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Joined: Jan 2010
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felix Offline OP
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Grof Josip Bombelles Springer-gun restitution 1.1 2.0 3.0 4.0 etc etc ..
Text and photos by Felix Neuberger
...
After the wild-west show of the US-election I felt obliged
to write this post. I felt obliged - not because I am the
spiritus-rector/successful-researcher behind the story -
no, I felt obliged to write it to pay tribute to the
honesty and ethics of an American hunter owning a Springer gun.
Its one more story of invasion,looting,killing,guerilla-war,
nationalisation,another invasion,another looting/confiscation..
finally emigration....
Can you imagine you get a tel-call, out-of-the-blue, from
an unknown chap with a rather coarse old-man-voice telling:
"Hello, I have before me a Springer shotgun built for your
grand-pa before WW I and stolen from your family estate on the Balkans 75 years ago, can I return it to you ?"
This is the minimum denominator of the story at the time
being....
...THE GUN HAS BEEN RETURNED YESTERDAY...dec 9, 2016
Postscriptum nr.1 : You may ask what has been my sleuthing fee in this story. Its a magnum bottle of Californias Beringer
premium Cabernet Sauvignon.
As exeption to above, you may contact me directly via the
message facility if you happen to have or know the
whereabouts of a Springer with the numbering 2 or 3,
the missing pairing guns in the original trio.
I simply want to earn another bottle of Beringer Cabernet.
Postscriptum nr.2: When writing a post in such a vague environment (just e-mail and name) one has to make some
assumption. My father had to serve as Austrian in the German
army , the American owner's father did it on the other
side. So I assumed the owner has about the same age as me.
Having a rather coarse old-man-voice I thought this will
apply also for the owner. I am told now that this gentleman
is much younger than me and can still intonate the
bariton torero aria of the opera Carmen.
So I want to duly make a correction to this sentence
above and rephrase it to "firm voice of a navy-seals officer"
instead of "coarse old-man-voice".


Last edited by felix; 12/10/16 08:10 AM.
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Sidelock
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What vintage Beringer Cabernet? 2012? If you can source any images, I'll gladly post them for you.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Joined: Jan 2010
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felix Offline OP
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Status as of nov 29:
I got an e-mail from the owner telling me that the
grandson of the original owner is going to
pick-up/collect the gun sometime in december.
Once this is done I will provide then a complete
account of the story.
Felix Neuberger

Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 544
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Simply amazing.


NRA Benefactor 2008
NRA Patron 2007
NRA Endowment 1996
NRA Life 1988
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felix Offline OP
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I got an e-mail from the grandson telling that the restitution
is scheduled for dec. 9. An e-mail with Slavic emotions...
It reads :" ... the phone call was truly amazing.I was sure it would be a sales call of some type and almost
did not pick up and then almost fell to the floor when J. proceeded to tell me the story and reason for his phone call. I get goose bumps just thinking about it .....".
Concluding/final post to follow once its over.
Cheers
Felix

Joined: Aug 2007
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We wait w/ bated breath.....


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Joined: Jan 2010
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felix Offline OP
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.....
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/51123
Bombelles coat of arms
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51124
Coat of arms with renovation remark
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51125
Opeka - aerial view
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51126
Opeka - direct view
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51127
Zelendvor
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51129
Count Marko Bombelles hosting Austrian
crown price Franz Ferdinand in Zelendvor
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51130
Springer's archive page (photo courtesy Springer's)
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51131

Last edited by felix; 12/10/16 07:08 AM.
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What an amazing story. I feel almost involved, being a Balkan subject (well, almost), and knowing Zagreb and other places, and hare hunts, and Springer's ... Priceless.

With kind regards,
Jani

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Posts: 165
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felix Offline OP
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The new owner got the gun yesterday dec 9.
There is already a partial answer to the whereabouts of
pairing guns nr. 2 and nr.3. The COMPLETE TRIO has been
seized from this Nazi mayor/officer and on the
returning ship the trio was split and nr. 2 and nr. 3 given
to comrades-US-soldiers.
I believe it should be rather easy to follow this trail with
all the US-Navy records/documentation.
In my modified heading I took 1.1 for the successful
return, 2.0 and 3.0 for the open ending of guns nr.2 and nr.3.
According Springer's archive the original owner had as well a
pigeon gun (serial nr. 9999) which stands for 4.0.
The etc etc stand for serial nr. 8877 (single shot rifle) built for the father Marko in 1901 and there are elder which
could possibly go to the same family (nr. 6516 ...).
....
Neighbouring Springer nr. 10000 - a Holland system double bore rifle has been built for crown prince Franz Ferdinand, a friend of the Bombelles family.
His pair of Springer hammer guns 9831/9832 have been
1960 in Konopiste castle /Czechia. I am wondering
where all his 28 Springer guns/rifles finally
ended up.
Funny coincidence:
This pair features in a Czech book , the previous page
shows two H.Wangler guns, one of them already included
in my post re this Wangler gun story ,the other a new,
a third Wangler gun.
Will provide an additional photo in the Wangler thread/post.
...
Zelendvor - one of the 2 estates which belonged to this
family - offers commercial hunts for small game.
If you look up the address you find it under
"Grofova Bombelles 2" 42206 Petrijanec/Varazdin.
Is this touchy/bad conscience of post-commie Croatian
administration in using this old name ?
..The new owner told me that once he has reunited
the trio he will return to Zelendvor with his brother
and their sons for a pheasant shoot with this trio.
His late father will for sure kindly look on them from above....

Weidmannsheil

Last edited by felix; 01/03/17 09:20 AM.
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 165
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felix Offline OP
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Here is the story of the restitution in the local US newpaper
http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/bg-man-returns-century
The link shows at first a "not found",
but once you enter under the search-line "bombelles"
the complete press article with the photo comes up.
Felix Neuberger

Last edited by felix; 01/01/17 03:21 PM.
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