Monocle III.

This is coolbert:

More now on the stereotypical appearance of the German military officer. As portrayed in Hollywood and in other media.

The German army officer, always hard, sometimes brutal, on occasion [?] cruel!

1. Erich von Stroheim. The famous actor/director. Very good at playing the role of the German army officer. Excelled at the part and evidently relished the role. Was ideally suited, being Austrian born, having the natural foreign sounding accent, understood the Austrian/German culture, etc. It can be safely said that Erich von Stroheim was born to play the part of the German army officer?

Von Stroheim from the movie: "The North Star"

Note the dueling scar and the roll of fat on the back of the neck. The dueling scar was almost obligatory for the German army officer? Especially those officers of aristocratic or noble lineage? The significance of the schmiss cannot be over-emphasized?

"popularized by upper-class . . . Germans who saw it as a mark of their class and of their honor . . the dueling scar was a tattoo that signified your inclusion in an elite social rank"

"the dueling scar was evidence that the wearer had the foundation to fulfill his destiny as one of Germany's ruling class."

As to the roll of fat on the back of the neck - - according to Barbara Tuchman:

"the bulge at the back of the neck which Emerson [Ralph Waldo?] called the mark of the beast"

That roll on the back of the neck is the result of the high-buttoned collar? Signifies also a man of rotund girth, massive and bulky build but also considerable, perhaps even immense strength?

2. "This is the enemy"! Famous award winning poster from the World War Two [WW2] era. German army officer [NOT SS], scowling, sporting the monocle, the image of a man [a partisan?] hanging from a gallows in the reflection. An excellent example of the adage" "one picture worth ten thousand words!"

Dueling is still practiced, as an underground and illegal activity - - in Germany. A German informant of mine, an exchange student, described to me that the ritual continues, albeit in a much less open manner! Those university students studying for the legal and medical professions are the most common practitioners, the schmiss as it was in the old-days signalling to the young ladies that the scar-bearer is a very eligible candidate for marriage! THE MORE JAGGED AND GROTESQUE THE SCHMISS THE BETTER? Horsehair is even sewn into the wound while suturing occurs to make the scar more prominent! Suturing done without anesthetic and no murmur or cries of pain either!

coolbert.