Germany, Luftwaffe. A Superb Wartime Photo Album from a Member of Jagdgeschwader 53

(Luftwaffe Fotoalbum, Angehöriger der Jagdgeschwader 53). A fascinating private wartime photo album documenting the career of an airman serving with Jagdgeschwader 53, constructed of a heavy card stock binding fully lined on the exterior with khaki-tan canvas, the upper left corner of the cover pinned with a silvered Luftwaffe cap badge, the spine perforated with eight eyelets, all reinforced with magnetic metal grommets, with a leather strapped looped through the eyelets to firmly maintain the album’s structure, the interior content consisting of 17 black card stock pages separated by wax paper dividers to protect the images, the latter consisting of 194 black-and-white images documenting the wartime career of the owner, opening with candid depictions of life in occupied France (taken in Paris, Verdun, and elsewhere), notably featuring images of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, later transitioning with Jagdgeschwader 53 to the Mediterranean theatre where the owner was based in Sicily and saw combat against Allied forces in the vicinity of Malta and the North African coast (with at least one visit to Tunis), accompanied by images of Fallschirmjäger on maneuvers, before concluding wartime operations on the Eastern Front with numerous images of Luftwaffe and other Wehrmacht forces in the Soviet Union (including Riga), some alongside Red Army prisoners and Soviet civilains, with scenes of devastated cities and destroyed military equipment, notably including private images of Luftwaffe aces Werner Mölders and Heinz Bretnütz, all accompanied by the owner’s handwritten captions and numerous references to Jagdgeschwader 53’s nickname “Pik As” (“Ace of Spades”), measuring 34 cm (w) x 24 cm (h), demonstrating minor material fatigue and the loss of a single photo, a superb account of an airman’s wartime career with a noted Luftwaffe fighter unit in extremely fine condition.