ersterweltkrieg

This is almost certainly Der Eiserne Hindenburg—the Iron Hindenburg—which stood next to the Victory Column in the Tiergarten. (The curved structure poking into the frame on the right would seem to match the base of the column.) This would seem likely to be from the unveiling, which was on 4 September 1915—the New York Times account can be read here. These statues were known as "Nail Men" and were used to raise money for the war: for a certain donation you got a nail of a certain color, which you then hammered into the statue. Unsurprisingly this led to some mocking imitations elsewhere. The statue did not do too well. Apparently even before the war was out bits were being stolen for firewood, and in the early '20s the whole thing was sold off as fuel. According to news sources, an artist managed to save the head, only to have it destroyed by fungus. (Love how the statue has magically grown to 110 feet tall!) Nonetheless, the head was apparently rediscovered in 1938 and placed in Berlin's Lehrter train station, only to be finally destroyed during WWII.

Great story, thanks. LOC, note transcription error on Hindenburg's name.

Thanks for your research severinus. We'll make the correction the next time we update the record.

Ryan (LOC P&P) Just to clarify, despite the nickname, it was indeed made of wood, so the original Bain caption is indeed correct; I just wanted to point out that it was more famously known as the Iron Hindenburg.

LOC, note transcription error on Hindenburg's name.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_der_Linde "Otto von der Linde (* 13. Januar 1892 in Regenwalde, Hinterpommern; † 23. Mai 1984 in Wienhausen bei Celle) war ein deutscher Offizier im Ersten Weltkrieg und Oberst der deutschen Wehrmacht im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Er war außerdem Träger des Pour le Mérite." He was the first junior German officer to receive the highest military honor, Pour le Merite, for his capture with a small party of Fort Malonne at Namur, Belgium in August, 1914. He convinced the Belgian commander that resistance was futile, and was handed the fort. forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=86015. See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_de_Malonne#First_World_War

artolog: Thanks! We'll include some of this additional information in the description next time we update.

This would be Ludwig III of Bavaria. I'm having trouble identifying "Excellencz von Strantz."

I"m going to go with the guy on the right as Gen. Hermann von Strantz, then a German military commander on the Western Front. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_von_Strantz Also, it seems the German generals were referred to as "Your Excellency", even by the Kaiser: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E3D71539E333A...

Thanks to both of you. We'll fill in the names the next time we update the record.

great photo of years ago amen.

see also