Rare unusual mandolin wwii

[bluesmandolinman]

mandolin built in prison after WWII

you need to check out the solution for the tuning machines !


....WWII mando (http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170136933789)

interesting...

[John Flynn]

Very interesting. Could some German speaker on the Cafe' give us the gist of what the text says in the EBay listing?

[KennyR]

Rarity own building flat belly mandolin

The mandolin was constructed in the war captivity 1945-46. The body and the footpath are out of maple and nut tree wood. The Griffbrett was built in of an old Zupfinstrument. The strings stops consists of processed story sheet metal. The green strings footpath and the finger points on the footpath were constructed out of an old toothbrush. Very imaginative also the strings turbulences were made. Even the strings were prepared out of different wires themselves.

Use traces 8 strings fabric. The cover has a tear that can be glued however without problem! The body has smaller use traces! The mandolin correctly should restore become.

The instrument is easy repair needy

Total length ca 64 cm of body length ca 30.5 cm of width ca 25 cm of height ca 8.5 cm of a rare interesting
old instrument.

Please note: Based on the increasing number of joke bidders, commandments are accepted of bidders with less than 5 positive estimations only after inquiry per mail!

[jefflester]

Brings new meaning to the term "tuning screw."

[Jim Garber]

"Das is der ancestor of Der Mid Mo Mandoline." http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Jim

[Bill Snyder]

Kenny did you use translation software for that translation?

[Martin Jonas]

I presume Kenny's translation is machine-generated, which does convey the gist, but reads a bit odd. A more idiomatic translation would be:



Rarity selfmade flatback mandolin.

This mandolin was made by a POW in 1945-46. Body and bridge are made from maple and walnut. The fretboard was recycled from an old plucked instrument. The tailpiece was made from sheet metal recovered from a grenade casing. The green nut and the fret markers are made out of an old toothbrush. The tuning pegs are also very ingeneous. Even the strings themselves are self-made out of wires from various sources.

Some wear. 8 strings. There is a crack in the soundboard which can easily be repaired. There are minor signs of wear in the body. This mandolin should be professionally restored. This instrument is in need of minor repairs.

Length overall: 64 cm.
Length of body: 30.5 cm.
Width: 25 cm
Height: 8.5 cm

An interesting and rare old instrument.


Martin

[MandoSquirrel]

I liked the "footpath" version; haven't we all wished for another mandolin we could play with our toes, to accompany ourselves? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[MikeEdgerton]

Thanks for the translation Martin, can you tell us what the inscription painted inside the mandolin says?

[mandolooter]

It isn't walnut...if anything its oak or a slim chance its ash if the finish has yellowed a lot...I think the nuts they are talking are acorns.

[Martin Jonas]

Thanks for the translation Martin, can you tell us what the inscription painted inside the mandolin says?
It means "Made in captivity in 1945/46". "H.S" and "J.K." are presumably the initals of the makers.

Mandolooter: you may be right that the wood is not walnut, but the correct translation of the German "Nussbaum" is specifically "walnut", rather than any tree with nuts on. The German for "oak" is "Eiche".

Martin

[MikeEdgerton]

Thanks Martin.

[mandolooter]

thats cool..I was totally guessing. I don't think the person who posted it is a wood expert either.

[Paul Hostetter]

It is clear that the seller is not an expert in the wood identification. The neck is made from maple and walnut. The body is made of oak.

It also seems obvious that the status of German war prisoners after the war was markedly different than what the people in the Reich camps experienced. (I don't think Jews and Gypsies had access to shops!) Which camp was this person in? Who was running this camp? A really interesting piece.

[delsbrother]

I dunno, I think the toothbrush nut and fret markers are kinda cool!

[Martin Jonas]

It also seems obvious that the status of German war prisoners after the war was markedly different than what the people in the Reich camps experienced. (I don't think Jews and Gypsies had access to shops!) Which camp was this person in? Who was running this camp? A really interesting piece.
That is a rather complex question, and one that has been subject to very heated public debate in Germany ever since the war, i.e. whether one can ever set off the suffering of German POWs and refugees after the war against the suffering of the Nazi victims during the war. Going down that road leads to a fairly odious form of moral relativism rather quickly.

Unsurprisingly, there is a vast amount of readily accessible historical documentation on this topic. Many POWs were by-and-large well-treated and returned fairly quickly typically by 1947/48, namely those in US and British captivity. During captivity, they mostly worked in small teams or individually as farm hands or constrction workers. Many made friends with the farming community they were working in and stayed on after their release, often marrying local girls. One of the most famous goalkeepers of the 1950s, Bert Trautmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Trautmann) of Manchester City, came to Britain as a German POW.

Other POWs, those in Russian and (to a lesser extent) French, Polish and Yugoslavian captivity were treated very much more harshly -- understandably so in view of the suffering of these countries at German hands during the war. More than a million German POWs died in forced labour camps in the Urals and Siberia. The last POWs were returned by the Soviet Union only in 1956.

If I had to guess, I would think this mandolin was built in either a US or British POW camp, where access to some workshop facilities and some, however improvised, raw materials would have been much more likely than in a Russian camp.

It went for just over 50 Euro in the end -- doesn't seem to have attracted much demand as a piece of history.

Martin

[brunello97]

At different times during the war, there were between 15 and 30 operating POW camps in Texas (someone described the climate as 'North African'.) Lots of stories abound of guys coming back to claim brides, take up ranching etc. It's probably a bit chauvinistic to imagine a Texan origin for the mystery mandolin....

My wife's grandfather had a horse farm near Danzig/Gdansk and was 'assigned' a pair of British POWs to help on the farm. A few photos of them remain. They stuck with the family as refugees when the Soviet army came through. The guys stayed in touch with KG's family for decades, with visits to the UK and to Germany following. One (fairly) happy story amidst all the grief and stupidity. Except for maybe all the milk they were probably forced to drink, if my experience is any guide. Yuk.

Martin is characteristically intelligent and sensitive viz the whole topic. KG's family stories have told so much, and at the same time so little. Paul is right, a very interesting piece. I hope his questions can get answered somehow.

Mick

[Paul Hostetter]

Thanks, Martin. I have friends in Überlingen who were in the French sector after the war, and were not pleased about how they were treated.

Can't believe some museum didn't snap that up. I too thought it had historical value far beyond 50 euros. Maybe the person who got it will caretake it and guide it toward a more appropriate situation in the future.