Landeschützen-Kompanie 52/VI was formed on 26 August 1939 as a result of mobilisation in the town of Wesel in North Rhine-Westphalia. Transported to occupied Poland on 16 September 1939, it stationed in Żyrardów, where it supervised a transit camp for Polish prisoners of war, and subsequently in Błonie, where it performed patrol duties. Between November 1939 and late January 1940, the company was billeted in a weapons depot in Palmiry, and between 30 January and 18 March 1940 in the complex of the Physical Education Academy in Bielany, Warsaw. There, it was transformed into the II, and later I Battalion of the 659th Infantry Regiment, 393th Infantry Division (I. Bataillon vom Infanterie-Regiment 659 der 393. Infanterie-Division). From Warsaw, it was sent to the village of Komorowo near the city of Ostrów Mazowiecka at the then border with the Soviet Union. The unit was returned to Germany on 4 August 1940. Unlike private albums, this one is clearly official and chronicling in nature. It contains photographs of the unit's commanders, successive billets, and genre photos showing the soldiers' everyday life. The collection is complemented by winter landscapes of Bielany and several street images from occupied Warsaw.

The commemorative album of Landeschützen-Kompanie 52/VI (later the 3rd Company of the 659th Infantry Regiment) contains 78 black and white photographs taken in 1939-1940. It was prepared in the summer of 1940 by Lieutenant Jacobs, then stationed in the city of Warka. The copy purchased by the Warsaw Rising Museum was owned by Corporal Pützschel, as evidenced by the personal dedication on the title page. In terms of editing, the album was prepared very carefully, most probably in many copies. Further pages of the album have stuck-in sheets with the Company's history from the years 1939-1940.