Goering Family Crest

Goering family crest. Executed in cement, mortar and terracotta, in the shape of a shield; the heraldic device executed in black on red shows a mailed arm uplifted, with fist grasping a steel ring. This shield was once mounted outside the Berlin residence of Reichmarshall Hermann Goering.

In 1945 the shell damaged shield was noticed by Flight Lieutenant K.G. Hesketh of the Royal Australian Air Force War History Section during his inspection of the ruin of Goering's former Berlin residence, located in what later became the Russian sector of occupied Berlin.

The device was on a pillar forming part of the facade of the building which stands some distance back from the nearest street. The crest was mounted on the pillar about 15ft from the ground and had a small shell hole through it.

According to Hesketh, the removal of the shield was ‘carried out unostentatiously by German helpers under my direction.’ There was a partial crumbling of the whole shield as it was being chipped off the pillar and the Germans, in cementing the pieces together, covered up the original shell hole (inflicted presumably during the bombardment of Berlin). This temporary patch has subsequently been removed.