The Galleries
- Robert E. Petersen Collection
- Ancient Firearms - 1350 to 1700
- Road to American Liberty - 1700 to 1780
- A Prospering New Republic - 1780 to 1860
- A Nation Asunder - 1861 to 1865
- The American West - 1850 to 1900
- Innovation, Oddities and Competition
- Theodore Roosevelt and Elegant Arms - 1880s to 1920s
- World War I and Firearms Innovation
- WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Beyond - 1940 to Present
- For the Fun of It
- Modern Firearms - 1950 to Present
- Hollywood Guns
Merkel 303 Over-Under
This remarkable shotgun was a gift to Reichsmarschall Hermann
Göring (1893-1946) given to him at his famed hunting lodge
Carinhall, in 1937. Göring was an ace fighter pilot in WWI. Having
flown with von Richthofen's Flying Circus, he was a recipient of
the Pour le Merite (Blue Max). He was an early supporter of Adolph
Hitler's Nazi Party and eventually became head of the Luftwaffe and
Hitler's designated successor. Captured in Bavaria in May, 1945 he
was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials, but committed
suicide before he could be executed.
This exceptional shotgun includes cased accessories such as
Göring's Field Marshall's epaulettes and an embossed cigar case.
One of hundreds of firearms "liberated" from various Göring
estates, this stunning Merkel was a gift from General of the Army
Dwight D. Eisenhower to General of the Armies John J. Pershing in
June of 1945.