67 replies to this topic

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

Just won this vintage postcard at auction and wanted to share:



This is where my grandfather got his basic training, and was based in his hometown of Fulda, Germany.  I am hoping one of these days I meet someone on here whose ancestor also served with FAR 47...not outside the realm of possibility!!

Take care,

-Daniel

[fritz]

Congratulations, Daniel.

Perhaps this link will help to find out more pictures.

http://www.delcampe.net/page/list/searchSt...language,E.html

Fritz

[fritz]

Do you know this ebay-offer??

http://cgi.ebay.de/9119-GESCHI-2-KURHESSIS...=item19bb9f3141

Fritz

[ph0ebus]

Do you know this ebay-offer??

http://cgi.ebay.de/9119-GESCHI-2-KURHESSIS...=item19bb9f3141

Fritz

Hi Fritz,

Actually I know it; it has been for sale for quite some time.  I have been told by a few people it is terribly overpriced, so I have shied away, and have also been hoping they would lower their asking price, which they have not done for months now.

One of these days I will get a copy of the Unit History...  

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Congratulations, Daniel.

Perhaps this link will help to find out more pictures.

http://www.delcampe.net/page/list/searchSt...language,E.html

Fritz

Thaks for this link!  Lots of cool stuff to buy...goodbye paycheck!

-Daniel

[Ken S.]

Hi Fritz,

Actually I know it; it has been for sale for quite some time.  I have been told by a few people it is terribly overpriced, so I have shied away, and have also been hoping they would lower their asking price, which they have not done for months now.

One of these days I will get a copy of the Unit History...  

-Daniel

I have to disagree; I think the price is pretty reasonable, all things considered.

[fritz]

I have to disagree; I think the price is pretty reasonable, all things considered.

I agree Ken, this history is very rare. Daniel, send an email to the seller and make a lower offer.

Fritz

[ph0ebus]

I agree Ken, this history is very rare. Daniel, send an email to the seller and make a lower offer.

Fritz

We may have come to an agreement.  Will keep you posted.

-Dan

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

Made a reasonable offer to the seller, who agreed.  I now have purchased the History.  I look forward to getting it in the mail, and spending the next thirty years trying to make heads or tails of it, as I do not read German!!

I may post some scans of it up here if I happen to stumble across anything interesting or that may relate to my grandfather.

As an aside, I am assuming that the copywright on this expired long ago?  So, if I wanted to make copies and sell them to interested parties, would that be permissible?  Not that I have found anyone who wants a copy, but in the unusual circumstance someone expresses some interest in this particular history, it would be nice to try and recoup a little of the expense if possible.

-Daniel

[fritz]

Well done, Daniel. Following the occurrences of your GF´s battery you will have the best results about his life in WW1.

Try to translate this book and in the end you will be a perfect in German!  

Fritz

[fritz]

And this for your information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_copyright_law

Fritz

[Ken S.]

Hi all,

Made a reasonable offer to the seller, who agreed.  I now have purchased the History.  I look forward to getting it in the mail, and spending the next thirty years trying to make heads or tails of it, as I do not read German!!

I may post some scans of it up here if I happen to stumble across anything interesting or that may relate to my grandfather.

As an aside, I am assuming that the copywright on this expired long ago?  So, if I wanted to make copies and sell them to interested parties, would that be permissible?  Not that I have found anyone who wants a copy, but in the unusual circumstance someone expresses some interest in this particular history, it would be nice to try and recoup a little of the expense if possible.

-Daniel

As a foreign, but apparently anonymous, work, I believe the copyright would have been 50 years from the year of publication, and would have been held by the publisher, I believe.

[ph0ebus]

As a foreign, but apparently anonymous, work, I believe the copyright would have been 50 years from the year of publication, and would have been held by the publisher, I believe.

Hm, the above and Fritz's comments are food for thought.

I really wish there was one place (or person) who would be willing and able to archive digital copies of these histories, as well as copies of the various Militarpass/Soldbuchs out there in circulation.  It seems there is a lot of material that could be used to at least start to reconstruct some of what was lost from the destruction of the Prussian Army archives.

I can dream, can't I?

-Daniel

[arie]

Daniel,

maybe this site is a start...?    

Kind regards  

Arjen

[ph0ebus]

Daniel,

maybe this site is a start...?    

Kind regards  

Arjen

Yes, it is the right idea but I am thinking less popups and run on a nonprofit basis, a la a sort of online reading room or library.

-Daniel

[Ken S.]

Yes, it is the right idea but I am thinking less popups and run on a nonprofit basis, a la a sort of online reading room or library.

-Daniel

This basically what Google is doing.  They, along with a number of universities, have digitized a number of German regimental histories, Rangliste, Militar Wochenblatt, etc.  The problem is that it is being done piecemeal and who knows how long it will take; also, there are concerns about copyright, and so books from the WWI period are often not digitized, or one can only view them in "snippet"s.  

If I had the money, I'd happily digitize whatever I could get my hands on for free, but since I don't I have to charge for my digitizations.

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

Got the FAR 47 postcard in today's mail and was happily surprised to learn it had been posted during the war, written 16 June 1917 and posted on the 18th June to Luzie Steinbauer(?).  Here's the scan of the reverse:



I would love to know who sent it and what it says.  I would think it would have been from a soldier in the barracks but who knows?  I do not know if folks can also make out faint pencil writing beneath the ink that runs perpendicular to the inked text..very faint but certainly there.

-Daniel

[depaor01]

Hi Daniel:

Forgive me if you know all this already, but it's written in "Kurrent" script as are most documents from the period and into WWII.
Try Wikipedia for an explanation and a mapping of the old Kurrent script to new letters. I've tried and failed with some of my postcards/Wehrpasses - I find it totally unreadable and I have only "Tourist German"!
If you want to pay for the service just Google  "Kurrent Translation". There are a number of people who'll do it for a fee.
I have an 80-year-old Austrian contact who can read it if you're stuck, but it involves printing, posting and posting back!
-
Dave

[ph0ebus]

Hi Daniel:

Forgive me if you know all this already, but it's written in "Kurrent" script as are most documents from the period and into WWII.
Try Wikipedia for an explanation and a mapping of the old Kurrent script to new letters. I've tried and failed with some of my postcards/Wehrpasses - I find it totally unreadable and I have only "Tourist German"!
If you want to pay for the service just Google  "Kurrent Translation". There are a number of people who'll do it for a fee.
I have an 80-year-old Austrian contact who can read it if you're stuck, but it involves printing, posting and posting back!
-
Dave

Hi Dave,

I am indeed very familiar with the old script, and the challenges it poses.  I have a veritable brick of documents written by my grandfather and other members of the family written in the same beautiful, maddening script.  

I know there are several pals on the forum who are very skilled at reading Kurrent (as well as Sutterlein) and I am hopeful that perchance one of them will swing by and perhaps give me the gist of what this postcard contains.

-Daniel

[martinclift]

I wish I was as good as you, Daniel, with 'Old German' as transcribing something as easy as a casualty list is driving me bonkers!

The picture post card, that you started the topic with, looks really great, and I would say with any purchase, if the buyer is happy, then that's what it is all about.

Martin

[ph0ebus]

I wish I was as good as you, Daniel, with 'Old German' as transcribing something as easy as a casualty list is driving me bonkers!

The picture post card, that you started the topic with, looks really great, and I would say with any purchase, if the buyer is happy, then that's what it is all about.

Martin

Hi Martin,

The picture on the front was what I was solely interested in; the surprise writing on the back was a happy bonus, and the icing on the cake.  Did I mention the barracks still stand today, converted into luxury housing?  I am sure the masses of soldiers who bunked there would find great humor in that.

I was fortunate that the casualty list for the other unit I am researching, Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 43, was neatly typed in the Unit History, which made finding my grandfather's entry quick and relatively easy.  We'll see how things look when I get the Unit History for FAr 47 in the mail...who knows if it even contains a casualty list!

-Daniel

[Ken S.]

We'll see how things look when I get the Unit History for FAr 47 in the mail...who knows if it even contains a casualty list!

Since it was published in 1920, probably not; if so, likely only officers.  Usually a seller will mention if there is one.

[apwright]

Daniel,
Unfortunately, I can't quite work out the name of the sender, but I suspect it's a daughter writing to her mother. There's nothing of military interest in the message, I'm afraid.

Addressed to:
Fräulein [bit odd, as she's addressed as mother!]
Luzie Steinhauer
Dermbach http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermbach
Feldabahn http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldabahn

Fulda, den 16. Juni 17
Liebe einsame Mutte!
Dein lb. Kärtchen heute
morgen erhalten u. werde
ich es einrichten daß ich
Dienstag abend mit ?Agneschen
?komme. Die Kohlen werden
doch hoffentlich noch solange
ausbleiben. Es sind die
Schmiedekohlen u. muß ich
unbedingt selbst richtig
verteilen, sonst gibst [sic] Durch-
einander. ?Vate muß dann
Mittwoch wieder her. Alles
andere dann mündlich. Mit
den herzl. Grüßen von uns
dreien an Euch alle, deine
dichlb. K??schen

Fulda, 16 June 1917
Dear lonely mother,
Received your dear card this morning and will arrange to ?come with little Agnes on Tuesday evening. I hope the coal won't arrive before then. It's the coal for the forge and it is essential that I sort it out myself otherwise it will get all mixed up. ?Father will have to come back on Wednesday. All other news when we meet. With fondest regards from the three of us to all of you, your loving K??schen

In pencil, sideways:
Gruß und Kuß und
frohes Wiedersehen
Euer Agneschen

Love and kisses and looking forward to seeing you again, your little Agnes

"deine dichlb. K..." suggests either a singular feminine writer or that the card is from all three, male and female. But I can't read the word beginning with K.

There's a Musketier Ferdinand Steinhauer from Dermbach listed in the Verlustliste of 3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 at http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2008/vl_3_th...ir_71_wk1_4.htm
He died on 10 October 1915 at Jasenovo in Serbia.
I wonder if they were related?

Adrian

[ph0ebus]

Daniel,
Unfortunately, I can't quite work out the name of the sender, but I suspect it's a daughter writing to her mother. There's nothing of military interest in the message, I'm afraid.

Addressed to:
Fräulein [bit odd, as she's addressed as mother!]
Luzie Steinhauer
Dermbach http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermbach
Feldabahn http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldabahn

Fulda, den 16. Juni 17
Liebe einsame Mutte!
Dein lb. Kärtchen heute
morgen erhalten u. werde
ich es einrichten daß ich
Dienstag abend mit ?Agneschen
?komme. Die Kohlen werden
doch hoffentlich noch solange
ausbleiben. Es sind die
Schmiedekohlen u. muß ich
unbedingt selbst richtig
verteilen, sonst gibst [sic] Durch-
einander. ?Vate muß dann
Mittwoch wieder her. Alles
andere dann mündlich. Mit
den herzl. Grüßen von uns
dreien an Euch alle, deine
dichlb. K??schen

Fulda, 16 June 1917
Dear lonely mother,
Received your dear card this morning and will arrange to ?come with little Agnes on Tuesday evening. I hope the coal won't arrive before then. It's the coal for the forge and it is essential that I sort it out myself otherwise it will get all mixed up. ?Father will have to come back on Wednesday. All other news when we meet. With fondest regards from the three of us to all of you, your loving K??schen

In pencil, sideways:
Gruß und Kuß und
frohes Wiedersehen
Euer Agneschen

Love and kisses and looking forward to seeing you again, your little Agnes

"deine dichlb. K..." suggests either a singular feminine writer or that the card is from all three, male and female. But I can't read the word beginning with K.

There's a Musketier Ferdinand Steinhauer from Dermbach listed in the Verlustliste of 3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 at http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2008/vl_3_th...ir_71_wk1_4.htm
He died on 10 October 1915 at Jasenovo in Serbia.
I wonder if they were related?

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

As always, my sincerest thanks.  This card strikes me as so odd, now especially so given the contents in contrast to the image on the obverse.  If indeed Ferdinand is their relation I wonder what connection, if any, he had to Fulda and the FAR 47 barracks.  I am also wondering if there was a forge associated wit the barracks that the writer (Agnes) was managing the coal for?  Another nice little puzzle for me to try and untangle.  

By the way, checked Ferdinand Steinhauer on Ancestry and got nothing that looks like it might be him.

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

FYI, the FAR 47 Unit History I bought is awaiting pickup at my local post office, which I should have in my hands tomorrow.  You know it is coming straight out of the envelope and into the scanner!    Will post more once I have had a look at it...I really could not be more excited.

-Daniel