Now reading...

The diary of Michael Hilf from 1894 to 1896. He's the great grandfather of the Human Resources Manager in our office. We got to talking about languages and such and she mentioned that she had a really old diary of her greatgrandfather who was a officer in the Kaiser's army in the late 1800. She had it translated into English. Its a very quick read and its very interesting. I have read many diaries of soldiers in wartime and none in peacetime, yet its insightful to read his thoughts - they are mostly about women and patriotism. He was a very poetic person and the vast majority of entries are poems about the current woman he's with. He record a lot of folk songs and soldier's songs as well.

This is unpublished so no cover art.

Here's one entry I thought was amusing:

The Soldier's Our Father February 16, 1895
Our Father, who art in Vienna, hallowed be thy name. Your will be done in Vienna, as also here in the garrison. Give us today 2 guilders and a good supper, and forgive us when we stay out beyond curfew. Do not lead us to drill sessions and deliver us from the many inspections, assignments, and manoeuvers, because we are yours until we get our blessed discharge. Dear Emperor and King, 6 kreuzer are not enough, give us 2 guilders per day, then we won't go into debt. Because with only water and no wine, not even the devil would want to be a soldier. Amen.