Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

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Icarus69
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Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#1

Post by Icarus69 » 22 Aug 2020, 12:57

Hi all. I have in my posession a photoalbum from the 30's belonging to a Danish scout. It seems as if this scout took a trip to pre war Germany, and participated in some kind of jamboree "meeting" the album seems cronological and i assume that the album represents one trip/meeting. I have some questions regarding 1 person who seems to have been some kind of HJ leader maybe gebietsfuhrer? i cant really tell from his destinctions, there is a caption written by the original owner of the album, it reads " This 22 year old ...unreadable to me,,,,Leader of 90.000 kids .....unreadable to me,,, Now i have found no evidence that this person was ever leader for so many kids in HJ or that the HJ had that amount of kids at what i expect to be pre 1935? Why do i expect it to be pre 35 you may ask? Because according to the wikipedia on HJ the ordinairy scout movement in germany was made illigal in 35. Now what i find interresting too is the fact that the Prince of Wales seems to have been part of this one Jamboree/meeting there are two pictures of him in the same album, but i have found no evidence that he was actually at such a meeting, although he was active in the scout movement. Well thats about it for now, i can post further pictures on request if that may help solve time, place, and info on the person of wich i have 2 pictures for you to look at. P.S i found a group photo of some hitler jugend members. by typing Hitler jugend leaders. And the third guy from the right, looks very much like the guy in my pictures, but no names are mentioned on the group photo either :cry:
Image

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#2

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 22 Aug 2020, 14:20

Welcome to the forum!

Could you post the text? Perhaps we can help decipher it for you.

Also, are there any photographs which include major buildings? These can often be helpful in determining the area, which could lead to an approximate time.


Br. James
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#3

Post by Br. James » 22 Aug 2020, 16:08

Hi Icarus69 -- welcome among us! Thank you for sharing this fine photo. A few things shown in this photo may be helpful:
* The young HJ officer is wearing the HJ Officer's Dagger, which came into service in 1937;
* On his right breast pocket is the HJ Golden Leader's Sport Badge, which came into service in 1937;
* And on his left breast pocket is the 1931 SA Rally at Brunswick Badge, which was worn by all those who could prove that they attended that event. And this may mean that this young man is perhaps not quite as young as first thought!

Again, it's good to have you here! Best of luck with your search,

Br. James

Icarus69
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#4

Post by Icarus69 » 22 Aug 2020, 17:14

Thanks for the welcome! Hmm your observations and dates of the destinctions and dagger, makes the case a bit strange,i really dont think that this Danish kid who took the photos was HJ, but a ordinairy scout, i guess they must have gotten together after the german scouts was disbanded in 35? and does the english prince fit in that late?

And here are the picture text to the HJ photo and another photo of the same guy, and the photo of the group i mentioned in my first post.
i had some trouble uploading them all i guess.

Image The internet group photo Image The picture text to the first photo i posted Image


And as requested some buildings, the first one is the borderhome in Kollund where i guess they made a stop before moving on, because they are also in Lubeck and other places on the trip. Image second image i have no clue where is taken Imageand the third is a out door pool "friluftsbad in danish"Image

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#5

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 22 Aug 2020, 18:56

The text appears to me to say:
Den 22-aarige Distriktsleder for 90.000 børn fra ?Maiforth?

(The 22 year old district leader for 90 000 children from ?Maiforth?)
I'm unsure about the last word. It was not uncommon at the time to have national words for foreign cities. Some are easy to decipher, such as 'Bryssel' for 'Bruxelles', while others are more obscure, such as 'Mailand' for 'Milano'.

You can see a map of Hitlerjugend Gebiete here:
https://www.axishistory.com/books/189-g ... al-regions

The triangular arm patch on the left arm has the name of the Gebiet. Is it possible to get a higher resolution section of this?

As a tip, if you scan in color rather than black and white, it is often possible to discern additional details.

The landmark quotes Hindenburg, and my guess is that it is some kind of memorial to fallen soldiers. Is it possible to get a higher-resolution version of the top of the plaque? The text could quite possible reveal some additional information.

Icarus69
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#6

Post by Icarus69 » 22 Aug 2020, 19:20

I Have no clue what Maiforth could be, Maifurth sounds more german but does not give any results in a search, i dont think that we change city names that much in Denmark, i cant come up with a single example of a german city not pronounced as the germans does.

I scan in 600 dpi the highest possible for my scanner, i have not seen any significant improvements when i scan a black and white photo in color mode.
I tried to enhance the Memorial stone, but it does not help much i think. i throw in a few more pics that may help, The picture of the monument with the giant attatched Swastica may be a landmark to recognise.

Image Image Image Image

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#7

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 22 Aug 2020, 19:59

Icarus69 wrote:
22 Aug 2020, 19:20
Image
This is the Canossasäule in Bad Harzburg:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canossas%C3%A4ule

And no, I didn't know this - I just looked through all the German obelisk-shaped memorials on Google Image Search :)

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#8

Post by Icarus69 » 22 Aug 2020, 20:28

Well done! It seems my scout has been on quite a trip? i may have to rethink some assumptions i have about the album, its becoming a bit random?

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#9

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 22 Aug 2020, 20:42

I could well imagine that this would have been the first real trip that this scout had to another country, and he wanted to see as much as possible. For such a long trip he would almost certainly have been travelling by train. It can be helpful to pin the locations you know to a map (if you have a Google account, you can create your own maps for free on Google Maps). If the photographs are placed chronologically, this could allow you to create a rough timeline, narrowing down the possible locations significantly.


Regarding city names, this is not a practice that is very common anymore, but it was quite prevalent in the first half of the 20th century (my guess would be that it started to disappear during the sixties and seventies, as international travel became more common).

While German cities are largely spelled the same, there are some examples. Hamborg and Flensborg are probably the ones that are still commonly used today, while Lybæk is a less trivial example that is rarely used. Then there are the old Danish names for cities in Schleswig. 'Maiforth' does really match Danish spelling conventions, though, so it might be an incorrect transcription.

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#10

Post by Icarus69 » 22 Aug 2020, 20:59

Great suggestion! i may have to do that i know lubeck, hamburg and now Bad Harzburg there are a few more but im really struggeling with the handwriting. But thanks for your contribution so far, i really appriciate your help.

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#11

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 22 Aug 2020, 21:11

Most welcome :) My grandfather was in the Danish scouts around the same time, and joined the Danish resistance during the German occupation.

Unfortunately, the Danish scouting museum does not have the funding to maintain any exhibition space, so their entire collection has been put into storage. They may still be able to help you in your search, if this was an international event and not just a single person joining:
http://www.spejdermuseet.dk/

Feel free to post the other texts with which you're struggling.

Bad Harzburg is less than 10 kilometers from Brocken (Bloksbjerg), which has a great view. If there are any photographs from the top of a mountain or of a narrow-gauge railroad, they are almost certainly from there.

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#12

Post by Puck » 22 Aug 2020, 22:42

Perhaps Maiforth is no location but HJ-Gebietsführer Hubert Meiforth from Kiel
viewtopic.php?t=143458

Regards Puck

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#13

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 23 Aug 2020, 00:09

Puck wrote:
22 Aug 2020, 22:42
Perhaps Maiforth is no location but HJ-Gebietsführer Hubert Meiforth from Kiel
viewtopic.php?t=143458

Regards Puck
That must be it, thanks! What I read as fra (from) could be Herr (with a very narrow H). While the age doesn't completely match Br. James's information, the person who captioned the photograph might have mis-remembered.

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#14

Post by von thoma » 23 Aug 2020, 01:12

From Forum der Wehrmacht ;

'' Ich habe jetzt mit Hilfe des Stadtarchivs die Sache etwas eingegrenzt - 1936 fand ein Gebitssportfest des HJ-Gebietes 23 Mittelelbe. Einer der beiden Redner könnte Hubert Meiforth als Gebietsführer gewesen sein "
" The right to believe is the right of those who don't know "

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Re: Hitler jugend gebietsfuhrer?

#15

Post by Puck » 23 Aug 2020, 09:53


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