Germany, Third Reich. A Rare Prewar Glider Pilot’s Photo Album

(Fotoalbum für Segelflieger). A rare and fascinating prewar glider pilot’s photo album, constructed of a card stock binding with a canvas exterior liner, the spine perforated with four holes reinforced with magnetic metal grommets, with a drawstring looped through the holes to securely maintain the album’s structural integrity, the interior content consisting of 22 black card stock pages, pasted with 212 privately-taken black-and-white images, with scenes beginning in 1932 and depicting the activities of a glider pilot in the immediate pre-Third Reich and early years of the NSDAP regime, many depicting gliders in flight at German Air Sports Association (DLV) and National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK) events, some marked to commemorate the 1936 Berlin Olympics with a flyover of proceedings, as well as regional celebration in the Rhön district (including the first annual Rhön-Tag), notably featuring unpublished images of later-Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch, with most photos supplemented by detailed handwritten inscriptions provided by the owner identifying individuals, events, and locations, including technical data on the Olympic commemorative glider, the album demonstrating minor age-appropriate fatigue and with evidence of two missing photos, accompanied by a small multi-page instructional booklet on the design and function of Third Reich-period gliders, a rare and desirable look at prewar glider service in near extremely fine condition.