No Comment 05001
Hmmmmm…
Assuming that locomotive kept its streamlining into the war years I’d imagine that swastika made a good aiming point for the pilot of a P-47 or a P-51 on a strafing run.
Or the pilot of a Hawker “Tempest” or “Typhoon” for that matter!
A nice, big, unmistakeable bullseye!
It’s a chilling image that’s for sure.
All kidding aside, that swastika’s kind of a blatant marking for a Reichsbahn locomotive, I don’t recall seeing any photos of any other DR engines marked like that. Of course, just because I haven’t seen any doesn’t mean there weren’t any.
The Olympic rings on the tender make me believe that this engine may have been part of the 1936 Olympics showcasing of the “New Germany.” The hell of it is, by and large the showcasing was a success. For sheer spectacle, efficiency, and excitement some Olympic historians have called the '36 Olympics “The Greatest Olympics,” and not because they’re fans of the Nazis, not by any means.
I think you’re exactly right. I’m something of a ‘fan’ of the class 05 and I don’t recall ever seeing the large swastika there, even during the 100th anniversary celebrations (where there would be political capital in touting the ‘schnellste Lokomotive der Welt’.
I have to wonder if Leni Riefenstahl has this engine, as painted, in any of her contemporary film? This would be an obvious way to get the Party emblem noticed in a documentary or newsreel. (Meanwhile, I seem to remember folks at DR complaining about political sloganeering on their rolling stock – certainly Eckener et al. didn’t like it on dirigibles)
I’ve seen the Leni Riefenstahl film “Olympia” several times and that locomotive’s not in it, come to think of it there’s no DR action at all in it. There’s plenty of Nazi iconography in the film but it’s secondary to the story, certainly there but not the primary focus. Giving credit where credit is due it’s a spectacular documentary of the Games, still exciting to watch. I think you can find it with a YouTube search, but it’s not a quick watch, it’s looooooong!
I should add all that famous footage of Jesse Owens winning his gold medals comes from “Olympia.”
Oh, yeah. Herr Doktor Eckener hated those swastika flags on his Zeppelins, but there was nothing he could do about it. Not only was the swastika flag the mandatory tail marking for all German civil aircraft but since the Zeppelin Company operated with a government subsidy Eckener’s hands were doubly tied.
I have seen the locomotive in a film clip with the swastika marking on a Smithsonian Channel series… either Combat Trains or one their WWII series dealing with Nazi Germany. It’s quite distinctive in the film clip, pulling into a station with a 3/4 angle shot with the locomotive coming toward the camera.
For all the admiration of German Technology at the time just about all of it was directed at conquering, killing, ethnic cleansing, destruction, brainwashing and monuments to evil for deranged men.
Minitrix manufactured a version painted red with with Deutsch Reichsbahn marking ( circle with the eagle) that was kinda rare. I had one and a fella from Germany, a visitor, stole it from me. Took it right out of cabinet while I was making coffee for everyone. They were long gone before I discovered it, later that evening. Perhaps 'strenge verboten in Germany! Weasel move in any case.
I’ll give you my Liliput version of the locomotive (in red) if I can find it in storage.
A very generous offer. If you ever find it let me know. Do not have much HO but I do have some Liliput items, most notably a very cool multi piece Schnabel car. Perhaps the N Scale Minitrix version was very limited in numbers and availability or even desirability.
This sounds like a to do list of too many dictators still running amok in this “beautiful” planet.
lol! I bet he just put it into his pocket like a pen. Are you sure he didn’t steal other things from your house? [C][:O]
Wow! So the USAAF and the RAF didn’t get it after all! That’s nice.
I see something’s missing though. [:-^]
I can see whoever took the picture of the model got a little shy. I can only speak for myself but I don’t mind seeing a swastika now and then, depending on the context of the display of course.
[C]
Btw, I wish it was the PRR S1 had those 90.55 Inches tall driving wheels (in Baldwin Disc Drivers’ shape).
Oh yeah, Hitler didn’t invent the swastika but he sure ruined it for everyone else!
The thing is, he wanted a symbol for the Nazi party that was simple, striking, and bold, and once you saw it you wouldn’t forget it. Mussolini had the old Roman symbol of the “Fasces,” the Communists had the “Hammer and Sickle,” (which I consider just as despicable in it’s own right, by the way) so Adolf hit on the swastika. He was right, once you see it you never forget it.
And that’s a neat little copy of Hero of Alexandria’s steam engine!
This is a nice historical review, Wayne. Since there is not an “ancient steam engine” forum, I would like to share this link here for our younger readers:
Hero of Alexandria’s steam engine
[:)]
I can’t recall seeing a photo of the Eagle on any 05 (at least not on the nose - it may have appeared on the cabside…)
Could the Minitrix model have been an 01-10 or 03-10? The prototypes were built a bit later than the 05, just as the E19 illustrated above had the Eagle while the otherwise similar E18 did not.
I too have the old Liliput 05, which I purchased in Hong Kong in 1986. I think it had decals for the swastika and Olympic Rings, partly because Liliput were an Austrian company, not German, and some restrictions on Nazi markings didn’t apply. Since I managed to assemble a matching train for the 05, I plan to keep mine.
Peter
Cabside is where I remember it in pictures from Gottwaldt (I think the class 06 drawing has it there, too, with the little swastika in the wreath at the bottom diplomatically blanked out).
There was a version of the exquisite 05 003 model from Micro-Feinmechanik that has the large swastika on the (destreamlined) smoke deflectors, and a propaganda message in large Frakturschrift on the tender. While I confess I can’t imagine who would buy or commission such a paint scheme to display or to run, it’s a great historical documentation of ‘another’ large swastika on a class 05.
Ye olde hackenkreutz was very common in Asian religeous art and still is:
Window at Chinese temple in Pattaya Thailand:
“While I confess I can’t imagine who would buy or commission such a paint scheme to display or to run”-- Overmod
Would be a big hit in Argentina!
M636C-- Not sure since I don’t have it any longer… would have to check with an old Walthers Catalogue… Item was stolen early 90’s.