Death notice of Heer Mountain Trooper

[humble collector]

I'm trying to decipher this Gothic style writing of another death card.
I picked out bits and pieces looks like in loving memory of father, brother,and brother in law Karl Hammer? Senior Corpral in one Mountain Hunter Regt bearer of the KVK 2nd Class died 10 Oct 1944 at Finland during a air attack. I imagine he was part of the Leningrad siege. Very hard for me to read, but I'm getting a bit better. I imagine I'm still off a bit on the translation

[humble collector]

I find it odd to have gerbrirs stationed there. Unless, they were being used as scouts etc... for their ski abilities in the snow

[HPL2008]

The name is Karl Bammer.

Obergefreiter is a private rank; Gebirgsjäger means mountain infantry.

I see no connection to the siege of Leningrad, as this was already over at the time of his death.

[Jb4046]

Lapland war?

[Jan]

There were many, many Gebirgsjäger stationed in Northern Finland (Eismeerfront) between 1941 and 1944. At his time of death Finland had already made a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. The Moscow Armistice demanded Finland break diplomatic ties with Germany and expel or disarm any German soldiers left in Finland after 15 September 1944.

I have this exact same card, I am a bit worried about it might be a reproduction as it turns up quite regularely on E-bay (by the same seller). Close inspection of the paper is a must to determine if it´s original or not.

Best,

Jan

[BrodieBartfast]

Would a great many of each card not have been printed at once? Considering they'd be handed out at the soldat's funeral, they'd want to have enough for every friend and family member. Makes sense that they'd occasionally be discovered in significant numbers.

B.B.

[HPL2008]

Would a great many of each card not have been printed at once? Considering they'd be handed out at the soldat's funeral, they'd want to have enough for every friend and family member. Makes sense that they'd occasionally be discovered in significant numbers.

Death cards were (and are) ordered by the deceased's family who also decide on the number of cards required.

The cards are handed out during the funeral/memorial service and also given or mailed to people who didn't attend it personally, but who had sent or expressed their condolences or simply knew the deceased.

So the numbers vary greatly, from a few dozen for a poor nobody with few friends and relatives to many hundred for a local VIP.

[Jan]

Would a great many of each card not have been printed at once? Considering they'd be handed out at the soldat's funeral, they'd want to have enough for every friend and family member. Makes sense that they'd occasionally be discovered in significant numbers.

B.B.

That´s entirely true but this card has other issues too. Compared with the hundreds of original "Sterbebilder" I collected for an exhibition here in Finland between 2014 and 3/2018 the paper on this particular card is very different from all of the other original ones I accuired during those years. Not saying this one is a photocopy, just having my doubts, but there are many fakes out there for sure!

Best,

Jan

[Jan]

Gents,

Some pictures here from the exhibitions in Helsinki (2017) and Hanko (2018-2019).

I would say 97% of the "Sterbebilder" were original (all of these German soldiers died in Finland within the 1943-1944 timeframe that is the scope of my research).


Best, Jan