Goering's practical joke chair.....

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Guys,

There is a thread elsewhere about "Himmler's Great Chair". I couldn't contribute on thread there, but it put me in mind of another chair - I have seen, sat in and used one built for Goering. It is in a tower on one of the former RAF bases in Germany (I think above the Officers' Mess at either Gutersloh or Rheindahlen.)

It was built in the 1930s for Goering to watch training flights. He would then call the young pilots up to meet him there.

Goering had a sense of humour and had a special chair installed there. He would address them from it and at some stage would use the phrase "If I lie to you, may the beam above my head crack open". While Goering used a distracting hand to point up to it, he or an aide pulled a secret lever and this would operate a mechanism that did, indeed, crack open the beam above his head!

It was still working when I tried it as a mid-teenager in about 1970.

Can anyone confirm the airfield and does anyone know if it still there and working?

cheers,

Sid.

[Sid Guttridge]

It was Gutersloh:

"The tower of the Officers' Mess contains a room known as Göring's Room. Legend has it that Hermann Göring used this room to relive his wartime exploits with the new generation of flyers. Reportedly a favourite expression of his was "If I should lie, may the beam above my head crack". In response to this a junior officer arranged that the beam be sawn through and, by a system of pulleys, that the beam should appear to crack in response to the Reichmarschall's challenge. An article appearing in Flight magazine in 1946 has the same story with "an elderly station commander" featuring in the Göring role."

Sid

[Sid Guttridge]

Here is a photo: https://twitter.com/armypost/status/424 ... 60?lang=en

[VanillaNuns]

Brilliant Sid. That made me chuckle. Have you got a link to the other topic?

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi VN,

Himmler's chair is on viewtopic.php?f=10&t=115247

Cheers,

Sid

[Linkagain]

AS fantastic as this sounds....it sounds like a typical Goering Joke.....I beleive it....