Question About Two WWI Era Postcards

Hello all,
I'm placing this mesesage here as opposed to the postcards as I'm more concerned about the message and address side of the cards.

The postcard below was used to send a message to a prisoner of war by a Swiss agency out of Interlaken in 1916. Is this to a French prisoner? Also can anyone fully read the address in Germany?


The second postcard is a greater challenge due to difficult handwriting and partial postmarks and handstamps. The message is dated April 1, 1915. From the written message it also appears to be from Lambais which is located in Belgium. The Germans had invaded by then so that makes sense. I can only read part of the postmark and not enough to tell where it is from - ...anghen..? It's not much of any help. There's also a violet box handstamp that starts with "Hag...". Most of the text is not readable, but would this be a censor handstamp of sorts? Hopefully the easier part since it's whole, is the address. However, I still cannot read it - Mollmunst...? Can anyone shed any light? Thanks! Will

1st - to a soldier named Weiss, can't quite see the first name;
2nd - soldat* au 10th chauffeurs* - soldier of the 10th drivers [unit];
3rd - block 4, room 14;
4th - gefangener - prisoner [camp];
5th - [town name] possibly Münster-i-W = "im Westphalia" as distinguished from "Munster" in Lower Saxony, both important military towns.

That's all I know; in fact, it's more than I know...

*French words, so possibly to a French soldier. The message is written in French, not German.

Thanks for the information Doug. That's a big help. I wasn't sure if the postcard was to a French or Belgian prisoner of war since I have other postcards from the same mixed lot that were related to Germans in Belgium during the war.

Well, it could be to a Belgian; the key is tracking down the 10th Chauffeurs unit.

WOW! I love it! I am endlessly fascinated with this type of correspondence and don't speak a lick of french and only a little German but can speak Pennsylvania Dutch quite well. That doesn't seem to help at all...lol Thank you for showing this.

In think that would be the "10th chasseurs" not the "10th Chauffeurs" as I think the Germans would likely have locked up the soldiers not the chauffeurs, but you never know. A regiment of chauffeurs would be an impressive sight.

Second postcard is a message to Katarina from her friend Madlen arranging a visit. The violet cachet has "HAGGEN" which is a place name.
Also the Lambais is actually Lambach in Austria. The writing is called Sütterlin which differs significantly to modern day German writing.

I think you're right that's it's Lambach. But there's also a Lambach, Germany near the Czech Republic border. It's a very small place. I would be more inclined to think it is from there rather than the one in Austria due to lack of an Austrian-Hungarian Empire stamp. There is also a Lambach, France in the Lorraine too, but not a likely location. The postmark is not Lambach as there's an "E" in it. It could have been posted from a nearby town or anywhere else during the sender's travels.

I've been using an alphabet chart http://www.harlessgenealogy.com/ima...et_chart.htm to translate the writing, but it's still not that easy. Using that, the address looks like it should be Eschweiler, Post Mollmünster. Eschweiler isn't that far from Münster, but not sure why it's together in the address.

The violet handstamp looks like Hag??au.. Below that (?ils.)

I just figured out the violet handstamp. It's a censor handstamp for Hagenau (Els.) There's plenty of better copies on Delcampe that I was able to use for reference. However, that might now mean Lambach, France might be the most likely town for the sender's origin. That Lambach was part of Germany until after WWI.

You may be right about chasseur, but that is usually translated as "hunter". I was under the impression that (French) chauffeur was a truck/transport driver.

I'll consult my buddy in Zurich.

A postcard to a Belgian prisoner might be in French, so you couldn't tell by that. Doug is right, track down the "10th Chauffeurs". With the modern Internet, that should be fairly easy.

If I may add to what Battlestamps posted...
Hagenau in the violet cachet might be the one... it was part of Germany at that time (Alsace)?
to the best of my ability it reads...
.
an Katherina Mayer, in Eschweiler, Post Neumünster
Lambach, den 1.4.1915
.
Liebes Kathrinchen.
Ich will dir mitteilen, dass ich deine Karte dankend erhalten hab und habe gesehen dass du am Montag nach Bitsch gehst. Wenn es gutes Wetter ist komm ich, bis Mittag bin ich drin. Es grüßt, ich und die ganse Familie euch alle von Herzen.
Madlin M.
.
Side note: Gruß von dem Vater an Ralf und seine Schwester.
Side note: Gruß an Nikolaus Tog

To add asmall bit to doug222's post.
4th line of address reads:
Gefangenenlager Münster-i-W (Münster in Westfalen)

The unit is 10th Chasseurs, not Chauffeurs.

Definitely Chasseurs. The 10th is for sure a regiment I have read about. You can't necessarily take the literal translation, which may be hunters, but in this context, maybe an idiom or something, it is a soldier, of a particular type.

Thanks for the great information! I believe it's a cavalry unit - http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/10e_régiment_de_chasseurs_à_cheval