Hindenburg light


The Hindenburg light or Hindenburglicht, was a source of lighting used in the trenches of the First World War, named after the Commander-in-Chief of the German army in World War I, Paul von Hindenburg. It was also used in World War II in air raid shelters or during power cuts, and mandated black outs as emergency lighting. It was a flat bowl approximately diameter and deep. It resembles the cover of Mason jar lid and was made from pasteboard. This flat bowl was filled with a wax-like fat. A short wick in the center was lit and burned for some hours. A later model of the Hindenburglicht was a "tin can lamp." Here, a wax-filled tin can have two wicks in a holder. If both wicks are lit, a common, broad flame results.
It is also mentioned in the novels and Berlin by Theodore Plievier, as used on the Eastern Front and in air raid shelters respectively. Also it is mentioned in Wheels of Terror by Sven Hassel and In Deadly Combat A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front by Gottlob Herbert Biedermann.