Color Photos of First World War

[Pete]

Click on the link to see color photos of the German army during WW I. These were taken in Alsace and Champagne during the early part of the war.

Die Farbe des Krieges - einestages

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[gunner]

Good link Pete,

Seen this at TV in Spiegel TV the made a series from WW1 to WW2 very interresting. They had movies from all places. The best ones was from Okinawa and Leyte.

Gunner

[JB White]

Are these colorized photos or are they originals? I thought the earlier color film was a total flop until the late 20's or early 30's?

BTW- The color sure adds a lot more life to those scenes.

[Pete]

Those are color photographs. The following link to the Daily Telegraph, London, from last November has many of the same images and the captions are in English.

The first colour photographs from the German front line during World War One - Telegraph

[jjroth]

Definitely put a face on the the opposition, no matter what the propagandist state!

[BruceV]

The pictures are amazing. I had not idea how well built were the German trenchworks. One would have to suppose that these pictures present the exception in condition due to clear weather, etc. Never the less, everything is very orderly and neat. Compared to photographs of allied positions, the conditions in the German trenches look to be superior.

[Pete]

On another forum it was suggested that the trench scenes shown may be of training trenches because they are so neat, trim, and evidence of damage from gunfire and shells is so conspicuously absent. In 1917 the Germans gave up using continuous trench lines in favor of defenses in depth for several kilometers. In the Hindenburg Line strong points were pillboxes made of reinforced concrete and sleeping quarters and latrines were underground concrete facilities with electricity and running water. Forward areas were only lightly held so defenders would not be harmed by artillery fire during the opening phases of attacks. The West Wall or "Siegfried Line" (as G.I.s called it) of World War II were what German defensive lines evolved into.

[Jim K]

Those pictures were taken in the early days in an area not then involved in combat, so things are still neat and clean. They would not stay that way. Plus, the Germans were often able to occupy the higher and drier ground while the Allies were literally stuck in flat terrain where the water table was just below the surface.

By WWI, both the French and the Germans had developed color photography, but the French at least was quite clumsy, being based on a wet plate process, about where b&w photography was during the American Civil War. Subjects had to pose and remain still and the size and complexity of the cameras precluded any kind of "action" photos.

Jim