UNIQUE FULLY ANNOTATED PHOTO ALBUM WITH 718 SILVER GELATIN PRINTS AND 164 MEMORABILIA DOCUMENTING THE 6-MONTH VOLUNTARY SERVICE OF WILHELM HEYN, A GERMAN STAFF SERGEANT IN THE LEGION CONDOR DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (1936-1939)

Heyn, Wilhelm

Published by NP, NP, 1939

Oblong folio (13 3/4 x 19 1/2"). Unpaginated. [65] tissue-guarded leaves. Original 3/4 bolt bound blue morocco over grey cloth, with a 3 x 2 3/4" metal six-pointed star ornament affixed to the front cover. Within the star are featured the three symbols of the Nationalist Air Force, Franco and the Spanish Legion. Laid in, a splendid illustrated 5000-meter run First Prize certificate gained by Unteroffizier (Staff sergeant) Wilhelm Heyn during a sportive event organized by the Fliegergruppe (Flying Corps) S in Schlessheim, on August 21, and 22, 1936. The certificate is hand signed by both the lieutenant and the commander of Heyn's flying corps. Two weeks prior this, Wilhelm (Willi) Heyn represented Germany in the Men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the Berlin Olympics, where he finished ninth. The competition took place on August 3 and August 8, and the final was won by Volmari Iso-Hollo of Finland. Unique photo-album annotated throughout containing 718 original silver gelatin prints, 164 memorabilia (including a military pass, an authorization to take pictures, propaganda leaflets, as well as 105 stamps) documenting German Luftwaffe Unteroffizier Wilhelm Heyn's six-month service in Nationalist Spain (October 1936 -April 1937) as a volunteer in the Legion Condor* during the Spanish Civil War. The Legion Condor was composed of German volunteers sent by Nazi Germany to help Franco defeat the leftist Republican forces. The Legion provided the Luftwaffe the opportunity to develop and perfect tactics of aerial warfare that would fuel Germany's blitzkrieg through Europe in 1939 and 1940. Wilhelm Heyn was a part of it, as he was doing engineering work at Tablada, Seville's military airport. In some photographs he is seen assembling German planes and weapons. The photographs contained in this album generally follow a chronological order, starting with Heyn's arrival to Spain in the Fall of 1936 onboard the infamous German ocean liner MS "St. Louis"**, and ending with the impressive victory parade for the Legion Condor in Berlin, on June 6, 1939. The album opens with a large 9 1/4 x 7" portrait of Wilhelm Heyn in uniform. It is followed by 16 photographs taken onboard the MS "St. Louis" during his voyage from Hamburg to Cadiz (Nationalist Spain). Underneath this first series of photographs features a long handwritten inscription by Willi Heyn that says: "Though prohibited, I took my Leica. With a few exceptions, over a period of 6 months, I took all the photos under cloudless and sunny skies. Speed: 1/100, aperture 3.5, at a distance of 10 meters." The next series of silver gelatin prints documents the greeting of the German volunteers by a sizeable crowd of civilians giving the fascist salute; Views of Cadiz; Bomb craters and the ruins of bombed houses seen during Heyn's roadtrip from Cadiz to Seville; Views of Seville with the occasional inscription "Viva el Generalissimo Franco!" on the walls; The ruins of Complutum, a Roman city near Madrid (Alcalá de Henares); With the Phalange legion in Cà rdoba; Views of Bilbao. The following photographs depict the gypsy market at Aracena, Portugal; Granada and the alhambra; Aerial views of Seville; Positions abandoned by the "Reds" near Málaga; Views of Málaga, with burned out and bombed out buildings, including the German consulate. The flags of Nationalist Spain, Nazi Germany, and Italy can be seen coming out from windows and balconies. A series of twenty-two pictures depicts Moroccan fighters from Franco's African army, the feared vanguard of a force that, ironically, Franco portrayed as a Christian crusade against godless communists. Another series of photographs (11) shows "Italian comrades," including pilots, men from the "Brigatta Sevillano," and Colonial soldiers. These are followed by views of Gibraltar from Algeciras; Tarifa, including photographs of gypsies begging for money; Seville's military airport of Tablada: a photograph showing a series of mattresses on the floor is captioned ". Seller Inventory # 43439

Bibliographic Details

Title: UNIQUE FULLY ANNOTATED PHOTO ALBUM WITH 718 ...
Publisher: NP, NP
Publication Date: 1939
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: vg
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: Original photograph(s).