Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Kaiserliche Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial Reich Flag) was the official flag used by the Wehrmacht, the Armed Forces of Germany from 1871 to 1921. It displays an Iron Cross and an Imperial Eagle, crowned with a sceptre,
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1920
- Geography
-
use:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Identifying Artifacts
- Category
-
Flags
- Object Type
-
Flags (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
- Flags.
- Physical Description
- Rectangular, red, wool flag with a black cross, iron cross, and central eagle. The black cross divides the flag into four quadrants. The top left quadrant has a black iron cross on a field of black, white, and red stripes. The center emblem is a black eagle with spread wings, wearing a red and gold crown, holding a scepter in the right claw, a blue ball in the left claw, with a gold, script R on the chest. It has a flag pole sleeve with cords at the hoist end.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 47.000 inches (119.38 cm) | Width: 77.000 inches (195.58 cm)
- Materials
- overall : wool, linen, cord
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Geographic Name
- Germany--Armed Forces--History--Flags. Germany. Heer--Flags. Germany--History, Military--20th century.
- Corporate Name
- Germany. Wehrmacht Oberkommando
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The flag was acquired by the United States Holocaust Museum in 2006.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 08:31:53
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn518904
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Also in Nazi Germany propaganda collection
The collection consists of artifacts: Stormtrooper jodphurs, an Imperial Reich flag, a Nazi propaganda board game, a Jew Suss poster, and two pamphlets related to the history of Nazi Germany and to the postwar Allied military occupation.
Date: 1934-1947
![SA [Sturmabteilung/Storm Division] uniform jodphurs](https://www.ushmm.org/media/emu/get?irn=518903&mm_irn=15551&file=secondary "SA [Sturmabteilung/Storm Division] uniform jodphurs")
SA [Sturmabteilung/Storm Division] uniform jodphurs
Object
SA [Sturmabteilung/ Stormtroopers] service breeches from 1930’s Germany with the NSDAP (Nazi Party) authorization and issuing tags. This Nazi Party paramilitary organization, also called Brownshirts to echo Mussolini's Blackshirts, was founded by Hitler in 1920, and led by Ernst Rohm. The Stormtroopers were known for their brutality and violence and were potent instruments of street terror during Hitler's rise to power. By the early 1930s, SA membership reached three million, and outnumbered the German Army. After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the SA's demands for political power and the placement of fanatical Nazis in all key positions threatened Hitler's plans for German expansion and he turned against them. Between June 30 and July 2, 1934, the Nazi Party leadership, on Hitler's order, purged the SA leadership to end the embarrassing conduct and political intrigues. The SA would remain a popular and murderous wing of the Nazi Party, but it would no longer be an independent political force.
Radio-Sende-Spiel, a Nazi propaganda board game with game pieces and rule sheet
Object
Nazi propaganda board game, Radio-Sende-Spiel: Ein luestiges Wuerfelspiel fuer vier Personen [Radio Station Game: A funny dice game for four people.] The set includes a game board, one die, 4 game pieces, and instructions with the original box. This set has an additional game board with a game hand drawn on the back. The game is based upon the sending of radio messages between transmission towers of the German Armed Forces within the boundaries of Germany circa 1942, thus Czechoslovakia and Poland are shown as part of Germany. The player's goal is to make it around the gameboard while avoiding enemy or foreign radio stations. Radio transmissions are monitored by enemies of Germany and the cities outside German boundaries, such as London, Paris, Bucharest, and Moscow are marked with red dots with question marks and must be approached with caution. The starting place is Stuttgart and the goal is Berlin. The game was manufactured in Nazi Germany after 1939.
Pamphlet
Object
Pamphlet outlining military regulations for the British zone of occupation in postwar Germany to take effect February 24, 1947.
Portfolio
Object
Portfolio containing Hitler Youth propaganda, including a pamphlet: Immer im Dienst, Blatter zur Dienstgestaltung der Hitlerjugend, Gebiet 6 [Always on duty, Newsletter for service design of the Hitler Youth, Area 6 (nordmark?] as well as several loose pages and other bound pamphlets. The Hitler Youth was founded by the Nazi Party in 1926 to shape the beliefs, thinking, and actions of German youth to conform to national socialist ideology. After Hitler's selection as Chancellor in 1933, this became the national ideology and loyalty to the Nazi Party and its leaders was paramount. The Hitler Youth became a pathway for service in the armed forces or, later, in the SS. In 1936, membership in Nazi youth groups became mandatory for all boys and girls between the ages of ten and seventeen.
