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for Infantry officers album (Poland and France)
Infantry officers album (Poland and France)
Creator
Unknown
Date1939
Medium3 albums containing 1,026 photographs
Dimensions24cm x 31cm (9.45 x 12.2 inches)
Credit LineAnonymous gift, 2020
Object number2021/209
ProvenanceFirst of three albums of an officer - possibly Lt. Magnus Füchsel - of the 218. Inf.Div / Inf.Rgt 323. Photographs - which are in loose chronological order - document a country (Volksdeutsche?) wedding and service in and around Thorn (today Toruń), Kasimierz, Lublin, Dęblin and other Polish towns and villages. His snapshots then record the unit's transfer to the Western Front wth images of their Rhine crossing and advance through France's Vosges (Vogesen) Mountains.
Of particular interest are photographs of captured Spanish volunteers at Col du Bonhomme (Vosges) and the 18.7.1940 victory parade in Berlin (from the point-of-view of the crowd and from the Brandeburg Gate, looking east up Unter den Linden). Also of note are photographs of steam trains, winter roads and a rail accident as well as informal portraits of high-ranking officers including Field Marshall Georg von Küchler and Victor Lang (Commander 218th Infantry Division).
Füchsel appears to be the unit's unofficial photographer, offering reprints to his fellow officers. His album also contains some photographs from the Eastern Front dated 1944.
Ephemera includes three 1962 sailing holiday postcards signed by Magnus Füchsel and a friend.
LocationNot currently on display
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