Need help with dating an antique Dresden set.

[batmick]

We have this old set of knife fork and spoon that was acquired in the postwar confusion in Germany.
The maker is easily identified as the goldsmith's guild in Dresden. We were told it was old when it was traded in 1945 so we guess it is pre-WWII.

Can anybody give us an idea of the period it was made?
Does anybody even know the family the coat of arms belongs to?

Thank you!

[Bahner]

Hello and congrats. What You have here are extremely rare pieces ! The pattern was exclusively designed for the city of Dresden and is known as the 'Dresdner Ratsbesteck' (pattern for the city council of Dresden), the coat of arms is that of Dresden. Designer was Karl Gross, head of the Dresden school of applied arts. It was designed to furnish the newly erected 'Rathaus' of the city. I do not know the date by heart, but it was around 1913. Of each piece only 300 were produced. Producer was actually Bruckmann in Heilbronn, donator was the Goldschmiede-Innung (association of Dresden goldsmiths), but it was financed by the 'Association of Saxonian Businessmen', the engraved monogram on the back is theirs. Until a while ago it was believd, that all pieces were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden, as were the pieces of silver tableware that had belonged to the city. But then a very few pieces of the cutlery turned up on the market, and as of know about 24 pieces are known to have survived. Not counting Your pieces. Looks like there were quite a few people around the ''save'' all those pieces. Best wishes, Bahner

[batmick]

Dear Bahner,

thank you for this wealth of information!
Wow! We never thought we had anything this special. We will treasure this piece of history.