Königswinter, black-red-gold flag
Occupation of the Rhineland

Confidence

[Rhineland, spring 1920] After their first meeting in Bonn, the awkwardness between Chiara and John, officers with the American Forces in Germany at Coblenz, and their German relatives quickly disappeared.

Demonstration against Kapp and Lüttwitz
Occupation of the Rhineland

Kapp-Putsch and Red Ruhr Army

[Rhineland and Berlin, March 1920] The first years of the Weimar Republic were almost civil war like. The deep division of the country, the hatred and the violent radicalization aggrieved Kathi and Max.

Coblence, allied soldier
Occupation of the Rhineland

The world is still askew

[Rhineland, 1920] The putsch and the Ruhr crisis were over. It had been days of tension for the American Forces, too, as Reichswehr troops marched into the Ruhr area, That contravened the Treaty of Versailles.

Boy in winter clothing
Occupation of the Rhineland

Rebuilding one’s life after the war

[Rhineland, spring 1920] The young Republic was overshadowed by political turmoil and great need. Many people blamed the republican politicians rather than the wartime leaders for the defeat and the hard Treaty of Versailles.

Occupation of the Rhineland

“November Criminals”

[Germany, August 1921]  A black fabric rosette hung in the window of the “Stübchen”, next to it a black-red-golden one. A few days ago, on August 26, 1921, Matthias Erzberger had been murdered.

Vineyard worker 1921
Occupation of the Rhineland

Farewell

[USA, 1920/1921] In the USA, the political situation had changed decisively. In the presidential elections in 1920, the Republican Warren G. Harding ran his campaign on the slogan “return to normalcy”.

Ehrenbreitsteinstein, Coblence, 1919
Occupation of the Rhineland

Ehrenbreitstein

[Rhineland, 1922] Chiara and John left home for the United States, along with the majority of the AFG soldiers. General Allen prevented Ehrenbreitstein fortress from being destructed.

No Picture
Epilog

The Box in the Attic

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania. In the attic of the house, which had belonged to his family for many generations already, Nick found a box that he had never […]