Der deutsche Krieg in Feldpostbriefen

[Halder]

Has anyone read a series of books by Joachim Delbrück, Der deutsche Krieg in Feldpostbriefen? It's an 11-volume collection of letters from front-line soldiers, chiefly from 1914-1915 by the looks of it. I stumbled across a volume on ebay from the March to the Marne and it looked rather interesting (and expensive...)

Thanks in advance.

[Paul Hederer]

Has anyone read a series of books by Joachim Delbrück, Der deutsche Krieg in Feldpostbriefen? It's an 11-volume collection of letters from front-line soldiers, chiefly from 1914-1915 by the looks of it. I stumbled across a volume on ebay from the March to the Marne and it looked rather interesting (and expensive...)

Thanks in advance.

Richard,

I haven't read the series you're asking about. My first concern would be (if you're looking to use it as a source for first-hand accounts) its objectivity given the time of its publication.

The Wiesbaden library has all but one of the volumes. I could take a look for you, but it wouldn't be earlier than the middle of next week, as we're off skiing and a quick trip to the BA-MA tomorrow.

Paul

[Halder]

Richard,

I haven't read the series you're asking about. My first concern would be (if you're looking to use it as a source for first-hand accounts) its objectivity given the time of its publication.

The Wiesbaden library has all but one of the volumes. I could take a look for you, but it wouldn't be earlier than the middle of next week, as we're off skiing and a quick trip to the BA-MA tomorrow.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for the offer. No rush whatsoever. 1914 is a very long term project. I picked up a similar volume published in 1915 or so a few years ago of letters from Flanders, which was remarkably like the anthology of German students' letters published by Witkop post-war. Having waded through about 50 Nazi propaganda books from the Polish campaign, weeding out the death and glory ones should be a piece of cake! Or that's the theory.

Enjoy BA-MA. Wish I was there. I hope to get there again this spring, finances permitting.

[bob lembke]

As far as using collections of letters as a primary source, I think that one can usually sniff out the wildly propagandistic ones. I think that every author (except myself, of course!) of a primary or secondary source is conciously or unconciously engaging in some "spin" and filtering. But these are the sort of source that really should have corroboration. You really don't know what is behind published "letters". I much prefer manuscript letters or diaries. I have just started translating a 75 page manuscript diary of a sergeant in my grand-father's army corps in Belgium, seemingly written in the field; it literally ends as his troop-train is rolling thru Berlin, his home-town, on its way east to face off against the (recently) invading Russians. From this I deduce that he was able to give the diary to someone at a rail station to take to his family. Bought it on e-Bay, unfortunately engaging in a bidding duel with a Belgian and paid quite a bit for it. But the first two pages translated are very interesting.

If I read this diary as published as a book 15 years later I would have a lower confidence level.

A major problem with these collections of letters is that they usually are presented as literature, or as a patriotic piece, and do not have all of the background information that one would want, like names, units, place, or even, in some cases, dates. So the letter gives athmosphere, not hard information.

Bob Lembke

[Halder]

Thanks for the input. I am a big fan of Feldpost for its immediacy, like diaries. Of course, one should always bear in mind self-censorship and censors' censorship but for me it's about as reliable a source from the front line as there is. I've not delved much into WW1 letters, much more WW2 so far.

[Halder]

Briefe aus dem Felde 1914-1915, a collection of letters from the Zentralstelle zur Sammlung von Feldpostbriefen, published in 1916 arrived today. Nearly 800 pages of letters/Erlebnisberichte from land, sea and air from the first 12 months of the war. A very pricey but excellent investment, not least because there's a very useful index of places/battles at the beginning which makes it a lot easier to sift through.