Original Item: Only One Available. The first German Christmas of WWII was celebrated in December of 1939 while the front was for the most part silent; the Western Allies and Germany were in the midst of the war between the period after the Invasion of Poland in September of 1939, and the Invasion in Norway later in April of 1940.

In bunkers, trenches, pillboxes, depots, private homes and unit bases, all along the German border, and in occupied Poland, the German soldiers who were unfortunate enough to not be with family and loved ones, spent time together amongst their comrades and exchanged simple gifts of food, drink, laughed, played, and sang traditional German Christmas songs such as “O Tannenbaum” – a timeless song of Christmas. As the war progressed, becoming harsher, so did the conditions in which the German soldiers were living in. Christmas 1940 was also a relatively quiet period, the Western Allies, minus England, were now occupied by German troops and the Eastern Front had not yet erupted – that would come in June of 1941 with the Invasion of the Soviet Union. The winter of 1941 was one of the harshest and unforgiving winter seasons in recorded history.

This sand cast brass eagle is a lovely reminder of the Christmas of 1941, made for and probably by members of the Luftwaffe in Western France. It measures approximately 4 3/4" inches in height, with a 5 inch wingspan and depth of 2 1/2 inches. It shows a standard eagle, and has a lovely antiqued finish. The eagle is perched on a rocky base, which reads Kriegsweihnacht / 1941, for the Christmas of 1941. The base is marked with Feldlüftzeuggrüppe Westfrankreich, for the Luftwaffe Field Aircraft Group in Western France.

This is a lovely piece that comes ready to display!