"Now, look here," I said to him, "Why should I give to this? I am a feindliche Ausländerin (an enemy foreigner) and if I give you any money it encourages you Germans to go on sinking American ships. I must save my money for the wives and the children of the men who have lost their lives by the U-boats."
The Iron Roland of Brandenburg.
The boy blushed deeply. "That is true," he said, "I beg your pardon. I feel for those people too. And if you will allow me I would like to donate something for your charity," and the little fellow pulled a mark out of his pocket and handed it to me. I found out afterwards that the boy was the son of one of Germany's richest and most aristocratic princes.
Besides the tag days there are many women who go around selling little picture sheets for ten pfennigs. Countless numbers of these sheets have sprung up since the war. The companies that publish them make only a small profit and the rest of the money goes to charity.
The Blacksmith of Bochum in Westphalia.
One of the best ways the Germans have of collecting money is the driving of nails into wooden statues and charging so much to each person for being allowed to drive a nail. The "Iron Hindenburg" is the greatest of all these figures, but there are many more even in Berlin. Many cafés have their own figures to nail, sometimes it is only an eagle or an Iron Cross. In Brandenburg they have a wooden copy of their famous old stone statue of Roland that has stood for centuries in the Brandenburg market place. The stone figure was funny and quaint enough, but the nailed figure looks like some queer product of cubist art.
Nailed Statue. Statue of German Landsturm Man at Posen.