Memorial sheet for the relatives of our fallen heroes
The memorial sheet for the relatives of our fallen heroes was a color lithograph by the graphic artist Emil Doepler during the First World War .
description
The print with the dimensions 44 cm × 32 cm shows an angel offering an oak branch to a soldier lying on the ground. At the top of the memorial sheet is the Bible verse: "We should also give our lives for the brothers." ( 1. John 3,16 LUT ) Below is a frame of laurels with the epitaph "In memory of ... He died for the fatherland on ..." and the facsimile signature "Wilhelm R.". An iron cross from 1914 forms the lower end. The name and unit of the fallen man, the date were handwritten here.
history
On January 27, 1915, on the occasion of his birthday, Kaiser Wilhelm II commissioned the memorial sheet for the bereaved of the fallen German soldiers by the highest cabinet order. In February the monarch approved Emil Doepler's draft and chose the Bible verse himself. It was meant to express the gratitude of the fatherland and serve as a lasting memory for the relatives. The memorial sheet was awarded without application when a German combatant died as a result of the war. The mostly in the garrison remaining reserve battalion for this purpose the corresponding Regiment identified the home address and mailed or delivered the commemorative sheet to the next of kin. In the case of married soldiers, this was the wife, in the case of single men, the parents, according to the legal succession. The relevant decree was issued by the War Ministry on March 29, 1915. Relatives of those who had previously fallen were given retrospective consideration. The award practice remained until the end of the war.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Army - Ordinance Gazette, year forty-ninth, Berlin 1915, No. 5
literature
- Christoph Nübel: The mobilization of the war society : Propaganda and everyday life in the First World War in Münster, Münster 2008, ISBN 383092030X