---
title: Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Wien, 1918 (Exhibition of Substitute Materials, Vienna, 1918)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ersatzmittel-ausstellung-wien-1918/
description: A chemist rises from a smoke cloud above a factory island ringed by warships, holding a test tube over a flame, inside a sunburst and a halo-like arch…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Wien, 1918 (Exhibition of Substitute Materials, Vienna, 1918)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ersatzmittel-ausstellung-wien-1918.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ersatzmittel-ausstellung-wien-1918.jpg)

# Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Wien, 1918 (Exhibition of Substitute Materials, Vienna, 1918)

A chemist rises from a smoke cloud above a factory island ringed by warships, holding a test tube over a flame, inside a sunburst and a halo-like arch that carries the exhibition title. The radiant staging attaches the aura of a revelation to substitute goods; the poster does not show what any substitute is.

- **Date:** 1918
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Vienna (organisers not named on the poster); artist Alfred Offner; printed by J. Weiner, Vienna
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [Austria Hungary](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=austria-hungary)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=mixed)
- **Regime:** [Austria Hungary](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=austria-hungary)
- **Leader:** [Karl I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=karl-i)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Home front](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=home-front), [Science and technology](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=science-technology), [Economy and finance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=economy-finance)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2004666191/), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain in the U.S. (published before 1931) Offner, Alfred, artist; Rehse Archiv für Zeitgeschichte und Publizistik, DLC, former owner. 1918. Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-11957.

## Text on the object

Original (German) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung

Geöffnet von 10 Uhr vormit. - 7 Uhr abends.
Wien, 1918
Prater, Kaisergarten
Mai-August.
Eintrittspreis 60 Heller.

Alf. Offner [artist's name, bottom left]
K.u.K. Hofl. J. Weiner, Wien [printer, bottom right]
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Substitute Materials Exhibition

Open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Vienna, 1918
Prater, Kaisergarten
May-August.
Admission 60 Heller.

Alf. Offner [artist's name, bottom left]
Imperial and Royal Court Supplier J. Weiner, Vienna [printer, bottom right]
```

The exhibition title is set in blackletter along the arch; the small-print imprints at the foot are read from the LOC scan. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.

[← Elles servent la France. Tout le monde peut servir. Souscrivons à l'Emprunt de la Victoire (Canada)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elles-servent-la-france-emprunt-de-la-victoire-1918/) [The Greatest Mother in the World: Red Cross Christmas Roll Call →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/greatest-mother-in-the-world-1918/)

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- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)