Auction coming up. Never heard of this rifle.

[Patrick Chadwick]

From a WW1 war memorial in Klieken, Anhalt-Zerbst district, Sachsen-Anhalt

Names of the fallen
...
Reservist
HINZE
Franz
03.04.1898
27.09.1918
...
I think you may have found one of the very, very few rifles that can be linked to a specific person. As Franz Hinze is recorded on the memorial, there may well still be town records with further information (unit etc). There are several Zinkes in the Zerbst telephone directory. As Zerbst is in former East Germany, i.e. an area with limited mobility after WW2, the chances are good that they are related.

That would make it very interesting = more valuable for some people!

Patrick