Description
The Rhine and Ruhr represented one of the most strategically important industrial regions in wartime Germany, containing major steelworks, armament factories, mines, railways, waterways, bridges and densely populated industrial cities. As Allied air attacks increased during WWII, the Luftwaffe established an enormous network of Flak batteries throughout the region to defend these critical industrial and transportation targets. Published in 1942 by Luftgaukommando VI as part of its Wehrbetreuung program, Flak an Rhein und Ruhr documented this air-defence effort through artwork rather than conventional photography. The volume contains 55 drawings, watercolours and paintings, predominantly in colour, depicting Flak positions, industrial landscapes, defensive installations and scenes associated with the Luftwaffe anti-aircraft war over the Rhine and Ruhr. Artists represented include Carl Busch, H. H. Buschhüter, Paul Dohmen, Peter Paul Etz, Fr. Froemer, Gustav Fünders, Helmut Georg, Lothar van Helden, W. Imkamp, Bernard Morgenstern, Fritz Müller, Wilfried Nagel, Heinrich Schröder, Karl Schulz, Wilhelm Strauß and Walter Wild. The book consists of 63 numbered pages, including approximately six introductory text pages followed by the illustrated section, with 51 colour and 4 black-and-white works.
