SS Imperator Steamer Ship Eagle Statue Real Photo Postcard

The figurehead on this vintage postcard belongs to the German Imperial Navy battleship SMS *Kaiser Wilhelm II*. Launched in 1897 and commissioned in 1902, the ship was a flagship of the German fleet and a potent symbol of Kaiser Wilhelm II's ambition to transform Germany into a global naval power. Its prominent figurehead, an imperial eagle adorned with a crown and grasping a globe inscribed with IST DIE WELT ('is the world'), visually represented this era of expansive naval policy and imperial aspirations.