An engraved pen with a story

[carlos.q]

Pelikan500.jpg

I recently bought this beautiful Pelikan 500 pen with the following engraving:

Irmgard von Rein
30 6 1956

engraving.jpg

Many people do not like pens with personalized engravings. On the contrary I love them. I like to think about the person who owned the pen that I now hold in my hands and about how they used it during their lives.

Who was Irmgard von Rein? Imme, as her friends knew her, was the only daughter of Elsa and Otto von Rein. Otto came from a proud and noble lineage, but had the misfortune of being the youngest son and thus did not inherit any of the family fortune. He worked as a conductor in the German railway system until the Army drafted him in 1916. He was wounded during the Battle of the Somme and returned to his old job shortly after the war.

Otto met and married Elsa in 1936 and two years later Imme was born. Elsa died during a bombing raid in 1944 and Otto took his 8-year-old daughter to Heidelberg where they lived in a small cottage close to the railway. Otto was extremely proud of his beautiful red headed daughter, who early in life proved to be precociously intelligent.

Because Imme would love to write Otto decided to buy her the nicest pen he could afford for her eighteenth birthday: a black Pelikan 500 with a gold filled cap. He had the pen engraved at the store and carefully hid it until the appropriate time. One Saturday morning on the 30th of June in 1956, and just after she blew the candles on her birthday cake, Otto gave his daughter a small gift-wrapped box. Upon opening it Imme was overjoyed and gave her father a big hug for giving her such a beautiful and special pen. It is said that Imme was so proud of her pen that she would always carry it with her no matter where she went. This very fine instrument would serve her well during the years she studied literature at Heidelberg University.

After she finished her studies Imme decided to become a schoolteacher. Every day after school she would use all of her spare time writing poetry and was well known within Heidelberg’s circle of poets. Some years later she would publish a book with her best poetry titled “Behold a Daughter of Destiny”, which was lovingly received by her friends and fellow poets.

Irmgard never married and died peacefully in her sleep in 2008 at the age of 70. As she had no immediate family her three closest friends decided to divide between them Imme's most treasured belongings: the family bible, her father’s gold watch and her beloved fountain pen.

Ten years later I hold that pen in my hands.

Is this story true? I’d like to think so.

Do you have any engraved pens with a story?

[Hawk]

Maybe it is somewhat off topic. I have various ‘things’ from my parents, grand parents and aunt. My wife appreciates them to a certain extent; my daughter’ I doubt it. I’ll be dead when the items get disbursed so I won’t care. Meanwhile, I am enjoying them.

[Paddler]

Great story!
My father died in 1960. He had his Sheaffer Saratoga Snorkel engraved with his name. Maybe I should write a short bio to go with the pen. I never thought of it.

[Sagebrush64]

Fantastic story. While I am not a fan of engraved pens, I realize there is a story behind each and every vintage pen and I think it is very interesting to hear!
Good work and thanks for sharing. That is a beautiful pen!

[FredRydr]

...Is this story true? I’d like to think so....

Um....well, I can't really say. If you don't know, who could?

Nice pen. Very nice!

[Replicant]

Good story. Provenance (preferably true) is always fun when it comes to collectibles in my opinion. I'm not so critical with engraved pens so long as it is done tastefully and discreetly. Yours is an excellent example. Enjoy.