PROPAGANDA POSTCARDS
(1933)

This page was last updated
22-Oct-2023 05:51

THE RISE TO POWER
(Jan 1933)

On 30th Jan 1933 Hitler was inaugurated as the Chancellor of Germany, and this occasion was marked by the publication of a number of postcards. Several of them were similar to the one below where Hitler's portrait is seen alongside that of Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck and President Hindenburg. The message was clear: Hitler was part of a long line of Great Germans and deserved to stand alongside her greatest heroes.

This was the first time a Nazi had attained a position of real power, so they wanted to align themselves with popular figures from Germany's past. For a fledgling party it was a way of gaining legitimacy with the German people by showing the Nazi Party as being continuous with previous popular governments and easing fears that a new radical party had come to power. After years of chaos the Nazi's wanted to show the people that it was back to business as usual. Sadly, it was to be a far different story.

POWER #1

This postcard features images of Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck, Hindenburg, and Adolf Hitler. The card was published by Verlag Johannes Bättiger of Köln and is one of a number of similar designs. There is a caption below each of the figures as follows:

Friedrich the Great: The king Conquered.
Otto von Bismarck: The Prince founded.
Paul von Hindenburg: The Field Marshall defended.
Adolf Hitler: The soldier saved.

POWER #2

This postcard features images of Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck, Hindenburg, and Adolf Hitler and was published by Kunstantstalt Johannes Bättiger of Köln-Salz. There is another very similar version that has the same printer's code (15-34), shown immediately below this one. That card was also published by Kunstantstalt Johannes Bättiger, but it does not have the extra text in the top left-hand corner that this one does.






The following postcard also features the same images of Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck, Hindenburg, and Adolf Hitler. The card was also published by Kunstantstalt Johannes Bättiger of Köln-Salz but now it has serrated edges and the additional inscription in the top left-hand corner. This inscription reads "Kunstblätter hiervon erschienen im | gleichen Verlag. Groβe: | 18 x 24, -.60 27 x 42, 1.20 42 x 63, 3.- Rpf." - 'Art sheets of this appeared in | same publisher. Size: | 18 x 24, -.60 27 x 42, 1.20 42 x 63, 3.- Rpf.' indicating that large format pictures could also be purchased in addition to the postcards.



Below is a third variation on this postcard, this time without the publisher's details and lacking the text in the bottom left-hand corner below the image.

POWER #3

The following postcard was published by Verlag Bayerl of Munich and features Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck and Adolf Hitler. Below each portrait are a few lines of detailed text.




The card above was re-issued later in 1933 to commemorate the 1933 Reichsparteitag in NURNBERG.




This card below has an identical image, but it lacks the details beneath each of the individuals that is present on the example above. There are also no publisher's detail listed on the reverse.




The following version of this postcard has an inscription on the reverse that reads "'Männer der Zeit' Nr. 74. | Friedrich d. Gr., Bismarck, Hitler."