Ludendorff Charitable Foundation for War Disabled Veterans

Ludendorff-Spende für Kriegsbeschädigte is a non-profit organization that appeared in Germany in May 1918. It was founded by a certain Emma Tscheuschner. As the name of the foundation suggests, its goal was to help disabled soldiers return to normal life. There would be nothing remarkable about this foundation (during the First World War, many different organizations, foundations and mass movements appeared - let's remember at least the "publisher.

The back of the postcards. The logo of the Ludendorff Foundation is printed in the upper left corner. In the lower right corner is the publisher Rotophot AG, Berlin. The dates on the postcards are noteworthy: the text is dated June 5, 1918, and they were mailed on June 6, 1918. Both were sent by field mail from the town of Darnitsa, now part of Kyiv. Even if we assume that the Ludendorff Foundation was founded on May 1, 1918, a month later the postcards it published were in the active army on the territory of today's Ukraine.

But the most remarkable, in my opinion, visual trace left by the Ludendorff Foundation is a series of six color postcards, which in their expressiveness were very different from all the patriotic propaganda products produced at that time in Germany (and not only there). The authors of the drawings placed on the front side of the postcards were famous German artists, graphic artists and caricaturists. It seems that it was possible to attract venerable authors to work on the postcards largely due to the name of the patron of the foundation and the noble goal that this foundation pursued.

The author of the first postcard in the series is an employee of the German satirical magazine Simplicissimus and a member of the Berlin Secession, caricaturist and illustrator Olaf Gulbransson ( 1873 - 1958) - a Swede who was born in Norway, but lived and died most of his life in Germany.

A legless soldier holds on to a plough, having given his crutch to a nurse. As usual, a very laconic and recognizable drawing by Gulbransson. 1918.

The second postcard in the series was created by Ludwig Hohlwein ( 1874-1949 ), a renowned poster artist whose main period of creativity was in the 1910s and 1920s. During the Third Reich, several postage stamps were issued based on Hohlwein's designs.

A German soldier holds a hammer and wire cutters in his right hand, leaning on a crutch with his left.

A drawing by Adlof Münzer ( 1870-1953 ), a graphic artist, painter and decorator who visited the front in 1915 as a war artist, appeared on the third postcard.

We all want to help. An angel over the shoulder of a soldier with one arm points to a forest of raised hands.

The Munich artist Franz Reinhardt ( 1881–1946 ), himself wounded in World War I, created the fourth postcard.

Help everyone with the Ludendorff Fund for War Disabled Veterans.

Another employee of Simplicissimus and member of the Berlin Secession, graphic artist and caricaturist Wilhelm Schulz ( 1865-1952 ), is the author of the fifth postcard.

Two wounded soldiers stand next to a woman. In the foreground of the drawing is a plough. In the background is a portable collection box, where a queue of people wanting to donate money to the Ludendorff Foundation is standing.

The last postcard in the series was created by the famous battle artist Fritz Grotemeyer ( 1864-1947 ), who, as a correspondent for the Leipzig newspaper "Illustrirte Zeitung" in 1914-1915, visited the Western Front in Flanders and northern France. Grotemeyer is also the author of the drawings for a series of postcards dedicated to German colonial troops in East Africa , which was published by the Colonial Wars Foundation (Kolonial-Krieger-Spende) also in 1918.

All the postcards shown above have the Ludendorff Foundation logo printed in green ink on the back. The series of six color postcards was published by the Munich publishing house of Friedrich Bruckmann ( F. Bruckmann AG ), which, by the way, still exists today.

The back of a postcard created by Fritz Grotemeyer. In the upper left corner is the logo of the Ludendorff Foundation, in the center from bottom to top is the inscription "Art Postcard No. 6 by Fritz Grotemeyer, Berlin". In the lower right corner is the trademark of the publisher "F. Bruckmann AG".

Some postcards from the series were published by Hermann Buswitz Berlin S , or have no imprint at all.

The back of postcard No. 3. The publisher Hermann Buswitz is indicated in the lower right corner.

The back of postcard No. 4. No information about the publisher.

Ludwig Hollwein's drawing was also published as a poster. It is possible that drawings by other artists who took part in the creation of the postcard series were also published as posters, but we have not come across them.

Those who donated to the Ludendorff Foundation were given special certificates or badges.

"The owner of this certificate has donated 5 marks to the Ludendorff Charitable Foundation for War Invalids. I thank the donor on behalf of all his fellow invalids. Honorary Chairman of the Ludendorff Foundation"

Certificate confirming the donation of 1 mark.

Sources:

delcampe.net

ettlingenww1.blogspot.ru