I recently visited the city of Koblenz, Germany (50° 21? 51? N, 7° 36? 20? O). This place
is full of history. Koblenz, originally a German settlement that was "later" fortified by the Romans,
has a long military history and today houses many important German Army
institutions. Despite all that it is part of the UNESCO world heritage now.
When I visited the Deutsches Eck, a place where two rivers unite, I saw an
inscription on a monument for Emperor Wilhelm I. It reminded me of the font that
I saw on a Kampfschwimmer Panerai and so I took a few photos.
Interestingly, it really matches, as you can see below. So I am posting this
inscription in the hopes that it may come useful for somebody going vintage.
Or at least that you know that the writing style really exists.
Source of the Pam above (excerpt from a book on military technology)
A bit more history:
That's how the monument looks like:
The fortress at the opposite side of the river Rhine is one of my all-time
favourites. Named "Feste Ehrenbreitstein" it was built on the ruins of an ancient
fortress and was often besieged but never destroyed. Captured through treason, though.
Below to the right is one of the castles from the Prince-Elector.
While I took these pictures the National Horticultural Show ("Bundesgartenschau") was on so it does not look warlike a lot.
But you can tell from the walls that you wouldn't like to be an approaching
infantry man... at least not if you were from the wrong army...
First you needto get through here ... (aka survive)
... to be greeted by a friendly facade at the inner ring (the 2m trench is not
visible here). A lot of detail went into the construction, like every gun hole is
enclosed by soft sandstone, so that the soldiers can't be wounded by splintering
rock if they are getting shot at etc. Eye for the details they had.
Front:
And back of the wall above. Notice that there is no shelter. So once this wall was
breached the attackers could not hide and due to the color of the wall they
stood out and made pretty targets. Devious.
A sample of what was waiting at the gun holes ... Gatling gun, fat caliber.
I wouldn't want to wind up at the receiving end of this baby.
The grounds of the fortress are very spacious. The backdrop is the Rhine river
valley:
The fortress is strategically located and controlled / dominated a vast area
Wristie with "Feste Ehrenbreitstein" in the back
And something like the Blue Surf
So the Bundesgartenschau also had a reference to watches. Kind of
Finally: You would not really think that the German Army controls procurement
from these offices (Amt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffungswesen). Here they
decide which weapons to develop / procure etc., although today most of this is
co-ordinated with Britain and France in the Bureau Trilateral des Programmes in Paris.
###
Thanks for looking
is full of history. Koblenz, originally a German settlement that was "later" fortified by the Romans,
has a long military history and today houses many important German Army
institutions. Despite all that it is part of the UNESCO world heritage now.
When I visited the Deutsches Eck, a place where two rivers unite, I saw an
inscription on a monument for Emperor Wilhelm I. It reminded me of the font that
I saw on a Kampfschwimmer Panerai and so I took a few photos.
Interestingly, it really matches, as you can see below. So I am posting this
inscription in the hopes that it may come useful for somebody going vintage.
Or at least that you know that the writing style really exists.
Source of the Pam above (excerpt from a book on military technology)
A bit more history:
That's how the monument looks like:
The fortress at the opposite side of the river Rhine is one of my all-time
favourites. Named "Feste Ehrenbreitstein" it was built on the ruins of an ancient
fortress and was often besieged but never destroyed. Captured through treason, though.
Below to the right is one of the castles from the Prince-Elector.
While I took these pictures the National Horticultural Show ("Bundesgartenschau") was on so it does not look warlike a lot.
But you can tell from the walls that you wouldn't like to be an approaching
infantry man... at least not if you were from the wrong army...
First you needto get through here ... (aka survive)
... to be greeted by a friendly facade at the inner ring (the 2m trench is not
visible here). A lot of detail went into the construction, like every gun hole is
enclosed by soft sandstone, so that the soldiers can't be wounded by splintering
rock if they are getting shot at etc. Eye for the details they had.
Front:
And back of the wall above. Notice that there is no shelter. So once this wall was
breached the attackers could not hide and due to the color of the wall they
stood out and made pretty targets. Devious.
A sample of what was waiting at the gun holes ... Gatling gun, fat caliber.
I wouldn't want to wind up at the receiving end of this baby.
The grounds of the fortress are very spacious. The backdrop is the Rhine river
valley:
The fortress is strategically located and controlled / dominated a vast area
Wristie with "Feste Ehrenbreitstein" in the back
And something like the Blue Surf
So the Bundesgartenschau also had a reference to watches. Kind of
Finally: You would not really think that the German Army controls procurement
from these offices (Amt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffungswesen). Here they
decide which weapons to develop / procure etc., although today most of this is
co-ordinated with Britain and France in the Bureau Trilateral des Programmes in Paris.
###
Thanks for looking
