Fritz Todt

In the Strangers' World, just like in OTL*, Reichsminister Todt died in a plane crash on February 8, 1942. The circumstances were different, although. Mark Toma never heard of Organisation Todt (or the Siegfried Line) until the name surfaced in one of his 'visions'.

Я знал и о том, что Фриц Тодт погиб в авиационной катастрофе в 1942-м. Какая организация? И что делала германская группа армий в венгерском Дебрецене?

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* Our Timeline = Real history

1930: Real Buffalo Revisited

Built by the New York Central Railroad from 1927 - 1929, the Buffalo Central Terminal was constructed to serve the booming Buffalo rail industry. Designed by architects Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, the art deco station was designed to accommodate 200 trains per day, or 3,200 passengers per hour. Along with the main concourse, the station also consists of a 17-story office tower, a four story baggage building, a two story mail building, and train concourse.

 

Images & info: opacity.us

See also: Real Buffalo (I)

Normandie Poster

Should we remind you what happened to the magnificent Normandie in 1942 (OTL)?

Real Berlin at Night

Karstadt Department Store

 

Street view (Ku-Damm?)

 

Kaiser Hotel

 

via fantomas-en-cavalle

 

See also:

Real Berlin

Real Berlin Revisited

Prince Henry

Mark's college was officially called 'Prince Henry Institute'. There were portraits of two princes in the main entrance hall, both named Henry - a (fictitious) Medieval ruler and Prince of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm's younger brother. A career naval officer who held various commands and eventually rose to the highest rank in the Imperial Navy, Prince Henry (Prinz Albert Wilhelm Heinrich von Preußen) had a multitude of modern hobbies. He received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany, promoted motor sports and was also an avid yachtsman, becoming one of the first members of the "Marine-Regatta-Verein" (Navy Regatta Union).

According to the plot, Prince Henry of Prussia visited the institute in 1911, two years after his retirement from the Navy. In the 1880s image above he's a Korvettenkapitän (Commander), still a long way to go to the High Seas Fleet command. And below, we see him wearing a Großadmiral's insignia:

 

Слева – принц Генрих, князь-просветитель, друг ученых и художников, в честь которого назвали это учебное заведение, не особо задумываясь над тем, что в хрониках XV века его имя связано как минимум с тремя премерзкими историями. Справа – другой принц Генрих, брат кайзера Вильгельма и гросс-адмирал германского флота, осчастлививший институт визитом в год открытия. А дата основания – 4 мая 1911 года – была выбита на мраморной доске вместе с изречением Цицерона: "Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit".

1930: Real Fashion

Evening ensembles by Lucien Lelong

Afternoon dress by Lucien Lelong

Jeanne Lanvin and a model

Special thanks to fantomas-en-cavalle

Princess Elizabeth at War

While visiting an optometrist at the Special Research Bureau, Mark Toma looks at the portrait of Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) in the ATS uniform. Her Royal Highness was photographed changing a Land Rover wheel. OK, Princess Elizabeth said goodbye to the ATS before the advent of the Land Rover (1948 in OTL) but in the Strangers' World, she served during the Asian War, i.e. in the late 1940s.

Here are some real photographs of the future Queen during her service as a 2nd Subaltern, Auxiliary Territorial Service:

And - a link to a British Pathe newsreel showing Princess Elizabeth receiving a clock from the ATS personnel.

Я оказался в кабинете окулиста – самом обыкновенном кабинете с таблицами на стенах. Без портрета королевы и тут не обошлось, правда этот портрет выглядел весьма необычно: совсем юная Елизавета Вторая в кепи и замасленном комбинезоне меняет колесо у "Лендровера".