"Mahnmal" monument centerpiece

[Jon Fish]

Here is an amazing photograph of Kurt Schmid-Ehmen, the sculptor responsible for creating the eagles for some of the most important monuments of the Third Reich.
Here below is an image from the Imagno archive of the sculptor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen (1901-1968) at work on a model for the eagle created to adorn and ‘protect’ the ‘Mahnmal des 9.November 1923 (1933), erected on left side (while facing) of the Feldherrnhalle in München’, the honour memorial to the fallen of the failed putsch of 1923, Munich. This work of 1933 and the 1934 Hoheitszeichen Reichsparteitagsgelände, which Hitler personally appointed Schmid-Ehmen to design for the grandstand of the Luitpold Arena in the Reich Party Rally Grounds Nuremburg are surely his most well known works.

[Jon Fish]

xx double,please delete

[ErichS]

A cool photo Jon and thanks for posting it. As we know Troost did the design of the Mahnmal and Schmid did the sculpting.

[Br. James]

A wonderful photo of Prof. Pg. Kurt Schmid-Ehmen at work on the finial to the Feldherrnhalle Mahnmal -- thanks so much for sharing this! The two bronze standards flanking the main entrance to the Brown House were topped with versions of this same design of NSDAP eagle and swaz and since the Brown House was opened for use on 1/1/1931 -- more than two years prior to the creation of the Mahnmal in the Feldherrnhalle -- I have assumed that the standards at the Braunes Haus predated the 8/8 1923 Memorial and were the inspiration for the Feldherrnhalle piece also by Schmid-Ehmen.

Br. James

[der bingle]

And here with its partner in crime

A display well worth taking another look at! A truly great thread, and great research and dedication behind it. Carl and Erich Lee

[der bingle]

Dedicating this post as a show of appreciation into the study and hard work of my fellow posters below.

Original real photo postcards, once owned by Prof. Kurt Schmid Ehmen.

[ErichS]

Fantastic cards and love to have that FHH model!

[der bingle]

Fantastic cards and love to have that FHH model!

Thanks for the complement Erich. this thread is like a classic book that you can read over and over again and always find something new and interssting along this great highway of history.

[jabnus]

These are some great postcards

[JoeW]

A cool photo Jon and thanks for posting it. As we know Troost did the design of the Mahnmal and Schmid did the sculpting.

And perhaps what is not known is that the State of Bavaria picked up the cost of the Mahnmal. This was announced in a speech at the dedication service in 1933 by Bavarian Minister President Ludwig Siebert, pictured here in a Wikipedia photo.


Siebert's speech at the FHH announced three things: 1) Hitler was made an honorary citizen of Bavaria, 2) an Adolf-Hitler-Museums der nationalen Erhebung was established to assemble and preserved the history of the march, and 3) the Bavarian State Administration in conjunction with Gau Oberbayern-Schwaben undertook the creation of the Mahnmal. I found the use of the term Gau Oberbayern-Schwaben in Siebert's speech to be odd. But in the Wikipedia article on Gau Munchen-Oberbayern, I found this statement: "In Munich-Upper Bavaria, the most populous Gau in Bavaria, the local Gauleiter Wagner, a personal friend of Hitler's, initially attempted to incooperate the neighboring Gau Schwaben, to increase his already considerable power.[7]"

[der bingle]

Possibly the first comercially produced postcard of the N.S.D.A.D

Original Hoffmann real photo postcard.



Finishing touches, Original photo's


Front of heavy photo, w/back of second includes writing.

[ErichS]

Great cards and especially like the card with the martyrs

[der bingle]

Great cards and especially like the card with the martyrs

Thanks Erich, its a privlege to contribute to this very fine thread

[Br. James]

The post card shared with us by Der Bingle in his note #386 is interesting to me for a number of reasons...beyond the fact that I collect Putsch/Mahnmal memorabilia as he does! The card is unused so no suggestion of a publication date is available via a postmark, though cards existed for years on hawkers' racks until they were eventually sold. The first point of interest is that this card only features the fourteen 'Putsch martyrs' killed at the Feldherrnhalle and does not include Felix Alfarth or Wilhelm Ehrlich who died during the occupation of the Bavarian War Ministry building a short distance away. I have a card with a similar motif, though mine includes all sixteen of the 'martyrs;' Roger Bender also shows a similar card -- also with sixteen 'martyrs' -- on p.190 of the first volume of his "Postcards of Hitler's Germany." Bender attributes this card to the date of the Putsch observance in 1933.

An associated question may be the address of Hoffmann Studios on his card's reverse: Amalienstr. 25 in Munich. My version of this card's format -- 'the martyrs of the Putsch' -- places Hoffmann Studios at Friedrichstr. 34, and other cards in my collection indicate that Hoffmann Studios used that address from at least November of 1933 into 1937. But to back up, Hoffmann Studios was located at Schellingstr. 50 from at least 1925 through 1929 -- that is where Hitler sub-leased office space when he was released from the Landsberg Fortress in February of 1925, and Heinrich Hoffmann was his landlord there. The studio used Amalienstr. 25 as their address in 1934 and '35; I have a portrait photo card of SA-Obergruppenführer Edmund Heines bearing this address and he was murdered during the Night of Long Knives in June of 1934. Then there is the address for Hoffmann Studios at Thieresienstr. 74, and I have cards bearing that address postmarked in 1934 through 1937. It seems as though Hoffmann Studios had more than one address which they used on post cards throughout the period. Perhaps some of our colleagues have more detailed information on the location(s) of Hoffmann Studios during this period?

Der Bingle postulates that his card in note #386 is "Possibly the first comercially produced postcard of the N.S.D.A.P." and, while the address of Hoffmann Studios it bears does not appear to be from the early 1920s, the format of the card -- it's use of only fourteen of the sixteen 'Putsch martyrs' -- does seem to come from a very early time. Could it be a reprint of an earlier release? Does anyone else have any thoughts on this question? Thanks again to Der Bingle for his fine input!

Br. James

[JoeW]

........................ But to back up, Hoffmann Studios was located at Schellingstr. 50 from at least 1925 through 1929 -- that is where Hitler sub-leased office space when he was released from the Landsberg Fortress in February of 1925, and Heinrich Hoffmann was his landlord there................. Br. James

Br. James, the Schellingstr. 50 address was the general offices of the NSDAP, including the RZM in 1933. In fact, there is "click" at the address on Google Earth that identifies the address as the "Geschaftsstelle d. NSDAP" and includes a photo.