Description

Illustrierter Beobachter

Donnerstag, 31. Dezember 1936  ·  11. Jahrgang  ·  Folge 53

Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf. GmbH, München 22

32 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Preis: 20 Pfennig (Litauen und Memelgebiet 20 Pfg.; Ausland mit ermäß. Porto 30 Pfg.; Danzig 30 Guldenpfennig)

Cover Page

Caption: „Vorweihnachtstage auf dem Obersalzberg bei Berchtesgaden. Der Führer im Gespräch mit Reichsleiter Max Amann und Reichsjugendführer Baldur v. Schirach. Dahinter Reichsleiter Bormann und der Architekt der Reichsparteitage, Albert Speer.“ (“Pre-Christmas days on the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden. The Führer in conversation with Reichsleiter Max Amann and Reich Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach. Behind them Reichsleiter Bormann and the architect of the Reich Party Rallies, Albert Speer.”)

Subject — Adolf Hitler conversing with Nazi party officials on the Obersalzberg; also shown Reichsleiter Max Amann, Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach, Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, and architect Albert Speer.

Location — Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden.

Photo credit — Sonderaufnahme für den „JB“ von Heinrich Hoffmann.

Major Headlines & Content

Bolschewistischer Terror in China (Bolshevist Terror in China) — Report on the Xi’an Incident: on 12 December, Marshal Tschiangkaischek (Chiang Kai-shek), the „renewer of China“, was taken captive by Marshal Tschanghsueliang (Zhang Xueliang), who had defected to the communists. Photo credits: Presse-Photo, Atlantik, Archiv, Presse-Bild-Zentrale.

FDt 551 — Eine Fahrt auf dem Führerstand des Schnelltriebwagens München–Nürnberg–Leipzig–Berlin (FDt 551 — A ride in the driver’s cab of the express railcar Munich–Nuremberg–Leipzig–Berlin) — Multi-page photo-reportage riding in the cab of the „Fliegender Münchener“ railcar, showing the winter route through the Thüringer Wald and the driver’s-eye view at 160 km/h. Named individuals: Reichsbahnbauassessor Lehner, Oberlokomotivführer Bein, Oberlokomotivführer Hörrmann. Places: München, Leipzig, Berlin, Thüringer Wald. Photo credit: Heinz W. Valérien.

Werden eines Imperiums (Becoming of an Empire) — Fourth instalment and conclusion of a serialised excerpt from a memoir/account of the Italian conquest of Abyssinia, describing Marshal De Bono’s command, the advance on Amba Aradam and Tembien, and his replacement by Marshal Badoglio, including a telegram from Mussolini. Places: Axum, Adua, Adis Abeba, Amba Aradam, Tembien, Makalle. Photo: Marshal De Bono decorating Fliegerhauptmann Graf Ciano (later Italian Foreign Minister) with the silver Tapferkeitsmedaille; photo credit Presse-Bild-Zentrale. Copyright: C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München und Berlin.

Wir schauen zurück auf ein ereignisreiches Jahr (We look back on an eventful year) — Full year-in-review photo chronicle of 1936, month by month, from the Führer’s New Year message through to December. Continues across five pages.

Selected dated entries — 20 Jan – death of King George V of England. 30 Jan – third anniversary of the National Socialist seizure of power. 4 Feb – Landesgruppenleiter Wilhelm Gustloff murdered in Davos by the Jewish student David Frankfurter. 6–16 Feb – IV Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 7 March – German troops march into the Rheinland. 29 March – Reichstag election, 99% for the single list. 4 April – Reichskultursenat meeting attended by Reichsminister Dr. Goebbels. 20 April – Adolf Hitler’s birthday. 28 April – death of King Fuad I of Egypt. 5 May – Addis Abeba occupied by Italian troops; Mussolini declares the war over. 9 May – King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy assumes the title Emperor of Abyssinia. 16 May – death of SS-Brigadeführer Julius Schreck, Hitler’s driver. 28 May – death of General Litzmann, „Held von Brzeziny“, aged 86. 11 July – German–Austrian Agreement. 13 July – Spanish monarchist leader Calvo Sotelo murdered by communists. 20 July – Olympic torch relay begins at Olympia. 1–16 Aug – XI Olympic Games in Berlin. 4 Sept – Irún captured by the Nationalists. 8–14 Sept – Reichsparteitag der Ehre in Nürnberg; announcement of the second Vierjahresplan. 27 Sept – first 1,000 km of the Reichsautobahn completed; the Alcázar of Toledo relieved after a two-month siege. 2–3 Oct – Erntedankfest at the Bückeberg. 6 Oct – death of Hungarian Ministerpräsident Julius Gömbös in Munich. 20 Oct – Generaloberst Hermann Göring entrusted with the Four-Year Plan. 24 Oct – cornerstone laid for the Haus des Deutschen Rechts, Munich; Italian Foreign Minister Graf Ciano received at Berchtesgaden. 29 Oct – 10th anniversary of Gau Berlin of the NSDAP, addressed by Gauleiter Dr. Goebbels. 3 Nov – Franklin D. Roosevelt re-elected US President. 9 Nov – anniversary commemoration at the Feldherrnhalle, Munich. 19 Nov – Germany and Italy recognise Franco’s government. 25 Nov – Anti-Comintern Pact signed in Berlin. 27 Nov – joint conference of the Reichskulturkammer and „Kraft durch Freude“. 1 Dec – Hitler-Jugend law; Baldur von Schirach named Jugendführer des Deutschen Reiches. 6 Dec – Winterhilfswerk collections reach 5.36 million Reichsmark. 9 Dec – trial opens in Chur against Gustloff’s murderer David Frankfurter (later sentenced to 18 years). 10 Dec – abdication of King Edward VIII of England; his brother succeeds as King George VI. 12 Dec – Marshal Tschiangkaischek (Chiang Kai-shek) betrayed into the hands of Marshal Tschanghsueliang.

Photo credits — Presse-Bild-Zentrale, Hans Henkel, and others; captions credit „Unser Berichterstatter“ for on-the-spot images.

Other Content

Fiction serial — „Gastspiel aus Übersee“, Roman von Albert O. Rust (2. Fortsetzung, spanning several pages). Set around the Café Europa; characters include Grote, Annelies Hagedorn, Geschäftsführer Kubitschek, Señor Luis Ortega, Conchita, Graf Zichy, and (in the following chapter) Yvonne Bendiy, Hedda and Don Ruy Martinez de Lopa. Locations mentioned: Mexiko, Europa. „Fortsetzung folgt.“ Copyright by Carl Duncker Verlag, Berlin W 62.

Short story — „Drei in der Silvesternacht“ — Eine Skihüttengeschichte von Kurt Preis. Complete short story set in a snowbound Alpine ski hut on New Year’s Eve, featuring the friends Hannes and Rudi and the girl Hilde („Hühnchen“/„das Huhn“).

Nonfiction feature — Photo-reportage „Neujahr in Japan“ (New Year in Japan) — description of Japanese New Year customs: shrine visits, bamboo- and pine-decorated doorways, kimono-clad women, and a New Year’s ball at a Tokyo hotel with European dress. Photo credit: Weltbild.

Photo feature — „Fünf Jahre Reichs-Symphonieorchester“ — anniversary concert of the orchestra conducted by Franz Adam in Munich. Photo credit: Hanns Holdt.

Photo feature — „Bei den jungen Rekruten Francos in Salamanca“ — Nationalist Spanish recruits training near Salamanca (cavalry drills, rifle practice, horses). Photo credit: Presse-Bild-Zentrale.

Photo feature — „Flaschenkinder“ (Bottle Babies) — animals hand-reared by bottle: a young monkey („Moritz, der Bataillonsaffe“), a fawn, crows, piglets, a raven, and a rabbit („Mümmelmann“). Text by H. H. Sch.; photo credit: Arthur Tschirch.

Humour column — „Humor“ — page of jokes and anecdotes with cartoons by R. Fäcke.

Anecdotes — „Anekdoten“ — short historical anecdotes: „Die höfliche Antwort“ (Richard Wagner and Napoleon III), „Diplomatie“ (Bismarck and Jules Favre), „Der Nachfolger“ (Friedrich der Große). Signed F. J. and R. H.

Puzzles — „Rätsel“ section: Neujahrskreuzworträtsel (New Year crossword), Neujahrssilbenrätsel (syllable puzzle), Neujahrsrösselsprung (knight’s-tour word puzzle), Ergänzungsrätsel (completion puzzle), and Wirrwarr (word jumble). Solutions to the puzzles from Folge 52 also printed.

Puzzles — „Schach-Beobachter“ — chess column: a problem (Aufgabe) by Gerda Richter (Berlin), the solution to the Folge 49 problem by Harald Reimann (Breslau), women’s-tournament games, and notes from a ladies’ chess club.

Advertisements — Reemtsma (Zigarettensorte „R6“), Deutscher Schaumwein, Salamander (Schuhe), Underberg, „Der SA-Mann“, Leokrem, Volksfürsorge Versicherung, Hess (Harmonikas), „Mein Kampf“ (Adolf Hitler), Meinel & Herold (Handharmonikas), Camelia (Damenbinden), Stricker (Fahrräder), Diana (Luftgewehr), Miele (Staubsauger), Völkischer Beobachter, Dr. Wiggers Kurheim Partenkirchen.