beertje Posted January 8, 2006 Posted January 8, 2006 Hi,came across this pic of an RK with large swords. Has anyone seen this before??martin
Guest Rick Research Posted January 8, 2006 Posted January 8, 2006 It appears that the entire thing has been crudely airbrushed in, so none of that is really there.
Dave B Posted January 8, 2006 Posted January 8, 2006 Rick's right,they have been added.Here is an RK with a set of Oakleaves and Swords that I used to own,notice the larger than normal swords.Dave
beertje Posted January 8, 2006 Author Posted January 8, 2006 airbrushed in?? What do you mean??Its my picture of an original RK winner signed picture which i took in a museum in Berlin..I found it stranged (therefore i took the pic) because the swords are extra large....compared to "normal" oaks en swords.martin
Guest Rick Research Posted January 8, 2006 Posted January 8, 2006 It was VERY common to "add" awards onto wartime photos when a brand new portrait photo was not available. If you look closely I am sure you will see that those are DRAWN in and not real.I don't have any examples to show with awards, but here is a portrait of Generalmajor Christoph Stengel:[attachmentid=22013]He was promoted to Generalmajor 1 December 1943. This portrait was obviously taken when he was an Oberst. The photo has been retouched by making blurry "general" shoulder boards with an airbrush-- but the photographer cropped on collar tabs BACKWARDS!!!! I am sure the new General sent the proofs RIGHT back to be done over again correctly!!!
Biro Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 airbrushed in?? What do you mean??.....martinbeertje...The 'drawing in' of RK's onto an original of an RK winners photograph was an officially sanctioned practice undertaken by the propaganda ministry - here is another example of a quite genuine, wartime photo 'enahncement' on a quite genuine recipients photo... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3535These RK winners were not always readily available for 'press calls' immediately after the award of their RK's - given that they had a war to fight - so the only option left to the propaganda ministry who were desperate to spread the word to the public as quickly as possible that another soldier had won his countrys highest honour was to 'doctor' an existing press photo of that soldier (as per Ricks example..)This has - as you will appreciate if you research this subject elsewhere - thrown up some 'interesting' variations of the Knights cross (and in your case, the swords..) - some of which are the result of superimposing a real RK onto an existing photo and 're-shooting' the photo - others nothing more than the product of an artists imagination... This is nothing out of the ordinary...Marshall
beertje Posted January 9, 2006 Author Posted January 9, 2006 a better/bigger picture..Sorry guys for the huge size... IMHO, i saw the picture at close range (behind glass) and i could not notice any signs of airbrushing...It was so detailed, so fine with texture, coulours and so one....No blurry pic at all...greetingsmartin
Chris Taylor Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 To me the RK itself looks a little uneven (especially the swastika), which makes me think this probably was retouched or added all together.
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