Imperial German Patriotic Card, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Crown Prince on Horse

Large-format, early 20th century patriotic color card on stiff tan card stock, showing a finely rendered scene of Kaiser Wilhelm II riding a chestnut horse alongside the young Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm on a smaller dark mount. The image is bordered in black with the period title line at the bottom reading “Kaiser Wilhelm II und Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm.” The composition is printed in rich, warm tones with strong detail in the braided riding tunic, tack, and wooded lane background, and it has the unmistakable look of a high-quality chromolithograph or color-process patriotic “Künstlerkarte” rather than a simple one-color field postcard. Based on the tape measure shown in the photos, the piece presents in the larger postcard / print format range at approximately 20 cm tall and roughly 14 cm wide (about 7 7/8 inches by about 5 1/2 inches). The reverse is plain, brown/tan card with no visible divided-postcard address grid, stamp box, or postmarking in the images provided, suggesting either an early presentation card intended for keeping, a souvenir card format, or a card that was never mailed and was instead stored in an album or portfolio. Pencil notations and light handling evidence are visible on the reverse.

Historically, imagery like this sits squarely in the “monarchy-in-uniform” visual language that defined Imperial Germany’s public-facing identity from the late 1890s through the First World War. Wilhelm II understood mass imagery and symbolism in a modern way: photographs, postcards, illustrated papers, and commemorative prints were the era’s social media, and the Kaiser’s presence in martial dress was a deliberate, repeated message about authority, continuity, and readiness. The pairing with the Crown Prince is the key. In a constitutional empire made up of multiple kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, and free cities, the Hohenzollern monarchy leaned heavily on dynastic continuity as a stabilizing story. Showing the Kaiser with his heir—especially outdoors, mounted, and in conspicuously military attire—was an easily “readable” statement to any viewer: the state is secure, the line continues, and leadership is framed as both aristocratic and soldierly.

The specific subject matter also ties into how Germans of the period imagined their officer class. The Kaiser’s braided riding tunic in the artwork evokes the fashionable cavalry and light-cavalry aesthetic—tight tailoring, ornamental braiding, and a clean silhouette—rather than the drab practicality that later defined the mass armies of 1914–1918. The Crown Prince’s dress in red with a fur-style headgear and a small sabre at his side reinforces the same theme: even childhood is staged within the traditions of service, horsemanship, and command. This is not accidental. From the 19th century forward, Prussian-influenced military culture treated equitation as a marker of class and leadership. Horses, uniforms, and controlled movement were visual shorthand for discipline, hierarchy, and state power. These images circulated widely because they were effective propaganda in the soft sense—less about a specific policy and more about shaping instinctive loyalty and pride.

The timing implied by the style is important as well. The Crown Prince (born 1882) became a central figure in imperial iconography as he came of age, but the most nostalgic and idealized depictions often present him as a youth beside his father, symbolizing the future of the empire. By the years immediately preceding the Great War, patriotic ephemera had become both ubiquitous and increasingly politicized. Collectors today often underestimate how pervasive these objects were: postcards and presentation cards were purchased at stationers, bookshops, and kiosks; they were inserted into albums; they were sent for birthdays and namedays; and they were kept as tokens of identity and allegiance. Within that context, a large, well-printed Kaiser-and-heir card is not merely decorative—it is a period artifact of public sentiment, visual culture, and the imperial brand.

From a collector standpoint, this piece checks several boxes at once: it is clearly identified in-period (the caption is part of the design), it features two top-tier imperial subjects (the Kaiser and the Crown Prince), and it presents as a larger, display-friendly format that frames well. The mounted theme broadens the appeal beyond strictly postcard collectors into the cavalry/equestrian and imperial portrait-ephemera lanes, and the black border with the bottom title line gives it a finished, gallery-like look that standard mailed cards often lack. These are also the kinds of items that complement Imperial German helmet and uniform displays because they provide period visual context—how the monarchy wanted to be seen, what “Imperial Germany” looked like to the average citizen, and how martial aesthetics were normalized in everyday life.

Condition is honest, consistent with age, and should be priced accordingly. The card shows notable edge and corner wear, including chipping and losses at the corners and along the border, surface scuffing, and scattered spotting/ink-like marks on the image field (most visible in the lower half). There is a visible crease or fold line in the image area in the close-up, along with general handling wear and light abrasions typical of an unprotected card stored for decades. The reverse shows pencil marks/notations and general soiling, with no visible postal use in the provided images. Despite the flaws, the central artwork remains visually strong, the caption is legible, and the overall presentation remains highly displayable.