by nobodyofnote on 11 Aug 2012 07:30 Found: a Nazi Travel Pamphlet Advertising the 1936 Berlin Olympics
In times of war and in times of peace, countries still hope to pull in those tourism dollars. We see it now, with North Korea and the Arab Spring, and you can bet your butt that it was most certainly the same back in the lead-up to World War II in a Reich-ruled Germany. The year was 1935 and it was a dark time; the Luftwaffe was created as were the Nuremberg Laws, and Hitler was already defying the Treaty of Versailles by building submarines.
And yet, amidst all that, the country managed to continue their tourism push in advance of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. We recently came across a pamphlet from this period, aimed at American travellers crossing the ocean to visit Germany for the purpose of cheering on their countrymen at the Games, but also—as it's obvious from the wording of this pamphlet proclaiming Germany "The Beautiful Country"—to have a look around the more pastoral, traditional towns. In other words, it was lightweight propaganda.
The map itself is something of a work of art—like a mini-mural rendered in such detail that you have to look at it for quite a long time just to take in each little zeppelin, each little lederhosen-clad farmer and each little Nazi flag. Yikes—those last ones aren't subtle either; notice the increase in red used to colour the cities as you travel away from France.
On the reverse of the map is an entire essay on why visitors should come to Germany in 1936 and what the country is up to. Here, a few notable paragraphs:
On art:
There is no country in the world that can boast of so many and so well-equipped museums as can Germany. The Berlin museums afford such a grandiose and complete survey of the world's creative art as is not paralleled by any other city. While most other countries concentrate their treasures of national art in the capital cities, Germany's museums express the strong individuality of her several provinces.
On sport:
During the last few years the development of sports has been phenomenal. Sport-doers as well as sport-lovers area offered all sorts of modern sports. The German Reichs League for Physical Exercise is the central organisation of all sports under the management of the Reichs Leader of Sports. In 1936 the Eleventh Olympiad will take place in Berlin, August 1st to August 16th; the Fourth Olympic winter sports in Garmisch-Partenkirchen between February 6 and 16, 1936.
On road tripping:
Germany's innumerable highways are for the most part suited for motor-traffic. They are constantly being kept in a condition meeting the requirements of modern ideals of road-construction and traffic. Besides, the Germany Government has under way another great extension of the system of highways. It is planned, on the personal initiative of the Führer, to build 7000 km of Reichs Automobile Roads all over the country so as to make possible an ideal rapid transit unobstructed by other highways.
On air travel via Zeppelin:
Airship travel which is developing to be of interesting importance, deserves special mention. The ingenious invention of Count Zeppelin who carried out the first trips with his motor-airship on July 2, 1900, gave Germany the leading position in airship construction. After the War the building of airships for traffic was undertaken on a large scale. On October 22, 1924, the airship commanded by Hugo Eckener started its trips to North America. During the following years the service was extended more and more. In 1930 "Graf Zeppelin," besides numerous European trips, carried out its first successful trip to South America. Regular airship connections between Germany and South America were established in 1932 for the first time. The Zeppelin service between Germany and Brazil is now a permanent feature of air traffic which is being developed further. "Graf Zeppelin" takes scarcely three days to cover an air route of 8000 km to Brazil.
The pamphlet also goes on to provide tips on hiring interpreters and securing a passport so that visitors may make the trip, most of which could be applied to today. Thankfully the major points defining the time in which this travel pamphlet was issued are no longer the reality.
Source: http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/8/7/2 ... n+Olympics (Jaunted, 10th August 2012).
