Luftwaffe Ehrenpokal

The Luftwaffe Ehrenpokal was instituted on 27th February 1940 by Hermann Göring and was awarded to aircrew personnel   only for special achievement in the airwar. This non-portable award was placed between the Iron Cross 1st class and the German Cross / Knights Cross. The sole manufacturer was Joh. Wagner & Sohn from Berlin.

There are two versions of the Ehrenpokal, the early one in .835 solid silver and the later one in silver-plated Alpaka (an alloy of Zinc, Copper and Nickel). The Ehrenpokal is constructed of 3 parts, the cup, stem and  base on which various motifs are die struck( Iron Cross, fighting eagles, acorns, oakleaves, inscription 'Für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg). The recipients details are engraved on the stem. The cup itself has a nice hammered effect.

The Ehrenpokal was presented in a blue box and was accompanied with an award document. The early documents had an original Göring signature but sometimes the award document was signed by Generalfeldmarschall Milch. Later in the war the award document had a fascimile of Görings signature in the middle and also a signature of the head of the Luftwaffe personnel department at the lower right.

An entry for the Ehrenpokal award  was made in the soldier's Wehrpass and Soldbuch.

There are differences in size and weight between the silver and the Alpaka Ehrenpokal. I will add a comparison chart as a reference.

Fakes: As with every Third Reich award or medal fakes have been made of the Luftwaffe Ehrenpokal. A few tips can save you a lot of money. First of all look inside the cup, you should see the die struck image of the Iron Cross and the fighting eagles. Fakes always have the Iron Cross and eagles soldered or glued on the cup. Look at the detail of the oakleaves and  acorns on the stem,  fake ones are crudely done and lack the detail of an original one. A new trend is to upgrade an original Ehrenpokal with an important recipient name just to increase the value.