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Dieter H. M. Gröschel., Gift, 2015, NASM.2015.0046
Collection is arranged by type of material. Some of the large maps are arranged by size.
Historical Maps and Aerial Photographs [Gröschel], NASM.2015.0046, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Arranged and described by Jessamyn Lloyd, 2015. Updated and encoded by Jessamyn Lloyd and Melissa A. N. Keiser, 2023.
This collection consists of approximately 1.46 cubic feet of historical maps and photographs collected by Dieter Gröschel. The maps, which are various sizes, date from approximately 1884 to 1941 and were produced in Germany, France, and England. They show parts of Russia; Germany; France; Belgium; Holland; Bavaria; and Africa; and many have hand-drawn notations including battle lines, locations of troops, etc. Some of the maps are linen-backed and designed for use in an aircraft. The collection also contains numerous black and white historical photographs including aerial photographs of Germany and France taken in 1917 and 1918; photographs of personnel, facilities, and operations relating to Feldflieger-Abteilung Nr. 5 which date from 1915 to 1918; aerial photographs taken in 1918 of Flanders and Zeebrugge by Karl Keppler and Max Greiner of Fliegerabteilung 291 (A); a French set of 32 black and white aerial photographs on ten pages, with interpretation, used for training observers in World War I; an unbound German World War I album containing black and white photographs and post cards; and a photo album belonging to a paymaster of the Jagdstaffelschule I during World War I. The album, which measures approximately 14 x 10 inches, is linen-covered and contains photographs of the front-lines in France and Italy; personnel, including members of the Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 144; aircraft, including crashes; and personal family photographs relating to the album's creator. Aircraft depicted in these photographs include an Albatros D Series Fighter and a captured Nieuport fighter. There is also a 3.5 x 5.5 inch color post card dating to 1915 with an illustration of French pre-World War I era infantry looking up at an Etrich Taube (Dove) type aircraft included in the collection. Finally, this collection contains a selection of manuals which includes the following titles:
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Unbound German Photo Album
French set of 32 black and white aerial photographs on ten pages, with interpretation, used for training observers in World War I.
Post Card
"Beichiefzung einer deutschen Taube [Judgement of a German Dove.]" Post card; postmark on reverse dated May 14, 1915. Color illustration, after a 1914 painting by Karl Paul Themistokles von Eckenbrecher (1842-1921), depicts distant one-half right front view of Taube (Dove) type monoplane in flight over a battlefield; French military officers watch from left foreground.
Aerial Photographs, Fliegerabteilung 291 (A)
The photos were taken by the observer Ltn. D. Res. Karl Keppler and the pilot Gefr. Max Greiner between July and September 1918. [14012013 DHMG]
Photo Album of a Zahlmeister (Paymaster) of the Jagdstaffelschule I
Blank pages in original album have not been digitally reproduced in slideshow. Any gaps in numbering are due to their omission.
Slightly damaged linen-covered album with about 114 mounted photos and 28 loose shots, most 12 x 18 cm aerial photographs of front-lines in France and Italy. Starts with family members, group outings at various monuments (most 16 x 23 cm), military group photos of officers, NCO and men of the 5. Lothringer Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 144 at the beginning of the war, his position as Zahlmeister of Jasta-Schule I (with signed photo of the commander, Hptm. Hellmuth Volkmann), crashed planes, a captured British biplane (Nieuport 23?), and at the end, family pictures after the war in Duisberg-Beeck. [12012013 DHMG]
A three-ring binder with about 100 photographs, mostly 12 x 16 cm and captioned, of personnel, groups, parties, airfields, shops, aircraft, also aerial photographs of Feldflieger-Abteilung 5, later Flieger-Abteilung 5 LB (with a photo section). Photos were tranferred to archival clear files from sticky pages, a unit roster is added. [14012013 DHMG]
Two aerial composite photographs of the areas south of La Fère (in duplicate) and south of St. Goubain taken on 16 September 1917 by Ltn. Egon Frhr. Von Groote, observer, and Uffz. Alfred Fliegel, pilot, of the Reihen-Bild Trupp 7.
Aerial photograph of the battlefield near Regniéville, west of Pont-à-Mousson, indicating the front line before and after the attack on the St. Mihiel Sector on 12 September 1918. The totally destroyed village is seen on the lower right corner; it was not rebuilt after WWI. Inscription on back: Sofort abgeben – deliver immediately; Fliegermeldung – flyers' report; An: Gefechtsstand – To: command post; Nördlich Regnieville wurden gesehen: -North of Regnieville was seen; Date IX.1918 Leutnant Flieger-Abteilung 242. This must have been the first report after the attack on the German lines north of Regniéville on 12 Septemner 1918 by the US 5th Division, 1st US Army, against the German 77th Division. Flieger-Abteilung (A) 242 was flying from Metz for the 19. Armee and Armee-Abteilung C. [15012013 DHMG]
Aerial photograph of Mousson, Lorraine, east of Pont-à-Mousson. Not dated. Probably also from FA(A) 242. [15012013 DHMG]
Photographs are arranged in numerical (and chronological) order.
Maps
Map belonging to Corporal Gustav Adolph Sütterlin, 6th Infantry Regiment, German Army, 1883. Map shows parts of modern Germany and France and an inset shows the boundaries of the Frankish Empire.
Map, published by Topographical Bureau, Kingdom of Bavaria, General-Staff, showing parts of the Kingdom of Bavaria and Austria, 1896.