The Riddle of the Hindenburg Medallions This is an exhibit of ordinary mail, simple missives, business and personal letters that appeared in Germany's mailstream between 1932 and the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945. The covers in this exhibit have one feature in common: each bears the abundantly common Hindenburg Medallion stamp--the only postage stamp that was produced continuously during the Third Reich. The Hindenburg Medallion was first issued on October 1, 1932 to celebrate the 85th birthday of Paul von Hindenburg, president of the Weimar Republic. The plain design of the stamp was based on the Hindenburg medallion, created by medalist Karl Xaver Goetz. The first and second series of Hindenburg Medallion stamps, issued in 1932 and 1933, were printed on watermarked paper using the network or mesh design-more popularly termed the waffle or Waffein design. A third issue was printed in 1933 by the Nazi government and was watermarked with a swastika or Hakenkreuz. On September 4, 1934 a final set ofsix medallion stamps were issued with the swastika watermark and black borders to note the death ofvon Hindenburg in August. This exhibit intends to show that the Hindenburg Medallions were co-opted by Nazi propagandists in 1933 to express solidarity with the Hindenburg legacy. It was important to the Nazis to be viewed in support of familiar ideals of patriotism, continuance and harmony during the radical transition from a democratic republic to the authoritarian dictatorship that followed for a dozen years. The Medallion definitives were popular with the public. By 1932 Paul von Hindenburg had become a national hero, a man nearly as large as his myth. Hindenburg was not a Nazi, he stood for Germany, for empire, for conservative Prussian values-and for calm in the face ofchaos. Chaos in Germany began during the final years of World War 1. By 1918 Germany was facing ruin, people were starving, the army was ill-equipped to face continuing stalemate in the trenches; there were rumors of betrayal in the government and mutiny brewed in the Navy; Emperor Wilhelm II, and King of Prussia, renounced his crowns in November; the war was lost, the Weimar Republic was born and war reparations drained the German treasury. The prevailing excuse for military defeat and social disintegration was that Germany's army had been betrayed, "stabbed-in-the-back" by socialists in the government, by traitors who undermined the war effort and by Jews who were blamed for profiting from the war; government ministers were blamed for conceding to the crippling terms of the Versailles Treaty. Violent political factions emerged from the beer halls and bloodied each other in the streets. By 1919 Germany was in revolt. From this bedlam, a man emerged with calming effect. Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg, called the Victor of Tannenberg for his defeat of Russians in 1914, during an early battle of the long, devastating "'mli '"'" "'.., .t ... M • pm."ioml >eli... .,nomrchi>t, • P"",,;"n ";'tocnt-. """",.Ii", >mn ",ith u",lW<.oI>lo 'onfiOo""_Oo"'mod by hi> own ,cl.i"" .., • rod in .., 00•.., of hnnoil Hini."".", ..1 in f..,t ,till tho f.." of G."""" in tho ,taob, bo qu.1Iod tho nuhri" ..-.I bocuno, duri", thol920" • ".Iioml ho., ofmyth>o<il proportion In ln5,.t... 77, fi.1i M",holI Hiroio"".", "'''' ,.nod ""t oh.tinm"t ""...>in b 10><1 tho Woinur R."",l>o ill" tho d..th offu,ii.nt fri.drioh Ebort. Hini.rou", •..,ily",on "_.Ioc~,,, in 1932 ,,,10 of tho c.,."iro; pcv>Wity of",uri", f..,lio", ,till plrin< tho ,taob-..-.l fillinc ".b intho R.ioNt.. A, p",ii.nt of tho \1loim>r Ro",bl>o, Hiroio"".", oxm~od • 'octhin<, p.lonW crip on G.""""y; bo .tt.mplod b ...ii. tho wmhy b m occo>om>o ""0"'''' in m ino"..,i",ly no,liI••nri>uunont of"'uinc f..,lio", ",bo" <""'inc doubt.ni mi>tm,t ",.t.d.., .wnomnort in ",lUoh tho N.Iio".l Sooiili>t G."""" 11'0",,', Pmy p."pond, ..-.I "'''' 01>10 b buill """""'hip ..-.I pdilio<il .Ion"" in tho R.ioM·C Tho Nm, inoilod mlo",• ..-.I p"..,bod • pcv>J.r, ,..,~t..-.l ".tioouli,'" murif"to. Adolph Hitl,,', c_inc d ..ri"". .tt,..,lod tho ""-",llu]i,,od .m unilod ",JIio", of _plo in ,hu.d f"",i".t"" '" ".Iionili>m, ",lUoh Iod, fmilly, b • mojori". in tho R.ioNt.., .>mine Hill" .., 'weintmont .., Ch>.",.llo<in 1933. C",hru<il ,,,,.t mlo",. in>pirod bytho Nm, .ni fmilly tho R.ioM.. fin .",110<1 in tho .ruI>linc..,t tlo.t C'''' Hill"unf.tIo.d POW" b mlo by doc,,". Hitlo, ""oc>U-i tho POW" of p<q>........ to moli ",bl>o op;";,,,; bo ",,~d tho _""Hini."",,,,', im.oc. G<w....".,.,.td.._ No. 32, Aprilll, 1'33, "fl.. p!,"",·polu" <t',h4 pMa~. "0"'" ~iI! i" jU",. ,Iw~ 0"", ,I.. ..ad oj &"'",pmid,", '0" Hioui"b"'r---i" "''''' '0'" i" ".~ 'okm. S"'''''', <t',h. 45 F;>!~iI! '" I""~,, I¥ i"".d. A "n oddi.·"",1 ,01". ~iI! b. ,h. lOOF;>! """", ~i,h ,h. ,=" pi,,,,,. ojHind."b",~. S"'''''', b.an·"" 'h4 pi"",. <t' lOrn'" &id.pm"'."' Eb.", ~I=. pn·".·"~, Iw.. oI"a", boo" di"o,.i,.,.d ~iI! """ ,0"",1..·"" oj,h< ".~ '''''''''' "" k",,,,b.,,,.r Whon ~n Hiroiorou", d;od in Au..... t of 1934, Hm p<q>..>nJi,b ,,"'d tho ",portuni". b ",.10 • W..",ri.., fur.,<i1 tlat ",,,,,Ii in>WI Hini."",,,, in tho p..,thoon of FW."im boroo,_..-.I bolp b ",.Ii Hm,m b tho Hini."",,,, myth. WhiIo Hill"",..,10<1 no limo "..,inc ..u ,,,,,.,o~ oftho fo",,"' Woinur Ro",bl>o, bo hold f..,t b tho .muriro; im>c. of tho Vi,brofT.,..,.m.", from 19:J.1 unliI tho .m of tho Thinl R.ioh in 1915, "'0 "<iIih,, ",,,,,Ii >lowly""",. tho do.y_to_do.y C.nhlity, "fIoclo<l in tho nWI>"'_ C»du..uy ,,,,,plod ",ith tho h>bulort Nm co",,,.,,,,nt th>.t un\o..,bod roloc""t .t no"" ..-.I oI>ro><l urtil.t tho .ni, in M.yof 1945, ",hon tho ,pino of G.""""y Md boon brokon .m tho" "'''' loft only !incori", ,hoiow' "1",,,"":_ ,..",;"" ro""I0", """"'o""n..-.l dili." ~'hincon tho nbblo ".0"" put _plo WMt follow, ~ • 'i",,10 po,W hi>b'Y oftho Hini.mu", ,tun", tlat ,.,.d tho ri" .ni f<ill "tho Thinl R.ioh Hindenburg Medallions 1932 ------ - ---- H1NDENBURG HAILED 100 000 IN MILITARY REVIEW THROUGHOUT REIG! ' '"'' ".w'"'' c.,••""" CHEERED BY BERLIN THRONG; .. His'''hHold';rth",on theT""~'"labon. .. WORLD W'AR CHIEFS HAILED FETE HAS MILITAR'f NOTI • j HinJurbllr, .4115tnt d Rtci~; P...id..... Up 8010•• 1. Co... C1l<>.ch and I. Aecls.....d .. GROWN PRINCE ATTENOS j St..f "oIm" SU,,, R...If'" H. ~...i._ T,....,.. MOVEO BY THEIR- • lPortRQttt " ••, """. ,. I ... ~ ,,' ... ...... Ck"' 0' _ '" ..,..""...."c.. T .... ,... ....,......""""=r. .._ _'I'...,;- .,...,,,.,,,.. ..,""'.. .. ,P.", "'"H' " ""l .;,•• 0.'" '~.-.. ................., '" , .. ....., '- '~.':~:- ~_d.2:""'::::::::::'_~. """f"~~ .. ~-"~' '.,...:::::.:.....,•• "__... WlI"""k_._,:-;;:.... , ..,Ii•.•,,_.. • ~ ~IJ ~l.' ~ • ..--"'", ,- ,... I 0-- %'- ..... - ,... ....dfi.- . __- . - .' If It_,......, ................. '.ll''':_~;:::::_____ Y; ill .... '.••.... "...or..,-_.......-,. , • 4' "-'....~ '". HINDENBURG AGREES ""'~ ..J4 TO SEEK RE·ELEGTIO~I ...._ lU - NAZIS TD FIGHT HIM ~... ~ '" ~">.4- .r-···t~ ~ /' Vid...y 01 ~.'f ..r·ord ""'lhal J<~ ~J ~' on Mil,clIl3 B~I;t~td Ct!lai~. Oesoltt Growing Opl'O"t·on. , ~-';1- . .•~ .>--.k'1-.". OCtober 2, 1932: This postal card was a souvenir of the Weimar Republic in celebration of President Paul von Hindenburg's 85th birthday. Mailed from leipzig to Asuncion. Paraguay attha foreign postcard rate of 1S Reichspfennigs. The card was paid with the newly issued 4Rpf and SRpf Hindenburg Medallions plus a 6+4Rpf Deutsche Nothitfe semi-postal depicting the Tannenberg Memorial. Von Hindenburg was hailed as The Victor of Tannenberg for defeating a Russian army there in August 1914. The message reads: "The just issued Hindenburg new issues with best wishes -Berthhold Krueger. leipzig.· Krueger was editor of The Illustrated Stamp Journal in leipZig. Hlndenburg Medallions 1933 "m: ~ q"..ti P., '" Hill.. •, G._ {' w 'ipwl i.o Dil __' _Q~' ••~"'s. .... ,_'w '''''••'''. v,''' __ ..... .., ~ ,.."."........." -~ ~ t....... ....., ~-. _. , '" ,,. _., .. '--~- ~ .........-.""....,....: ,-'-.....,_..- , . ".--.... ...,.' ........ ..-..~--_... _ ,"', _,-__.",~-.....,... - ......._.-.,-",.. _..~, ,.... ~, .. ~_... ...,, ,.._",... _ ,... _',f _ ... ~~'''''''.''-' .-"~l.............. ~......"__., ,,~ .,.... "_L_ "..,,,...- _I • ..-,.", "~,,,...,......... ~ ....... _. wI .,,, .. ,.• ",.,," _, -_"',_ ... -,.~ ~-., M _,-- ".", ,.- July 29. 1933: Berlin to Weggis, Switzerland. Foreign rate 25Rpf. Paid 24Rpf with three SRp' Medallions. Shortpaid, Boxed T and manuscript 10 with Switzerland lOa: Postage Due added. Postal slOgan reads: Combat the labor shortage buy German goods. Hlndenburg Medallions 1934 VON HINDENBURG DIES AT 86 -'._~.. _._------.-... AFTER A DAY UNCONSCIOUS; --_~_ ... ~ '-.-­-,-~~._-.. HITLER TAKES PRESIDENCY ._--.--"­ ---.....~--­-­-_.-_- ---------"-'-­ --,.."'-'"_, .... loW --~__ t>o --,--.....- _~ - ..._.............. ~-­-- ::--=':::1- --""--1.--- -_........ - "",="".:.:3 ::.::.... _-'=:--; &K:IAUST SlJ =---'...'".. 1/lIGJrrBYAUSI1II! '::::::::"---..-"': _ , ..... ::..::::...-= _· ·-1-. ........, ___-T" ... -_ I ._-::"'"_-:. =.01 HAOUll" .........:. " January 30, 1934: Ostrach to Basel, Switzerland. Foreign postcard rate (15Rpf) paid with an BRpf and a 1Rpf medallion plus a 6Rpl postal card indicia showing Hindenburg in uniform with Hitler in the background in civilian dress. The Nazis wanted the public to believe that Hindenburg and Hitler were working together. The card pictures SA troops marching through the Brandenburg gate on January 1, 1933, days before the "Decree for the Protection of the People and the State" was signed by Hindenburg in February, which effectively stripped all civil liberties guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. Hindenburg's death on August 2, 1934 was remembered by black-bordered, Medallion definitives issued on September 5,1934. Hindenburg Medallions 1935 REICH mlY IS SUPREME SAAR GOES GERMAN BY 90Z; AD SOLE MILITARY FORCE LEAGUE DELIBFr "£5 TODAY; mlDER PLEDCE BY HlTLEF ANTI-NAr 'Y FLEEIN£ ""ct;" t'd' I' Cl.;>H 'Ill CHIEf\ MAS\ 'IIIl~T IHHOU~C£ III [.jYSTERf r.AtL1 TO'~\~IFESTI":'''''' 1 lor the Nazi! j, !}uo 46,6J3, " 2,083 • , • Onry Good Nazis fo Hoi Posfal Jobs in Germolt)'_-' "" ..,..