A Unique First War German Red Cross Hospital Train Photo Album

Measuring 328x259mm, extremely fine condition with light scuffing. The title, “Bremer Lazarettzüge”, means military hospital trains from Bremen (northern Germany). The album contains ten continuous pages, each measuring 288x213mm, near extremely fine condition with some creasing, linnen in celluloid case. They show the blueprint of the train in the form of a coloured drawing. It has 38 cars that include 260 beds, cars for staff and materials, and for cooking and storing of food and drinks. It is dated to Bremerhaven on February 15, 1915. The album also contains eleven photos of the train, near mint condition, measuring ca. 225x165mm,

Mostly shots of the inside of the cars. They include hospital cars (Krankenwagen) (for officers and for enlisted men), the bandaging car (Verbandswagen), the kitchen (Küche), the doctors’ dining room (Ärztespeisezimmer), the nurses’ dining room (Speisezimmer für Schwestern), a doctor’s room (Arztzimmer), and two outside shots, one with the Lloyd factory in the background, one with the Lloyd liner “Bremen”. The name of the original owner, Chief Medical Officer of Auxiliary Hospital Train 23, displayed on the inside of the cover, has been scratched out.

Footnote: Lazarettzüge were used to transport wounded soldiers from the front to safety and back home. They were financed exclusively through donations (in the form of the sale of postcards), especially supported by the Red Cross.