Description
Illustrierter Beobachter
Donnerstag, 5. September 1940 • 15. Jahrgang • Folge 36
Verlag Franz Eher Nachf. GmbH, München 22
24 pages scanned
Cover Page
Caption: “So geht’s doch schneller!” (“This way it’s faster!” / “Still going at it!”)
Subject: A wounded German soldier on crutches, in uniform, navigating a wooden obstacle course at a military convalescent facility. Fellow soldiers look on with amusement. The cover links to an inner photo feature (Seite 918) by Gerold Grupp.
Location: Military hospital / convalescent facility, location unspecified.
Photo credit: Gerold Grupp
Major Headlines & Content
England spielt den starken Mann / Von Düff Cooper zum Lachen gechartert (England Plays the Strong Man / Chartered for Laughs by Duff Cooper) — Photo-commentary spread mocking British propaganda and the Ministry of Information under Duff Cooper. Images show: a British civilian supposedly searching for German paratroopers carrying a message-pigeon; English workers collecting apples blown from trees, sarcastically attributed to German bombing; a man reading a leaflet of Adolf Hitler’s speech “Last Appeal to Reason” (Reichstag speech, 19 July 1940), sold in England for 10 shillings; and a woman with toy tanks described as export items. Photo credits: A.P., Hr. Hoffmann.
England — über sich selbst / Lebendige Sandsäcke (England — About Itself / Living Sandbags) — Photo feature drawn from British sources, showing wartime measures: steel plates replacing glass in London railway stations; a burning car used to simulate a tank attack for civilians in late August 1940; sandbag defences in an English village. Opposite page shows Allied colonial and foreign troops in England: Czechs, Foreign Legion, French cadets, Australians, Canadians, Norwegians, Poles — described as recruited from the southern shore of the island, and Norwegian troops who first landed at Narvik. French Foreign Legionaries and Polish artillerymen also shown.
Aden — Stadt im Krater (Aden — City in the Crater) — Two-page illustrated feature on Aden following the Italian conquest of British Somaliland. The article describes Aden as strategically vital for the Red Sea and England’s lifeline to India. Shows Steamer Point (anchorage), the Crater district, oil tank installations, cisterns, the Royal Air Force headquarters. Mentions Italian air force strikes damaging the oil tanks. Dispatch by Karl Kurt Walter.
Täglich Bomben auf die Insel / Die Stukas haben ihn! (Daily Bombs on the Island / The Stukas Got Him!) — Two-page illustrated article and artwork spread on the Luftwaffe air offensive against England. Text discusses the second phase of the air war, targeting docks, airfields, troop camps, and war industries, concentrating on the southern ports. Aerial photographs show bomb damage to a British 8,000-ton cruiser approximately 20 km south of Portland, sunk after Stuka attack. Dramatic artwork illustrations of air combat and anti-aircraft fire by Josef Lazarus. Aerial photo credit: R.L.M.
Fröhlichkeit hilft heilen! (Cheerfulness Aids Recovery!) — Photo feature on wounded soldiers from the France campaign joining a NS-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude steamboat excursion on the Moldau river at Prague. The Prager Reservelagarette band performs, cigarettes and refreshments are distributed. Photo credit: Gerold Grupp.
Gemüsemarkt in Beverwijk (Vegetable Market in Beverwijk) — Photo feature on the thrice-weekly vegetable auction market in Beverwijk, North Holland. Shows farmers’ carts, the auction hall, and the electronic bidding system. Photo credit: Atlantic/A.C.
Other Content
Fiction serial — “Tischlein” — Die Geschichte eines modernen Piraten by Clemens Laar (1st instalment). Opening instalment introducing the Pararika-Shoals island group. Characters include the Dutch-American plantation directors Biders and Schneider, and the villain Felipe Lastro. Setting: Pararika-Shoals, Malaiischer Archipel, Indochina.
Fiction serial — “SOS aus Unbekannt” by Heinz Geck (9th instalment, final). Adventure novel set on the island of Otibanda, the Salamaua Joe valley, and the Matapui valley. Characters include Iris Crosbie, Helmut Bidering, Tonga Kid, Pit O’Bannion, Norana, Pereira, Salamaua Joe, Paul Neuron, and Morton (Assistant Resident). Concludes with government aircraft landing and rescue of the protagonists.
Science article — “Vollkornbrot — der Bundesgenosse der Zahnbürste” — article on the dental and nutritional benefits of wholegrain bread, linked to a Chlorodont toothpaste advertisement.
Humour column — “Humor” — Short jokes and anecdotes. Cartoon illustration by Kossatz.
Cartoon spread
Schach-Beobachter
Puzzles
Advertisements — Haus Neuerburg (Güldenring cigarettes), Kaloderma Kosmetik (F. Wolff & Sohn, Karlsruhe), H. Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken (Sorte R6M), Kosmos Khedive (Kyriazi), Astra (Kyriazi), Bleyle (Wilh. Bleyle K.G., Strickwarenfabriken), Chlorodont, Hansaplast-elastisch, TraumaPlast (Carl Blank, Bonn), Mystikum Puder-Compact, Scherk Gesichtswasser, Crem Ellocar (Ellocar GmbH, Düsseldorf), Rotbart Rasierklingen, Elite Vollfett Schmelzkäse, Agfa Isopan Film, Darmol, Cutex, Dr. Scholl’s Zino-Pads, Kaliklora Zahnpasta, Biserirte Magnesia, Heumanns Herz-Hilfe, Herbin-Stodin (H.O.A. Weber, Magdeburg), Camelia, Aok-Seesand-Mandelkleie, Dr. Oetker Backin, Blaupunkt Radio, Photomaton, Hertwig & Co. (porcelain/Steinzeug, Katzhütte), Hohner Harmonika (Lindberg), Volksschrift Mein Kampf (jubilee edition).