Ballot paper for party lists in the German Reichstag elections – Bavaria, 1932. Reichstagswahl – Wahlkreis Franken – “Reichstag elections – Electoral District of Franconia”. (Franconia – a region in Germany, part of Bavaria). Rare.
Election ballot listing ten political parties and their leading candidates. Among the main parties on the ballot (with their numbers): Party No. 1: The Nazi Party (NSDAP – Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, listed with the note Hitlerbewegung – “Hitler Movement”). Candidates: Hitler, Dr. Frick, Göring, von Epp – and Goebbels. Also listed are: The Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Communist Party of Germany (KPD), The German People’s Party – conservative liberals, And Communist Party leader Ernst Thälmann (who, shortly after the election, was placed in solitary confinement for eleven years and ultimately executed in Buchenwald in August 1944 by direct order from above—although official reports at the time falsely claimed he was killed in an Allied air raid), among others.
In 1932, two general elections were held for the German Reichstag:
One in July, in which the Nazi Party became the largest party in Germany, and a second in November, where the Nazis saw a slight decline in support, but still remained the leading party. These elections reflected the deep crisis of the Weimar Republic – marked by mass unemployment, widespread distrust in democratic politics, and fear of communism. They ultimately paved the way for Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. The ballot before us offers a snapshot of the decisive political landscape of the time: republicans, socialists, communists, conservatives, nationalists, and regional parties – all competing over the fate of Germany.
20×14 cm. Good condition.
