American's WW1 German Army Film Footage Restored

Absolutely brilliant work.
"The young German soldier has his rifle slung over his shoulder, a half-eaten sandwich in his left hand and a drinking cup in his right.

As he steps to the refreshment window, a woman in a white apron leans over the counter and puts a sprig of flowers in a buttonhole of his uniform. He looks dashing in his spiked helmet and trim mustache, and she glances at him as he moves on.

Then she looks up at the camera.

It is June 1915, nearly 11 months into World War I. The place is Thorn — modern-day Torun, in northern Poland. And the soldier, whose name and fate are unknown, is headed for the front lines and the killing machine of the Great War.

The moment was captured by a brash, cigar-smoking American filmmaker, Wilbur H. Durborough, and his cameraman, Irving G. Ries, who had motored to the action in a Stutz Bearcat flying a U.S. flag, the word “press” emblazoned on the car.

The scene is part of a little-known documentary about the German army — filmed by Americans — that will be part of an exhibit on World War I being assembled by the Library of Congress this year.

April 6 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917.

The library recently restored and digitized the silent film, which is believed to be the only existing, essentially complete World War I feature-length documentary made by Americans.

It is an hour and 48 minutes long."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/an-american-filmed-the-german-army-in-wwi--until-they-became-the-enemy/2017/02/06/4e9128b6-e285-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?utm_term=.9e81aa42caec

 

That's really cool.

 

That's a historical find! Great post. Note the feltcammo cloth covers son the polizei Schakos. I had never seen such things befores. I knew the Germans had those in 1915 for their Pickelhaube.