Nazi election poster featuring a portrait image of Adolf Hitler’s head

http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn85614-irn3736 an entity of type: Record

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Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was a German photographer and Nazi propagandist. The son and nephew of photographers, he worked in the Hoppé studio in London before setting up in Munich as a portraitist and photojournalist. His photograph of cheering crowds on 2 August 1914 unwittingly captured the young Adolf Hitler, an event which would later benefit Hoffmann's career. Drifting to the far right after the First World War and revolutionary events in Bavaria, he joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and convinced an initially camera-shy Hitler of photography's political value. Hoffman’s assistant, Eva Braun, became Hitler’s mistress in 1930. After 1933, his virtual monopoly of Hitler photographs, as ‘the man who sees the Führer for us’, made him one of the Third Reich's major profiteers. His scenes of carefully constructed intimacy, presenting his master, especially in the regime's early years, as a clean-living, nature-loving man of the people, were massively disseminated. After 1945, though claiming to have been a mere chronicler of events, he was fined and imprisoned. His extensive photo archive survives, including photographs of German political and religious figures, as well as actors, painters, and musicians.

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

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irn3736

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Nazi election poster featuring a portrait image of Adolf Hitler’s head

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overall: Height: 48.000 inches (121.92 cm) | Width: 34.000 inches (86.36 cm)

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Poster for Adolf Hitler’s 1932 campaign as the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) presidential candidate against incumbent Paul von Hindenburg. The poster features a photorealistic black and white image of the disembodied head of Adolf Hitler against a black background, with his name printed below in large white capital letters. The black and white coloring helped to make the poster conspicuous, and stand out against the often multicolored designs of contemporary advertisements and posters. The image of Hitler stares out at the viewer confidently, giving the impression that he is the only thing Germany needs. By June 1932, Germany was deep in the throes of the Great Depression, with six million people 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. When Germany held presidential and parliamentary elections in November 1932, the Nazi party won 33 percent of the electorate in the Reichstag to become the largest party in the German parliament. However, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party failed to defeat incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg in the presidential election. Unable to gain an absolute majority, a coalition government was formed by Hindenburg, the Social Democrats, and the Nazi Party. The Nazis only joined under the condition that Hitler be appointed chancellor. With the backing of his party, Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933.

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ehri:physicalCharacterisiticsAndTechnicalRequirements

Large black and white poster printed on off-white paper, adhered to a white linen backing, featuring the disembodied head of Adolf Hitler against a black background. The large, centered, head is facing forward with an expressionless face. Below is a line of large white text. A line of small, white text is in the bottom left and right margins. The off-white, non-printed paper acts as a border to the image.

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