Description

Illustrierter Beobachter
Donnerstag, 17. August 1939 • 14. Jahrgang • Folge 33
Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf. GmbH, München 22
40 pages scanned

Cover Page

Caption: „Ihr Beruf: Allen gefallen! Kleine Tänzerin an der Schwelle zur Berühmtheit.“ (“Her profession: to please everyone! A little dancer on the threshold of fame.”)
Subject: Close-up portrait of a smiling young girl wearing a floral headscarf, presented as an aspiring dancer.
Location: Not stated.
Photo credit: A. Modl.

Major Headlines & Content

Düsseldorf und Danzig (Düsseldorf and Danzig) — Generaloberst von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, addressed armaments workers from the gun turret of a tank at the Rheinmetall-Borsig works in Düsseldorf, warning of Polish war threats. In Danzig, a mass protest rally on the Langenmarkt heard Gauleiter Forster reaffirm the city’s German character against Polish pressure. Photo credits: Sonderberichterstatter Helmut Möbius; Associated Press (2).

Europa sucht Arbeit in Deutschland (Europe Seeks Work in Germany) — A photo-report by Otfried Schmidt profiles foreign laborers now working across Germany amid a labor shortage, including Danish fishermen in Hamburg and Bremen, the Dutchman Pieter Zeeman in Schleswig-Holstein, Slovak farm laborers arriving in München, a Ukrainian construction worker at the Hermann-Göring-Werke, Hungarian gardeners in Braunschweig, and Belgian and Italian farmhands in the Rheinland and Oberbayern.

Diplomaten-Gegacker um ein Ei (Diplomats’ Cackling Over an Egg) — An egg inscribed „Heil Hitler“ was discovered near the British troop camp at Aldershot, prompting a mock diplomatic inquiry. Sir Isidor Salomon, England’s Army quartermaster, is shown boiling eggs for recruits; the matter was even referred to the Danish legation.

Empfang am Sultanshof (Reception at the Sultan’s Court) — A brief feature on the ceremonial splendor of Javanese sultan courts in Mitteljava on religious holidays, showing a prince received in state surrounded by his guard. Location: Mitteljava. Photo credits: Associated Press (2), Dr. A. Herrlich (2).

Das ist Sepp Hilz – Der Maler der bäuerlichen Venus (This is Sepp Hilz – The Painter of the Peasant Venus) — A profile of painter Sepp Hilz, visited at his workshop in Aibling, whose painting „Bäuerliche Venus“ made him famous after being shown at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst in München. The piece shows his father Georg Hilz, a traditional Fassmaler, at work, and Sepp Hilz with his wife and small son Benno; it closes with the couple walking by the Chiemsee. Photo credits: Sonderaufnahmen für den „IB“ von Berthold Fischer.

Mörderin mit Star-Allüren (Murderess with Star Affectations) — A report on Velma West, the 23-year-old „Hammermörderin“ who killed her husband with a hammer in Ohio, USA, her flight, capture in Dallas, Texas, and return to Marysville amid a sensationalist press campaign. Locations: Ohio, Dallas (Texas), Marysville. Photo credit: Associated Press (8).

Negerkult in Neuyork und in Paris (Negro-Cult in New York and in Paris) — A picture spread shows New York’s mayor La Guardia posing repeatedly with Black residents for photographers, and dancer Josephine Baker greeted by friends on her return to Paris from an American tour. Locations: New York, Paris. Photo credits: Associated Press (2), Weltbild.

Other Content

Fiction serial — „Feuerteufel“ by Luis Trenker (8th instalment). Continues the novel’s account of Tyrolean resistance fighters under Andreas Hofer and Hauptmann Hensel against Napoleonic French forces at the forts of Predil and Malborghet, with figures including Sturmegger and Spedbacher. Locations: Tirol, Kärnten, Malborghet, Predil, Klagenfurt, Wien. Continues across multiple pages.
Propaganda serial — „Juda zieht in den Weltkrieg“, a factual-claims piece by Hans Jording (continuation), advancing an antisemitic conspiracy narrative blaming Jewish financiers and officials for the outbreak of the First World War. Named individuals include Walther Rathenau, Sir Ernest Joel Cassel, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, and Albert Ballin. Continues across multiple pages.
Humour story — „Nachmittagsschlaf“ by E. C. Christophé. A short comic account of a man’s afternoon nap repeatedly interrupted by the doorbell.
Short story — „Nur ein Pfennig“ by Helmuth M. Böttcher. A factory owner, Gerhard Korbach, becomes troubled while observing the joyless expression of a machinist named Mednert at his works.
Short story — „Das Lied vom Meiden.“ A tale of Gustav Manthey and Hanna Karasch set along the Weichsel near Marienwerder and Neuenburg, following their parting and Gustav’s later life.
Short story — „Vier Arbeitshände mehr“ by P. H. Steigerwald. A first-person account of a traveler taking on farm labor for a rural household short of workers.

Photo feature — „Tanzspiele in Herrenhausen.“ Dancers of the Opernhaus Hannover perform in the baroque garden theatre at Herrenhausen near Hannover in a festival running from 22 August to 2 September. Location: Herrenhausen, Hannover.
Photo feature — „Beim Märchenonkel im Funkturm-Garten.“ Children’s reactions are photographed as they listen to the fairy tale of the brave little tailor. Photo credit: H. Möbius.
Travel feature — „Tropenhitze am Polarkreis,“ a travelogue by Alwin Tölle through Lappland and Nordschweden, describing the Arctic Circle, the midnight sun, and mosquito-plagued moors. Locations: Lappland, Nordschweden, Polarkreis.
Feature — „Die Sibülle vom Ladoga-See,“ on women near the Ladoga-See believed to foretell the future, with a historical aside on accusations of sorcery in Kurland. Photo credit: Günther Mentken.

Advertisements — Reemtsma, Kaloderma, 4711, Tarr, Alpecin, Lignose Sprengstoffwerke, Palmolive, Henkell, Atikah, Solidox, Sebald, Gütermann, Underberg, Camelia, Biserite Magnesia, Dr. Scholl’s, Schwarzkopf, Schlichte, Togal, Ihagee Exakta, Kosmos Khedive, Hohner, Cabiri, Abrador, Biocitin, Nivea, Garantol, EM-GE, Photo-Porst.