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The Völkischer Beobachter ("Völkisch Observer", or less strictly "People's Observer") was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party) from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from February 8, 1923.






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Voelkischer Beobachter
The Völkischer Beobachter ("Völkisch Observer", or less strictly "People's Observer") was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party) from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from February 8, 1923. For twenty-five years it formed part of the official public face of the Nazi party.

The "fighting paper of the National Socialist movement of Greater Germany" (Kampfblatt der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung Großdeutschlands) had its origin in the Münchner Beobachter ("Munich Observer"), which in 1918 was acquired by the Thule Society
Thule Society

The Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe f?r germanisches Altertum 'Study Group for Germanic peoples Antiquity', was a German occultist and v?lkisch group in Munich, named after a Thule from Greek legend....
 and in August 1919 was renamed Völkischer Beobachter. The NSDAP purchased it in December 1920 on the initiative of Dietrich Eckart
Dietrich Eckart

Dietrich Eckart was a German politician, one of the important early members of the National Socialist German Workers Party and a participant of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch....
, who became the first editor.

The circulation of the paper was initially about 8,000 but increased to 25,000 in autumn 1923 due to strong demand during the Occupation of the Ruhr
Occupation of the Ruhr

The Occupation of the Rhineland gave the French and Belgian armies the springboard from which it was easy to undertake the occupation of the Ruhr Area....
. In that year Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Rosenberg

was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government....
 became editor. With the prohibition of the NSDAP after the Beer Hall Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of Thursday, November 8 and the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923, when the National Socialist German Workers Party's leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully...
 of November 9, 1923, the paper also had to cease publication, which resumed however on the party's refoundation on February 26, 1925. The circulation rose along with the success of the Nazi movement, reaching more than 120,000 in 1931 and 1.7 million by 1944.

Perhaps the most notorious article printed was an interview with Hans Frank
Hans Frank

Hans Michael Frank was a Germany lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany....
, Governor-General
Governor-General

The term governor general or governor-general refers to a Viceroy representative of a Monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription....
 of occupied Poland
History of Poland

Settled agricultural people have lived in the area that is now Poland for the last 7500 years, the Slavic peoples people have been in this territory for over 1500 years, and the History of Poland as a state spans well over a millennium....
, on June 6, 1940.

At the beginning of May 1945, a few days after the German surrender
Surrender (military)

Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their commissioned officers....
 in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, the Völkischer Beobachter ceased publication. Due to the advance dating practices of many periodicals, the last issue was dated 11 May 1945 and contained a review of a survival guide, "Essbares aus deutschen Feldern und Wäldern".

See also

  • Das Schwarze Korps
    Das Schwarze Korps

    Das Schwarze Korps was the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel . This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed for free. Each SS member was supposed to read the publication and urge others to do so as well....