German American Bund Joy Through Sports advertisement poster
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) | Width: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm)
Creator(s)
- Schlussel verlag (Publisher)
- Leni Riefenstahl (Subject)
- Martin Munkácsi (Photographer)
- Adolf Hitler (Subject)
Biographical History
Martin Munkácsi (1896-1963) was born into a Jewish family in Kolozsvar, Austria-Hungary (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania). During World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Afterwards, he began a career as a sports writer for the newspaper “Az Est” in Budapest, Hungary. Martin had to contribute his own photographs for the articles he wrote. The quality of his photographic work was quickly recognized, and he was promoted to photojournalist. In 1928, he moved to Berlin, Germany, to continue his photography career. He worked for several different magazines, and covered stories in Germany as well as major cities all over the world. In 1933, the Nazi Party had gained a majority in the German Reichstag and Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Antisemitism and persecution of Jews in Germany was on the rise and under the Nazis, the German government began enacting antisemitic decrees. That same year, Martin was offered a job at the fashion magazine, “Harper’s Bazaar,” which allowed him to move to New York City, and escape the antisemitic hostility in Germany. In the United States, Martin published photos in “Life Magazine” as well as “Ladies’ Home Journal” and continued work for “Harper’s Bazaar” until his death.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Eugene Goldfield.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Laurie Douglas and Eugene Goldfield
Scope and Content
Poster depicting Leni Riefenstahl ascending a mountain slope on skis, to promote the German American Bund’s “Joy Through Sports” program. The German American Bund was an organization of ethnic Germans living in the United States that expressed an admiration of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930’s, prior to US involvement in WWII. The Bund was founded to promote Nazism and US policies for Germany’s benefit. They organized demonstrations, maintained youth camps to instill Nazi ideals in children, and published magazines, brochures and other propaganda. Nazi German ideology placed great importance on the health and physical fitness of “Aryan” citizens. To facilitate this position, the regime sponsored sporting events and athletic activities through Nazi youth groups and the “Strength through Joy” program. As the poster says, the Bund’s “Joy Through Sports” program also propagated physical fitness ideals, and used the image of Leni Reifenstahl skiing to take advantage of an existing German tradition of outdoor recreation. The image of Leni skiing was originally taken by Hungarian-Jewish photographer, Martin Munkácsi, around 1931. The image was later featured on the February 17, 1936, cover of “Time” magazine and was likely already familiar to American audiences. Leni Riefenstahl was a German actress, filmmaker, and photographer. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, she starred in several mountaineering films that featured skiing, and the image was likely taken during production of one of the films. After viewing the 1932 film, “The Blue Light,” which Leni wrote and directed, Adolf Hitler had her direct several propaganda films, and the two had a friendly relationship.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Poster printed on textured, off-white paper, reproducing a large black-and-white photographic image of Leni Riefenstahl. She is depicted on skis, with a ski pole in each hand, and wears a bathing suit. She is ascending an inclined mountain slope with her ski poles dug into the snow. Inset in the top right corner is a black-and-white image of Hitler. He is wearing a military uniform with a peaked cap. His arms are folded across his chest, and he has a smirk on his face. Below and to the left of the image, there are small red swastikas, each inset within a white circle. A line of large, white English text is printed across the top of the poster, in fraktur-style font, and a block of smaller white text is below and to the left. Across the bottom of the poster is a line of large, black text, with a block of smaller black text beginning with a red, drop cap letter above on the left. There is light staining along the right and lower margins and along the back, left side. There is a defined horizontal fold across the center of the page.
People
- Riefenstahl, Leni.
- Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.
Corporate Bodies
- German American Bund
Subjects
- Cross-country skiing--Training.
- Skiing for women.
- Sankt Anton am Arlberg (Austria)
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany)
- Femininity in popular culture.
- Sports.
- Ski mountaineering.
Genre
- Object
- Posters.
- Posters