{"product_id":"original-german-wwii-early-war-photo-album-with-86-photographs-showing-motorcycle-troops-tanks-mg08-15-use-panzers-and-more","title":"Original German WWII Early War Photo Album with 86 Photographs Showing Motorcycle Troops, Tanks, MG08\/15 Use, Panzers, and More","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a great early World War II German photo album dating to around 1937-1939, when the German Army was preparing for the Second World War. The album has 86 total photographs of different shapes and sizes, with the largest being a page-size unit photo on the first page. The album has great butterfly pattern onion skin dividers, less common than the spiderweb dividers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album has a lot of great personnel photos, with men on motorcycles with sidecars, soldiers using the MG08\/15 machine gun during training, candid photos of soldiers in town, one nice shot of apple picking, some nice 1937-dated photos in Potsdam and surrounding towns, and great detail photographs of the Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow, the oldest working boat lift in Germany, which is still standing today! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are shots of the Autobahn and soldiers waiting by the boat lift. There is a photo of farmers picking crops at Zesch am See, a small village in Brandenburg. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the best photos are of the Panzer I and II tanks, all covered in Balkan Crosses and the tankers wearing their iconic Panzer Berets! There are some really outstanding shots of Panzer soldiers in different poses around their tanks, with scrim attached to the tanks to conceal them. One motorcycle shot shows a very young man in a Kriegsmarine jumper in the sidecar of an older soldier with goggles on his helmet. One great shot shows the enormous swas at Nurnberg in 1938. Then there are some nice sight-seeing photos. One photo shows a tank or vehicle upside down, and the photo was attached diagonally as a gag. One photo shows a large building destroyed, possibly as a controlled demolition or in the aftermath of a disaster. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe can see that many photos have writing on the back, a good research project. One of the final pages shows a soldier reading on his bed with a photo of AH on his nightstand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a really excellent album with every single page covered in photos! The album measures roughly 7 x 10 ¼” and is in great shape. There was originally a plate or something on the front cover but it is now gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis pre-WWII German military photo album contains 86 photographs documenting training, travel, daily life, and armored-unit activity during the late 1930s. Particularly noteworthy are the images of Panzer I and II tanks, tank crews wearing early Panzer berets, motorcycles and sidecars, MG08\/15 training, the Niederfinow boat lift, Potsdam-area locations, and the 1938 Nuremberg gathering. Many photographs retain handwritten notes on the reverse, offering additional opportunities for identification and research. The album remains well filled and generally well preserved, with its butterfly-pattern tissue dividers intact, although the original fitting or plaque from the front cover is no longer present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical records like this album have become priceless time capsules that provide an incomparable level of insight into the individual experience of the Second World War, now that almost eighty years have passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe older albums such as these usually withstand the ravages of time. The leather or fabric covers may wear, but the pages stay well intact. The black paper albums of the early 20th century are more fragile, while the glue from magnetic albums can damage photographs. And, as with all old photographs, keep albums in a safe, climate controlled environment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45385690382405,"sku":"ONSV23PCS34","price":395.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/57996FDE-FB70-44FE-92A4-FABDCE3B60F2.jpg?v=1784743712","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-german-wwii-early-war-photo-album-with-86-photographs-showing-motorcycle-troops-tanks-mg08-15-use-panzers-and-more","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}