Photos of German General Staff in Paris in 1940

**TabsTabs1964** · 07-10-2022, 12:30 PM

In the imperial section of the Forum, Andy M35 uploaded three photos of the same German soldier and that got us talking about how sad it is when a set of photos are sold separately and one man's story ends up in many offline hands.

That has made me upload what you will see next. Hope you like

Photos of German General Staff in Paris in 1940

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 07-10-2022 12:30 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**TabsTabs1964** · 07-10-2022, 12:32 PM

On May 17, the auction on eBay.de of a group of 25 photographs and a Postkarte dedicated and signed on the back, all of them taken from the album of a German soldier stationed in Paris in the summer of 1940, ended.

He must have been a common soldier probably, but something made him special, him and the photographs he took. He was posted as a chauffeur or adjutant at the German General Staff in Paris in 1940.

They are images of the streets of Paris, in the Place de la Concorde with a Wehrmachtheferin (Blitzmädel); in front of the Claridge Hotel, possibly at the top of the steps of the Trocadero, on a Parisian airfield….

But of course he must have been a very trustworthy man for his bosses, since we not only see photographs of other soldiers who are the photographer's companions. There are also officers and secretaries of the General Staff; of great personalities, such as Generalfeldmarshall Walter von Brauchitsch OKH Commander in Chief, visiting Paris; or General der Infanterie Otto von Stüpnaggel, Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich (MBF) Military Commander in France, together with the rest of the officers of the German General Staff in France and especially their chief: the one who was at that time Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Speidel.

The starting price of each of the photos was 10 euros. Their selling prices have changed.

Only one photo was not sold (the one of the soldiers' accommodation, logical since you only see a building on a street), eight photos were sold for the starting price of 10 euros, another six were sold for a little more, between 10.50 and 12.50 euros; another six for intermediate prices, between 20.50 and 27 euros; and the six with identifiable famous people, between 35 and 68 euros. The most expensive is that of the group of the Staff of the General Staff. The two of Colonel Speidel sitting at his table, for 60 and 65 euros, respectively.

The total the seller won with those 25 photos, no less than 562 euros and another 70 euros with the autographed postcard. About 630 euros for a piece of history.

The group has ended up scattered in the hands of 22 different collectors, only two got two photos, the other twenty, went to twenty different collectors.

The next day that piece of history will travel to different countries in the hands of many collectors.
I have been lucky enough to realize that it was a story told in a couple of dozen images that I have saved, that I have placed in a logical narrative order and that I now share for lovers of History. That way they won't be lost forever in the night of oblivion.

I have only added some image related to the topic. I hope you like it.