Walter Koessler project

An extensive personal look into World War I through a German officer's photos

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Page 58 of 105

More unusual clothes in the Carpathian mountains. Look at those awesome fleece pants!

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918, now available on Amazon.

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Page 57 of 105

The Carpathian Mountains. Here, Walter seems to be particularly interested in the people and their homes. Their clothing must have been particularly unusual to Walter, who may never have seen people dressed this way before.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918, now available on Amazon.

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Page 56 of 105

The journey begins. The cannons and artillery pieces are loaded onto a train, and the remaining supplies are packed on a wagon train separately. This is going to be a long trip!

Get $20 off when buying the reproduction of this photo album on Amazon! Use claim code TUMBLR20, sale ends tomorrow!

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Page 55 of 105

The troops begin preparations for a long trip into the Carpathian Mountains. Walter appears to be documenting the group before they depart and separate.

This week, get $20 off when you buy the reproduction of this photo album with claim code TUMBLR20 on Amazon

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Hello new followers! Where did you all come from?! This blog has almost a thousand new followers in the last two days, which is wonderful and surprising! I'd love to know how you found it.

With new followers and old in mind, here's a couple announcements I should have made a long time ago: Walter's photos are currently on exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA! Above are a few photos of me and the museum's curator of photography and her assistant checking out the exhibit. They really did a beautiful job setting up Walter's album for view, and if you're in Pittsburgh between now and December you should check it out!

I'm actively looking for other museums to show Walter's work in. Our goal is to share Walter's photos with as many people as possible. If you know anyone at an appropriate museum or gallery, please let me know how to contact them at [email protected].

Also I've redone the WalterKoessler.com website. Shiny! Check it out here.

For those of you who are new, Walter's photos are available as a beautiful hard-bound coffee table book. The book contains a reproduction of the whole album at almost actual size, and was funded by two thousand backers on Kickstarter. It's one of the most-funded publishing projects of all time on Kickstarter.

Thanks for your interest in this project, I'm so happy to be able to share these photos with all of you. In celebration of all these new followers, get $20 off on the book with claim code TUMBLR20 this week! (I've never done a sale before, email me if you have problems)

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Page 54 of 105

More investigation of the church at Montfaucon. Here you can see a photo from the roof that matches the ones of the soldier in page 47.

I did some searching online for this church, but wasn't able to find it's present-day location for certain. There is a church ruin in Montfaucon-d'Argonne, but it's difficult to say from the photos I've found that this is the same place. The modern day location there is almost completely decimated.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918.

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Page 53 of 105

Interior photos of the church in Montfaucon. This church in particular received a lot of attention, and it's here that Walter realizes the advantage of getting full sunlight inside a church with a blown out roof.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918.

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Page 52 of 105

The beginning of the series of bombed churches. Walter had a special fascination with these churches because he had trained as an architect before joining the war. This church is in Montfaucon, France.

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Page 51 of 105

More swimming and hanging around nude. The dogs make another appearance, and officers take a break for tea.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918

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Page 50 of 105

The boys take a break to go swimming. Quite a few of these square images are actually one frame of a stereographic pair. I'll post those soon.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918.

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Page 49 of 105

In between assignments in 1916. Walter's dog makes a reappearance, and I've included the note from the back of that photo. My mom provides this rough translation:

“My Hell in Montfaucon. 6 meters under ploughed earth, one cannot stand up, but sleeps well.”

What a note.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918, now available on Amazon.

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Page 48 of 105

The kitchen wagon and a 150mm cannon in action.

Photos from Walter Koessler 1914-1918, now available on Amazon.

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Page 47 of 105

1916 compilation. Photos from Verdun, Metz and Mont-Faucon. I've included the reverse of the photo with the officers on horseback as it's a postcard.

The two photos of the man looking out of the top of a ruined church are from a set on page 54, so get excited about bombed out churches!

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Page 46 of 105

Horse riding. These photos are labeled February 1916.

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Page 45 of 105

Winter continues, now with sledding and snowmen! The solders in the photo above the snowmen are posing for their snow-sculpted counterparts below.

Also note that in the photo of the trees, there is a man climbing a ladder to a hidden lookout near their tops. Awesome!

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Page 44 of 105

Landscapes in winter. Walter sure had an eye for the beautiful things around him, and he found them here even in the middle of the war. It's really touching that he took the time to take these photos and to make a spread of them in the album.

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Page 41-43 of 105

Walter wrote a report here detailing a scouting troop he lead and a small skirmish with the enemy. The map shows their movements in the general area that they traveled. In the end, they were spotted and retreated while throwing grenades at the enemy.

The full account can be read in English in my book version of this album. Buy the print version on Amazon or the PDF on my website.