There is also a WW1 Story in my wife’s family. So before I start, I do not want to justify anything, what the Germans did in Belgium during the First World War. This land has my total Respect, as well as my German family, so I hope, my article is not taken in the wrong way.
Karl Peschel was the Great Grandfather of my wife and my mother-in-law has a few albums and documents about him and what he experienced during the First World War. He took notes and made plenty of drawings. 20 Years later, right after the Second World War, he drew everything again with plenty of notes about his daily life. This is a family treasure and I really hope, it stays in the family for another 100 years or more.
Karl was 35 years old (born on 27.04.1879) and an employee in an oven Factory, when he was called to fight for Germany in 1914. One of his hobbies was to draw; in fact, we have a few of his paintings hanging at home (one of them made in 1917 in Flandern). He makes clear in his “Album” (full of paintings and comments), that from the very beginning, he wanted to capture all his thoughts and experiences during the war.
He joined the Landwehr-Infanterie Regiment Nr. 35, which belonged to the 11 Landwehr Infantry Brigade, which was an autonomous unit within the 1st Army. He explained, that he marched into Belgium and France, sometimes fighting, sometimes marching and exercising, but always in movement. He remembers how many times he used “Mother Earth” (Mutter Erde) as Bed, with the rucksack as pillow and the coat as cover. One of his best times of these early moments, not far away from Paris, when a comrade came to him with brush and colours, that he said, he found in a house. He was happy, because he could draw things.
He was 4 Months fighting until the 11 Landwehr Infantry Brigade was taken out of the line (L.I.R 35 and L.I.R 20).
Coming back to August 1914, with the German Armies invading Belgium, Karl captured the moments, when they entered in the city of Löwen or Leuven in Flemish. As we all know, there are unfair and hard moments during the war, and one of them was the destruction of the Library of Leuven. How many important and unique books were burnt. It meant also the destruction of the city, as he also mentioned.
I do not know, if Karl participated in this Inferno or not. I want to believe, that, him, being a person, who loved to paint and culture, would not take part in the losing of such treasury. But at the end of the day, he was a soldier and had to do what he was told.
Attached to this article, you see 2 drawings of the moments; one from the time, that happened and a second version after the war. He also commented the scene at the back of them, explaining, that the Belgian citizens were told to leave their homes, because they were going to be destroyed. He also “justified” that, specifying that some soldiers were shot by civilians (?).
Karl was just another soldier, another part of the worst War, which the human beings have ever seen before. I have attached a couple of pictures of him; one in Brussels and another one, sitting the first in the right.
I would like to thank my Mother-in-law for allowing me to show a couple of paintings. Also to Joe Robinson and Wim Marteens for your Time. And “our” Sabine, for her amazing work.
I am not sure, if these have been previously shown to non-family members. I hope to show more. I am thinking on buying plenty of beers to my mother-in-law.…