Weiss Ferdl ~ This card #447 from the Bunte Filmbilder cigarette card series. The actor is shown wearing various German decorations including 1914 Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class. It is a vintage 1937 original. The edges show minor wear but it is still a nice example: VF. The card is about the same size as a British or American cigarette card (over 1¼"x2¼"). Click on my scan to greatly enlarge the image (opens a new browser window).

Bavarian actor and comedian Weiss-Ferdl was born Ferdinand Weisheitinger in Altötting. In the 1930s he was one of the most popular film comedians in Germany. Although he began his career on the silent screen it was not until the advent of sound that he gained great popularity. When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, Weiss-Ferdl cultivated contact with the NSDAP and was propelled to stardom across Germany. Mostly, his films seemed on the surface to be light escapist musical comedy. He made his last film in 1941 and died in 1949.