Es wehen Hitler-fahnen über alle…

Description

The Unwinding of Weimar Democracy 

This is a rare and possibly unique propaganda map charting the March 5, 1933, state elections in Germany and celebrating their results, in which ‘Hitler Flags Are Flying Everywhere’ (‘über alle’ likely being a nod to the Nazis’ interpretation of ‘Deutschland über alles’).

Weimar Germany is outlined with states named (though not outlined). The results of elections in different districts/constituencies (Wahlkreisen) are recorded with flags representing the Nazi vote share, on its own or in coalition with conservative nationalist parties, and, in some cases, the Catholic Zentrum Party (and its Bavarian offshoot, the Bayerische Volkspartei). Red numbers indicate the share of the Nazi Party vote, while numbers below in parentheses reflect the share of the Nazis’ share of the non-Communist vote. A note at right explains that in several Wahlkreisen the Communists were completely ‘killed off’ (ausgeschaltet). 

In southwestern Germany, Saarbrücken is marked out for being under French occupation, a major rallying cry for the Nazis. Reflecting their distorted view of history, red lines trace the borders of lands ‘ceded’ (abgetretene) by Germany after the First World War, including not only portions of the German Empire and disputed territories like Alsace-Lorraine, but also regions forcibly occupied, such as Luxembourg.

From Ballot Box to Dictatorship: The Nazis’ Electoral Path to Power

The Nazis rose to power with the aid of a political and economic crisis in the Weimar Republic and with the assistance of considerable street violence aimed at their opponents. As late as 1928, the Nazis were a relatively minor party, garnering at most 6-7% of the vote in state elections and about 2.5% in elections to the Reichstag. But they were greatly aided by the effects of the Great Depression, which reversed Germany’s recovery from post-World War I malaise between 1925 and 1929. The desperate economic situation, along with a resulting political crisis, made Germans more willing to consider radical alternatives.

The Nazis began to fare better in state and federal elections, and Hitler won roughly a third of the vote in the 1932 presidential election against the widely respected Paul von Hindenburg. Although he despised Hitler personally, von Hindenburg and other nationalists of the Prussian military nobility, such as Franz von Papen, did much to aid Hitler’s rise to power, including dissolving the elected government of Prussia in July 1932 and appointing Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. By the time of the 1933 elections, most voters were willing to support explicitly anti-democratic parties like the Nazis or Communists.

The March 5, 1933, state elections (Landtagswahl) in Germany, held alongside the federal Reichstag elections, took place in an atmosphere of intense state-sponsored terror and voter intimidation. Following the Reichstag Fire just six days prior, the Nazi regime utilized the ‘Reichstag Fire Decree’ to suspend civil liberties and unleash the paramilitary SA (Sturmabteilung, also known as the ‘Brownshirts’) and Schutzstaffel (SS) – acting as ‘auxiliary police’ – against political opponents.

As can be seen here, the Nazis fared well in both state and federal elections, gaining at least one-third of the vote in areas where they were relatively weak (the Rhineland) and an outright majority in places where they were strongest. In the federal elections, they received 43.9% of the vote, not an outright majority, but their coalition with the German National People’s Party (DNVP) provided them with a working majority. In Prussia, the largest and most influential state, this result was particularly decisive, as it effectively handed control of the state’s massive administrative and police apparatus to the Nazi Party.

These elections were a catalyst for Gleichschaltung, or the ‘coordination’ of all aspects of German life under Nazi control. By winning the state-level elections, particularly in Prussia, the Nazis dismantled the federalist structure of the Weimar Republic, which had previously allowed individual states to act as checks on central power. Shortly after the vote, the ‘Law on the Coordination of the States’ (March 31, 1933) was passed, which used the March 5 election results to forcibly reshape all other state legislatures to match the Nazi-dominated Reichstag. This process effectively abolished state autonomy, centralizing all political authority in Berlin and transforming Germany from a federal republic into a unitary, totalitarian state under Adolf Hitler’s absolute command. Other measures quickly solidified Nazi domination, allowing them to rule by decree (making the Reichstag irrelevant) and outlawing all other political parties by July 1933.

Census and publication information

This map was prepared by one Franz Stiessel in Hamborn am Rhein (Duisburg), signed with what may be an SA member number, reflecting the organization’s military-style division into battalions, brigades, and so on.

We have been unable to find any more information on Stiessel nor any other examples of this map in institutional collections or on the market. It most likely was produced in a small run for local SA members to celebrate the election results.