Hansa-Brandenburg C.I two-seater armed reconnaissance plane flying over the Alps. The distinctive radiator at the edge of the upper wing and rear-mounted machine gun are clearly visible. Of German origin, the plane was used extensively by the Austro-Hungarian forces.
Reverse (stamped):Zensiert . . . [illegible]Vervielfältigung verboten(censoredreproduction prohibited)
"August 12, 1916. From: Engineer Klee, Air Force Reserve Unit, Schleissheim, Workshop Company. To: Frau Lily Klee, Munich, Ainmillerstrasse 32, second floor in the garden pavilion. 'What a disappointment that you didn't come. Well, let us hope for Sunday; saw Stubenvoll, promised he'd help. But sleeping outside camp is impossible. Will you find a place? Everything is said to be full to overflowing with pilots. We'll see. They have me varnishing wings. It isn't exactly dangerous. But suddenly to be turned into a factory worker, how adventurous! And the garb! Yours, Paul.'"
Excerpt from the diary of the Swiss-German painter Paul Klee who had just been transferred from the infantry to the air corps, apparently by his immediate superiors. In Schleissheim he and three others would be put to work painting, starting with the varnishing of wings and fuselages.
The Diaries of Paul Klee 1898-1918, Edited, with an Introduction by Felix Klee by Paul Klee, page 347, copyright © 1964 by the Regents of the University of California, publisher: University of California Press, publication date: 1968
1916-08-12, 1916, August, Hansa-Brandenburg C.I
