Solid Oak Door, with carved double, headed Reichsadler above the date of 1648.
The door was brought back by Dr R.C.H.Tripp, M.A, M.B, B.CHIR, who as a Wing Commander serving with the RAF at the end of the Second World War, was investigating possible war crimes.
Reginald Christopher Howard Tripp was born on 16th January 1910 in Penfold, Somerset, educated at Cambridge University, becoming a University Air Training Squadron member. He served in the RAF as a Doctor and Flight Surgeon during the Second World War.
As part of a team of Doctors and Research Scientists, Tripp was tasked with collecting evidence from Concentration Camps and institutions that had carried out experiments on Jewish people and the other groups persecuted under the Nazi regime, such as Roma Gipsies and Russian POW'S.
Dr Tripp's son provided the following testimony on the provenance of the door. ' He was in berlin shortly after Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30th April 1945. My Father and his team were asked to inspect Hitler's underground Bunkerto gather any potential evidence. The Russians had already looted the building, and in Hitler's quarters, they had broken into a drinks cupboard. One of the doors was lying on the floor, and my Father kept it as a memento. It has remained with my family to this day.'
47cm x 40cm
