Germany

Adolf Hitler offering flowers to Leni Riefenstahl at the premiere of the famous propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” (Triumph des Willens). March 28th, 1935, at the Ufa Palace Theater, Berlin. The film was a massive success and is still considered arguably the best propaganda movie ever made, a technological …

The Battle of Castle Itter is one of those “hidden gem” stories from World War Two. Quite remarkable, but not very well known. It is the only known battle from WWII in which Germans and Americans fought on the same side. In the image we can see damage to the …

German soldier with a 7.5 cm Gebirgsgeschütz 36 in the Caucasus mountains, at an altitude of around 3000 meters, on January 21st, 1943. The GebG 36 was the standard light mountain gun used by the Gebirgstruppe (German mountain divisions) during World War II. At least 1193 such guns were built …

Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft crashing in the Sea during Kanalkampf. The Kanalkampf was a Luftwaffe operation in July – August 1940, at the start of the Battle of Britain, in which Germany aimed to claim superiority over the English Channel and to draw out the Royal Air Force before …

During Kristallnacht, Jewish goods, properties and synagogues were attacked and destroyed, while tens of thousands of Jewish people were arrested and / or deported. Kristallnacht (9-10th November 1938) emerged as a response to the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Polish Jewish teenager Herschel Grynszpan. The pogrom was …

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels being shown a production while taking a tour of the UFA film studios in Babelsberg, January 1935. Production manager Gunter Stapenhorst is on the left. He emigrated to the UK in 1935, before returning to Germany (via Switzerland) in 1941 and trying a comeback at …

Adolf Hitler with Romanian Prime Minister, Marshal Ion Antonescu (center, saluting), at the Wolf’s Lair (Wolfsschanze) in February 1942. On the left of the image is Dr. Paul Schmidt, chief interpreter of the German Foreign Ministry. During the meeting, Adolf Hitler assured Marshal Antonescu that he personally guarantees Hungary and …

German U-Boat commander pictured while looking down the hatch of his submarine. Further details about the photograph are unknown. Book suggestions ⤵️ 📖 Wolf: U-Boat Commanders in World War II (Jordan Vause, 1997) 📖 U-Boat War (Lothar Gunther Buchheim, 1986)

The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula was a conflict between Axis Forces (Germany and Romania) and the Soviet Union, which took place between December 1941 – May 1942. Germany’s victory in May 1942 allowed them to focus on the ongoing siege of Sevastopol (which was captured one month later), and …

The Tiger 1, a heavy tank produced between 1942 and 1944, was quite a remarkable design at its time, but it was also expensive to build and maintain. The Tiger 1 was employed in North Africa and Europe starting with 1942. On the Eastern front, it had problems when mud, …