Original Item: Only One Available. Here we have a lovely stuffed German doll, probably from the Weimar period or maybe even the late Imperial period, which features a childlike painted composition material head. It is made from a blue plush material with white plush hands and feed, and has been decorated with a scarf and "Donald Duck" cap to look like a sailor. These are definitely high quality fabricated items, and the sailor cap even has an embroidered cap tally that reads Kreuzer Emben (Cruiser Emben). The tally is even made from the correct rayon material!

The doll measures 8 1/2 inches in overall height, and comes with a lovely modern metal stand that partly supports the doll. Attached to this is a small old tag indicating where the doll was acquired:

FROM N**I Sailor
TO WOMAN WHEN
CRUISER EMDEN WAS
IN PORTLAND "1938"

We have checked the information available about Cruiser Emden, and during 1938 she was definitely in the North Atlantic during 1939, so the tag most likely refers to Portland Maine.

A very interesting piece of German Pre-WWII memorabilia, ready to add to your collection!

The Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik), officially the German Reich (Deutsches Reich), also referred to as the German People's State (Deutscher Volksstaat) or simply the German Republic (Deutsche Republik), was the German state from 1918 to 1933. As a term, it is an unofficial historical designation that derives its name from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place. The official name of the republic remained the German Reich as it had been during the German Empire because of the German tradition of sub-states.

Although commonly translated as "German Empire," Reich here better translates as "realm" in that the term does not necessarily have monarchical connotations in itself. The Reich was changed from a constitutional monarchy into a republic. In English, the country was usually known simply as Germany, and the Weimar Republic name became mainstream only in the 1930s.

The Reichswehr (Realm Defense) formed the military organization of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was united with the new Wehrmacht (Defense Force). At the end of World War I, the forces of the German Empire were disbanded, the men returning home individually or in small groups. Many of them joined the Freikorps (Free Corps), a collection of volunteer paramilitary units that were involved in suppressing the German Revolution and border clashes between 1918 and 1923.

The Reichswehr was limited to a standing army of 100,000 men, and a navy of 15,000. The establishment of a general staff was prohibited. Heavy weapons such as artillery above the caliber of 105 mm (for naval guns, above 205 mm), armored vehicles, submarines and capital ships were forbidden, as were aircraft of any kind. Compliance with these restrictions was monitored until 1927 by the Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control.

The Reichsmarine was the Navy Division of the Reichswehr.