RARE 1937 Nazi German Third Reich Anti-Christian Propaganda Postcard Otto Peitsch

Original Third Reich-era German propaganda postcard, postally used in 1937, featuring the poem “Es lebe die Freiheit!” (“Long Live Freedom!”) by Otto Peitsch.

This is an especially interesting piece of period propaganda because the text is strongly anti-Christian and anti-clerical, presenting Christianity as something from which Germans should supposedly be “freed.” The poem repeatedly concludes with the slogan:

“Heiho! Es lebe die Freiheit!”
“Heiho! Long live freedom!”

Among the more revealing lines are:

“Frei, erlöst vom Christenwahne / Mann und Frau und Greis und Kind.”

Translation:

“Free, delivered from the Christian delusion, man and woman, old and young.”

Another stanza declares:

“Elend ist der Christen Los; / Doch die reine heilge Quelle / Macht die Menschen frei und groß.”

Translation:

“Misery is the Christian’s lot; yet the pure holy source makes mankind free and great.”

The final stanza includes:

“Freiheit heißt sein starkes Brausen, / Freiheit von der Pfaffen Hand.”

Approximately:

“Freedom is its mighty roar — freedom from the clergy’s hand.”

This makes the card a particularly striking surviving example of the anti-church and anti-Christian currents present within portions of the Nazi movement, and an interesting primary-source artifact for studying religion and ideology in Third Reich Germany.

Postal Details

The reverse is handwritten and postally used with an original 12 Pfennig Deutsches Reich Hindenburg definitive stamp.

The circular cancellation appears dated:

29.11.37 – November 29, 1937

The card is addressed to Ludwig Wensch in Linz-Urfahr, Austria, making the usage particularly interesting as it predates the 1938 Anschluss of Austria.

The reverse also carries a boxed postal slogan cancellation containing “Zeitgewinn” (“time saving”), along with the handwritten correspondence.

Publisher information printed along the dividing line reads:

Verlag “Das Wikingerschiff”, Lengerich i. Westf. Nr. 10435 – Nachdruck verboten

Translation:

Published by “Das Wikingerschiff,” Lengerich in Westphalia, No. 10435 – Reproduction prohibited.

Condition

Original period postcard showing genuine postal use and age. There is noticeable corner and edge wear, creasing, staining/toning and general handling wear. The stamp remains attached and the postal cancellation is clearly visible.

Please examine all photographs carefully for exact condition. You will receive the exact postcard shown.

An unusual piece of 1930s German ideological, religious and postal history, especially desirable for a collection focusing on Third Reich propaganda, anti-clericalism, Christianity under the Third Reich, German postal history or pre-Anschluss Austrian mail.

SEO Keywords / Search Terms

Third Reich propaganda postcard, Nazi anti Christian propaganda, Nazi anti Christianity, anti Christian postcard, anti church propaganda, anti clerical propaganda, Otto Peitsch, Es lebe die Freiheit, German propaganda postcard, 1937 German postcard, Third Reich religion, Christianity Third Reich, German church history, Kirchenkampf, Nazi church conflict, German Faith Movement, Deutsche Glaubensbewegung, Das Wikingerschiff Lengerich, Third Reich postal history, Hindenburg stamp, 12 Pfennig Hindenburg, 1937 postmark, Linz Austria postcard, Linz Urfahr, pre Anschluss Austria, Anschluss history, WWII German propaganda, NSDAP era postcard, German ideological propaganda, historical propaganda ephemera

YB3 series