100611 | GERMANY. Von Hünefeld, Köhl & Fitzmaurice silver Medal.

100611 | GERMANY. Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld, Hermann Köhl & James Fitzmaurice silver Medal. Issued 1928. Commemorating the flight of the Bremen, the first east-west transatlantic flight [Ireland–Canada] (33mm, 13.69 g, 12h). By Glöckler in Prague & L. C. Lauer in Nürnberg.

 

FITZMAURICE KÖHL VON HÜNEFELD / 12.–13. 4. 1928, jugate heads of von Hünefeld, Köhl, and Fitzmaurice left, each wearing aviator hat / DEN / HELDEN / DES ERSTEN / OST–WEST FLUGES / DESSAU BALDONEL / GREENLY ISLAND / NEW YORK, frontal view of the Bremen over ocean waves. Edge: 990.

 

Hans Kaiser Coll. 933. Gem Mint State. Alluring argent surfaces, with some hints of goldenrod and a charming matte nature.

 

In May 1927, American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize (a $25,000 award for the first Allied aviator(s) who could successfully make a transatlantic flight between New York and Paris). The following spring, three European aviators—Germans Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld and Hermann Köhl, and Irishman James Fitzmaurice—set out from Baldonnel Aerodrome in Ireland with the goal of completing the first east-west non-stop transatlantic flight (Lindbergh's being west-east, with tailwinds, thus faster). The crew faced a cloudy overnight sky and the compass caused them to drift far to the north. When Polaris was eventually spotted, they adjusted and turned south, eventually following the coast of Labrador in Canada. Faced with only a few hours of fuel remaining, the crew decided to land on Greenly Island, just a few miles within the province of Quebec, well north of the desired landing point of New York. Nevertheless, the crew's achievement was celebrated as a success, and they eventually received a celebratory parade in New York City.

 

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