Award cup from the Grand Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gott to the sponsored Austrian regiment

An original and rather rare gift regimental cup in excellent condition. A gift from Grand Duke Karl Eduard to the patronized Austro-Hungarian 57th Infantry Regiment. Steel, silver, nickel plating, gilding. The height is about 20 cm. Guarantee of authenticity.

Carl Edward, full name Leopold Charles Edward George Albert (eng. Leopold Charles Edward George Albert, German. Carl Eduard; July 19, 1884, Isher, Surrey — March 6, 1954, Coburg, Bavaria) was the 2nd Duke of Albany, 2nd Earl of Clarence and 2nd Baron Arklow in 1884-1919, the last Duke of Saxe—Coburg-Gotha, who ruled from July 30, 1900 to November 14, 1918, Prussian General of Cavalry (December 24, 1914). He was also a Prince of Great Britain until 1919, but was stripped of all British titles for his participation in the First World War on the German side. Grandson of British Queen Victoria, the only son of her fourth, youngest son Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Prince Leopold, who suffered from hemophilia, died on March 28, 1884, almost four months before the birth of Charles Edward. Thus, Prince Charles received the title of Duke of Albany from the moment of his birth.

In 1900, after the death of Victoria's second son Duke Alfred and the refusal of her third son Arthur of Connaught from the rights to the duchy, sixteen-year-old Charles Edward ascended the throne. For the next five years, he ruled under the regency of his cousin Alexandra's husband, Crown Prince of Hohenlohe—Langenburg, and under the strict supervision of Kaiser Wilhelm II. After reaching the age of majority on July 19, 1905, Karl Eduard assumed all the constitutional powers of the head of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha state.

After some hesitation, he supported Germany in the First World War, and in 1915 his cousin King George V of Great Britain excluded him from the Knights of the Order of the Garter, of which he had been a knight since 1902. In 1917, the British Parliament issued an act by which all those fighting against the king and against his allies were stripped of their titles and ranks. In 1919, in accordance with an act of Parliament, the Privy Council of Great Britain stripped Charles Edward of the titles of Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow. The Duke and his descendants also lost the right to the titles of Prince and Princess of Great Britain.

Since 1923, he was a member of the Viking Union, which in 1925 became part of the Steel Helmet organization. Since 1933, he has been the Imperial Commissioner for the Transport Service. Since the "Steel Helmet" was included in the SA, Karl Eduard received the right to wear the "Underground Front" badge, which was awarded to members of the SA during the prohibition of the organization by the authorities of the Weimar Republic. He received the rank of Gruppenfuhrer of the SA, and also became Obergruppenfuhrer of the NSKK. He was the Honorary Head of the SA Thuringia group. He was not affected by the "night of the long knives", as former members of the "Steel Helmet" in the leadership of the SA had close ties with the SS and feuded with the henchmen of Ernst Rohm.

From 1933 to 1945, he was the Imperial Commissioner of the Voluntary Medical Service and president of the German Red Cross. As the president of the German Red Cross, he became a participant in the policy of Adolf Hitler, in particular, he knew about the T-4 program, according to which about one hundred thousand people were killed. In 1935, he joined the Nazi Party. Since 1936, he has been the president of the Association of German Front—line Soldiers. From 1937 to 1945, he was a member of the Reichstag. He held senior positions in a number of German companies, including being a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank. After the end of World War II, the American military government of Bavaria placed him under house arrest, and later in prison, on charges of having links with the Nazis. In 1946, he was convicted by the court. He was released from prison for health reasons. The former duke has spent the last years in seclusion. In 1953, I watched the coronation of Elizabeth II at the cinema. The eldest of Queen Victoria's two remaining grandchildren died in 1954.