Wasserkuppe Glider Postcard – Sailplane Over the Fliegerdenkmal (c.1930s–1940s, Rhön, Germany)

Original real photo postcard (marked Echt Foto) depicting a sailplane in dramatic flight above the Fliegerdenkmal (Aviators’ Memorial) on the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön mountains, Germany. The monument, erected in 1923 by the Ring Deutscher Flieger (Circle of German Aviators), commemorated fallen pilots of the First World War and became a central landmark for German gliding culture.

The postcard shows a glider silhouetted against towering clouds, banking gracefully above the memorial. The reverse includes a printed description in German:

• Schönes Deutschland: Die Rhön – Wasserkuppe 950 m

• Segelflieger über dem Fliegerdenkmal, Errichtet vom Ring deutscher Flieger 1923

The text also includes a memorial verse referencing the legacy of fallen aviators and the continued spirit of flight. The reverse bears the publisher’s imprint: R. & R. Büttner, Paulusverlag, Fulda with copyright stamp and decorative cachet “Wasserkuppe/Rhön Segelflieger 950m.”

This card represents both an artistic and historical document, illustrating the symbolic connection between soaring flight and national remembrance in interwar Germany. It is a significant collectible for historians of European aviation, glider enthusiasts, and collectors of Wasserkuppe and Rhön ephemera.