Early 1923 National Socialist Mitglides-Karte, with a twist...
Article about: Hello, This early membership card for the National Sozialistische Partei Deutsch-Oesterreichs is really special to me. I've been interested in very early Austrian NS history for several year
While not many are familiar with the diamond system upon the left arm for political leaders,
in use since summer 1932, here a short survey:
Amtswalter, known as Hoheitsträger, did use the diamond with political eagle.
The following was not yet included, so was anyway introduced later as the NSBO symbol
was to be worn upon the lapel. Those with a function within the NSBO did wear a
diamond with NSBO-symbol since the course of later 1932 into 1933.
Others did wear diamonds according to function (the party badge and/or the state colors):
The July 1932-surveys shown now give more specific details:
With the introduction of the new PO uniform in early 1934 all of the diamonds, as well
as the stripes with years, were abolished!
Thank you Wim for this great source material, always welcome and appreciated. Very interesting information.
Larry, thank you for the kind comments, I am happy to introduce some pieces that few have ever seen, this thread is only great because of the input and interest of many of the members here who kindly reached out and added breadth and depth to a little know subject.
Just joined the forum courtesy of Marcus Vaughn who though this item might be of interest:
This postcard was formerly the property Anna Herzog (the wife of the former Gauleiter of Carinthia from 1927 to 1933 - Hugo Herzog) for whom it was signed. This card together with other material was apparently donated to the NSDAP Carinthia archives and was was removed from there by a British Intelligence officer in 1945.
There appear to be 11 signatures on the reverse of the card. The signatures were gathered during the second conference of the federated Nazi Party which was held at Salzburg between the 7th and 9th August. This was the first to be attended by Hitler and Anton Drexler.
In February 1920 Dr Walter Riehl had designed a flag using a swastika on a white field. The Flag was first flown on 1st May 1920. In the meantime Hitler had been designing his own swastika flag (apparentlyindependently ) in Munich.
1) Possibly Max Sesselmann
2) Possibly Heinrich Kraeger
3) Hans Knirsch (1877-1933) Austrian Nazi Leader.
4) Unidentified
5) Engineer Rudolf Jung (1882-1945) A leader of the Austrian Nazi Party DNSAP. It was he who convinced Hitler to use the words Nationalist Socialist in the renamed DAP.
6) Possibly Ferdinand Burchofsky
7) Dr.Walter Riehl (1881-1955) Chairman of the Austrian Nazi Party (DNSAP)
8) Engineer Alfred Brunner (1881-!936) A prominent member of the DSP (German Socialist Party)
9) Unidentified
10) Unidentified
11) Adolf Hitler. On the 7th August the swastika was accepted as the Party's official flag. On the 8th August 1920 Hitler received permission to rename the DAP (German Worker's Party) the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker's Party).
Adolf Hitler left the Army in April 1920 so his signature on this card must represent one of his very earliest political signatures. The signatures of Riehl and Hitler on the same card must rank as an extraordinary association piece in that they both designed swastika symbols for use in their faschist causes in 1920, the year they both signed it.
I would welcome comments and particularly any assistance which may help to identify the 'unidentified' signatures.
Welcome aboard and thank you for adding an absolutely wonderful, and historically significant piece of ephemera for our viewing pleasure! Quite possibly, the earliest Hitler-DAP/NSDAP related item I've ever seen.
For those members unaware, Ian is a historian, writer, journalist, and wears several other hats. He has authored a very fair share of WW2 military history books, best-sellers actually, including "The Women Who Knew Hitler: The Private Life of Adolf Hitler" and "Nazi Gold: The Sensational Story of the Worlds Greatest Robbery" He is very knowledgeable and a collector as well and I am very pleased he chose to join the WRF, as he has a lot to bring to the table IMO.
Well this postcard is really something special, thank goodness it survived the Kampfzeit and the War.
A.H.'s signature changed a great deal over the next decades, with this style very close to his signed paintings before the Great War. Interestingly, he signs on the nearly blank side, in large bold and I might add easy to read script. Not much later on, he writes like a physician with a hang-over in all of his correspondences. Ian, since you are wanting to identify some of the other signatures on the card, I suggest you create your own thread around the card. The card might get more exposure that way.
Hitler writes "Our State Party 'Day' 7.8.9. Aug. 20 (1920) A.Hitler"
The following photo shows A.H. at this very convention. It's odd to see a photo of Hitler kneeling, seemingly insignificant in the middle of a group shot. I believe that's Dietrich Eckhart next to Hitler, but I'm not certain.
The second photo is of Rudolf Jung, one of the founders of the DNSAP, first in Sudetenland and then Austria. Many history books omit the fact that Hitler did not create National Socialism, but "borrowed" it from the DNSAP of Austria! Hitler traveled into Austria quite often between 1921-23 giving speeches and networking.
The postcard/poster reprint from the 1940s of a 1922 National Socialist poster announcing a speaking engagement featuring Jung, Hitler, and Dr. Riehl in Austria. Portions were blurred out for some reason.
Finally, the DNSAP banner, displayed several months before Hitler's NSDAP design.
Last edited by Marcus Vaughn; 12-24-2015 at 11:27 PM.
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