Kameraden der Kaserne

Buddies, pals,
mates, comrades.
Military service forms special bonds of friendship.

It's a relationship based on a shared experience.
A common understanding
of demanding and often hazardous work,
of baffling orders and boring delays,
of ridiculous loss and glorious victory.

And occasionally interrupted by intense danger
and terrifying menace.

It helps to have good confidants
who've endured the hardships
and savored the same emotions of wartime.

Those are true comrades in arms.
The pals who would do anything for you.

What soldier wouldn't want a photo of the best of those times?

This postcard photo shows a barracks room
of 15 soldiers of the German Imperial Army
sometime between 1914 and 1918.
Though there is no date, no names, or other markings,
this kind of goofy pose was a very popular style
for German soldiers to make during the Great War.
Though I've seen a few similar postcards
from British and French soldiers,
this lighthearted picture was very much a German fashion
as there are hundreds for sale on the postcard markets.

The men clowning around over a keg of German beer
attracted my attention
because the camera captured a rare goodnatured quality
of soldiers in wartime.

 I liked it enough to buy
a second postcard from the same dealer.

It's the same brand of beer,
Balsam-Märzen,
but a different keg
that still has its tap.

The photographer of this photo
has asked the soldiers to look at the camera.

It's a jolly bunch that is also
in a barracks room in a state of off-duty
wearing undress uniforms just like the first group.

The silliness in this photo is
that they are enjoying a meal
of potatoes? Dumplings?
Cheese fondue?
What goes with beer?

The photo of this group of a dozen soldiers
is also unmarked without date or place.
They might be from a different regiment
but there are some odd similarities with the first postcard.

There are tiny features of the barracks rooms
that are similar.
The wood cabinets in the corners are a bit alike.
And at first I thought the enameled pitcher
might be a match.
But on close inspection the mess scars
are in slightly different places.

But the long Bavarian hunter's smoking pipe
held by the soldier on the right in the first photo
is definitely a match. 

The best match is his goateed comrade
seated left in the first photo
and standing right in the second
this time with a standard pipe.
You can't hide wide ears like that.

If you like a game
see if you can find another match.
There are about six or seven more.

Were the photos taken on the same day?
In the same room?
It's hard to say,
but I'm convinced that
they are the same German soldiers, mostly,
and from the same unit.

Kameraden der Kaserne
~
Comrades of the Barracks

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where sometimes you have to wait for your beer.