Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Wien, 1918, 1918 Austria Hungary poster: A chemist rises from a smoke cloud above a factory island

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.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Date
1918
Made by
Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Vienna (organisers not named on the poster); artist Alfred Offner; printed by J. Weiner, Vienna

Full record

Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights
Region
Western and Central Europe
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
Mixed
Regime
Austria Hungary
Leader
Karl I
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Themes
Home front, Science and technology, Economy and finance
Event
World War I
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
Library of Congress, 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

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.