely enforced) prohibition on political speech from the pulpit remained in effect until 1953.  Public education and public records remained under the control of the state. Civil marriage persists as the law of the land.  A generation of Catholics was alienated from German life.  And Bismarck's career ended pathetically when he resigned in 1890 at the insistence of his onetime pupil Wilhelm II.

History Lesson:

Catholic faithful were oppressed and humiliated in their own country for the sake of nationalism and cultural purity.  For generations the Catholic Centre Party remained a powerful force for good in German governance holding the chancellorship eight times; voluntarily dissolving itself in 1933 before Hitler could disband it.  This is a cautionary tale about citizens who risk labeling as enemies of progress in the face of vast cultural and ideological struggles.

Stay-tuned.....

Fränkisches Volksfest

 

From my hometown.... 

50 years Franconian folk festival

110 years agricultural district festival

Freitag Musik

Bert Kaempfert (Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert) was a songwriter, producer and German orchestra leader that popularized jazz and easy listening music.  He also wrote any number of songs popularized by Al Martino, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Wayne Newton.  He's remembered for writing Strangers in the Night, Moon Over Naples and Swinging Safari (first and original theme song for the MATCH GamE).

 Kaempfert played a role in the success of The Beatles after he signed them to record several tracks during his sessions with Tony Sheridan.  Who knew?

Because my folks spent considerable time living in Germany before returning the the states in 1959 Bert's albums were always on deck for hi-fi music in our household growing-up in the 1960s.  

Enjoy this medley of possibly familiar tunes...

The Siege of Crailsheim

Some of you readers might know I was born in Stuttgart and raised on a US Army installation in Crailsheim, Germany  - McKee Barracks to be exact.  If you didn't already know that - you do now.   The town of Crailsheim has been around a long time and noteworthy of old, walled, German towns it also has a colorful history.     

During the internecine warfare of the years 1379 - 1380 Crailsheim was under siege at the hands of more powerful neighbors from the cities of Schwäbisch Hall, Rothenberg and Dinkelsbühl.       

The armies that had laid siege to Crailsheim were attempting to cause the surrounded town to submit by means of starving the citizenry.  After some time had passed they figured they were close to forcing the townsfolk to capitulate when the encircled residents of Crailsheim resorted to an ingenious plan.       

The women collected all the remaining flour to bake rounded buttocks-shaped pastries.  These were hurled from the town walls in the direction of siege forces.  At the same time, the mayor’s wife courageously mounted the town’s ramparts and revealed and displayed her magnificent buttocks to the attackers. 

She mooned the invading forces!  

Faced with this brazen display of abundance the besiegers realized the hopelessness of their cause and disconsolately departed.   

As the story goes, the mayor's wife's buttocks resembled a hairy ape - Haariger Affe - or ‘Horaff’ in the vernacular of the locals.  As a consequence (and in recognition of the heroine's bottom) yummy Horaff pastry buns in the form of a lady's buttocks are baked on the anniversary of Crailsheim’s victory.  Everyone - including the children - delight in them.  

It is a legendary symbol of the resistance.      

It's a fun story.

And quite true… 

 

Cobra King

77 years-ago, the day following Christmas, 1944,  a Jumbo Sherman tank named Cobra King made history.  Its name - symbolic of the tank corps tradition of naming vehicles with the first letter of their companies’ designations - and its five-man crew from the 37th’s Company C led a column of infantry and armor that relieved the besieged and surrounded soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium.   

The Cobra King crew -- 1st Lt. Charles Boggess, Cpl. Milton Dickerman and Pvts. James G. Murphy, Hubert S. Smith and Harold Hafner -- pose for a celebratory photo in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium shortly after the tankers led the armor and infantry column that liberated the city in December 1944. 

A word about this vehicle.  

Cobra King is an M4A3E2 Assault Tank nicknamed the Jumbo Sherman for a welded hull and one piece cast nose.  An extra one inch of armor in the front made it more resistant to German 88 millimeter shells.  Production began with Ford in June 1942 with Grand Blanc assuming production in February of 1944.  It sported a vertical sided turret and even with a Ford GAA V-8 engine, because of the weight of the additional armor, top speed of 22 mph was 3-4 mph slower than its predecessors. 

Following the war Cobra King remained in Germany.  Combat damage relegated it to a US Army transportation yard in Hammelburg; its place in military history temporarily lost.  Fortunately, its subsequent reuse as a military base monument saved it from the scrapyard.

Historical footnote:  The 37th Tank Battalion was subsequently re-activated in 1951 and assigned to the 4th Armored Division in 1953 at Fort Hood, Texas. Cobra King's unit would later return to Europe.  

There is a personal tangent to this story.  Some of you know that I was born overseas when my family lived on a US Army base in southern Germany.  In the 1950s McKee Barracks (among other things) was a hardstand for armor during the Cold War.  Coincidentally, the gate monument where we lived was a WWII era Jumbo Sherman.

McKee - 1958

Nobody knew it at the time but the Sherman guarding the headquarters building at McKee in Crailsheim, Germany was of historic significance. 

Later, when the 1st Armored relocated to Vilseck they took their tank with them.  

The division later relocated to Bad Kreuznach, but this time the Sherman stayed behind.  McKee was permanently closed in 1994 and the property returned to the people of Crailsheim.  The base school where dad was the first Principal continues in use as a school by the community.

 

The Sherman maintained its vigil in relative obscurity until Sgt. Brian Stigall of the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, recognized it after attending a Battle of the Bulge commemoration in 2004.

Research by Army historians in Germany and the U.S. confirmed its identity.  It was indeed Cobra King.  There was also also considerable evidence of battle damage.  An explosion had resulted in a fire, destroying the tank’s interior, and causing the famous “First in Bastogne” tank to become permanently disabled.  

 

After identification Cobra King was returned to the United States in 2009 for restoration at Fort Knox.  The extent of the interior combat damage made any sort of interior restoration impossible yet further research led to what may have been the cause.  

As a consequence of physical and photographic evidence, primary sources and the historical record the restoration crew came to believe that Cobra King may have participated in the disastrous Hammelburg Raid of late March 1945.  

This raid was a secret mission to penetrate behind German lines, liberate the Oflag XIII-B POW camp near Hammelburg, and return safely with US officers held there.  One of the POWs at the camp was the son-in-law of General George Patton who ordered the raid.  This was not without any small amount of controversy.
 
Conducted by Task Force Baum, under the capable and seasoned leadership of Captain Abraham Baum, the Hammelburg Raid failed when it was cutoff by German forces almost 50 miles behind enemy lines. In the end, 32 Americans were killed and some 247 others were wounded, captured or missing with only 35 soldiers eventually finding their way to allied lines.  It was the restoration team's belief that a casualty of the Hammelburg Raid was Cobra King.  

Who knew?

With its historical pedigree intact and an exterior restoration completed Cobra King is now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, located at Fort Belvoir, VA. 

It would be nice to visit Cobra King some day.  Something of a reunion.  What an amazing journey and a small personal connection with big history.

Learn more about the story here. 

Photos - US ARMY