Germany. A Historically Significant Album Depicting the Failed 1920 Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch

With all original, unpublished and rare photographs depicting imagery of the first war (1917) up to and including the Failed 1920 Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. The first set of photos depict the Hungarian town of Hajmáskér, presumably the original owner’s hometown, dated to 1917. Then there are two photos of Lake Balaton. A picture of an Austro-Hungarian soldier from January 28, 1917 presumably shows the original album owner. The following shots show soldiers working and posing with different mortars and cannons. The last two pictures of this set show a military training exercise in Várpalota, Hungary in September 1917, as well as Várpalota Castle. The next set was taken in the city of Pola, Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the southern tip of Istria peninsula (present-day Croatia). The first of these shows four Austro-Hungarian soldiers, one of which is a man called M. Schreiber. This picture is dated to 1910, whereas the other Pola pictures are dated to October and November 1917. They show the ancient Roman amphitheatre, the city’s landmark, as well as other notable sites and buildings of Pola. The next set has a navy theme. A few pictures show the SMS Viribus Unitis of the Austro-Hungarian navy, built in Trieste, commissioned into the navy in late 1912, and sunk by a mine less than 6 years later, on November 1, 1918. The next few shots are of the German Imperial battleship SMS Helgoland, commissioned in 1911. The other pictures show more ships and even a few U-boats. The last one is of a biplane.

The final theme is the “counter-revolution in Berlin”, as stated on the pictures, which is a euphemism for the unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and install a military dictatorship in the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920. The first picture of this set shows General Walter von Lüttwitz (1859–1942) on horseback, surrounded by his Free Corps troops on their march to Berlin, as well as several shots of the troops in Berlin. Measuring 270x248mm, very fine condition with scuffing, and some damage to the spine. It contains 47 photos.