The true portrait of the Eternal Jew Antisemitic poster with an image of and poem about the Wandering Jew

Identifier
irn3749
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1990.333.38
Dates
1 Jan 1871 - 31 Dec 1919
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 14.250 inches (36.195 cm) | Width: 18.250 inches (46.355 cm)

Creator(s)

Archival History

The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

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

Nineteenth century antisemitic poster printed by C. Burckardt in Weissenburg, Germany (now Wissembourg, France) featuring an image and a poem by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart about the Wandering Jew. Christian Schubart was an 18th century German poet and musician. The poster references the story of the Wandering Jew, a Jewish man (in some versions named Ahasuerus) who taunted Jesus on his way to be crucified. In response, Jesus said “I stand and rest, but you will go on,” dooming him to live until the end of the world or the second coming of Christ. The origin of the story is uncertain, although parts may have been inspired by biblical passages. Some versions name the wanderer Cartaphilus, and claim he was Pontius Pilate’s doorkeeper, who struck Jesus, urging him to go faster on the path to his crucifixion. The Ahasuerus version can be traced back to a German pamphlet published in 1602 which was translated into several languages and widely distributed. The story of the Wandering Jew has been portrayed and depicted in works of art, poetry, literature, plays, and films. In Schubart’s poem, the Jew is named Ahasver and he denies Jesus’ request for rest on the way to his crucifixion. As a result Ahasver is cursed to never die by an angel. Ahasver lives to see his loved ones die, cities and nations rise and fall, and bears mortal wounds that only cause him pain and suffering. In the end, the angel returns, and allows Ahasver to die, showing God’s mercy.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Black-and-white lithographic poster, with hand colored details printed on off-white paper adhered to a white linen backing. The poster features a large, centered, rectangular image of the wandering Jew standing on a rocky, brown and tan-colored shoreline. He is holding a walking stick, and his left arm is slightly extended in a pointing motion. He is wearing a red tunic with a white front panel and blue sleeves, along with a tall, wide-brimmed brown hat, brown knee-high boots, and white leggings. He has a large, hooked nose, and long, white hair and beard. Visible in the right background is a distant, brown-colored ship on the water. The left background is filled by Golgotha, a tall, tan-colored bluff with three crosses at the top, and a path winding down to some buildings near the bottom. The sky has wispy, blue-and-black clouds shaded with hatched lines. Flanking the image is an extensive German poem printed in black, fraktur-style font. Six stanzas are on the left and five on the right. The title is printed across the top in large, black fraktur style letters. The red coloring has bled along the edges of the tunic, especially on the upper portion.

People

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.