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The loss of his brother was a shattering blow for Koelz. Only a short time before news of his death reached him, he had sent a postcard asking simply, "Hans! Lebst Du Noch?" (Hans! Are you still alive?). He treasured Hans's diary and other personal mementoes, including his brother's bullet-holed greatcoat which he kept hanging in his studio.
By April 1915 Koelz was a member of 7 Company, 15th Bavarian Field Infantry Regiment. Just over a year later he took part in the capture of a French fortress called Douamont, part of the German assault on the town of Verdun. This was one of the key offensives of the Great War and perhaps its worst battle. Ten months of carnage resulted in almost a million French and German casualties.
Survivors of the terrible battle all spoke of the terror created by the constant ferocious artillery pounding. Koelz himself was buried alive for three days when a shell exploded near his trench. Three comrades were killed and another - Corporal Muller - was severely wounded and lost a leg as a result.
Koelz saved Muller's life by digging him out of the rubble.
"Numb and dazed, without saying a word, and with our hearts pounding, we await the shell that will destroy us. The wounded are increasing in numbers around us... There are clouds of smoke, the air is unbreathable. There's death everywhere..."
Henry Desagneaux, French Company Commander, 1916.
The Great War ended on November 11th, 1918. Koelz was discharged from the army the following month, with the award of Iron Cross, Second Class.
Koelz, (far left) marching with 15th Bavarian infantry detachment, © 1915
In recent years Koelz's son Siegfried has spoken of his father's 'fixation' about the way that ordinary people paid for the stupidity, the nationalistic fervour and the religious cynicism involved in war. These profoundly held beliefs had at their heart Koelz's bitter personal experiences between 1914 and 1918.
©
Koelz Estate
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