(Wehrmacht Ritterkreuzträger Fotos mit Unterschriften). A mixed lot of Knight’s Cross recipient photos with signatures, including:
1. A signed postcard of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, featuring a close-up headshot with the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords just visible, with the lower quarter of the image overlaid by von Manstein’s handwritten signature in black ink, the reverse unused and bearing a Heidelberg studio mark, measuring 10.5 cm (w) x 15 cm (h), in near extremely fine condition.
2. A wartime signed postcard of General Hans von Obstfelder (Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, 27 July 1941; with Oak Leaves, 7 June 1943, and; Swords, 5 November 1944), depicted in uniform and with the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves clearly visible, the lower right corner of the image overlaid by von Obstfelder’s handwritten signature in black ink, the reverse unused and bearing a Hoffmann studio mark, measuring 9 cm (w) x 14 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.
3. A signed photo of Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs (later Protector of Bohemia and Moravia) Konstantin von Neurath, consisting of a close-up headshot likely retrieved from a newspaper or other publication and pasted to a larger paper backer, overlaid by von Neurath’s handwritten signature in black ink, measuring 9 cm (w) x 12 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.
4. A rare, private wartime photo depicting Franz Mosler, seen in uniform with his newly-received Knight’s Cross clearly visible, the lower corner of the image overlaid by Mosler’s handwritten signature and date of “31. 10. 42”, measuring 5.5 cm (w) x 8.5 cm (h), with a small tear to the top right corner, an unpublished and dedicated image in near extremely fine condition.
Footnote: While serving with Infanterie-Regiment 461 on the Eastern Front in early 1942, Franz Mosler occupied a hilltop position and, using a machine gun, single-handedly defended against a Red Army assault for 14 hours in temperatures of -30 celsius. He simultaneously directed German mortars and artillery against Soviet positions, destroying five machine gun nests and a mortar, as well as disrupting Soviet attempts to flank German forces. For these actions, he received the Knight’s Cross on 9 May 1942. Mosler was later killed in action in France on 7 July 1944.