rookhawk
AH ambassador
Here’s an interesting piece that needs a new home.
It’s a German Haenel Stuetzen rifle made in 1928. I’ve spent a fair amount of time at the Milwaukee Museum, keeper of the largest collection of Steutzen rifles in the New World and I can say with confidence, this one is superior in quality to most if not all of their rifles. It is built on the “Aydt” patented falling block action that is famed for its ability to be taken apart without the use of tools. It features a set trigger arrangement that fires crisp with a hair secondary trigger that is adjustable. It is chambered for the cartridge 8.15x46r which can be purchased as loaded ammunition from RWS, or can be formed easily from 30-30 winchester brass. It includes a set of RCBS dies.
The engraving is quite unique, featuring a “green knight” motif on the bottom metal and a scallop shell, whereas the right and left side of the receiver have a chiseled and bullino engraving of a group of Chamois on one side, and of battling Stags with hinds on the other side. The bullino detailing makes the engraving look quite a bit more sophisticated than typical german chiseled engraving of the era. 24kt gold inlays throughout the action and barrel. Excellent bore on the barrel. Mechanically excellent and largely unused with strong case colors even on unprotected locations.
The trigger guard is engraved with the owner’s name, Baron von Cramer-Klett along with a 24kt gold 9-pointed crown signifying his noble title. On the top tang there is engraving from a Von Eichel and a date of 15 August, 1895 which appears to signify a birthday or rememberance gift since that date is 43 years prior to the gun’s manufacture.
The sights are stunning with the front sight fully adjustable, the rear drop in aperture is of the “Seibert Optical Aperture” patent. It has an adjustable light shutter on the sight to control the amount of light through the peep.
Priced to sell at $5800 plus $200 shipping to your FFL via FedEx. C&R eligible. Includes RCBS dies.
The original owner was Baron von Cramer-Klett, the famous industrialist and hunting author that was born at the families castle Hohenaschau. Unsure by the age of gun which Baron Cramer-Klett it was made for (the 45ish year old father or the 22 year old son), I’ll give the combined history of both. The father was on the Vatican’s privy council, a vehement anti-Nazi, and a generous Christian benefactor creating numerous Wasserschlosses (abbeys/monestaries) He went into financial ruin during WW2 and was forced to sell the castle to the Reich for use as a Navy convalescence. The son was one of the most accomplished hunters and authors in the German language:
In 1930, when he was still at school, he published his first hunting story, "The Fourteen-Pointer ," at the age of 24. The style of Anton Freiherr von Perfall, which he greatly admired, had a strong influence on him. Later, as a recognized author, he published a collection of hunting stories by Anton Freiherr von Perfall entitled "Auf der Wurzhütte." His second publication of the story "Silvester-Birsch" in 1931 already had his own distinctive style. In the same year, 1931, he published a short story entitled "Ein Traum." His writing style is also already recognizable there. But one also feels like one is reading a story by Arthur Schubart, who was a frequent hunting guest in Hohenaschau and was greatly admired as a poet by Cramer-Klett.
Also in 1931, he published a longer story, “Die Heuraffler”, illustrated by the hunting painter Michael Mathias Kiefer . This helped him to make his breakthrough as a hunting writer.
In 1932, another story by the young author was published, entitled "Don't shoot!". After that, the Baron's newly blossoming writing went quiet. This may have been due to his negative attitude towards the Third Reich and the associated influence of hunting literature, which led him to voluntarily remain silent, as he noted in a foreword to the Heurafflern in 1965. He quoted his old forester Escherich as saying: "Ludwig, you must promise me: never imagine that a fundamentally bad thing can be improved by your joining in! You can only fight it or stay away." Cramer-Klett stayed away, at least in literary terms. In the post-war years, after he returned home sick from the Eastern Front as a soldier in 1942, he published hunting stories, initially sporadically and later very actively, which he later compiled into his books.
During the Third Reich, Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett was briefly imprisoned in Stadelheim . A short time later, his palace in Munich was burned down. Due to these financial losses and inflation, Ludwig Benedikt was forced to sell Hohenaschau Castle and the eastern part of the valley to the German Reich/Bavarian state in 1942 for financial reasons. The castle became a convalescent home for the Navy. From then on, the family lived in the Villa Elisabeth at the foot of the Schlossberg.
The setting for many of Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett's stories is the Hohenaschau Castle hunting grounds . The Cramer-Klett family owned the castle near Lake Chiemsee from 1875 to 1942. The 1504 m high Heuraffelkopf dominates the extensive grounds. Below the summit is the Elandalm (Ellandalm) with an old stone alpine hut. The alpine hut, which has been converted into a hunting lodge, serves as the hunter's quarters. Later, he preferred the winter quarters at the foot of the Lenderschachen, also located in the Chiemgau mountains. He often stayed in Franconia to hunt capercaillie. The family owns Mitwitz Castle there.
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett is often quoted as a representative of Bavarian hunting culture and hunting ethics. The autobiographical stories describe exciting hunting experiences. They convey hunting techniques and profound knowledge to the interested hunter. They are embedded in atmospheric natural scenarios that thrive on precise observation and linguistic sophistication. The opposite pole to the 'lust for hunting' is a high ethical awareness of nature and the animals that live in it. This is reinforced by the repeatedly discussed identification with one's own hunting ground.
The writer comes from a Bavarian industrial family. In the 19th century, the Cramer-Kletts created a widespread economic empire that extended beyond Bavaria. The narrator's grandfather, Theodor von Cramer-Klett Sr., promoted the iron industry and pushed forward the expansion of the railway - the economic development engine at the time. With great social commitment, he founded workers' funds and welfare institutions. In his second marriage to the pharmacist's daughter Elisabeth Curtze, he had the son he longed for, the father of the hunting writer. In 1875, the entrepreneur euphorically sent a telegram to the Bavarian Minister of Trade: "Buy Hohenaschau. Cramer-Klett." The land ownership associated with this enabled him to rise to the hereditary nobility.
Hohenaschau Castle not only includes the extensive lands in the Chiemgau mountains, but also a brewery and ironworks. The family's main residence, however, is the Palais Schönborn in Munich . The Villa Elisabeth, a converted forester's house at the foot of the Schlossberg, is used for summer holidays. It was Theodor von Cramer-Klett Jr. who had the castle extensively modernized between 1905 and 1908. The new home was moved into in 1908. Inflation, however, caused the family to suffer heavy losses. In 1932 the eastern part of the lands from Bernau to Sachrang had to be sold, and in 1942 the castle became the property of the Reichsmarine. From then on, the family lived in the Villa Elisabeth again.
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett only spent a short time of his life at Hohenaschau Castle. But this phase left its mark on his literary work. In the tower room high above the Prien Valley, he wrote his first story, The Heurafflers, which is about red deer hunting.
***
The story is interwoven with the theme of transience. Right at the beginning, the haymaker's head, which is difficult to access, is personified as a mourner:
for in the unexplored beech slope there is a constant trembling of stones, sometimes gently trickling and clattering, sometimes with a loud bang and heavy crash when a boulder falls from the walls, a stony tear from the face of the haymaker giant, wept over all things, even the transience of the hardest rock.
During a rest break on the descent, the narrator's grandfather dies "in the red-gold light of the setting November sun." The hunter eventually succeeds in killing the most sought-after of the hay-raiser deer, but a bitter feeling remains: "It is deeply in human nature, first and foremost in the nature of man, to desire, to destroy dreams through fulfillment and ultimately to gain knowledge, the bitter fruit."
The story The White Chamois is in the tension between trophy hunting and ethical renunciation. It describes the hunt for a very rare, light-colored chamois, which is a topos in Alpine folk mythology. Again, the hunter foregoes "the white one" and her "ivory-colored crutches" as a trophy. But Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett is a passionate and experienced hunter. He took part in chamois hunting as a high school student. He knows all facets of hunting. In addition to chamois hunting, his volumes of stories describe fox hunting, cock hunting, red deer hunting and hare hunting in a mountain world that is still isolated and not flooded with tourism. Hunting methods such as stalking, stand hunting and drive hunting are described in great detail.
The hunting stories are also historical portraits of life in the highlands. Hunters, foresters, dairymaids - the few people who live in the mountains - appear in the stories with their dialect, their often sparse language and their idiosyncratic behavior. In the area around the Niederalm, poachers and representatives of the authorities meet in archaic rituals: "In the autumn, the scoundrels had nailed an old gun satchel to the door and smeared the posts with sweat [animal blood]. It was necessary for the hunter to face such a challenge. A week later, one of the boys lay dead under the saw, his rifle firmly in his frozen hand." ( A Story of the Cutting Cock )
"This unfortunate, this completely misguided, this horrible war" is the verdict of the narrator in Unerkennter Abschied about the Second World War. The war hardly penetrates the natural, often solitary life of hunters. Hohenaschau is also largely spared from the war. For Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett, being in nature and hunting are therefore existential. He sees them as an archetypal form of existence: "Hunting, if you understand and practice it correctly, is neither pleasure nor relaxation in the common sense, it is a part of life, nothing more and nothing less, enhanced life perhaps and also a school of life." ( Spezial Füchse )
In 1965, Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett received the German Hunting Association's Literature Prize for his collection of short stories Blissful Loneliness . In 1974, he was awarded the CIC (International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation) Literature Prize for his entire work. In 1966, he was made an honorary citizen of the municipality of Aschau im Chiemgau. In 1982, he received the Federal Cross of Merit.
Written by: Bavarian State Library / Dr. Birgit Ziegler-Stryczek
Secondary literature:
Mangold, Jörg (2008): Literary work high above the Priental. The family history of the hunting writer von Cramer-Klett. In: Hunting in Bavaria 4, p. 20f.
Ders. (2013): The slipper deer. Poet's room at the Heuraffler. In: Pirsch 1, pp. 84-87.
Weber, Klaus Peter (ed.) (2016): Hunting is a part of life. The hunting literary works of Ludwig Benedikt Frhr. von Cramer-Klett. Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen.
Ziegmann, Max (1964). Aschau, as it used to be. Local history notes. Self-published, Rosenheim.
Sources:
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett: Special foxes. In: Blissful solitude. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1964, pp. 9-27.
The same: The white chamois. In: In the chamois mountains. Experiences and experiences with the Krickelwild. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1988, pp. 22-39.
The same: The Heuraffler. In: The Heuraffler and other mountain stories. Mayer, Munich-Solln et al. 1950, pp. 7-61.
The same: A story about the Schneidhahn. In: The Heuraffler and other mountain stories. Mayer, Munich-Solln et al. 1950, pp. 139-158.
Id.: Unrecognized farewell. In: Blissful loneliness. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1964, pp. 303-317.
It’s a German Haenel Stuetzen rifle made in 1928. I’ve spent a fair amount of time at the Milwaukee Museum, keeper of the largest collection of Steutzen rifles in the New World and I can say with confidence, this one is superior in quality to most if not all of their rifles. It is built on the “Aydt” patented falling block action that is famed for its ability to be taken apart without the use of tools. It features a set trigger arrangement that fires crisp with a hair secondary trigger that is adjustable. It is chambered for the cartridge 8.15x46r which can be purchased as loaded ammunition from RWS, or can be formed easily from 30-30 winchester brass. It includes a set of RCBS dies.
The engraving is quite unique, featuring a “green knight” motif on the bottom metal and a scallop shell, whereas the right and left side of the receiver have a chiseled and bullino engraving of a group of Chamois on one side, and of battling Stags with hinds on the other side. The bullino detailing makes the engraving look quite a bit more sophisticated than typical german chiseled engraving of the era. 24kt gold inlays throughout the action and barrel. Excellent bore on the barrel. Mechanically excellent and largely unused with strong case colors even on unprotected locations.
The trigger guard is engraved with the owner’s name, Baron von Cramer-Klett along with a 24kt gold 9-pointed crown signifying his noble title. On the top tang there is engraving from a Von Eichel and a date of 15 August, 1895 which appears to signify a birthday or rememberance gift since that date is 43 years prior to the gun’s manufacture.
The sights are stunning with the front sight fully adjustable, the rear drop in aperture is of the “Seibert Optical Aperture” patent. It has an adjustable light shutter on the sight to control the amount of light through the peep.
Priced to sell at $5800 plus $200 shipping to your FFL via FedEx. C&R eligible. Includes RCBS dies.
The original owner was Baron von Cramer-Klett, the famous industrialist and hunting author that was born at the families castle Hohenaschau. Unsure by the age of gun which Baron Cramer-Klett it was made for (the 45ish year old father or the 22 year old son), I’ll give the combined history of both. The father was on the Vatican’s privy council, a vehement anti-Nazi, and a generous Christian benefactor creating numerous Wasserschlosses (abbeys/monestaries) He went into financial ruin during WW2 and was forced to sell the castle to the Reich for use as a Navy convalescence. The son was one of the most accomplished hunters and authors in the German language:
In 1930, when he was still at school, he published his first hunting story, "The Fourteen-Pointer ," at the age of 24. The style of Anton Freiherr von Perfall, which he greatly admired, had a strong influence on him. Later, as a recognized author, he published a collection of hunting stories by Anton Freiherr von Perfall entitled "Auf der Wurzhütte." His second publication of the story "Silvester-Birsch" in 1931 already had his own distinctive style. In the same year, 1931, he published a short story entitled "Ein Traum." His writing style is also already recognizable there. But one also feels like one is reading a story by Arthur Schubart, who was a frequent hunting guest in Hohenaschau and was greatly admired as a poet by Cramer-Klett.
Also in 1931, he published a longer story, “Die Heuraffler”, illustrated by the hunting painter Michael Mathias Kiefer . This helped him to make his breakthrough as a hunting writer.
In 1932, another story by the young author was published, entitled "Don't shoot!". After that, the Baron's newly blossoming writing went quiet. This may have been due to his negative attitude towards the Third Reich and the associated influence of hunting literature, which led him to voluntarily remain silent, as he noted in a foreword to the Heurafflern in 1965. He quoted his old forester Escherich as saying: "Ludwig, you must promise me: never imagine that a fundamentally bad thing can be improved by your joining in! You can only fight it or stay away." Cramer-Klett stayed away, at least in literary terms. In the post-war years, after he returned home sick from the Eastern Front as a soldier in 1942, he published hunting stories, initially sporadically and later very actively, which he later compiled into his books.
During the Third Reich, Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett was briefly imprisoned in Stadelheim . A short time later, his palace in Munich was burned down. Due to these financial losses and inflation, Ludwig Benedikt was forced to sell Hohenaschau Castle and the eastern part of the valley to the German Reich/Bavarian state in 1942 for financial reasons. The castle became a convalescent home for the Navy. From then on, the family lived in the Villa Elisabeth at the foot of the Schlossberg.
- Fritz Bergner: On the book 'Gerechtes Waidwerk' by Cramer-Klett. In: Die neue Neudammerin , Issue III/2007, pp. 46–48.
- Günter Heinemann: Bliss of the hunting spirit. Encounter with the literary work of Ludwig Benedikt Frhr. von Cramer-Klett. In: Wild und Hund , 68th year 1965/1966, p. 184
- Erwin Hoer: “The hunters demand too little.” The legacy of v. Cramer-Klett. In: Wild und Hund , issue 3/2006, pp. 32–36.
- Jörg Mangold: Literary work high above the Priental. The family history of the hunting writer von Cramer-Klett. In: Hunting in Bavaria , issue 4/2008, pp. 20–21.
- Jörg Mangold: The slipper deer. Poet's room at the Heuraffler. In: Pirsch , issue 1/2013, pp. 84–87.
- Wolfram Martin: Cramer-Klett memorial event in Aschau/Chiemgau. In: Die neue Neudammerin , issue IV/2006, pp. 82–85.
- Monika Reiterer: “I went hunting with a happy mind.” Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett (21 March 1906 – 15 August 1985). In: Wild und Hund , issue 3/2006, p. 35.
- Walter Schwartz: Fair hunting. Why a new book by Ludwig Benedikt Freiherr von Cramer-Klett is being written. In: Die neue Neudammerin , Issue IV/2007, pp. 43–45.
- Eberhard Wenzel: “Hunting literature of the highest order!” Hunters in Aschau remembered the great hunting writer Ludwig Benedikt Frhr. v. Cramer-Klett. In: Wild und Hund , issue 22/1995, pp. 38–40.
- Theodor Freiherr von Cramer-Klett. Path and work of a Christian man. Recorded by his son. (around 1939)
- The Heuraffler and other mountain hunter stories. 1950
- Dream on a green background. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1956, 3rd edition 1963
- Play of lights and shadows. Of a hunter's wishes and ways. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1960, 2nd edition 1961
- / Perfall, Anton von: At the Wurzhütte and other hunting stories. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1963
- Blissful solitude. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1964, 3rd edition 1967
- The Echo of the French Horn. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1968
- The hunter's happiness knows no lingering. 1976
- With the shotgun. About accurate marksmen, noble weapons and the joy of social hunting. 1978
- I went hunting with a happy mind. For roebuck, cock and deer. Hamburg/Berlin: Paul Parey, 1986
- In the Gamsgebirg. Experiences and experiences with the Krickelwild. 1988
- Wall of Favorites. And other hunting stories. 1995
- Fair hunting. Melsungen: Neumann-Neudamm, 2008
- 1965: Literature Prize of the German Hunting Association DJV for the work "Blissful Solitude"
- 1974: Literature Prize of the Conseil International de la Chasse CIC for the six books published up to that point and numerous technical and hunting policy articles in the hunting press
The setting for many of Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett's stories is the Hohenaschau Castle hunting grounds . The Cramer-Klett family owned the castle near Lake Chiemsee from 1875 to 1942. The 1504 m high Heuraffelkopf dominates the extensive grounds. Below the summit is the Elandalm (Ellandalm) with an old stone alpine hut. The alpine hut, which has been converted into a hunting lodge, serves as the hunter's quarters. Later, he preferred the winter quarters at the foot of the Lenderschachen, also located in the Chiemgau mountains. He often stayed in Franconia to hunt capercaillie. The family owns Mitwitz Castle there.
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett is often quoted as a representative of Bavarian hunting culture and hunting ethics. The autobiographical stories describe exciting hunting experiences. They convey hunting techniques and profound knowledge to the interested hunter. They are embedded in atmospheric natural scenarios that thrive on precise observation and linguistic sophistication. The opposite pole to the 'lust for hunting' is a high ethical awareness of nature and the animals that live in it. This is reinforced by the repeatedly discussed identification with one's own hunting ground.
The writer comes from a Bavarian industrial family. In the 19th century, the Cramer-Kletts created a widespread economic empire that extended beyond Bavaria. The narrator's grandfather, Theodor von Cramer-Klett Sr., promoted the iron industry and pushed forward the expansion of the railway - the economic development engine at the time. With great social commitment, he founded workers' funds and welfare institutions. In his second marriage to the pharmacist's daughter Elisabeth Curtze, he had the son he longed for, the father of the hunting writer. In 1875, the entrepreneur euphorically sent a telegram to the Bavarian Minister of Trade: "Buy Hohenaschau. Cramer-Klett." The land ownership associated with this enabled him to rise to the hereditary nobility.
Hohenaschau Castle not only includes the extensive lands in the Chiemgau mountains, but also a brewery and ironworks. The family's main residence, however, is the Palais Schönborn in Munich . The Villa Elisabeth, a converted forester's house at the foot of the Schlossberg, is used for summer holidays. It was Theodor von Cramer-Klett Jr. who had the castle extensively modernized between 1905 and 1908. The new home was moved into in 1908. Inflation, however, caused the family to suffer heavy losses. In 1932 the eastern part of the lands from Bernau to Sachrang had to be sold, and in 1942 the castle became the property of the Reichsmarine. From then on, the family lived in the Villa Elisabeth again.
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett only spent a short time of his life at Hohenaschau Castle. But this phase left its mark on his literary work. In the tower room high above the Prien Valley, he wrote his first story, The Heurafflers, which is about red deer hunting.
***
The story is interwoven with the theme of transience. Right at the beginning, the haymaker's head, which is difficult to access, is personified as a mourner:
for in the unexplored beech slope there is a constant trembling of stones, sometimes gently trickling and clattering, sometimes with a loud bang and heavy crash when a boulder falls from the walls, a stony tear from the face of the haymaker giant, wept over all things, even the transience of the hardest rock.
During a rest break on the descent, the narrator's grandfather dies "in the red-gold light of the setting November sun." The hunter eventually succeeds in killing the most sought-after of the hay-raiser deer, but a bitter feeling remains: "It is deeply in human nature, first and foremost in the nature of man, to desire, to destroy dreams through fulfillment and ultimately to gain knowledge, the bitter fruit."
The story The White Chamois is in the tension between trophy hunting and ethical renunciation. It describes the hunt for a very rare, light-colored chamois, which is a topos in Alpine folk mythology. Again, the hunter foregoes "the white one" and her "ivory-colored crutches" as a trophy. But Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett is a passionate and experienced hunter. He took part in chamois hunting as a high school student. He knows all facets of hunting. In addition to chamois hunting, his volumes of stories describe fox hunting, cock hunting, red deer hunting and hare hunting in a mountain world that is still isolated and not flooded with tourism. Hunting methods such as stalking, stand hunting and drive hunting are described in great detail.
The hunting stories are also historical portraits of life in the highlands. Hunters, foresters, dairymaids - the few people who live in the mountains - appear in the stories with their dialect, their often sparse language and their idiosyncratic behavior. In the area around the Niederalm, poachers and representatives of the authorities meet in archaic rituals: "In the autumn, the scoundrels had nailed an old gun satchel to the door and smeared the posts with sweat [animal blood]. It was necessary for the hunter to face such a challenge. A week later, one of the boys lay dead under the saw, his rifle firmly in his frozen hand." ( A Story of the Cutting Cock )
"This unfortunate, this completely misguided, this horrible war" is the verdict of the narrator in Unerkennter Abschied about the Second World War. The war hardly penetrates the natural, often solitary life of hunters. Hohenaschau is also largely spared from the war. For Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett, being in nature and hunting are therefore existential. He sees them as an archetypal form of existence: "Hunting, if you understand and practice it correctly, is neither pleasure nor relaxation in the common sense, it is a part of life, nothing more and nothing less, enhanced life perhaps and also a school of life." ( Spezial Füchse )
In 1965, Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett received the German Hunting Association's Literature Prize for his collection of short stories Blissful Loneliness . In 1974, he was awarded the CIC (International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation) Literature Prize for his entire work. In 1966, he was made an honorary citizen of the municipality of Aschau im Chiemgau. In 1982, he received the Federal Cross of Merit.
Written by: Bavarian State Library / Dr. Birgit Ziegler-Stryczek
Secondary literature:
Mangold, Jörg (2008): Literary work high above the Priental. The family history of the hunting writer von Cramer-Klett. In: Hunting in Bavaria 4, p. 20f.
Ders. (2013): The slipper deer. Poet's room at the Heuraffler. In: Pirsch 1, pp. 84-87.
Weber, Klaus Peter (ed.) (2016): Hunting is a part of life. The hunting literary works of Ludwig Benedikt Frhr. von Cramer-Klett. Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen.
Ziegmann, Max (1964). Aschau, as it used to be. Local history notes. Self-published, Rosenheim.
Sources:
Ludwig Benedikt von Cramer-Klett: Special foxes. In: Blissful solitude. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1964, pp. 9-27.
The same: The white chamois. In: In the chamois mountains. Experiences and experiences with the Krickelwild. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1988, pp. 22-39.
The same: The Heuraffler. In: The Heuraffler and other mountain stories. Mayer, Munich-Solln et al. 1950, pp. 7-61.
The same: A story about the Schneidhahn. In: The Heuraffler and other mountain stories. Mayer, Munich-Solln et al. 1950, pp. 139-158.
Id.: Unrecognized farewell. In: Blissful loneliness. Parey, Hamburg et al. 1964, pp. 303-317.
