The Third Empire! Social Democratic Party election poster depicting Germany as a graveyard
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 24.500 inches (62.23 cm) | Width: 17.500 inches (44.45 cm)
Creator(s)
- Wang Mar (Designer)
- Vorwärts Druckerei (Printer)
- Richard Hauschildt (Publisher)
Archival History
The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
Anti-Nazi political poster from the 1932 German federal elections. The poster depicts Germany bleeding and covered in crosses, implying if the Nazis gained power, their systems of violence and intimidation would cause Germany and its people to suffer. By June 1932, Germany was deep in the throes of the Great Depression, with six million unemployed. This economic distress contributed to a rise in the popularity of the Nazi Party who along with the Communist Party and the Social Democrats, were the most popular political parties in Germany. The Social Democrats ran on a platform of maintaining freedom, democracy and the Republic, honoring Germany’s political and financial obligations, job creation, governmental expenditure cuts to lower taxes, and free speech. When Germany held parliamentary elections in July of that year, the Nazi party won almost 40 percent of the electorate in the Reichstag to become the largest party in German parliament. However Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party failed to defeat incumbent Social Democratic President Paul von Hindenburg in the presidential election. With the backing of his majority party, Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset lithographic German political poster printed on light brown paper with a white linen backing. In the center is a large three dimensional map of Germany covered in dozens of small white cemetery crosses. The map is layered in three colors; white on the bottom, red in the center and black on top. The poster has a thick black border and two lines of text; one on the upper left and one at the bottom. There is a circular stamp on the right side directly above the text. There are small spots of dirt and black and red ink spots throughout.
front, bottom right, handwritten, pencil: pII 6b front, bottom left, handwritten, pencil: 16/J front, bottom right, stamp, gray ink: SACHS AMT[?]RA [?] BOR[?]A
Corporate Bodies
- Germany. Reichstag
Subjects
- Germany--Politics and government--20th century--Posters.
- Elections
- Political campaigns--Germany--History--20th century.
- Germany--Politics and government--1918-1933--Pictorial works.
- Germany--History--1918-1933.
- Voting--Germany--History--20th century.
Genre
- Object
- Posters