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Presidential Victory and Popular Festivity in Weimar Germany: Hindenburg's 1925 Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 December 2008

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Type
Symposium: Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1990

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References

1.Schultze-Pfaelzer,Gerhard,Wie Hindenburg Reichspräsident wurde: Persönliche Eindrücke aus seiner Umgebung vor und nach der Wahl (Berlin,1925),7.Google Scholar

2. Quoted inEyck,Erich,Geschichte der Weimarer Republik (Zurich,1954),1:451.Google Scholar In a Slightly different version,Heiber,Helmut,Die Republik von Weimar (Munich,1966),171.Google Scholar See alsoTurner,Henry Ashby,Stresemann and the Politics of the Weimar Republic (Princeton,1963),195203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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4.Berliner Tageblatt, no. 197, 27 Apr. 1925. quoted inSchulze,Hagen,Weimar: Deutschland 1917–1933 (Berlin,1982),296.Google Scholar

5.Craig,Gordon,Germany 1866–1945 (New York,1978),510–11Google Scholar; Heiber,Die Republik von Weimar, 172. See alsoQuigley,Hugh andClark,R. T.,Republican Germany: A Political and Economic Study (London,1928),93.Google Scholar

6. Critical assessments of Hindenburg's presidency can be found inKolb,Eberhard,The Weimar Republic, trans.Falla,P. S. (London,1985),7475Google Scholar; and Schulze,Weimar, 298–300. On the absence of a shared sense of nation, seeJames,Harold,A German Identity: 1770–1990 (London,1989),111;Google Scholar andRibbe,Wolfgang, “Flaggenstreit und Heiliger Hain: Bemerkungen zur nationalen Symbolik in der Weimarer Republik”, inKurze,Dietrich, ed.,Aus Theorie und Praxis der Geschichtswissenschaft: Festschrift für Hans Herzfeld Zum 80. Geburtstag (Berlin,1972),175–88.Google Scholar

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10. Eschenburg quoted by Heiber,Die Republik von Weimar, 171; and Schulze,Weimar, 297.

11. Kaufmann,Monarchism in the Weimar Republic, 150.

12. Erdmann and Schulze,Weimar: Selbstpreisgabe einer Demokratie, 47.

13.Berliner Tageblatt, no. 197, 27 Apr. 1925, quoted in Schulze,Weimar, 296.

14.Falter,Jürgen W. andHänisch,Dirk, “Die Anfälligkeit von Arbeitern gegenüber der NSDAP bei den Reichstagswahlen 1928–1933,”Archiv für Sozialgeschichte26 (1986),Google Scholar and Falter, “The Two Hindenburg Elections of 1925 and 1932: A Total Reversal of Voter Coalitions,” in this issue.

15. Thomas Childers, in particular, has argued for a closer examination of the 1920s. See his contribution“Inflation, Stabilization, and Political Realignment in Germany, 1924–1928”, inFelman,Gerald D. et al. , eds.,Die Deutsche Inflation: EIne Zwischenbilanz/The German Inflation Reconisdered: A Preliminary Balance (Berlin and New York,1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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18. See, for example,Der Bürger, no. 17, 17 Feb. 1924;Goslarsche Zeitung, no. 131, 4 Apr. 1924;Hannoversche Kurier, no. 229, 16 May 1924; andBraunschweigische Landeszeitung, no. 125, 5 May 1924.

19.Cary,Noel, “The Making of the Reich President, 1925: German Conservatism and the Nomination of Paul von Hindenburg,” in this issue.Google Scholar See alsoDorpalen,Andreas,Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic (princeton,1964),6467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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21. Dorpalen,Hindenburg, 70–74.

22.Harzsche Zeitung, no. 99, 27 Apr. 1925;Volksfreund (Braunschweig), no. 85, 11 Apr. 1925.

23. On political adornment, seeMosse,George,The Nationalization of the Masses: Political Symbolism and Mass Movements in Germany from the Napoleonic Wars through the Third Reich (New York,1975), particularly162–82;Google Scholar and alsoLidtke,Vernon,The Alternative Culture: Socialist Labor in Imperial Germany (New York,1985).Google Scholar

24.Hannoversche Kurier, no. 182, 20 Apr. 1925; and Schultze-Pfaelzer,Wie Hindenburg Reichspräsident wurde, 24–26, 33.

25. See the untitled memorandum, no. 7 (dated 12 Mar. 1925), circulated by theReichsblock, in DVP party files, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, R 45II/12/107. See also Kaufmann,Monarchism in the Weimar Republic, 146.Koshar,Rudy carefully analyzes the shift away from the established parties inSocial Life, Local Politics and Nazism: Marburg, 1880–1935 (Chapel Hill,1986).Google Scholar

26. Dorpalen, for example, emphasizes the pessimism and doubt in theReichsblock campaign, though he relies on the remarks of Berlin politicians and not on local evidence. SeeHindenburg, 81.

27.Weser Zeitung (Bremen), no. 247, 7 May 1927.

28. Schultze-Pfaelzer,Wie Hindenburg Reichspräsident wurde, 41–43.

29.Goslarsche Zeitung, no. 97, 27 Apr. 1925; and no. 99, 29 Apr. 1925. A general overview of Goslar politics is provided byKrull,Lieselotte,Wahlen und Wahlverhalten in Goslar während der Weimarer Republik (Goslar,1982).Google Scholar

30.Hannoversche Kurier, no, 99, 29 Apr. 1925;Harzsche Zeitung, no. 100, 28 Apr. 1925;Gandersheimer Kreisblatt, no. 99, 29 Apr. 1925; andSchöninger Zeitung, no. 98, 28 Apr. 1925.

31. See reports prepared by Bremen police, dated 13 Apr. 1925 and 2 Oct. 1925, Bremisches Staatsarchiv, Nachrichtenstelle der Polizeidirektion, 4.65, 895/163/87.

32.Volksblatt (Göttingen), 28 Apr. 1925;Schöninger Zeitung, no. 98, 28 Apr. 1925; andGandersheimer Kreisblatt, no. 99, 28 Apr. 1925.

33. See, for example, the assessments in Braunschweig'sVolksfreund, no. 105, 7 May 1925; no. 280, 30 Nov. 1927; and no. 13, 16 Jan. 1928, andAllen,William Sheridan,The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922–1945,rev. ed. (New York,1984).Google Scholar

34.Volksfreund (Braunschweig), no. 162, 15 July 1925.

35.Glaeser,Ernst,The Last Civilian, trans.David,Gwenda andMosbacher,Eric (New York,1935).Google Scholar

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37. See the files collected in Goslar's Stadtarchiv, RRI 29/8/111.

38.Schöninger Zeitung, no. 232, 4 Oct. 1927.

39.Rotenburger Anzeiger, no. 9772, 3 Oct. 1927.

40.Osnabrückner Tageblatt, no. 13341, 2 Oct. 1927.

41.Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, no. 462, 3 Oct. 1927.

42.Ibid..

43.Deutsche Zeitung, no. 231b, 3 Oct. 1927, evening edition.

44. SeeDiehl,James,Paramilitary Politics in Weimar Germany (Bloomington, Ind.,1977),111, 191.Google Scholar See alsoFritzsche,Peter,Rehearsals for Fascism: Populism and Political Mobilization in Weimar Germany (New York,1990).Google Scholar

45.Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, no. 461, 2 Oct. 1927.

46. Loebell to Kempkes et al., 28 May 1925, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, DVP party files, R 45II/14/15–24.

47. Gustav Hagen to an unnamed pastor, 5 May. 1925, Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv Osnabrück, DNVP party files, Erw C 1/6/8.

48. See, for example,Goslarsche Zeitung, no. 232, 3 Oct. 1925; and no. 247, 21 Oct. 1926.

49.Braunschweigische Landeszeitung, no. 355, 3 Dec. 1926.

50. For details, see Fritzsche,Rehearsals for Fascism, 160–64, 183–84.

51. This impression comes from a reading of various Braunschweig newspapers for the period 1900–1914. See in particularHelmstedter Tageblatt, no. 204, 1 Sept. 1913; no. 22, 27 Jan. 1913;Braunschweigische Neueste Nachrichten, no. 24, 28 Jan. 1911; and no. 208, 5 Sept. 1911.

52.Allgemeine Rundschau (Munich)22 (21051925)Google Scholar. See alsoDeutsches Volkstum11 (1927),884.Google Scholar

53.Braunschweigische Landeszeitung, no. 140, 21 May 1925.

54. For the prewar debate on national holidays, seeSchieder,Theodor,Das deutsche Kaiserreich von 1871 als Nationalstaat (Cologne,1961),125–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mosse,The Nationalization of the Masses, 73–99;Goldschmidt,Hans, “Der Sedantag als Nationalfeiertag 1871–1914,”Deutsche Rundschau53 (1926),181–93.Google Scholar

55.Die Woche29 (1101927),1185–88Google Scholar. See alsoIllustrite Zeitung (Leipzig), no. 4309, 13101927;Google Scholar andBloem,Walter,Hindenburg der Deutsche (Berlin,1932).Google Scholar

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57.Childrens,Thomas, “Inflation, Stabilization, and Political Realignment 1924–1928”, inFeldman, et al. , eds.,Die Deutsche Inflation;Google ScholarJones,Larry Eugene, “The Dissolution of the Bourgeois Party System in the Weimar Republic,” inBessel,Richard andFeuchtwanger,E. J., eds.,Social Change and Political Development in the Weimar Republic (London,1981).Google Scholar