Original German Third Reich Publications Lot 1933–1942 – 10 Period Pieces

Description

This Third Reich publications lot gathers ten original German printed pieces dating from 1933 to 1942. Together they show how the regime’s messages reached people through very ordinary channels: a portrait order sheet, workplace-safety magazines, a youth-hostel journal, a teachers’ journal on girls’ education, an army arithmetic booklet and a wartime exhibition guide from Strasbourg. For a collector or researcher interested in print culture, this variety is the real attraction of the lot.

What Does This Third Reich Publications Lot Contain?

1. “Männer machen die Geschichte!” – illustrated portrait order sheet, Hermann Hillger Verlag, Berlin.
2. Kampf der Gefahr! – Nr. 6, 5. Jahrgang, Berlin, June 1938.
3. Kampf der Gefahr! – Nr. 8, 4. Jahrgang, Berlin, December 1937.
4. Kampf der Gefahr! – Nr. 5, 3. Jahrgang, Berlin, September 1936.
5. Kampf der Gefahr! – Nr. 3, 5. Jahrgang, Berlin, March 1938.
6. Führer durch die Ausstellung Deutsche Grösse – 2000 Jahre Kampf am Rhein – Strasbourg, 1942.
7. Die Jugendherberge – 14. Jahrgang 1933, Heft 7.
8. Nationalsozialistische Mädchenerziehung – 4. Jahrgang 1938, Heft 4, April 1938.
9. Nationalsozialistische Mädchenerziehung – 4. Jahrgang 1938, Heft 6, June 1938.
10. Anhang zu Heft 2 und 3 des Rechenbuches für den Unterricht in der Wehrmacht – 1938 edition.

What Is the “Männer machen die Geschichte!” Sheet?

This folding sheet advertises photogravure portraits of “führender Persönlichkeiten der Gegenwart und der Vergangenheit”, printed on card in a 22 × 30 cm format. The price scale is printed inside: 50 Pfennig for a single picture, falling to just 12 Pfennig each when at least 50 were ordered, mixed if desired. The front portrait of Hitler carries the line “Aus der Bildermappe von Hillgers Deutsche Jugendbücherei”, issued by the NS-Kulturgemeinde, and the sheet also offers picture frames from Hermann Hillger Verlag, Berlin W 9.

The numbered portraits include Hindenburg, Hitler, Göring, Horst Wessel, Baldur von Schirach, Hess, Robert Ley, Franz Seldte, Werner von Blomberg, Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, Viktor Lutze, Bernhard Rust, Walther Darré, Wilhelm Kube, Franz Ritter von Epp, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, Bruno Loerzer and Konstantin Hierl, among others. The printed titles help with dating: Blomberg appears as Reichswehrminister and Lutze as SA Chef des Stabes, which points to about 1934–1935. It is a revealing document of how leader portraits were marketed and sold in bulk.

What Is Kampf der Gefahr!?

Kampf der Gefahr!, subtitled Monatsblätter für Schadenverhütung, was a Berlin monthly devoted to accident and damage prevention. The four issues here run from September 1936 to June 1938 and have strong photographic covers:

• September 1936: a worker on an industrial tank, with the stamp of the Volksschule Waldkirch and a handwritten class note in red.
• December 1937: a winter scene referring to Kraft durch Freude winter holidays.
• March 1938: an industrial plant under the heading “Deutschland arbeitet”.
• June 1938: a dramatic illustration of a drowning figure, “Einer von 3000!”.

The school stamp suggests at least one issue was used in the classroom, which fits the educational character of much of this lot.

What Was the Deutsche Grösse Exhibition?

Deutsche Grösse was a large historical exhibition shown between 1940 and 1942. It presented German history from the early Middle Ages to Hitler’s rise to power in deliberately ideological terms, largely through facsimiles. This guide, a special issue of the Strassburger Woche, relates to its showing in occupied Strasbourg, at the Ausstellungsgelände Auf der Schiffmatt, from 19 June to 16 August 1942. The subtitle “2000 Jahre Kampf am Rhein” reflects the regime’s claim to Alsace. It is a valuable piece for anyone collecting Alsace, Strasbourg or wartime exhibition material.

What Do the Youth and Education Publications Show?

Die Jugendherberge (1933, Heft 7) was the journal for youth hostels and youth hiking, published in Iserlohn, Westphalia. The cover shows young hikers in an old German town with the caption “Auf froher Fahrt”. Issues from 1933 are interesting because that was the year youth organisations were being brought into line.

The two 1938 issues of Nationalsozialistische Mädchenerziehung were the official journal of the National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB) section for girls’ education, edited by Dr. Auguste Reber-Gruber and published by B. G. Teubner, Leipzig and Berlin. They are primary sources for the ideological reshaping of girls’ schooling.

The Wehrmacht arithmetic appendix (1938 edition) shows a very different, practical side of state instruction: lessons for soldiers within the armed forces.

Collector’s Note

I like this Third Reich publications lot because it is not just ten similar magazines. The four Kampf der Gefahr! issues form a small run, the two Mädchenerziehung issues can be compared, and the portrait sheet and Strasbourg guide add strong individual pieces. If you are new to this area, my guide to WW2 German documents explains how to assess condition and authenticity of printed material.

Condition

• General toning, light foxing and edge wear throughout.
• The portrait sheet has fold lines from its original folding.
• The Strasbourg guide has creasing and wear to the cover.
• Pencil or ink annotations on some covers, and a school stamp on the September 1936 issue.
• Completeness of every issue has not been checked page by page.

Please study all thirteen photographs, which form an essential part of this condition description. The ten pieces are sold together, exactly as shown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the pieces sold separately?

No. This Third Reich publications lot is sold as one group of ten pieces.

What period does it cover?

From 1933 (Die Jugendherberge) to 1942 (the Strasbourg exhibition guide).

Are the publications complete?

They are offered as photographed. I have not collated every page, so please use the photographs as the reference.

Historical Responsibility Notice

This Third Reich publications lot is offered as a historical artefact for collecting, preservation, education and research. Several covers and pages carry National Socialist symbols and portraits, which are retained because they are an original part of the documents. Autographs & Militaria does not endorse or glorify National Socialist ideology. For our approach to this material, see collecting Third Reich material responsibly.

References & Further Reading

• Original publications in this lot, as transcribed above.
• Society for the History of Collecting, Displaying German Greatness in Nazi Germany: The Exhibition Deutsche Größe (1940–1942) and Its Legacy, seminar by William J. Diebold (Reed College), 2017.
• Autographs & Militaria, WW2 German documents.