German war hero Annika at her farm for struggling veterans: Jan Kraus’s best photograph

‘She was in Germany’s biggest battle since the second world war, but the army took years to recognise her PTSD. Annika now runs a farm with pigs and geese where struggling veterans come to stay’

Annika Schröder’s story is an amazing one. She was in the military here in Germany for almost 20 years. She joined when she was young, adventurous and needed to earn money – they let her do fun things like jump out of an aeroplane and drive a tank. But then she got deployed to Afghanistan, and within a month her unit got sent on a rescue mission, which is now infamous as the Good Friday Battle – the biggest German military battle since the second world war. She recovered two dead soldiers and one who was heavily wounded, but went on to develop severe post-traumatic stress disorder. It took the Bundeswehr (German army) over a decade to fully recognise that. Meanwhile she was discharged because they said she wasn’t fit to do her job any more. In 2025 there was a television documentary made about her life.

She now gets a full army pension that she can live off and has started what’s called a veteran farm outside Leipzig, where she keeps pigs and geese and two dogs. This image was taken in her kitchen there. Living self-sufficiently helps with her PTSD and while the dog in the picture isn’t an official support dog, it helps her feel calm.

I started shooting this series of photographs in 2023. I was interested in visually exploring what “the state” means, especially in these times when defence spending is going up. When you see somebody in the street in police or military uniform, you get a direct sense of the state so I thought that by photographing those uniformed people in the privacy of their homes, you could show the dynamic between the private person, a normal citizen, and a member of the state.

I come from a more or less leftwing background, and I only knew one person who joined the Bundeswehr. I photographed him holding his baby, who was drinking out of a milk cup. I was surprised to find that I had a lot in common with about 80% of the people I talked to – I could easily go and have a beer with them. Most of my contacts came through people I already photographed, so maybe I was also moving in a bubble. But I tried to make it as diverse as I could. I photographed Anastasia Biefang, a transgender person who has led up to 700 soldiers. In 2017, she became the first openly transgender battalion commander in the German military. She’s quite famous: she also has her own documentary.

Most of the people in this series, because they’re in their homes, aren’t wearing shoes. Annika is one of the few who insisted on wearing shoes, because for her, to represent the country properly, the uniform has to be worn completely. Finally getting recognition from the Bundeswehr for how she served her country, and how that affected her, was a big deal for her.

She has two spare attic rooms where she lets other former soldiers with PTSD stay, no questions asked. It’s simply: “If you’re really feeling shit, you can come here. I’ve been there.” If you send somebody to war, don’t expect them to come back the same and reintegrate as if nothing happened. You need to take care of those people.

She came to my first exhibition for the series, and it was a big, crowded one – which is hard for her, and while she maintains a public profile with an Instagram account, she says she’s got nothing to do with the photography or art worlds. But she came with her father and I was really, really happy to see her.

I’m very pleased with how the project turned out. I honestly did not know where it was going to lead me and it became more positive than I perhaps expected. Some friends of mine said: “I don’t agree at all with you going to see this Nato soldier – are you doing an advertisement for the Bundeswehr?” But I was only talking to them and taking photos – it’s interesting how even this sparks a debate. I’d call them up and ask: “Hey, can we come to your house and take a photo?” And then I’d go there and I’d sit down and talk to them – we talked for hours – and I learned a lot. Maybe that’s the message that comes from the project. Don’t discuss over social media. Sit down and talk to people, even if you might not agree.

• In Uniform by Jan Kraus is published by Verlag Kettler

Jan Kraus’s CV

Born: Gelchsheim, Bavaria, 1985
High point: Spending six weeks in Igloolik in the Canadian arctic with an Inuit community documenting the shooting of Hunting With My Ancestors’ bowhead whale episode by director Zacharias Kunuk
Top tip: Persistence: if you work long enough on a series there will be good photos. And trust your gut