posted on November 13, 2005 02:24:58 PM new
another mystery postcard, seems this is my day for them. this is postmarked 1914 in potsdam, germany. since when were blacks in the germany army? can anyone enlighten me regarding the large gee-gaw to his right? boys and their toys, jeez.
posted on November 13, 2005 02:39:03 PM new
I am not an authority on the German army (or any army for that matter) but I know that Germany had African colonies. I had a mature student whose grandfather was the governor of a German colony in Africa. From her family photographs (it was a class on preserving family history) it looked like the early years of the 20th century. Could this be a soldier from a company in that colony?
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“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on November 13, 2005 02:40:36 PM new
photo beat me to it - here are a list of some of the former German colonies in Africa:
Schutzgebiete ("protectorates":
Africa
* German East Africa
o Tanzania (present-day)
o Rwanda (present-day)
o Burundi (present-day)
* German South West Africa
o Namibia (present-day)
* German West Africa - only for two or three years until separated due to distance.
o Cameroons (Kamerun)
o Togoland (until 1918)
o Togo (present-day)
o parts of Togoland were transferred to Ghana
posted on November 13, 2005 04:41:51 PM new
The racial cleansing did not begin in Germany until Hilters reign in the 30's.
To ID the uniform the soldier is wearing, check out some history links on Imperial Germany and Austria circa 1910-20 and then narrow to African campaigns. This is still a very large market with the military collectors both here and in Europe for this card.
posted on November 14, 2005 08:49:59 PM new
double post, sorry____________________________________________
Habla siempre que debas y calla siempre que puedas....
[ edited by profe51 on Nov 14, 2005 08:51 PM ]
posted on November 14, 2005 08:51:14 PM new
I wish I could....my guess would be a German outpost somewhere with a local black population to draft into service. Too bad you don't have a better scan of the detail on the parade standard, that might give some indication....
____________________________________________
Habla siempre que debas y calla siempre que puedas....
