Germany, Imperial. A Private Wartime Photo Album Of Pilot, Ace & Honour Goblet Winner Nco Steudel

The photo album contains 22 photos, 10 of which come as a loose addition. Several are dated to 1916. It also contains several newspaper cutouts and obituaries, telling the tragic story of the Steudel family from Frankenberg in Saxony. The album measures 218 (w) mm x 150 (h) mm, with age-appropriate scuffing and minimal fraying of the cover, remaining in near very fine condition.

The photos show either pilot Theodor Karl Steudel, his brother Hermann, an infantryman, or both. One photo shows what could be the family’s house. It is marked with the words “my window”.

The obituaries tell the story of a family that had to endure considerable hardship. On September 4, 1916 Hermann Steudel of the 10th Company of Schützen Regiment 108 was killed in action shortly before his 26th birthday. A year later, his 25 year old brother NCO Theodor Karl Steudel, born March 9, 1892 was killed in action on October 2, when his plane crashed as the result of a dog fight near Klerken, West Flanders, Belgium. He served in a Jagdstaffel (fighting squadron) and was a recipient of the Honour Goblet of the Luftstreitkräfte, both classes of the Iron Cross, and the Saxon Friedrich August Medal in Silver. A newspaper article states that the same day one of the brothers’ sisters was “severely affected” in a fire incident, however no further information is given. Their mother died in 1924 at the age of 60 as the result of a long illness. One of the two sisters, Rosa Dora Roscher née Steudel died in 1937 at the age of 43. Lastly, Heinz Rudolph, presumably the brother-in-law of the other sister, Martha Rudolph née Steudel, died after a long illness at the age of 27.