Original German WWII Luftwaffe Flak Gunner Personal Photo Album – 80 Photographs Original Items

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a wonderful Luftwaffe personal photo album with what appear to be almost entirely personal photos taken at home, during some training, and some in the field. There are some Luftwaffe officers shown in the first photos, signing documents at his desk. Later photos show training, the sights to see where he was stationed, and his flak gun, as well as some planes and civilians. Definitely some great variety in this album! There is a tag in the back for PHOTO-CINE AMATEURS VILLARD QUIMPER, a likely French photo studio. Some photos near the back are dated 1940, which provides a timeframe for the others. 

The cover is a crumpled-paper style pattern, with no markings on the exterior. The album measures approximately 8 ⅞” x 12”, showing a bit of wear on the cover and around the edges, but nothing major, and the pages are secured into the cover with a brown nylon cord.

A total of 80 photographs fill this album, making it a treasure-trove of images taken from the viewpoint of a young, patriotic German soldier. The majority of photos have captions providing for a very fun research project. The photos are only on the front sides of the pages, so there are no separators used in the album. All of the photos are held in place with period corner tabs or adhesive, some of which have failed over time.

Historical records like this album have become priceless time capsules that provide an incomparable level of insight into the individual experience of the Second World War, now that almost eighty years have passed.

The older albums such as these usually withstand the ravages of time. The leather or fabric covers may wear, but the pages stay well intact. The black paper albums of the early 20th century are more fragile, while the glue from magnetic albums can damage photographs. And, as with all old photographs, keep albums in a safe, climate controlled environment.

This is a fantastic example of a German WWII photo album with so much potential to tell the story of this soldier. Comes ready for further research and display.

The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany’s military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

During the interwar period, the German armed forces secretly trained pilots – in violation of the Treaty – at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the NSDAP (in power from 1933) and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe’s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through the announcement of German rearmament and conscription on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing-ground for new tactics and aircraft. Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out in 1939.