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This article appeared in a German news source. I have read it using a translator program, but if anyone here reads German, it would be nice to have a better version. From what I can gather from the translation, they found a WW2 Panther in some guys basement near the Baltic Sea?!?

https://translate.google.de/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fpanorama%2Fjustiz%2Fpanzer-in-keller-polizei-durchsucht-villa-in-heikendorf-a-1041633.html

Until I see it I reserve the right to a degree of skepticism. If a Panther it's sensational but I will not be surprised if "only" a Pz IV ... or III.

Unless ... this is the collection of Herr Flick?

As there is a company with the name Flick Finanz in Heikendorf we are probably looking at the confiscation of Friedrich Christian Flicks extensive WW2 weapons collection ... and then it really is a Panther. Flick's Panther has been rumored for years to have been kept "in a basement" and from one of the few pictures that exists it sure looks that way, though the basement is more of an underground garage.

His Panther does exist, in an underground garage. Would be nice to see it land up in a museum on display.

The question is why and why now? I've heard rumors over the years but that's all there's been to it, rumors.

[img]https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11209534_375847339292162_3936257324987463296_n.jpg?oh=af00dd3b45748ecbd9f18f70daf63de1&oe=5630B1DD[/img]

His basement contents is quite well known.
I wonder if he's pissed somebody off & they've made an official complaint. Has it had the demilling that German law requires?

A link provided by Patrik :
http://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Erfolgreich-Kampfpanzer-aus-Villa-geborgen,munitionsfund124.html

- Pzkpfw-e

I wonder if he's pissed somebody off & they've made an official complaint. Has it had the demilling that German law requires?

Thats what I think too ... he should have been involved in some dealings with Nazi art solen several years ago and I think they were not able to take him to court for that so they looked for something else... and a big collection of military stuff is always good for some legal errors... a cutout in the armor 1 cm to narrow or a hole 1 cm to small in the gun ... or what ever...

Jens

That Panther was originally recovered from a few miles away from my parents' house, though I didn't hear about it until after it had gone.

UID 48: Panther, Flick Collection

- Asbjoern

- Pzkpfw-e

I wonder if he's pissed somebody off & they've made an official complaint. Has it had the demilling that German law requires?

Thats what I think too ... he should have been involved in some dealings with Nazi art solen several years ago and I think they were not able to take him to court for that so they looked for something else... and a big collection of military stuff is always good for some legal errors... a cutout in the armor 1 cm to narrow or a hole 1 cm to small in the gun ... or what ever...

Jens

recently they discovered a big nazi art collection of items that where either assum to be lost during the war or that disappeared after the war

And this collection belonged, amongst other, to Flick

The military stuf is just a side show, however more spectacular
A tank has written military (= very dangerous) all over it, where a big Nazi sculpture of a horse .... is just a big sculpture

just praise for the Panther not to be scrapped or cut in pieces..

Agreed. Ending up as a range target is a much more honorable end for it.

I see we've got the ownership wrong though. It's been assumed that the Panther in question has been owned by one of two main heirs to the wealth of the Flick Industrial Empire, Friedrich Christian Flick but this is clearly not the case. The owner of the Panther is clearly written out as 78-year old Klaus Dieter Flick. Better start amending those registries!

As the second main heir to the Flick fortune, an older brother to Friedrich Christian, is named Gert Rudolf Flick it also rules out any direct family connection. The question remains though, is there any relation? A cousin maybe?

It's also quite apparent that local authorities have been uncomfortable with Klaus Dieter Flick for quite some time and adopted the "better to be safe than sorry" stance and hence taken action accordingly.

This in combination with the "Nazi-Art" affair has clearly been a thumb in the eye for some, and the "closet Nazi" rumors have certainly made matters even worse.

You have to take in to consideration that Third Reich symbols in private hands are outright outlawed in the Federal Republic, even Waffenamt stampings are considered eagle-swastika and the swastika has to be permanently removed.

The second world war is a touchy subject in Germany, with good right if you ask me, so I will not be surprised if they go after Klaus Dieter with everything they've got.

We need not worry about the Panther being cut up, they know the value of it. If not returned, which I doubt, it will end up in a museum for sure.