Empress Empress Auguste Viktoria Signed Red Cross Postcard Wilhelm II Royalty DE

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Empress Empress Auguste Viktoria Signed Red Cross Postcard Wilhelm II Royalty DE:
$250.75

For your consideration is an original Imperial German Red Cross fundraising postcard issued during the First World War, featuring a wartime photograph taken by Her Majesty Empress Auguste Viktoria in July 1915. The printed legend at the top reads, Aufgenommen von Ihrer Majestt der Kaiserin und Knigin im Juli 1915 (Taken by Her Majesty the Empress and Queen in July 1915), and the image depicts Kaiser Wilhelm II standing in field uniform alongside Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg at Posen (now Pozna, Poland). The photograph was produced and published by Rotophot A.G., Berlin, one of the principal Imperial German photogravure houses responsible for official wartime imagery.

The lower margin bears the printed dedication, Zur lieben Erinnerung an Knig Georg Auguste Viktoria Posen 1915, executed as part of the original photomechanical plate rather than as a hand-applied autograph. Such facsimile inscriptions were characteristic of officially sanctioned Red Cross issues produced for charitable war-welfare fundraising. The verso confirms its publication by the Central Committee of the Red Cross (Herausgegeben vom Central-Komitee vom Roten Kreuz) and states that the total proceeds were placed at the disposal of Her Majesty the Empress and Queen, underscoring its role in organized wartime relief efforts under imperial patronage.

This example was written in Seidenberg, Silesia (now Zawidw, Poland) and dated 22 November 1916, during the height of the British naval blockade of Germany. The message references wartime conditions and explicitly remarks upon the English blockade, providing direct civilian commentary from within the German Empire. Addressed to Miss Jennie C. Weare, 211 Crawford Avenue, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., the card reflects transatlantic correspondence during the period of American neutrality prior to April 1917.

The postcard bears two German Empire Germania issue stamps totaling 5 Pfennig, consistent with the international postcard rate of the period, and is cancelled BINDEN 23.11.16. Retaining clear postal markings, legible manuscript text, and strong printed contrast, this example represents a documented piece of Imperial German wartime ephemera combining official Red Cross publication, imperial photographic attribution, and authentic First World War postal usage.