A couple out for a stroll, he a German officer, she stylishly dressed. The title, Renommierbummel, may indicate that one is boasting, or that the stroll itself is one to boast about. It may also refer to the glove she is showing off or putting on. He holds its mate in his right hand. Postcard of a watercolor by Brynolf Wennerberg whose work tended to show that all was well on the German home front, with fashionable women following the war on maps, mailing packages to the front, or engaging with soldiers, wounded or on leave. The message on the reverse is dated November 27, 1916.
Reverse:Kriegspostkarten von B. Wennerberg Nr. 14. RenommierbummelVerlag von Albert Langen, MünchenDruck von Hesse & Becker, LeipzigWar postcards by B. Wennerberg No. 14. Celebrity shoppingPublisher of Albert Langen, MunichPrinting by Hesse & Becker, LeipzigMessage dated November 27, 1916.
"On 19 January [1918], we were relieved at four in the morning, and marched off through thick snow to Gouy, where we were to spend some time training for the imminent offensive. From the instructions issued by Ludendorff as far along the chain as company commanders, we concluded that there was a mighty do-or-die offensive in the offing."
German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger had fought in the first days of the Third Battle of Ypres, begun on July 31, 1917, but on August 10 was redeployed to the front southeast of Verdun where he was wounded in a trench raid in which he also lost 10 of his 14 comrades. After a leave, he returned to Flanders where Third Ypres ground on. In November, he was again wounded in the Battle of Cambrai, recovering over a Christmas leave. In January, 1918, German commander Erich Ludendorff was preparing exactly the 'mighty do-or-die offensive' Jünger refers to. It would be Operation Michael, launched on March 21. Gouy, France, is about 20 km north of Saint-Quentin and 30 km east of Péronne, a city on the Somme River.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 220–221, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
1918-01-19, 1918, January, Ludendorff, Erich Ludendorff, Operation Michael, Spring offensive, Wennerberg couple on snowy walk
