1917 My Covers

GERMAN EMPIRE
MISCELLANEOUS
POSTCARDS
1917

The 1917 postcard page has now been split into four separate pages as it was beginning to get unwieldy. All 1917 Official postcards are now on this page. Official postcards are cards that were issued by the Reich’s post office, had pre-printed (indicia) stamps and were widely available throughout German towns and cities.

Secondly Printed to Private Order postcards are postcards that were generally issued by entities that were advertising an event or commemorating an anniversary, and also had pre-printed stamps, but were not widely available throughout Germany (most were only available at the event they were commemorating).

Thirdly Other postcards are postcards that fall into the same general category as printed to private order however they do not have pre-printed stamps.

Finally, Miscellaneous postcards is where you will find postcards that do not fit into the first three categories (i.e. they are not official, they do not have pre-printed stamps, and they do not commemorate an event).

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Quick Links:
WINTER WONDERLAND, HINDENBURG, ROMANTIC POSE No. 6212/1, GOTT SEI MIT DIR!, WIR HALTEN DURCH, DER HAUPTMANN, A GAME OF SKAT, RPPC - DER LIEPNITZSEE B. WANDLITZ

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WINTER WONDERLAND
(19th Feb 1917)

Featuring soldiers outside a hut in the snow, this posctard has a Feldpost cancel dated 19th Feb 1917. It also has a unit cancellation "1.Hann.Inf-Regt 74", 2 Kompagnie".

1st Hanover Infantry Regiment No.74: This regiment is the 1st from the province of Hanover and the 74th from the German Empire. It was founded as The Royal Hanoverian Regiment on 27th Nov 1813 and was a part of the 19th Division during World War 1. When this postcard was sent the 74th was fighting for control of the heights south of Ripont (15th Feb 1917 to 1st Apr 1917), an area in the vicinity of the Marne in north-eastern France.

The Bundesarchiv has a photo that was taken at the battle for Ripont in 1917 and shows German troops in action.

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HINDENBURG
DER BEFREIER OSTPREUSSENS
(6th Mar 1917)

This postcard is a photograph of Paul von Hindenburg with the inscription "General-Fieldmarschall v. Hindenburg Der Befreier Ostpreussens", which translates as 'General-Field Marshal v. Hindenburg The liberator of East Prussia'. The original photograph was by R.Fendius, Konigl, Hofphotograph Magdeburg.

The reverse of the postcard carries a 7½ Pf Germania stamp cancelled with a regular city / date cancel from the town of Stepenitz in north-east Germany. The destination was the nearby town of Vietlübbe in East Prussia.

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OB ICH DICH LIEBE
IF I LOVE YOU
(16th Mar 1917)

A German soldier wooing his sweetheart

The words of the poem are as follows:

Ob ich dich liebe?
Ob ich dich liebe? frage dies herz
Das dir so zugetan
Das dich in Freuden, in Leiden, im schmerz
Nimmer berlaffen Kann!

Do I love you?
Do I love you? ask this heart
That is so devoted to you
That in joy, in suffering, in pain
Can never be overpowered!

This postcard carries a feldpost cancel dated 16th Mar 1917 and has a 7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, 10th Company stamp. The 7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment was also known as The Prince Leopold Regiment after the Monarch Prince Leopold of Bavaria.

The Bavarian military was not included in the Imperial German Army numbering system and had its own system. Bavarian units were differentiated from other German Empire units by the use of 'KB' (Royal Bavarian) or 'Kgl.Bayer' before the unit name and number. During the 1914-18 war this regiment was subordinate to the 5th Bavarian Division. At the time that this postcard was sent the 5th Bavarian Division was fighting around Flanders (Belgium) and Artois (Northern France) before involvement in the spring battle of Arras in April and May 1917.

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GOTT SEI MIT DIR!
(22nd May 1917)

Inscribed "Gott sei mit dir!", 'God is with you!', this postcard has a soldier and his wife / girlfriend cuddling in the moonlight. This is another of the over-romanticised postcards that were so popular at the time in Germany.

The reverse of the postcard has a Feldpost cancel from Bautzen on 22.5.1917 as well as the Brief-Stempel cancel inscribed 'II Ersatz-Abt.2.Feldartill - 5. Batteris'. An Ersatz regiment for example was a newly created regiment made up of soldiers from existing regiments that were considered too small to exist in their own right due to loss of existing members. They also included 'new' recruits to bolster their numbers.

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WIR HALTEN DURCH
WE HOLD OUT
(15th Jun 1917)

Despite the military imagery this isn't a Feldpost postcard. It shows a cheerful looking German soldier enjoying rations of meat and eggs. This postcard is intended to show that even after 3 years of brutal fighting the German soldier is still able to obtain eggs, meat and other luxury goods when others are being rationed and supplies are limited.

This postcard was posted in Cassel and is dated 15th June 1917. The words of the poem are as follows:

Mit pulver sind wir reich versehn
Nichts fehlt uns fur den Magen
Und wenn der Teufel selber kam
Er wurd zu brei geschlagen

We are rich in powder
Nothing is missing for the stomach
And if the devil came himself
He was beaten too wide
(needs a better translation)

DER HAUPTMANN
THE LEADER
(22nd May 1917)

This heroic postcard shows a German officer on horseback leading his troops along a road.

The poem at the foot of the card reads as follows:

Der Hauptmann - er lebe - er geht uns Kühn voran
Wir folgen ihm mutig auf blutger Siegesbahn
Er fuhrt uns jelzt zum kampf und Sieg hinaus
Er führt uns einst - ihr Brüder - ins Vaterhaus

The centurion - he lives - he is boldly ahead of us
We follow him courageously on a bloody victory track
He drove us out to fight and win
He once led us - brothers - into the father's house

The reverse of the card is postmarked OBERNZELL (South-east Bavaria) sometime in 1917 with a standard CDS cancel. The destination was Burgpreppach, also in Bavaria with a 7½ Pf Bavarian issue stamp used as payment for the postage.

There is a serial number for the card in the lower left corner (20729) and the printer was Geschӓftsftelle: Berlin W62, Kurfürstenstaβe 105.

The top left corner has the inscription "Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland E.V. "Unsere feldgrauen". Soldatenliederpostkarte, er lebe, er geht uns Kühn voran...", 'Association for Germanism abroad E.V. "Our Field Gray". Soldier's Songs Postcard, he lives, he leads us boldly ...'

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A GAME of SKAT at the FRONT
(8th Jul 1917)

A Group of German soldiers takes time-out to play a game of skat. The feldpost cancel appears to be that of the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment, The Crown Prince Regiment, founded 29th Jun 1682 and subordinated to the 1st Bavarian Division for the period 1914-18. At the time this postcatd was sent the unit was operating around Chemin des Dames and took place in the storming of Hurtebise Ferme on 16th Jun 1917 (Requires confirmation). The Battle of Chemin des Dames (also known as the second battle of Aisne or the 'Nivelle Offensive') took place from 16th Apr until 24th Oct 1917.