Albert Buddecke (1858-1931)
Born 16.08.1858Died 24.10.1931The Prussian general and military librarian Albert Buddecke was head of the library of the High General Staff in Berlin from 1909. At the outbreak of the war he served for two months as an officer on the Western Front, before returning to work for the Acting General Staff of the Army in Berlin from December 1914 until October 1918.
Kurt Eisner (1867-1919)
Born 14.05.1867Died 21.02.1919The later revolutionary leader and Bavarian Prime Minister Eisner was born on 14 May 1867 in Berlin and enjoyed a bourgeois upbringing. He broke off his studies and became a journalist in 1889.
Franz Marc (1880-1916)
An expressionist at the frontBorn 08.02.1880Died 04.03.1916Painter, Graphic designerImmediately after the outbreak of war in August 1914, Franz Marc signed up as a war volunteer. Like many other artists and intellectuals he expected that the war would have a cleansing and healing effect on a “sick Europe”.
Georg Minde-Pouet (1871-1950)
Director of the Deutsche Bücherei 1917-1923Born 05.06.1871Died 20.01.1950Already at a very early stage the German scholar and librarian Georg Minde-Pouet, who became director in May 1917, had a clear idea of the problems of the Deutsche Bücherei. He addressed these to the administrative board, saying in July 1917 that the war collection of the Deutsche Bücherei was far behind those of other collections, both quantitatively and in terms of content.
Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946)
Born 15.07.1860Died 15.11.1946At the beginning of the war the diplomat and archaeologist, Max von Oppenheim, took up the long-discussed idea of mobilising Muslims in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa in the war against the Allies. Oppenheim’s suggestion: as the Caliph for all Muslims (although he was not recognised as such), Mehmed V, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire – which was allied with the Central Powers – should invoke a “holy war” against the nonbelievers of the Entente.
Albert Paust (1889-1964)
Born 17.08.1889Died 10.11.1964After serving in the war, Albert Paust began at the Deutsche Bücherei as a trainee in 1919, and remained there in various different functions until 1957. From 1920 until 1922 he led the War Office, for whose concluding work he was responsible and whose history he outlined in 1921.
Karl Siegismund (1861-1932)
Publisher and 1st Chairman of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association 1910-1916Born 23.01.1861Died 02.08.1932Without the renowned Berlin publisher Karl Siegismund there would be no German National Library in Leipzig today – indeed, a nearby street bears his name. Siegismund, who held a number of honorary positions throughout his career in the book business and who maintained good contacts with the highest offices of the German Reich, was a strong advocate of the war collection.
Max Slevogt (1868-1932)
On his way to the battlefield as a “Battle Painter”Born 08.10.1868Died 20.09.1932Painter, Graphic designer, IllustratorAlong with Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth, Max Slevogt was one of the most important representatives of German impressionism. Slevogt was a member of the artists’ group Berliner Secession.
The Unknown Soldier
The First World War cost the lives of around 10 million people, not including civilians. More than 13 million men went to war for the German Reich. Around two million of them never returned.
Ernst Toller (1893-1939)
From enthusiastic war volunteer to pacifist and revolutionaryBorn 01.12.1893Died 22.05.1939WriterFor the writer Ernst Toller, born on 1 December 1893 in the Prussian province of Posen, the November Revolution was an extraordinarily influential event both politically and artistically.Toller volunteered for military service in World War I from 1914.
