Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel's marshal baton
On May 18, 2006, the celebration of the next International Museum Day was held in the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow, Russia. In the huge museum there were a lot of interesting exhibits, but one of them attracted the attention of visitors. It was a valuable relic from the museum's funds - Marshal's Baton of German General Erwin Rommel. This trophy was delivered to the Central Armed Force Museum in 1946. This is information from dubious Russian sources.
Is this a baton of Marshal Rommel? There are pictures from other museums of different countries dedicated to the battle in the desert and Erwin Rommel, on which, among many exhibits, Erwin Rommel's baton is represented…
Post-war interviews compiled by US Army intelligence officer Charles Marshall and British historian Desmond Young revealed that Burgdorf took the cap and baton from the dead Erwin Rommel as a trophy. It was Wilhelm Burgdorf who brought poison to Rommel and was responsible for the elimination of Rommel. Research has shown that he kept them on his desk at Hitler's headquarters, and boasted while showing Rommel's baton to his visitors. Upon learning of this, Rommel's World War I friend Aldinger managed to retrieve and return the baton and cap to Rommel's family in November 1944.
If this is true, then we can definitely assume that Erwin Rommel's original marshal's baton went public in December 2008 at the Haus der Geschichte in Stuttgart in the photo exhibition "The Rommel Myth". At that time, the mayor of Stuttgart was Manfred Rommel, the son of a field marshal. Of course, the exhibition was organized with his permission and under his control, so he could hand over the original marshal's baton as an exhibit.
The photo exhibition was closed in September 2009, but Rommel's baton and his medals remained in the museum. As of 2023, Rommel's stand with his marshal's baton is still in the Haus der Geschichte in Stuttgart.
