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This is an original "for Wehrmacht use only“ Afrika-Karte, a World War II German color map showing the African continent as well as southern Europe, the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

It is historically significant and interesting to see many countries in Africa listed with their colonial names, for example Tripolitania, British Somalia, English Egypt, Belgian Congo and German Southwest Africa and German East Africa with its many cities with German names. There are British and French “mandates” in the oil-rich Middle East. Gold and diamond deposits are also called out.

It is the big 24 x 26-½ inch, multicolor Bibliographisches Institut AG map of Africa in a scale of 1 to 1500,000 as published for the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) Department of Domestic Maps in Berlin. It is dated 1941 in the lower left corner. It is one of a series of Tornisterschrift or Backpack Maps for use only inside the Wehrmacht or German Armed Forces.

For anyone studying military or political aspects of Third Reich Germany and / or World War II, this is a perfect map. It is not so large that it can not be mounted or framed and hung on the wall of a reasonable sized room.

The 82 year old Afrika-Karte was carefully saved since the end of World War II and its colors are still bright, not faded. It is in good used condition with pin holes in three corners, and two one inch tears on folds on the right side of the map. It has no tape repairs and no odor.