UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories Helmet Forum A nice personalized SS-VT helmet photo

I just acquired this very nice portrait photo of an SS-VT "Germania" soldier. He is wearing a DD RZM issue SS helmet with his black service dress uniform. It is nicely dated, dedicated and personalized on the back.

This was a popular method of sending relatives a recent and heroic image of yourself back then. Soldiers could go to a studio, have the photo taken and then transfered onto postcards which were then dedicated and sent out to family members. I am sure this is just what "Gunter", the VT soldier shown in this photo, did in this case...for either his brother or sister.

PS - thanks to forum member Donald for the translation.

Back of the photo...

Very cool



Andrew

Kool! Nice catch, Darryl. I, too, have a few of these studio portraits. They 'accessorize' a collection very nicely.

Cody

Darryl,

Pure history !!
Nice catch.

regards,

Nice! gotta love those collar tabs!

Very cool pic Darryl.

Very nice picture Darryl.
Fits your collection.

Anders

A gem indeed.

Well done.

Cheers
Don

That's a nice picture darryl

Magnificent photo, this profile pictures are the best prewar momentos and show the cofidence honor and distinction in belonging to the elite SS. And as said before is a great adition to complement a helmet collection display.

Again congratulations,

Federico

Thanks guys. To me, this is the quintessential portrait of the period SS man...a member of the early Verfugungstruppe wearing an RZM helmet. One of these days I will get around to finding a nice display case and place these period images among the helmets.

As a matter of interest, I have located the small village of Radolfzell on a map. It is right on the Swiss border near Lake Constance which the Germans call Bodensee. Here is a scan with the village circled in yellow.

Cheers,

Darryl,

That's a cool photo! I enjoy getting nice period studio shots, as they really do enhance any display.

Great portrait ,I bet it wasnt cheap.Rob.

Hi Rob,

It wasn't as much as you might think however, these period images are becoming more popular and therefore are ever-increasing in price.

BTW, I just learned that there was an SS-Unterfuhrerschule located at Radolfzell. Interesting. Anyone have a picture of this school?

Cheers,

The noted SS historian and author John P. Moore wrote this about Radolfzell on another forum.

[QUOTE]Radolfzell is located near the NW end of the Bodenzee (Lake Constance). It was the site of the SS-Unterführerschule and earlier the Kaserne of III./SS-"Germania". The 4th Reserve-Führeranwärter-Lehrgang was conducted at Radolfzell from 1.3.1941 to 31.5.1941 with graduates (among those still living) being promoted to Ustuf.(Reserve) on 1.9.1941.[UNQUOTE]

This ties in nicely with the photo in that the subject is a member of SS-Regiment "Germania". I did find a photo of a location in Radolfzell but I have to contact the owner first before I post it here.

Cheers,

Very interesting photo Darryl. Looks like a classic Pocher on a RZM shell.

For about Radolfzell, I do not have pictures of this school, unfortunately, but I know several Dutch volunteers who attended a Lehrgang at this SS-Unterführerschule. Some as late as 1944/45.

Cees

Nice picture Darryl.
Tony

Was he perhaps Austrian?
Great pic...certainly helps place the helmet in perspective.
Paul

Darryl,
Here, as requested, is a postcard of the barracks during its use by the III Battallion of Germania from 1938 to 1939.
Derek

Hi Derek,

Many thanks for that great postcard image of the Radolfzell "Germania" barracks. I figured that you would be the one to have such a picture in your files.

Paul,

I doubt if Gunter was an Austrian. Why do you say that might have been?

Cheers,

I have read that 60 to 70% of the SS Officer Corps were Austrian...after the annex, to avoid being" second class" Germans, many joined to be "hyper" Germans, ie SS, etc. Any truth to that? Just interesting..someone must have done a study on the pool of folk going into the SA, SS, etc. Hope you can shed some light on this..
the politics of the time are seriously interesting...how does one join? Why? What do they really believe? What is the real motive for joining? Has a relation to our own situation in the States,,,Mass Movements, etc.
Basicly..how does it happen...I've read a lot about how AH came to power...and then segue to our interest in the artifacts..I understand the "heroic" agi-prop of the time a bit,but, how does that relate to now? Anything ring a bell?
Sorry for the "rant", but I do think that our interest in these things is a bit deja vieu..in that there are similarities to today,,,not that any of us can alter whats going on, so, its sort of a moral question. How would we have acted in similar circumstances? Faced with the same challenges? Like the man said, if you dont understand the past, you are condemed to relive it. Which is one of the enduring lures of this for me....why? How? Heroic? Interesting? Any judgement at all? I don't know...it has a fascination I don't fully understand myself.
So, to see your pic, brings it home to me in a way that I didn't understand...proud, heroic, ....
Hey, if way off topic, sorry,,but these things interest me.
Paul

I agree, Paul. What attracted these people into the SS was a mystery. Maybe it's the ideological power, or maybe its symbolic force, or maybe their socio-political conditions, or maybe all of these factors that gathered these people outside Germany under the banner of the SS like a huge magnetic force. It was a tragedy that they were mesmerized to believe what would turn out to be an illusion - the rule of the whole of Europe by the Germanic races. The SS was a political as well as a sort of religious organization that utilized its peculiar symbols (like runes) to manipulate the minds of people. And the abundance of these symbols created the rich variety of its uniforms, accouterments and insignia to suit our collecting interest. To me, the SS encompasses all the human experiences from its height to its depth - the glory and the defeat, heroism and viciousness, etc - in their extremes. It's a modern saga from which we can lean a lot today. It's really fascinating.

BTW, that portrait is certainly very attractive, Darryl. Congratulations on your acquisition of it!

Shu