EAGLE’S NEST COAT HOOKS, PAUL R. RIDDLE, 31ST MOBILE RECLAMATION AND REPAIR SQUADRON, USAAF

This large bronze coat hook were looted from the Eagle’s Nest right after the war, by Capt. Paul Riddle of the 31st Mobile Reclamation and Repair Sqdn, USAAF.
In a letter written by Capt. Riddle in 1977, he describes arriving in the “entranceway at Berchtesgaden” and pulling the hooks off the wall. You can see ‘chip’ marks on the base of the hooks, where he hammered them loose.
The hooks are also visible in period photos of the entrance way, right outside the famous brass-lined elevator door. The wooden panel holding the hooks is still there today, although all the original hooks are long gone.