87 545 000 Deutsche in Europa: Der deutsche Bevölkerungs- und Kulturanteil in den Staaten Europas
(87,545,000 Germans in Europe - The German share of population and culture in European countries)
87 545 000 Deutsche in Europa: Der deutsche Bevölkerungs- und Kulturanteil in den Staaten Europas
(87,545,000 Germans in Europe - The German share of population and culture in European countries)
A striking 1938 map reflecting Nazi expansionist goals. (In January 1938, the population of Germany was in fact about 68 million.) The quote from Hitler's speech of February 20, 1938, describes how "unbearable" it is for a "world power" to witness the suffering inflicted on "national comrades" because of "their sympathy or loyalty to the people as a whole." The map is based on Albrecht Penck's 1925 concept of Volks- und Kulturboden. See Notes for ID #1216 (Penck). Different shades of red correspond to different "German" population densities; some "Germanness" extends to virtually all of Eastern and Northwestern Europe. The arrows - particularly chilling in light of later developments - are explained by a note: they "indicate the direction of propagation of German municipal rights in the Middle Ages."
The map was commissioned by a Nazi party periodical, as a supplement for an issue "dedicated to the topic of Germandom" (Herb 1997, 161). It was "designed and prepared as prescribed by . . . the NSDAP Office of Training." For more information about this map, see Barry Lawrenece Rudderman, https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/68537, accessed August 23, 2020.
The mapmaker was Arnold Hillen Ziegfeld, "one of the masters of suggestive cartography" (Ibid. 63-64), assisted by two other central figures in Nazi mapmaking: Karl von Loesch and Dr. Dr. Friedrich Lange. Lange provided the data for the number of Germans in various areas - data that, for the first time, excluded German-speaking Jews. Ibid. 161. Lange had two doctoral degrees, and insisted on being described as "Dr. Dr." Ibid. 91. The collection includes a number of Lange's maps: ID #1264 (87,545,000 Germans in Europe); ID #1286 (Map of German Culture in the West); ID #1257.01 (Berlin a Border State on Three Sides); ID #1257.02 (The Eastern Front German States); ID #2040 (Das ganze Deutschland soll es sein!).
This map was also issued in a larger format (72 x 104 cm), suitable for classroom use.