David_Blanchard Posted 2 December , 2003 Share Posted 2 December , 2003 I am interested in the phenomenon of Death Cards. There are a startling number of these cards or 'Sterbebild' for sale on auction sites, mostly depicting German/Austrian soldiers from catholic regions such as Bavaria. I was wondering if there is a British equivalent, for casualties from catholic families? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 2 December , 2003 Share Posted 2 December , 2003 I have seen such cards for British soldiers, albeit only two cards on eBay several years ago. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Death cards were "de riguer" in the victorian era, but the nature of losses in WW1 together with the changing "way of death" meant that they were far less common. Cards were produced for individuals and also for notables (e.g. Kitchener) and there were also a few spoof ones. I have seen a card inscribed "In Never Loving Memory) referring to the crew of the Zeppelin L.21 downed at Cuffley. You can find cards to individual British soldiers but they are not that common. I do not know how common they were in Germany, but I suspect very few were produced towards the end of the war as paper, like everything else, was an increasingly scarce commodity. I don't believe that they were solely catholic. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Are the British ones rectangular, open like a book and sometimes have a photograph ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 You can find cards to individual British soldiers but they are not that common. I do not know how common they were in Germany, but I suspect very few were produced towards the end of the war as paper, like everything else, was an increasingly scarce commodity. I don't believe that they were solely catholic. In Germany they were a solely catholic affair, I've never seen a death card for a protestant soldier. You can find them from 1914 on till 1918, so no saving on paper here. The ones I've seen for British soldiers were the card-type (two sides with a picture of the soldier above the name and the small commemorating text and on the back a religious drawing). Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick ODwyer Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 I have seen one to a member of the Church of England (Middlesex Regiment) but traditionally seem to be more commonly produced for Catholics. The practice still continues but I have never seen a recent Protestant one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 British 'death cards' are not uncommon, but they are not as common as German ones of the period. I have amassed quite a few over the years, and they range from postcards with photos and an obituary, to fold out 'greetings card' type things with photos of the soldier, to even a silk bookmark with a text and a photo. If my scanner was working I would post a few - will get round to it at some point. They are not only to officers - in fact, most of those I have are to ordinary soldiers, often from humble backgrounds. I don't have any 27th May 1918 ones unfortunately, David! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garde Grenadier Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 I am interested in the phenomenon of Death Cards. There are a startling number of these cards or 'Sterbebild' for sale on auction sites, mostly depicting German/Austrian soldiers from catholic regions such as Bavaria. David, these Sterbebilder are still being produced, especially in Catholic circles all over Germany. They were and are never just printed for victims of war or casualties of accidents etc. but for any ordinary deceased man or woman. Some old ones are quite collectable, especially if they are about an important person or related to an important event. By chance I've got e.g. picture-postcards of a major railway accident in Germany and a short time later the Sterbebild of a soldier (WWI) killed in this accident. Pieces of a puzzle coming together... Best wishes, Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Thank you for the description, Paul. I was asking because I have been given copies of two cards that were produced for two brothers who were Welsh Nonconformists. One brother had been with the CEF and the other with the RWF. I also have one for an elderly Catholic German civilian who died December 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Blanchard Posted 3 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Still hopeful, Paul. Took me long enough to find a portrait of General Hamilton Gordon- all I need now is portraits of David Campbell, 21st Div, General H C Jackson, 50th Div and E P A Riddell 149 Brigade. Have Heneker, 8th Div if anyone needs a swop. On the theme of Death Cards has Ralph Whitehead put together a collection of German cards, I read this on a thread from earlier in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Death cards of Belgian soldiers are quit common both with and without a photo of the soldier. Also to be found, mostly made after the war, are cards with the names of all the soldiers of a particular Bn, Regt. or from villages in Belgium. These 'collective remembrance' cards can still be found in specialised fairs in Belgium. An example of one during the War can be found beneath. It is a mixed one: soldiers and civilians killed in a German aerial raid on Poperinge on 12th March 1915. A set of postcards also exist of this particular event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 I have quite a few Death Cards dating from the early years of the last century, naming members of my own family. As others have said, they were quite a common part of the "etiquette" of funeral arrangements of those days. No member of my family was killed while serving in the war so I don't have any to soldiers, but I have seen examples. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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