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Lais lived a remarkable life. After surviving some of the Great War’s most terrible battles, he returned to Karlsruhe to become a noted, if controversial, artist, whose works were latter banned by the Nazi Government. In researching the book’s second edition, I learned that Lais was recalled to duty in World War II, where he commanded a grenadier regiment in Normandy and the Netherlands and was awarded Germany’s highest honors for valor. He again returned home where he quietly spent his later years as an art teacher. There is no doubt this complicated artist was a fierce warrior, skilled combat leader and gifted story teller.

Born in 1897, Otto Lais grew up in the small Baden village of Wilferdingen, near Karlsruhe. Before the war, he displayed early talents in the fields of music, art and horsemanship. In his memoirs, Lais noted his first wartime service was with an engineering battalion that saw duty in the Aisne region of France in 1915.

The circumstances of his transfer to IR 169 is uncertain, with Stamrolle records his assignment to the 52nd Division on 13 May 2016. His memoirs begin with his service as a machine gunner in IR 169’s 2nd Machine Gun Company (MGC) at Serre, in the Somme region, circa May 1916. He was 19 at the time. While the translated portions of his works do not list the specific details of his rank progression, Stamrolle records shows him listed as an officer [leutnant] in September 1917, during IR 169’s service in the Aisne campaign. As an officer, he held the positions of Executive Officer, 2nd MGC, and acting commanding officer of the 3rd MGC in the final months of the war.

As the 3rd MGC’s commander, he led a force of about 130 men [92 originally assigned with 40 replacements] into the Meuse-Argonne on in late September 1918. Lais was spared from IR 169’s complete destruction on 1 November due to his reassignment as a staff officer a few days prior. Of all the men assigned to the 3rd MGC in the Meuse-Argonne, Lais was the only not counted as killed, wounded or captured. IR 169 entered the Meuse-Argonne with approximately 1,500 men. After the 1 November debacle, only about 35 men were left in ranks.

Otto Lais survived the war to become an accomplished artist. In 1981, the Apple Tree Gallery of Karlsruhe published a book that showcased a collection of his works, titled Otto Lais, The Graphic work of Symbolic Realism in the 20thCentury. The book contained a biographic sketch of Lais’ life and work, some of which is summarized below.

Following World War I, Lais returned to the Karlsruhe area where he attended the Baden Art School to study art, composition, violin and piano. His interests led him to sketching and caricatures, and by 1922, a local paper published a series of his political cartoons, many depicting the relationship between Germany and France. Lais worked as an elementary school art teacher while also establishing a career as a portrait artist.

Throughout the 1920’s, Lais became a fixture in Karlsruhe’s bohemian, cabaret-period subculture. This period influenced his artwork, and Lais became well-known for his specialization in the Aktkunst [erotic art] realm of etchings, a style which had become popular in the 1920’s. Between 1921 and 1933, he was known to have produced 100 etchings. Many of Lais’ pieces took on dark themes of gritty city streets, prostitutes and satanic images, often with his self-portrait in the background. Two examples of these works are provided below.

With the rise of Nazism in the early 1930’s, Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels established the Reichskulturkammer (RKK) (Reich Chamber of Culture). The RKK was intended to gain control over the entire cultural life in Germany and promote Aryan art consistent with Nazi ideals. Lais refused to join the RKK, which, in 1936, led to the Nazis banning public exhibition of his work. From that point on, Lais ceased commercial art efforts. Interestingly, the exhibit book’s bio sketch makes only the briefest mention of his wartime service within the space of two sentences.

Clearly, Lais took pride in his WW I service with IR 169. Perhaps because no official history of the regiment was ever published, he saw fit to write extensively of his IR 169 experiences. In 1935, first Lais published a pamphlet of his World War I experiences in the 1916 and 1918 Battles of the Somme titled A Machine Gunner in Iron Regiment 169. Two other books followed that included his 1936 work, A Regiment Dies a Hero’s Death [covering 1918], and The Battle in the Limestone Chalk [covering 1917], published in 1942. In all of these publications, Lais accompanied the text with a series of sketches that depicted his combat experiences.

In addressing Lais’ World War II experiences, the 1981 biographic sketch only informs us that he was called back to active German Army service and was discharged in 1945. Further research indicates he had remarkably distinguished war record in the Wehrmacht. Lais eventually rose the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and commanded the 858th Grenadier Regiment of 346th Infantry Division. The 346th Infantry Division was formed in September 1942 and for nearly two years served as an occupation, security and fortification defense unit along the French coast.

Lais’ regiment was stationed in Le Havre when the Allies invaded Normandy on June, 6 1944. By June 10, most of the 346th Division was fighting in the German counterattack against British and Canadian forces around the Caen perimeter. The 346th took heavy losses in the Normandy campaign, losing over half its personnel and most of its artillery after the retreat from Falaise in late August. The division reformed in Holland and fought against Canadian forces in the September – November 1944 Battle of the Scheldt.

Lais prowess as a combat leader in World War II was evident in his being decorated with the highly distinguished Knights Cross of the Iron Cross Award on September 30, 1944. Lais was one of only four soldiers in the 346th Division who won this honor in the entire war. Lt Colonel Lais was captured on April 15, 1945 when Canadian forces overran the 858th Grenadier Regiment in Holland. The remainder of the 346th Division surrendered to the British north of Arnhem at the war’s end a few weeks later.

After the Second World War, Lais returned home and became a headmaster at a secondary school and devoted his time to watercolor paintings. Today, pieces of Lais’ artwork command a significant price, and can be found in fine private collections and museums.

A summary of Lais’ work in a German Who’s Who website article describes a theme of ‘world-weariness and disaffection,’ a title of one of his etchings. Lais’ bio also suggests he displayed traits of a manic personality, where ‘his sometimes exuberant joy of life mingled with a deep melancholy. With our modern understanding of combat-related post traumatic disorders, it would be an interesting study to examine to what extent the darker themes of Lais’ art may have been influenced by an accumulation of wartime horrors. His entire life considered, one has to assume that Lais regarded his teaching and artistic accomplishments, rather than military service, to have been his legacy.

Lais died on March 5, 1988 in Wegbert-Merbeck, Germany, at the age of 89.

Request for Forum Member Assistance: Lais’ post war self-portrait is attached below. After considerable research, I have not been able to find any photographic images of Lais. I welcome assistance from our crackerjack forum members to see if any photos of Lais, especially wartime era, images are out there. Resulting information/images will be posted on the Lais page of my website www.ironregiment169.com. I have also included some of Lais’ sketches that show some of the darker aspects of his art.