Pre-HJ (?) postcards

[peterB]

I have found some odd postcards which I thought someone here might be able to help me with.

The first postcard has 1909 written both sides which might be a clue. If someone can translate the writing I would be grateful. My feeling looking through old photos of German youth movements is that this uniform is of the 1909-1914 era (possible connection to Boy Scouts starting in Germany in 1909).

Why I thought this may be of interest is the drum and the shoulder swallows which have a definite connection to the HJ musician uniform.

Any pre-HJ historians able to help?

Cheers Peter

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[Garry]

Hi Peter,

This is the Jungdeutschlandbund. It was formed in 1911 and incorporated into the Hitler Youth in the early 1930s. I can't read the Sütterlin unfortunately and therefore can't explain why it says 1909.

The Hitler Youth was really nothing new in terms of organisations for kids and many of the things (shooting, drill, marching bands etc) in which the HJ later engaged had been going on for many years in a myriad of youth organisations prior to 1926. The Hitler Youth was by far the biggest manifestation of course but it was also a continuation in many ways.

 

[christianlohmann]

In 1909 the book, "Scouting for Boys" by Sir Robert Baden Powell was translated by Dr. Alexander Lion into the German language and adjusted, at some parts, to the German way of life back then. Its name was "Das Pfadfinderbuch". Some already existing groups of youngsters and their leaders adopted the idea of Scouting. The "Deutsche Pfadfinderbund" was founded two years later. Also the Jungdeutschlandbund was formed in 1911.
These early loose groups on this postcard were maybe from the YMCA or other youth group members, local Jugendwehren, patriotic clubs and so on.
The last word on the back says "Landheim", but I can not read the exact location. A Landheim was a kind of "Den" (as used with the BSA), normally a small house (hut, cottage, cabin, barracks) where the group may have held regular meetings or stayed at on weekend trips. It would not be located within a town, but rather in the country or in a smaller village outside the town.
There are many of these early postcards around, and they sell cheep unless you can identify a specific SCOUT group, not just another plain youth group (even if the location is known).
The Jung-Deutschlandbund postcard should sell between 10 and 15 Euro.

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