.....
After 75 years and 8 months Springer gun nr. 10142 has been
restituted to the grandson of the original owner in US
yesterday dec 9, 2016.
Having been the spritus rector in this case and seeing the
result, I raise my hat and bow my head on the honesty
and ethics of this American hunter I had the honour to
get to know by transcedental e-mails only.
The story has 3 beginnings and one closed end and as it turned
out now MORE than one open end.
It all began with a rather casual enquiry in a social
media asking for info on a gun at hand with the
name of "Springer" and a serial number.
The second beginning is the answer given by the house
of Johann Springer's Erben in Wien, quoting as year of
production 1914, "Hahnlose Flinte Cal 12 H & H Antinit"
and the name of customer "Graf J. Bombelles".
Hahnlos means hammerless, H & H means Holland lock and
Antinit is a rust-inert steel from the Austrian
steelworks Böhler.
This is followed by 2 more guns with the same specs, ergo
the nr. 1 of a trio.
The third beginning of this story is a book I bought at
one of my businesstrips in a bookshop in Zagreb during 199x
with the title "Dvorci i perivoji Hrvatskoga Zagorja"
(Isbn 86-03-00509-5). This translates to "Castles and
parks in the Croatian Zagorja", which is a region north-
west of the capital of Zagreb.
Two castles/estates belonged to the Bombelles family.
Opeka with its famous arboretun - castle today in desolate
condition - and Zelendvor (famous for its hunting/
mainbuilding burned down in WW II) and today still commercial
hunting offerings for small game.
This Bombelles family had the first car in Croatia and
hosted the nobility of Europe at their estates.
The wealth/estates of this family originated from the female/
ancestral side (Draskovic/Nadasdy).
I had a slight interest in this Springer, having the nr. 2 of
a trio built in 1913 and thus the chance for a "composed
pair" of Springer hare-guns, chance for another set of
"Objet-de-vitrine/coffre-fort ".
The gents, who ordered pairs or trios of Springers for the
harebattles on their estates, did not go/walk, they
let go. This has been the preaching of the grandfather
of the present Springer owner in his monthly Springer-
circles during the 1950's.
Springers offer to put the gun into one of their
auctions was denied and my feeling was that it was already
consigned to or controlled by a nearby dealer.
For many months no communication and I considered
it as a closed matter.
Some history background:
The German army invaded the Balkans in april 1941.
The essential puzzle appeared when I tried a Google-enqiry
with Croatian verbs, unveiling the drama of this
"Grof (=count) Josip (=Joseph) Bombelles".
He has been a high-profile diplomat/politician, bonvivant,
hunter, but apparently on the wrong political side which
could be fatal in these countries.
He was deported to and killed in march 1942 in the concentration camp of Jasenovac on the Balkans.
The wife and son of this count survived WW II , their estates were nationalized by postwar communist Yugoslavia,
and finally emigrated to US.
The American owner had told me that his father seized the gun
in 194x from a Nazi-mayor, a type of human species living
and prospering at this time in Germany.
So somehow in this tumoultous war times the gun moved at
first north/west-wards and finally westwards across the
pond.
Then my article on "Johann Springer's Erben
last gun" appeared in a Doublegunshop forum and all-of-a-sudden
I got a PM from the owner I have been in contact months ago.
I told the American owner the whole story/background I have
found out incl. name/address/tel-no of the grandson in US.
This has been possible with multiple Google enquiry/hits
in multiple country weppages.
He finally did, what I appreciate as an act of absolute
nobleness, call the grandson and tell him he has his
grandpa's gun and wants to return it to the family.
This has happened now and it's the one closed end of the
story.
Yet another end of this story is still open, this is the
whereabout of the pairing guns 10143 and 10144.
Any further research I consider to be a matter for the
descendants of this "Grof Josip Bombelles".
Here is a possible portfolio of options to look for
their nr.2/3 :
- Somewhere in Germany
- Somewhere in US, as nr. 1 did
- Buried in/around these 2 estates
- The kids of a former forester of these estates enjoy
to hunt with them
- They ended-up at/with all-mighty late Yugo-president
Josip Broz Tito's entourage
- ..anything else is imaginable/possible
Weidmannsheil
DI. Felix Neuberger
Photos / all with exception Springer archive are
courtesy Skolska knjiga Zagreb
The book which contributed to the story
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51123Bombelles coat of arms
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51124Coat of arms with renovation remark
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51125Opeka - aerial view
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51126Opeka - direct view
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51127Zelendvor
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51129Count Marko Bombelles hosting Austrian
crown price Franz Ferdinand in Zelendvor
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51130Springer's archive page (photo courtesy Springer's)
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51131