I agree, better not fiddle with it, it'd be a shame to harm such a great piece. The roof decoration looks like the crest of Hannover, a pair of interlocked horse-heads. That wooden examples a beauty - things like this look fantastic when tucked into almost any German military collection. The carving stands on its own merit, great lines to it.
KR,
As always, good to see you here and glad that you've been enjoying the thread too. Thanks to Dean's outstanding collection of artwork and the history behind many of these images, it's made this thread an ongoing pleasure. I'm of the mind that small nuances can be very helpful putting history into proper context and perspective. Once you know the story behind some of the illustrations, it makes the steak that much sweeter, yum ..!
The card you just posted should prove my point. If we look at the painting we see it's technically very good, nice strong colors, a super-looking eagle with a German flag and a wee tiny ship, there on the horizon ... But once you told us the "behind-the-scenes" story, we then view that impression in an entirely different way. It can change our reaction from a ho-hum, "oh yes, how nice .." to a jaw-dropping visual experience and profound understanding.
I remember my grandfather and great-uncles talking first-hand about world events and the titanic battles and struggles during the two wars, so I grew up hearing the German side of the story. When things directly related to what I heard them talking about are brought to life in so many great styles by artists, that "old German postcard," takes on a whole new dynamic for me. One of those stories I remember hearing was exactly this one, one of several U-Boot incidents. After this happened a couple of times the German boat commanders said screw this, no more helping survivors on the surface ... we're outta here, adios and goodbye!
