An old fighter : The Leader congratulates General Litzmann on his birthday in 1934 Cigarette card photo of Adolf Hitler visting General Litzmann on his birthday

Identifier
irn46995
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2012.68.17
Dates
1 Jan 1934 - 31 Dec 1934
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was a German photographer and Nazi propagandist. The son and nephew of photographers, he worked in the Hoppé studio in London before setting up in Munich as a portraitist and photojournalist. His photograph of cheering crowds on 2 August 1914 unwittingly captured the young Adolf Hitler, an event which would later benefit Hoffmann's career. Drifting to the far right after the First World War and revolutionary events in Bavaria, he joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and convinced an initially camera-shy Hitler of photography's political value. Hoffman’s assistant, Eva Braun, became Hitler’s mistress in 1930. After 1933, his virtual monopoly of Hitler photographs, as ‘the man who sees the Führer for us’, made him one of the Third Reich's major profiteers. His scenes of carefully constructed intimacy, presenting his master, especially in the regime's early years, as a clean-living, nature-loving man of the people, were massively disseminated. After 1945, though claiming to have been a mere chronicler of events, he was fined and imprisoned. His extensive photo archive survives, including photographs of German political and religious figures, as well as actors, painters, and musicians.

Archival History

The cigarette card was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Martin Shallow III.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Martin Shallow III

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Scope and Content

Cigarette card, Ein alter Kämpfer : Der Führer gratuliert 1934 General Litzmann zum Geburtstag, number 182, Group 67, series 15, Adolf Hitler - Pictures of the Life of the Führer, from about 1936. The card features a black and white photograph of Hitler visiting the aged General Karl Litzmann on his 84th birthday in 1934. Cigarette cards were a popular collectible item in Germany beginning about 1920. Large albums with text, but no pictures, were published for each series and the cards were collected to be added as illustrations. The increasing popularity of the Nazi Party made them a desirable subject for a collectible card series. The album for this series has text and photo captions that tell the story of Hitler's life from his birth in 1899 to his 1933 appointment as Chancellor, and then Fuhrer, of Germany.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Small, rectangular paper card with a halftone photographic print with white borders treated to look like a glossy photograph. It has an image of Adolf Hitler, bareheaded, and in a uniform with a swastika armband c;asping the hand of an elderly man, General Litzmann, seated in an open top car, with a crowd of people looking on. On the back are the title, image, group, and series number, German fraktur text, with adhesive residue on the corners.

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.