Hello,
today I'm showing you a printed sheet from Rauert & Pittius in Sorau, better known as "RAPI".
The sheet depicts Wehrmacht cavalry and bears the number 110.
It appears to be the exact same sheet pictured on page 111 of Rafael De Francisco López's book "Paper Empires"—at least the discoloration along the edges suggests as much.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello and Happy New Year to you all!
Today I'm showing you a figure sheet from Rauert & Pittius in Sorau. It's number 7 and was the first in a series of 11 sheets depicting the Guard troops of the German Empire.
It shows the band of the Prussian 1.Guard Regiment (zu Fuß). Unfortunately, my copy is a bit worn, and the printing is slightly out of register, so the figures appear a little blurry and not as sharp and high-contrast as is usually the case with Rapi.
Nevertheless, they are wonderful figures that very accurately represent the characteristics of this regiment's uniforms.
This series was probably produced in the early 1930s.
The figures are 8 cm tall.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello and happy first Advent!
Today I'm showing you the second part of the Reichswehr staff set by Rauert & Pittius, consisting of the mounted soldiers.
A complete set would contain 10 different riders. Unfortunately, only 6 of mine survived. However, all the staff officers are present, so "only" four of the accompanying cavalry guard are missing.
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| Adjutant (Stabsoffizier der Kavallerie) / General / Generalstabsoffizier Adjutant (Cavalry Staff Officer) / General / General Staff Officer |
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| Stabsoffizier der Infanterie / Stabsoffizier der Artillerie / Kavalleriesoldat Infantry Staff Officer / Artillery Staff Officer / Cavalry Soldier |
The riders are approximately 11 cm tall, which corresponds to a figure height of 8 cm.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
today I'm showing you some more figures from Rauert & Pittius. This time it's the motorized half of sheet No. 6, Reichswehr Staff. I'll present the mounted officers separately.
The motorized part consists of a car and three motorcycles – and I'm very happy that they've all survived intact till today.
The car with the officers is 16 cm long and 7.5 cm high.
The motorcycles are about 10 cm long and 7 cm high. The motorcycle license plates indicate that two of them belong to the Berlin military district and one to the Stettin military district (RW 2276). Was the artist aware of this, or did they simply use arbitrary numbers?
Whoever originally cut out the figures did a masterpiece with the motorcycles. Every single spoke, every opening in the engine, and every tiny pipe was cut out individually! That's a task I would never have done myself. As a result, the figures are also very fragile. It's all the more wonderful that they've survived the last hundred years so well.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
today I'm showing you another cut-out figure from Rauert & Pittius of Sorau (RAPI). It's a motorcyclist from sheet number 114. A complete sheet would contain four motorcycles and four cars, but unfortunately, I only have this single piece in my collection.
The figure is 12 cm long and 8 cm high.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
Today I'm showing you two Panzerkampfwagen I models from Rauert & Pittius (Rapi).
Six of them were originally printed on sheet number S-124. Unfortunately, only these two have survived.
The vehicle with the small skull and crossbones flag (Leader tank) bears the signature of Herbert Rothgaengel, who drew these figures, in the lower right corner.
The two vehicles are each approximately 19 cm wide and approximately 10 cm high.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
Today I'm showing you another cut-out paper figure.
It's from a small collection I've just acquired. The sidecar motorcycle comes from Rauert & Pittius Sheet No. 119. These printed sheets from the RAPI Wehrmacht series don't have titles, they're just numbered. Similar motifs from other manufacturers, however, are labeled "Motorized Infantry." Of the two Kübelwagens and four sidecar motorcycles printed on such a sheet, unfortunately, only this one survives.
The motorcycle is 17 cm long and 10 cm high, which corresponds to a figure size of approximately 8 cm.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
Today I'm showing you a printed sheet from the German manufacturer Rauert & Pittius (RAPI) from Sorau. The sheet has the number S14 and shows soldiers of the Prussian Gardes du Corps Regiment in the uniform from shortly before World War I.
A total of 15 riders in parade uniform are shown, including 1 officer, 1 Feldwebel (staff sergeant), 1 trumpeter, 2 Unteroffiziere (sergeants) and 10 men. It was probably printed in the mid or late 1920s. The height of the figures is 10.5cm from the horse's hoof to the tip of the helmet.
Andreas
Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5
Hello,
after a few necessary repairs to some figures, I can now show you the rest of my new music corps.
There are 31 figures in total - but there were originally 33 figures on the print sheet. Unfortunately, two are missing, namely a clarinet player and a bassoon. The rest are in pretty good shape. As mentioned in the first presentation, all figures have been repainted as Württembergers. This is most noticeable with the Schellenbaum. The dangling tails were originally printed in black and white.
I really like these figures and I'm looking forward to presenting the next ones in a few days.
Best wishes,
Andreas
Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5
Hello,
today I would like to show you 11 of my new paper soldiers.
They are part of a wonderful collection that I was able to buy a few days ago. The figures are from the cut-out sheet "RAPI S5 Deutsches Reichsheer: Musikkorps" (German Reich Army Music Corps). RAPI is the abbreviation for the manufacturer "Rauert and Pittius" from Sorau, who produced paper soldiers between 1922 and 1944 and whose figures I personally find very beautiful. Sheets S1 to S6 are dedicated to the German Reichswehr in the uniforms from 1921 onwards, and sheet S5 shows the music corps of an infantry regiment. The sheets are normally all in Prussian national colors, i.e. the cockades, helmet markings and lance flags etc. are all in white/black. The figures shown here were cut out and made by a proud Württemberger, who gave the figures all the red/black Württemberg state colors. A very nice detail in my opinion.
You can see the drum major, 5 flute players and 5 drummers from the "military" part of the music corps. The figures are not the same, each one is a little bit different from the others. The figure size is 8cm.
Best wishes,
Andreas
Hello, It’s time for another Fischbach print! This time it is number 7, depicting mounted artillerymen. Unfortunately, my copy has slight c...
