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This is absolutely the real thing, purchased about 15 years ago from an antique dealer in Krems, Austria who acquired the piece from a local veteran of the German Luftwaffe that had served in the enormous, extended (872 days) and horrendous Siege of Leningrad near Lake Ladoga, in and along the Volkhov (Wolchow in German) river and the city of Leningrad, Russia.

Because of the duration of the Siege of Leningrad, German soldiers were on a stationary front for years and one of the typical souvenirs brought home by survivors was a Wolchow-Stock or Wolchow walking stick of which this is a great genuine example in the classic form.

The 1-¾ inch x 34-½ inch round carved Stock has a knob on the top and is carefully carved in darkened wood with triangle, diamond, checkerboard, lozenge and other small shapes as well as an Iron Cross and German Luftwaffe eagle. In the carving, between 17 and 22 inches down from the knob on top are the words LENINGRAD RUSSLAND.

At some point in the life of this Wolchow Stick, the bottom portion was broken off and was carefully replaced with the 8-¼ inch bottom piece (including the steel tip). We have no idea if this was the bottom portion that was broken off of if it was simply a replacement for the bottom portion.

Our excellent photographs show the entire Wolchow-Stock and the carvings on all sides and even the little holes made by Russian wood borers three-quarters of a century ago. It would be a wonderful addition to any collection of Luftwaffe, East Front or other Axis World War II material in private hands or in a museum.

The Wolchow-Stock has a 65 mm (2-½ inch) steel tip held to the bottom end with a single screw. It has many small holes made by borers that attacked the wood during the time it existed in Russia.